What was the Yew Tree Ball?
Q: What was the Yew Tree Ball?
A: The Yew Tree Ball was a masked ball held in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on the night of 25-26 February 1745.
Q: How many people waited for the ball to begin?
A: Fifteen thousand people waited in the Hercules Room for the ball to begin.
Q: Who attended the ball dressed as topiary yew trees?
A: King Louis XV and several of his gentlemen courtiers attended dressed as topiary yew trees.
Q: What is the Yew Tree Ball notorious for?
A: The Yew Tree Ball is notorious for being the venue in which the king made contact with Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, who would later become his official mistress.
Q: How did the king first see Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson?
A: The king first saw Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson while hunting at Senart.
Q: When was Poisson officially presented to the Court as the Marquise de Pompadour?
A: Poisson was officially presented to the Court as the Marquise de Pompadour on 14 September 1745.
Q: How long was Pompadour the king's official mistress?
A: Pompadour was the king’s official mistress until her death in 1764.
