I realize that I had always in my heart of hearts planned to write a biography of Marie Antoinette.

[In 16th century European society] Marriage was the triumphal arch through which women, almost without exception, had to pass in order to reach the public eye. And after marriage followed, in theory, the total self-abnegation of the woman.

I hate the only one of my book jackets when I was made up professionally, my hair made into a smooth bell.

As the Dauphine stepped out of her carriage on to the ceremonial carpet that had been laid down, it was the Duc de Choiseul who was given the privilege of the first salute. Presented with the Duc by Prince Starhemberg, Marie Antoinette exclaimed: 'I shall never forget that you are responsible for my happiness!

The concentration in my book on Marie Antoinette's childhood and on her family influences. It is surprising how some books actually start with her arrival in France!

It can be a long gap between the emergence of fully researched historical biographies.

I love hearing details of writers' craft, as cannibals eat the brains of clever men to get cleverer.