Miss Conduct S02 E03: Jeanne de Valois - Saint - Rémy

When we sat down to plan season 2 of Miss Conduct, something that struck us was how Indian women don’t do “cool” crimes. Sure, we have Zoya Khan who gamed the system with no qualms. And I suppose we have Baby Patankar, who also used the system to her advantage. But… where are the art heists? Why aren’t Indian women stealing a ton of jewellery from rich people? Why don’t we have a female Indian Robin Hood?!? 

So we are now going to use one episode a season to talk about a non-Indian woman that went beyond the scope of what was expected of them. 

And this week -- we have Jeanne de Valois-Sant-Rémy, a French woman of questionable royal lineage, who forged the signature of the then Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, and used it to steal a diamond necklace worth about $15 million in today-money. Her actions rippled across France very quickly, and soon the already-pissed-off population of France was calling for Queen Marie’s head -- thus sparking the French Revolution. 

I know, right? It’s insane how this panned out. Listen to our latest episode to understand how it all went down. 

And when you get the time, send some Instagram love to our hosts Ragavi (@ragi.dosai) and Nisha (@just.nishful.thinking)! 

Sources: 

• W. R. H.F Trowbridge, Cagliostro and the Diamond Necklace Affair, Kessinger Publishing Co (2005)

• Jonathan Beckman, How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair, Dreamscape Media LLC (2014) 

• Jeanne de Valois-Sant-Rémy, Mémoires Justificatifs de la Comtesse De Valois, London (1756-1791) 

• http://bascom.brynmawr.edu/library/exhibits/PointingFingers/collier.html