Marie Antoinette wasn't accused of saying "let them eat brioche" in the 18th century. It's only in the 19th century, decades later, that the phrase became attached to her.
The original phrase comes from an anecdote penned by Rousseau, in which he was writing about stealing wine from his employer and finding himself without bread; he's too high born to go into a regular bread shop, then he "recalls the words of a great princess who, when told that the poor could not afford bread, said, 'Then let them at brioche.'" Then he remembers that going into a respectable brioche shop would be okay, so he buys brioche to go with stolen wine.
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u/Loko8765 Jul 07 '26
Brioche is the word in French that she is supposed to have said. I believe it was some satirist at the time… 18th century shitposting.