Spencer wrote the song “Poor Marie” on a flight to Paris. The Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette was the in-flight entertainment that day.

The highly stylized film — not so much a biopic, “concerned with dry historical facts, speeches or big events,” but “a film about a stylish historical figure that doesn’t feel like one — a relatable fantasy of wealth and privilege” — struck him such that he’s since come to refer to the film as ‘Versailles 90210.’

After that experience, he said, “I figured anything is fair game as it regards everyone’s favorite French queen.” With tongue firmly in cheek, he sings, “Say goodbye to old Versailles when life was a grand holiday… they’ve come to take you away.”

Not long after, the song received a starring role on the West End in the musical production of The Hurly Burly Show.