Marie Antoinette May 1774, the Dauphin ascended the throne as King Louis XVI of France and Navarre with Marie Antoinette as his Queen. At the outset, the new queen had limited political influence with her husband, who, with the support of his two most important ministers, Chief Minister Maurepas and Foreign Minister Vergennes, blocked several of her candidates from assuming important positions, including Choiseul. The queen did play a decisive role in the disgrace and exile of the most powerful of Louis XV's ministers, the Duke of Aiguillon. On 24 May 1774, two weeks after the death of Louis XV, the king
Marie Antoinette (watch) Marie Antoinette (watch) The Breguet No. 160" "grand complication, more commonly known as the Marie-Antoinette or the Queen, is a case watch designed by Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet. It has been called 'a poem in clockwork'. Work on the watch was begun in 1782 and completed by Breguet's son in 1827, four years after Breguet's death. The watch is a central plot point in the novel "The Grand Complication" by Allen Kurzweil. The watch was to contain every watch function known at that time, including the following: Even by the standards of the day it was an astronomically expensive piece.