The French government granted special permission for the crew to film in the Palace of Versailles.
There is a scene towards the end of the movie shows many princes and princesses of the blood saying farewell to the Queen before fleeing the country, including her two favorite companions, the Duchesse de Polignac and the Princesse de Lamballe. The real Duchesse de Polignac did take refuge in Switzerland. Princesse de Lamballe did initially leave the royal family for safety in England, but returned later at the request of Marie Antoinette after she and her family were caught trying to escape. She remained with the royal family until her own arrest. After refusing to sign an oath renouncing the monarchy, she was mutilated and beheaded, and her head was mounted on a pike and paraded past the prison window of the doomed Queen.
Sofia Coppola had Spanish footwear designer Manolo Blahnik create hundreds of specially made shoes for the film.
Sofia Coppola refused to read the famous biography of Marie-Antoinette written by Stefan Zweig, which she judged too strict. She turned instead to the book by Antonia Fraser, which makes the queen a more human character, a young girl with no connection to reality who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A few quotes from the film are directly taken from Marie Antoinette's actual life and from the biography by Lady Antonia Fraser that the film is loosely based upon. Louis XV's comment about Marie Antoinette's bosom upon her arrival in France, Marie Antoinette's comment on having enough diamonds when presented with the opportunity of receiving some as a gift from Madame du Barry, Marie's comment to Madame du Barry about there being a lot of people at Versailles on the day of their infamous first exchange of words, and Marie's comment to her husband, Louis XVI, during a gambling party, explaining that Louis told her she could throw the party but never specified for how long are all actual exchanges of words and conversations from different events in the queen's life.
Phoenix: The men playing guitar(s) in the scene with a woman singing for Marie are members of the group Phoenix. The lead singer Thomas Mars is the life partner of Sofia Coppola.
Sofia Coppola: [sun through leaves] The sun shines through the leaves of the tree during the picnic scene with Marie and Louis's hunting party.