Yolande de Polastron

Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron was presented at the Palace of Versailles in 1775, a year after Marie Antoinette became Queen of France. The two women formed an immediate and intense bond that would define both their lives. Celebrated as one of the great beauties of pre-Revolutionary society, Yolande became the Duchess of Polignac and enjoyed extraordinary favor at court. But her extravagance and the exclusivity she cultivated around the queen earned her many enemies among the nobility and beyond. She died on 9 December 1793, the same year the Revolution claimed Marie Antoinette herself…