Editing Louis XVIII (section)

===Outbreak of the French Revolution===
{{Main|French Revolution}}

The [[Estates-General of 1789|Estates-General]] were convened in May 1789 to ratify financial reforms.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=326}} The Count of Provence favoured a stalwart position against the Third Estate and its demands for tax reform. On 17 June, the Third Estate declared itself a [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]], an Assembly not of the Estates, but of the people.

The Count of Provence urged the King to act strongly against the declaration, while the King's popular minister [[Jacques Necker]] aimed at reaching a compromise with the new assembly. Louis XVI was characteristically indecisive. On 9 July, the assembly declared itself a [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Constituent Assembly]] that would give France a Constitution. On 11 July, Louis XVI dismissed Necker, which led to widespread rioting across Paris. On 12 July, the sabre charge of the ''[[Régiment Royal–Allemand Cavalerie]]'' ''(Royal German Cavalry Regiment)'' of [[Charles-Eugène de Lorraine, prince de Lambesc|Charles-Eugène de Lorraine, Prince de Lambesc]], against a crowd gathered at the [[Tuileries Palace|Tuileries gardens]], sparked the [[Storming of the Bastille]] two days later.<ref>''Le Petit Robert 2'', Dictionnaire universel des noms propres, Dictionnaires Le Robert, Paris, 1988, p. 1017.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lever |first=Évelyne |author-link=Évelyne Lever|title=Louis XVI |publisher= Fayard |location= Paris |year=1985 |page=508}}</ref>

On 16 July, the King's brother, [[Charles X of France|Charles, Comte d'Artois]], left France with his wife and children, along with many other courtiers.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=338}} Artois and his family took up residence in [[Turin]], the capital city of his father-in-law's ([[Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia|Carlo Emanuele IV]]) [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]], with the family of [[Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé|Louis Joseph, ''Prince de Condé'']].{{sfn|Nagel|2008|page=65}}

The Count of Provence decided to remain at Versailles.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=340}} When the Royal Family plotted to abscond from Versailles to [[Metz]], Provence advised the King not to leave, a suggestion he accepted.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=342}}

The Royal Family was forced to leave the palace at Versailles on the day after [[the Women's March on Versailles]], 5 October 1789.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=357}} They were taken to Paris. There, the Count of Provence and his wife lodged in the [[Luxembourg Palace]], while the rest of the Royal Family stayed in the [[Tuileries Palace]].{{sfn|Fraser|2002|pages=361-362}} In March 1791, the National Assembly created a law outlining the regency of Louis Charles in case his father died while he was still too young to reign. This law awarded the regency to Louis Charles' nearest male relative in France (at that time the Count of Provence), and after him, the [[Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orleans|Duke of Orleans]], thus bypassing the Count of Artois. If Orleans were unavailable, the regency would be submitted to election.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=383}}

The Count of Provence and his wife fled to the [[Austrian Netherlands]] in conjunction with the royal family's failed [[Flight to Varennes]] in June 1791.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=412}}