In the newspaper "Le Figaro", historian Jean Tulard called the film "Versailles in Hollywood sauce", saying that it "dazzles" with a "deployment of wigs, fans and pastries, a symphony of colors" which "all some gross errors and voluntary anachronisms". In the magazine "L'Internaute", Évelyne Lever, a historian and authority on Marie Antoinette, described the film as "far from historical reality". She wrote that the film's characterisation of Marie Antoinette lacked historical authenticity and psychological development: "In reality she did not spend her time eating pastries and drinking champagne! [... In the movie Marie Antoinette is the same from 15 to 33 years". She also expressed the view that "better historical films" including "Barry Lyndon" and "The Madness of King George" succeeded because their directors were "steeped in the culture of the time they evoked".