Description
"Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", said to have been spoken in the 18th century by "a great princess" upon being told that the peasants had no bread. The French phrase mentions brioche, a bread enriched with butter and eggs, considered a luxury food.
The quote is taken to reflect either the princess's frivolous disregard for the starving peasants or her poor understanding of their plight.
Although the phrase is conventionally attributed to Marie Antoinette, it can actually be traced back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions in 1765, 24 years prior to the French Revolution, and when Antoinette was 9 years old and had never been to France. The quote was only attributed to her decades after her death, and she is unlikely to have ever said it.[2][3][4]
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