![Portrait of a lady said to be Jeanne de Valois, comtesse de la Motte [I would be shocked if this was accurate] by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, c. 1780 [I'd say post-1783], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/frockflicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Jeanne_lamotte_valois.jpg?fit=600%2C350&ssl=1)
Portrait of a lady said to be Jeanne de Valois, comtesse de la Motte [I would be shocked if this was accurate] by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, c. 1780 [I'd say post-1783], via Wikimedia Commons
Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy was a pivotal figure in late 18th-century France, as it was her scheme to steal a diamond necklace and pass it off as having been stolen by Queen Marie-Antoinette that led (in part) to the public turning against the queen. Her father was indeed a direct descendent of an illegitimate son of King Henry II, but her family was poor and alcoholic; her mother was a former court servant. Although she grew up impoverished, her genealogical connection to royalty got her sent to boarding school. She married soldier Marc-Antoine-Nicolas de la Motte, who had a dubious claim to nobility, and so the couple called themselves comte/comtesse.
Wanting a royal pension, Jeanne tried to approach the queen, who refused to meet her. Then Jeanne concocted a plan: jewelers had been left holding the bag when a super expensive diamond necklace originally designed for Madame du Barry was left unsold. Jeanne had become the mistress of the Cardinal de Rohan, who was on the outs with Marie-Antoinette but wanted back into her favor. Jeanne conspired with her husband and a lover (Rétaux de Villette) to pose as Marie-Antoinette’s intimate friend. They forged letters supposedly from the queen, telling Rohan to loan her the money to buy the necklace (so the public wouldn’t add it to her list of extravagances), which would get him back into her good graces. Rohan did, and Jeanne and co. sold off the diamonds. The jewelers came asking for her money, and it all came out — including the fact that the swindlers had hired a prostitute to pose as the queen, meeting Rohan in the Versailles gardens. There was a public trial against Rohan et. al., in which they were found not guilty, and the details of the swindle came out. The problem was the French public never quite believed that it was a swindle; they thought Marie-Antoinette was overly extravagant, probably bought expensive jewelry on the country’s dime, and probably did have illicit meetings with men. It’s all overly complicated, but it helped coalesce the country’s negative feelings about the queen. And because the affair was so scandalous (and dramatic), it’s made it to screen many, many times!
![Portrait of a lady said to be Jeanne de Valois, comtesse de la Motte [I would be shocked if this was accurate] by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, c. 1780 [I'd say post-1783], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/frockflicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jeanne_lamotte_valois.jpeg?ssl=1)
Jeanne escaped to London where she published her very embellished memoirs and then died after falling out of a window while trying to escape debt collectors.
Let’s look at Jeanne and the diamond necklace affair on screen:
Berthe Bovy in The Queen’s Necklace (1912)
A short, silent film about the Diamond Necklace Affair.
Marcelle Chantal in The Queen’s Necklace (1929)
An adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel about the Diamond Necklace Affair.
Illa Meery in Cagliostro (1929)
A biopic of the Italian occultist, who was involved in (you guessed it) the Diamond Necklace Affair.
Mae Busch in Marie Antoinette (1938)
The big budget, super romanticized biopic about the queen. Jeanne isn’t much of a character, as I recall, but of course the Diamond Necklace Affair is pivotal.
Viviane Romance in The Queen’s Necklace (1946)
A French film about the DNA (I’m sick of typing it out).
Gaby Morlay in Royal Affairs in Versailles (1954)
An episodic look at the court of Versailles over the years.
Claude Winter in La caméra explore le temps: “L’affaire du collier de la reine” (1962)
A French TV series that depicted various key events from history.
? in Marie-Antoinette (1975)
A French TV bio-miniseries about the queen. Jeanne is only on screen quickly, and gets no dialogue; she’s shown hanging around the Versailles gardens pre-DNA.
Anouska Hempel in Lady Oscar (1979)
A feature film adaptation of a famous manga (Rose of Versailles) that is set at Versailles/around Marie-Antoinette and deeply, deeply shitty.
Hilary Swank / Hayden Panettiere in The Affair of the Necklace (2001)
A feature film that’s not great except for the STUNNING costumes by Milena Canonero, about the DNA from Jeanne’s perspective.
Mathilde Lavigne in Marie-Antoinette (2006)
A drama-documentary about the French queen shot almost entirely using green-screen technology.
Stéphanie Reynaud in Les Procès de l’Histoire (2011)
I believe this French TV series was about famous historical court proceedings.
Freya Mavor in Marie Antoinette (2025)
The recent, actually surprisingly good MA TV bio-series features Jeanne as a key character in season 2.
Which is your favorite depiction of Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy on screen?
The “Ooo stripes” dress and the actress’ pose is somewhat reminiscent of Gainsborough’s portrait of Sarah Siddons.
Doubtless ‘Madame la Comtesse’ would be rather pleased to know she can still set a scandal into uproar in these Facebook days (If only by proxy).
Also, I myself am pleased to learn that Ms Hayden Panetierre actually had a subject as impeccably-French as her surname to round out her CV (I swear that when pronouncing ‘Panetierre’ it’s either pure Scarlett O’Hara or pure Inspector Clouseau for me).