Meeting the Dauphin

On May 14, 1770, in the forest of Compiègne, Marie Antoinette finally met her husband. The encounter had been as carefully choreographed as everything else, designed to appear spontaneous while actually following strict protocol. Louis XV, the reigning king and Louis-Auguste's grandfather, accompanied his grandson to meet the Austrian bride.

First impressions on both sides were mixed. Marie Antoinette saw an awkward, heavy-set young man who seemed more frightened than she was. Louis-Auguste saw a pretty, vivacious girl who chattered nervously in accented French. The king, a notorious womanizer, was more enthusiastic, pronouncing his new granddaughter-in-law charming and promising.

The Duc de Croÿ, present at this first meeting, left a detailed account that humanizes the royal teenagers. He described how Louis-Auguste mumbled his greeting and seemed fascinated by the mechanical details of Marie Antoinette's carriage, while she tried desperately to engage him in conversation about their journey. The contrast between her animation and his awkwardness was apparent to all observers.

Servants' accounts provide additional perspective. Jacques Leclair, a groom in the royal stables, later told his grandson about preparing the horses for this historic meeting. He remembered the dauphin's kindness to the stable hands contrasted with his painful shyness around nobles, and how the young Marie Antoinette had asked detailed questions about the horses, showing a genuine interest that surprised the servants accustomed to aristocratic indifference.