Editing Marie Antoinette (section)

==Dauphine of France (1770–1774)==
[[File:Marie_Antoinette_Young3.jpg|thumb|Archduchess Maria Antonia depicted at age 13 in a 1769 portrait by [[Joseph Ducreux]], which was sent to the [[Palace of Versailles]] in May 1769{{Sfn|Fraser|2001|p=37}}]]
[[File:Marie Antoinette in a red hunting habit-1772.jpg|thumb|Queen Marie Antoinette of France, at age 16 depicted in a pastel portrait drawn in [[Versailles]] by [[Joseph Kranzinger]] and sent to her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, in Austria]]
Following the [[Seven Years' War]] and the [[Diplomatic Revolution]] of 1756, Maria Theresa decided to end hostilities with her longtime enemy, King Louis XV of France. Their common desire to destroy the ambitions of [[Prussia]] and [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], and to secure a definitive peace between their respective countries led them to seal their alliance with a marriage: on 7 February 1770, Louis XV formally requested the hand of Maria Antonia for his eldest surviving grandson and heir, [[Louis XVI|Louis Auguste]], [[Duke of Berry]] and [[Dauphin of France]].<ref name="liaisons"/>

Maria Antonia formally renounced her rights to [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] domains, and on 19 April 1770 she was [[proxy marriage|married by proxy]] with Louis Auguste at the [[Augustinian Church, Vienna]], with her brother Archduke [[Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este|Ferdinand]] standing in for the dauphin.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2001|pp=51–53}}</ref><ref>{{citation |first=Pierre |last=Nolhac |title=La Dauphine Marie Antoinette |date=1929 |pages=46–48}}</ref><ref name="liaisons" /> On 14 May 1770 she met her husband at the edge of the [[forest of Compiègne]]. Upon her arrival in France, she adopted the French version of her name: Marie Antoinette. A ceremonial wedding took place on 16 May 1770 in the [[Palace of Versailles]], and after the festivities the day ended with the [[bedding ceremony|ritual bedding]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2001|pp=70–71}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Nolhac|1929|pp=55–61}}</ref> The couple's longtime failure to [[Consummation|consummate the marriage]] plagued the reputations of the royal couple for the next seven years.{{sfnm|Fraser|2001|1p=157|2a1=d'Arneth|2a2=Geffroy|2y=1874|2pp=80–90, 110–115}}

The initial reaction to the marriage was mixed. On the one hand, the dauphine was beautiful, personable and well-liked by the common people. Her first official appearance in Paris on 8 June 1773 was a resounding success. On the other hand, those opposed to the alliance with Austria had a difficult relationship with Marie Antoinette, as did others who disliked her for more personal or petty reasons.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cronin|1974|pp=61–63}}</ref>

[[Madame du Barry]] proved a troublesome foe to the new dauphine. She was Louis XV's mistress and had considerable political influence over him. In 1770 she was instrumental in ousting Choiseul, who had helped orchestrate the [[Franco-Austrian Alliance]] and Marie Antoinette's marriage,<ref>{{Harvnb|Cronin|1974|p=61}}</ref> and in exiling his sister, the [[Béatrix de Choiseul|Duchess of Gramont]], one of Marie Antoinette's [[Lady-in-waiting|ladies-in-waiting]]. Marie Antoinette was persuaded by her husband's aunts to refuse to acknowledge du Barry, which some saw as a political blunder that jeopardized Austria's interests at the French court. Maria Theresa and the Austrian ambassador to France, [[Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau|Comte de Mercy-Argenteau]] (who sent the empress secret reports on Marie Antoinette's behaviour) pressured Marie Antoinette to speak to du Barry, which she grudgingly agreed to do on New Year's Day 1772.{{sfnm|Fraser|2001|1pp=80–81|2a1=d'Arneth|2a2=Geffroy|2y=1874|2pp=65–75}} She merely commented to her, "There are a lot of people at Versailles today", but it was enough for du Barry, who was satisfied with this recognition, and the crisis passed.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lever|2006|p=38}}</ref>

Two days after the death of Louis XV in 1774, Louis XVI exiled du Barry to the [[Abbaye du Pont-aux-Dames]] in [[Meaux]], pleasing both Marie Antoinette and his aunts.<ref>Fraser, ''Marie Antoinette'', 2001, p. 124.</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Jacques |last=Levron |title=Madame du Barry |date=1973 |pages=75–85}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Lever|1991|p=124}}</ref><ref name="Goncourt 1880, pp. 195–196">{{cite book|first=Edmond de|last=Goncourt|title=La Du Barry|publisher=G. Charpentier|location=Paris, France|date=1880|pages=195–96}}</ref><ref>Lever, Evelyne, ''Louis XV'', Fayard, Paris, 1985, p. 96</ref> Two and a half years later, at the end of October 1776, du Barry's exile ended and she was allowed to return to her beloved château at [[Château de Louveciennes|Louveciennes]], but she was never permitted to return to Versailles.<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Vatel|title=Histoire de Madame du Barry: d'après ses papiers personnels et les documents d'archives|publisher=Hachette Livre|location=Paris, France|date=1883|isbn=978-2013020077|page=410}}</ref>