<p>Madam du Barry's life was remarkable: from rags, to riches, to... revolution. And she pi**ed off Marie Antoinette along the way, too.</p><br><p>How did this courtesan from a poor background make it to be royal mistress in Versailles? How did the French Revolution impact her? And what her 'special talents' that attracted King Louis XV?</p><br><p>In our new mini-series, we're exploring and celebrating women whose sexuality was used to define them.</p><br><p>Joining Kate today is historian and author Professor Christine Adams, to take us back to 18th century France to find out more about this remarkable woman.</p><br><p>This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.</p><br><p>Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at <a href="https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe</u></a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p><u>You can take part in our listener survey</u><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FFT7MK" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u> here</u></a><u>.</u></p><br><p>All music from Epidemic Sounds.</p><br><p>Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>