Character Analysis
Here's another scandalous character from the history vaults: Dumas' Queen is modeled on Queen Anne of Austria. She’s got the Duke of Buckingham and Cardinal Richelieu sending men into war for her, but the Queen doesn’t have any real power or influence. And (sad trombone noise) she doesn’t have any friends, either.
Her best friend, Madame de Chevreuse, has been exiled to Tours, her foreign ladies-in-waiting have been sent home, and her devoted cloak bearer Laporte lives in fear of being arrested. And her husband yells at her. Yet Dumas suggests that her beauty is the primary reason that England and France are at war. Thus her position is paradoxical—her wish is the Duke of Buckingham’s command, but she cannot breathe easy in her own palace.
Historically, it’s accurate that Queen Anne was very isolated and distrusted at the French court.