Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy-Carignano was born in Turin, Italy, on September 8, 1749. She was the daughter of Louis Victor of Carignano and Landgravine Christine of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, both of whom were descended from European royalty.
She was said to have a pretty head with luxuriant blonde hair that, when it broke free of its bands, flowed down to her feet. Her family was extremely wealthy, and she was well educated.
She spoke several languages and was well read. She loved Italian poetry as well as books by popular authors such as Machiavelli and Dante. Reading was one of her favorite pastimes, and she invested in her own extensive personal library.
Her impressive education and her family's wealth put her in good standing for marriage. In 1767, the Duke of Penthièvre asked Louis XV to help him find a suitable wife for his son, the Prince de Lamballe.
The king agreed and suggested he turn his attention to the Princess of Savoy. The prince was shown a portrait of the princess, and at just the age of 17, her fate was sealed.
She arrived in France on January 30 at Montereau and was greeted by an inquisitive-looking young man holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Initially confused, the princess soon realized that this was her future husband.
They were married later that same day in the chapel of the Château de Nangis, in the home of the Count of Garchi. The marriage, though, was short-lived.
The Princesse de Lamballe showed her husband love and affection, and initially the two seemed happy in marriage. But the court of Versailles was notorious for its scandals, and it was not long before the princess found herself at the center of another.
She was introduced to the court of Versailles, where she gained admirable favor. But the relationship between her and her husband quickly broke down.
The prince had engaged in an adulterous relationship with two actresses, and Marie was left devastated by her husband's betrayal. Her father-in-law consoled her, but after a year of marriage she would be hit with even more grief.
Her husband passed away in 1768 of a venereal disease before he could reach the age of 21. She had managed to find forgiveness for her husband's transgressions, caring for him tenderly until he passed away.
The princess went on to begin her new life, moving permanently to Rambouillet near Versailles, where her father-in-law was seated as the Duke of Penthièvre. The duke had taken to the princess and regarded her as his own daughter.
He recommended that she take a vow of chastity and become a nun. Though never a nun, she chose to remain faithful to her husband throughout her life.
After inheriting her husband's wealth, she joined her father-in-law in completing his many charitable works. The duke became known as the king of the poor, and Marie de Lamballe earned the nickname the angel of Penthièvre.
She eventually recovered from her grief, although she still endured a series of melancholic moments which would gradually get worse with age. In 1770, the Dauphin Louis married Marie Antoinette, the daughter of Maria Theresa, the Empress of Austria.
Louis ascended to the throne just four years later, in 1774, becoming King Louis XVI. After living in the court for some time, the relationship between Marie Antoinette and the Princesse de Lamballe began to blossom.
Marie Antoinette had found her new confidante in the princess, and the following year, in 1775, she was also proclaimed superintendent of the queen's household. The Princesse de Lamballe accompanied the queen on many of her excursions and to many of her parties.
The Duke of Penthièvre succumbed to the lifestyle of the king and queen and even began to express his interest in hosting international royalty. He went on to host the Crown Prince of Sweden and the King of Denmark, with the Princesse de Lamballe acting as his hostess.
The court of Versailles was home to many balls and parties, becoming notorious for its lavish lifestyle and lust for all things extravagant. After all, Louis XIV had almost bankrupted the entire state when he drafted the renowned French landscape architect André Le Nôtre to redesign the 2,000 acres of Versailles.
Due to France's monetary situation, King Louis XVI hired Anne Robert Jacques Turgot to get a hold of the nation's financial state. Turgot was on a mission to provide the common populace with financial liberty and wealth.
He wrote a letter to King Louis stating that he wanted no bankruptcy, no increase of taxes, and no borrowings. Turgot himself was pro-monarchy, as long as the monarchy worked on behalf of the people.
With his new laws and regulations coming into effect, King Louis XVI needed to bring the Estates of Brittany into stricter compliance, as the region had previously operated as a somewhat autonomous state. To do this, the king needed a reliable diplomat to quell any backlash or anti-monarchist sentiments, and so he called upon the Duke of Penthièvre as the perfect man for the job.
The Princesse de Lamballe accompanied him to Rennes on December 17, 1774. Their venture into the region was a huge success, and the princess herself managed to win the hearts of the region's population.
The Princesse de Lamballe had been gone from the court at Versailles for two months, and the queen eagerly anticipated her return. Having gleefully learned that the princess was leaving a few days earlier than expected to return home, the queen requested that the princess head straight for Versailles.
After the Princesse de Lamballe entered Versailles, she was surprised to see that the queen had ordered her portrait to be painted on a glass that had been placed in the room where the queen spent most of her time. Yet after spending a lot of her free time with the queen, the princess's thoughts and interests began to wander.
The Parisians loved all things supernatural. Their inclination to the superstitious and paranormal began long before the princess was born, but the intrigue had continued to grow.
The Count of Saint Germain had captivated the population, claiming to have lived for centuries and to have met Jesus Christ himself. Baron du Potet de Sennevoy had introduced the study of animal magnetism.
Eliphas Lévi was a distinguished sage, and Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym had risen to fame as a renowned demonologist. The Princesse de Lamballe had also been captivated by the supernatural, even corresponding with the cartomancer Madame Lenormand as well as the astrologist and fortune teller Mrs. Williams, who was of Welsh ancestry.
Though much of her private life remains a mystery, it is known that the princess became intrigued by Freemasonry. In 1777 she became a member of the Lodge de Candeur and became one of the country's most prestigious members, and in 1781 she took on the role of grand mistress of the March Lodge de la Candeur d'Adoption.
In 1775 a mass revolt broke out. The country's harvest had yielded an incredibly low volume of grain, and the country quickly began to find itself in a food shortage.
Unable to feed the population, people began blaming the monarchy, claiming they had purposely held the reserves back for themselves, and the people began to riot. The country was descending into panic.
Looters were out in force, and farmers were held to ransom by the looters, who forced them into selling their grain for a lot lower prices. Throughout April and May the rioters caused chaos in what became known as the Flour War.
Tragedy struck again for the princess when in 1778 she lost both of her parents. In the year 1785 the population of France became increasingly hostile toward the throne and the lavish lifestyle they were living.
While much of France suffered in cases of extreme poverty, the people needed to find an excuse for every possible misfortune, and they found it in Marie Antoinette. She became a public hate figure.
The years of 1786 to 1789 remained free of tragedy for the princess, and in a letter written by Horace Walpole it is said that the princess went on a visit to England in mid-1787. The situation in France, however, was not improving.
The king became fonder of his personal collections rather than making decisions on running the country, and the queen was more suited to spending large amounts of money on diamonds and other luxurious goods, as well as owing a lot of money in unpaid gambling debts. On May 5, 1789, King Louis XVI assembled the Estates General at Versailles, which had not met since 1614.
He called the meeting to introduce a new tax law which would impose a higher tax rate on landowners and wealthy noblewomen. The middle class of the meeting, which included the likes of lawyers and teachers, had called for a constitution.
The king was outraged. He believed the monarchy should maintain absolute power with no set of rules or government to take away his power.
Those in attendance at the Estates General meeting formed an oath at the nearby tennis court on June 20, 1789, in which they declared they would not go home until the king agreed to form a constitution. On June 27 they formed their own parliament, which they called the National Assembly.
Some nobles and clergymen also began joining the new parliament. The king was angered but stalled too, with the common people.
Bread prices were still high and many were still going hungry. The king refused to accept the National Assembly and even sacked a minister who was known to be working on behalf of the poor.
Completely outraged, thousands of residents gathered in protest and stormed the fortress of Bastille. Against the estimated 8,000 protesters, the king's men did nothing to stop the storming of the fortress.
The governor of Bastille handed over the keys to the protesters, but it was too late to be sympathetic toward them now. He was a man that had helped to lock up hundreds of prisoners that had spoken out against the king.
The protesters had their man and in a rage proceeded to behead the governor. This was the first time the peasants of France had revolted against the absolute power of the king and won.
Spurred on by their victory, the protests were growing in ferocity, and Louis knew that he had lost Paris. Any thoughts of attempting to win back the Bastille by force were quickly shunned.
Rumors began circling that King Louis was drawing up plans to use a military force in order to get rid of the National Assembly. In October the royal family were taken to the palace at Tuileries, where the people could keep an eye on the king's actions.
Still as defiant as ever, the king and the royal family tried to make their escape from France. The plan was to reach Austria and get help from Marie Antoinette's brother, who was now the Emperor of Austria.
In June 1791 they made their attempt but were stopped at Varennes and brought back to Paris in their carriage. In 1791 the Princesse de Lamballe had managed to avoid capture and travel to England once again on a visit to Blenheim, Oxford, and Bath, only this time it appears as though she was on a quest for protection.
Marie Antoinette had already sent messages to ask for assistance, but it seems as though the princess arrived in person to ensure the severity of the impending situation was heard. The Queen of England received the princess with great affection and to great pleasure, but when she asked King George III for assistance he refused, telling her that the French royal family had brought about their own misfortunes.
The King of France wrote to the princess telling her not to return, as things had gotten too dreadful. She wrote back saying the queen needs me and I must live or die at her side.
She wrote her will at Aix-la-Chapelle, which even included her beloved dogs, and she returned to France to stand by the queen's side. The National Assembly had some royalist sympathizers within its members, and Marie Antoinette held secretive meetings with them at Versailles.
When the family had been taken back to Paris, the Princesse de Lamballe, known to be the queen's confidante, was also suspected by the people of engaging sympathetically with the Austrians. On August 10, 1792, the monarchy was officially overthrown, and the princess was imprisoned in the Temple prison alongside Marie Antoinette.
She was then transferred to La Force prison. On August 19 the princess was ordered to take an oath that denounced the monarchy and her best friend as the Queen of France, but she refused.
On September 3 she met her brutal punishment. She was dragged outside the prison after a short trial and was struck numerous times with weapons wielded by the angry mob that awaited her.
She fell to her knees after being struck in the head and eye. Her blood gushed over her dress.
She was then hit with force over the head, which knocked her unconscious, and the mob then stripped her body and set about mutilating her until she was no longer recognizable. After these horrific and tragic scenes, her head was cut off and stuck on a pike, which the mob then paraded in front of Marie Antoinette's cell.
Her charitable and kind works had accounted for nothing. She was a friend to the monarchy, and she was not to be treated any differently.
At the time of her death, she was 42 years old.