Opening from September 20 to March 22, 2026, at the V&A’s South Kensington location, this marks the first UK exhibition solely dedicated to Marie Antoinette.

Among the dazzling highlights are pieces believed to have been smuggled out of France before her execution, including a natural pearl and diamond pendant that fetched $36 million in 2018, and a double-ribbon bow brooch.

A central exhibit is the priceless Sutherland Riviere-style diamond necklace, featuring 20 large old brilliant-cut diamonds, some of them rare Type IIa Golconda stones. This necklace is famously linked to Marie Antoinette and the infamous Affair of the Diamond Necklace scandal of 1785. The exhibition will delve into this historical fraud, in which an extravagant diamond necklace—originally commissioned for King Louis XV’s mistress Madame du Barry—was illicitly acquired. Though Marie Antoinette was innocent, the public blamed her, further fueling anti-monarchy sentiment leading up to the French Revolution. While the original Boehmer and Bassenge necklace was broken up, it’s widely believed that some of its diamonds found their way into the Sutherland necklace. A replica of the original necklace will also be on display.

The Sutherland diamonds, long held by British aristocracy, were acquired by the V&A in 2022. The exhibition will feature approximately 250 objects, including exceptional loans from the Chateau de Versailles, offering a rare glimpse into the queen’s life through richly embellished fragments of court dress, her silk slippers, and other personal items never before seen outside France.