On this day, Jeanne Bécu (Madame du Barry), the last maîtresse-en-titre of King Louis XV of France, was officially presented to the French royal court. In order to make Jeanne his royal mistress, Louis had to arrange for her to be married to Comte Guillaume du Barry so as to provide her with the necessary credentials. Nonetheless, her arrival in the court caused a minor scandal, as she had previously been a courtesan and came from humble origins. Jeanne’s extravagance made her the centre of attention at court and on the death of Louis she was quickly exiled by Queen Marie Antoinette. During the French Revolution, her financial assistance to escaping émigrés was denounced by her Bengali slave, Zamor, and she was arrested and beheaded by the guillotine on 8th December 1793.
