Jeanne de Saint-Rémy de Valois La Motte (1756–1791)

Jeanne de Saint-Rémy de Valois, who called herself the "comtesse de la Motte Valois" was one of the great con artists and adventurers of history. She was born one of several neglected children in an impoverished family living in Bar-sur-Aube in northeastern France. Based on their claim to be descended from the royal de Valois family, she was given a small annual stipend and sent to a boarding school near Passy. In 1780, she married Marc-Antoine-Nicolas de la Motte, and the couple assumed the titles comte and comtesse de La Motte Valois. She is most famous for having ensnared the Cardinal de Rohan and Queen Marie Antoinette in the "Affair of the Diamond Necklace," one of many scandals that contributed to the French Revolution. She was tried and sentenced to life in prison but escaped and made her way to London, where she published her memoirs. She died mysteriously at age 35 in a fall from her hotel room window. Alexandre Dumas père wrote a bestselling novel in 1849 called The Queen's Necklace that featured her.