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Upon the death of her father-in-law King Louis XV on the 10th of May 1774, the Dauphin ascended the throne as King Louis XVI of France and Navarre with Marie Antionette as his Queen.
Marie had very little political influence on her husband, however she did play a decisive role in the disgrace and exile of the duc d'Aiguillion, one of the most powerful ministers at Court.
Rumours of the queen's rich and lavish spending soon circulated after the King gifted his wife with the Petit Trianon, a small château on the grounds of Versailles and allowed her to renovate it to suit her own tastes.
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Le Petit Trianon
These rumours were true as she spent heavily on everything from fashion to gambling. However, at the time France was encountering a grave financial crisis and a large portion of the population was suffering. By 1775 Marie's reputation was damaged upon repair, with most of the French population blaming her for the inglorious economic situation.
Indeed at the time Louis XV became king, France was in the middle of a financial crisis in which the state was nearing bankruptcy, partly due to the France's costly involvements in the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. However, it was mainly the country's extremely regressive tax system that was to blame. The system subjected the lower classes (called the Tiers état - Third Estate) to pay most of the taxes as numerous exemptions existed for the nobility and clergy.
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This is a caricature of the Third Estate carrying the First Estate (clergy) and the Second Estate (nobility) on its back which represents the unequal taxing system of the time. This caricature lays the foundations for the French Revolution.
The increasing civil unrest even caused Maria Theresa to express her concern over her daughter's spending habits.
Regardless or perhaps unaware of the severity of the situation, it is during this period that the queen becomes renowned for her expensive fashion and extravagant hair styles, like the poufs of up to three feet (90 cm) high.
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Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy wearing her hair in a pouf, 1776
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photo sources: 1) vogue.fr 2) Bibliothèque nationale de France 3) Wikipedia
