Editing Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (section)

===Collapse of the Empire===
[[File:Napoleon bids farewell to his Guard at Fontainebleau on 20 April 1814 (1825), by Horace Vernet.jpg|thumb|''Napoleon Bids Farewell to His Guard'' by [[Horace Vernet]]. In April 1814 Napoleon attempted to abdicate in favour of his son with Marie Louise as [[regent]]]]
The weakened French position triggered the [[War of the Sixth Coalition|Sixth Coalition]]. [[Prussia]] allied with Russia and declared war on France (the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] was already at war with France), but Austria stayed out due to relations between the Imperial families.<ref>Herre, p. 154</ref> On 30 March, Marie Louise was appointed Regent as Napoleon set off for battle in Germany.<ref>Chastenet, p. 243</ref> The regency was only ''de jure'', as all decisions were still taken by Napoleon and implemented by his most senior officials, including [[Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance|Lebrun]], [[Joseph Bonaparte]], [[Talleyrand]] and [[Anne Jean Marie René Savary|Savary]].<ref>Herre, p. 159</ref> Marie Louise tried unsuccessfully to get her father to ally with France.<ref>Chastenet, p. 249</ref> Austria too joined the opposition to France. She maintained a correspondence with Napoleon, informing him of increasing demands for peace in Paris and the provinces.<ref>Durand, p. 121</ref> Napoleon was decisively defeated in [[Battle of Leipzig|Leipzig]] on 19 October and returned to Saint Cloud on 9 November.<ref>Archontology.org</ref>

On 23 January 1814, Marie Louise was appointed Regent for the second time.<ref name="durand124">Durand, p. 124</ref> On 25 January, at 03:00 in the morning, Napoleon embraced Marie Louise and his son for the last time.<ref name="durand124"/> He left to lead a hastily formed army to stave off the Allied invasion from the north.<ref>Durand, p. 125</ref>

As the Allies neared Paris, Marie Louise was reluctant to leave. She felt that as the daughter of the sovereign of Austria, one of the allied members, she would be treated with respect by Allied forces, with the possibility of her son succeeding the throne should Napoleon be deposed.<ref name="durand128">Durand, p. 128</ref> She was also afraid that her departure would strengthen the royalist supporters of the [[Bourbons]].<ref name="durand128"/> Marie Louise was finally persuaded to leave by [[Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke|Henri Clarke]], who received the order from Napoleon: "I would prefer to know that they [the Empress and the King of Rome] are both at the bottom of the Seine rather than in the hands of the foreigners."<ref name="durand129">Durand, p. 129</ref> On 29 March, the court left Paris.<ref name="durand129"/> The Allies entered the city the following day.

Marie Louise and the court moved to [[Blois]], which was safe from the Allies.<ref>Durand, p. 135</ref> She did not expect her father to dethrone Napoleon and deprive her son of the crown of France.<ref>Durand, p. 136</ref> On 3 April, the Senate, at the instigation of Talleyrand, announced the deposition of the Emperor.<ref>Herodote.net</ref> Marie Louise was unaware of this until 7 April, and was astonished to discover the turn of events.<ref name="durand138">Durand, p. 138</ref> She wanted to return to Paris, but was dissuaded from doing so by physician [[Jean-Nicolas Corvisart]] and the Duchess of Montebello.<ref name="durand138"/>