She has been known for her prominent role in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, one of many scandals that led to the French Revolution and helped to destroy the monarchy of France.

According to another source, the family moved to Boulogne near Paris where a priest and one of his rich parishioners, Madame de Boulainvilliers, took care of them.

In any case, their Valois ancestry was ascertained by a genealogist at Versailles, and as a result of legal dispositions set up to help children from impoverished noble families, Jacques was granted a yearly stipend of 1000 pounds and a post in a military academy; Jeanne and Marie-Anne went to a boarding school in Passy and were given a stipend of 900 pounds.

On 6 June 1780,[8] Jeanne married Marc-Antoine-Nicolas de la Motte, Surmont's nephew and an officer of the gendarmes.

[9] At the time of her wedding, Jeanne was heavily pregnant; only one month later (7 July) her newborn twins were baptized as Jean-Baptiste de la Motte (b.

She decided to approach Queen Marie Antoinette, anticipating sympathetic reception based on commonality of gender.

At that time, any ordinary citizen dressed in suitable attire could enter the palace and its gardens, and observe the royal family.

Nevertheless, the Queen shunned the Cardinal because he had attempted to thwart her marriage to Louis XVI and she was aware of his scandalous and venal lifestyle.

Jeanne was described as having been slender with small breasts; she had white skin, chestnut-brown hair, limpid blue eyes, and a "winning smile".

[11] At the same time, the jeweler Charles Auguste Boehmer was trying to sell a particularly expensive and luxurious diamond necklace originally designed for Madame du Barry.

In the fake letters, the Queen stated that she wanted the necklace, but was aware of the reluctance of the King to buy it due to the current dismal financial situation of the country.

The Cardinal knew very well that the Queen never met Jeanne in public, but believed that she was her trusted agent due to a secret liaison.

In fact, in August 1784 in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, a late night rendezvous was arranged, where the Cardinal met 'the Queen' (in reality a prostitute who resembled her, called Nicole le Guay d'Oliva) and received forgiveness.

Jeanne died in London as a result of injuries sustained after falling from her hotel room window, while hiding from debt collectors.

A contemporary report in The Times stated that she was found "terribly mangled, her left eye cut out – one of her arms and both her legs are broken.