Marie-Antoinette

A leading French art expert is to face trial on charges of forgery for building furniture that he falsely claimed to be from the 18th century and was sold at high prices to buyers who included the Palace of Versailles.

The chateau of Versailles will reopen the private rooms of Queen Marie-Antoinette as part of its ongoing 400th anniversary celebrations.

The restored apartments will reopen to the public on June 27, featuring 100 square metres of luxurious living space where France's last queen played with her children and received friends.

The Royal Palace of Caserta, a long-neglected architectural jewel near Naples, is being returned to its former glory through a vast restoration project, partly financed by the EU's recovery fund.

Nicknamed the "Italian Versailles," after the royal palace near Paris, the Italian UNESCO site boasts 1,200 rooms, 1,742 windows and 123 hectares of lush gardens.

Love letters between the ill-fated French queen Marie-Antoinette and her lover, which contain key passages rendered illegible by censor marks, have been deciphered using new techniques, the French National Archives said on June 3. 

Diamonds and pearls that once belonged to French King Louis XVI's Queen Marie-Antoinette and have never been seen in public are to go on sale.