The Blessed Event

In 1777, a solution to the royal couple's physical problems finally arrived in the person of Joseph II, Marie Antoinette's eldest brother and now Holy Roman Emperor. His visit to Versailles was both a family reunion and a diplomatic mission. Joseph, blunt where diplomats were circumspect, had frank conversations with both his sister and brother-in-law about their marital situation.

Joseph's letters to their brother Leopold provide an unvarnished account of what he found. Louis XVI, he wrote, was "incompetent" in the marriage bed due to a minor physical condition and extreme shyness. Marie Antoinette was "dissipated" and too focused on pleasure. Joseph claimed credit for speaking plainly to Louis about the need for minor surgery and to Marie Antoinette about the importance of seducing her husband rather than waiting passively.

Whatever Joseph said, it worked. By August 1777, the marriage was finally consummated. Marie Antoinette wrote to her mother with joy mixed with characteristic honesty: "I am in the most essential happiness of my entire life... though I find this business rather disagreeable." The court held its collective breath for news of a pregnancy.

The announcement came in spring 1778. Marie Antoinette was pregnant. The news transformed her position overnight. Courtiers who had been cool became obsequious. The king showed new tenderness. Even her critics temporarily muted their attacks. The queen herself seemed to glow with new confidence and purpose.

The pregnancy was carefully monitored and extensively documented. Every symptom was analyzed, every precaution taken. Marie Antoinette followed a regimen prescribed by the royal physicians: moderate exercise, bland diet, and avoiding strong emotions. She chafed at the restrictions but complied, understanding that the stakes could not be higher.

On December 19, 1778, after twelve hours of labor performed before dozens of courtiers (royal births had to be witnessed to prevent substitution), Marie Antoinette delivered a daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte. The disappointment that the child was not the hoped-for dauphin was palpable in the crowded chamber. Some courtiers actually turned their backs and left without congratulation.

But Marie Antoinette's own reaction revealed her evolution as a person. "Poor little girl," she reportedly said, "you are not what was desired, but you are no less dear to me. A son would have belonged to the state; you shall be mine." This maternal fierce protectiveness would characterize her relationship with all her children.