Writing to her mother in July, 1770, a bemused Marie Antoinette—just 15 years old, and newly arrived at the court of Versailles—wrote of her daily routine “I put on my rouge and wash my hands in front of the whole world.” The sheltered and unprepared Dauphine of France wasn’t used to the sort of public display of intimate routines that characterized French royal life. Dressing, bathing, and dining were all spectator sports for members of the hereditary nobility with “Rights of Entry,” people whose official roles as intimate helpers meant proximity to the royal family and signified prestige.

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