The Price of Alliance

Marie Antoinette's marriage contract, finalized in 1770, was a masterpiece of diplomatic negotiation and a stark reminder of the political nature of royal unions. The document, running to hundreds of pages, specified not just financial arrangements but also intricate protocols for the wedding ceremony itself. The bride would be symbolically stripped of everything Austrian at the border and re-dressed in French garments, a ritual designed to emphasize her complete transfer of allegiance.

The young archduchess spent her final months in Austria in a whirlwind of preparation. Her mother subjected her to increasingly intense instruction in French court etiquette, political history, and the delicate art of navigating Versailles' treacherous social waters. Maria Theresa's letters to her daughter during this period, later published as "Secret Correspondence," reveal a mother torn between genuine affection and political necessity. She warned Marie Antoinette about the moral dangers of the French court while simultaneously instructing her to charm and influence key figures.

The Austrian court's reaction to the impending departure was mixed. Some courtiers, like Prince Starhemberg, saw the marriage as a diplomatic triumph that would secure Austria's western flank. Others, particularly those from old aristocratic families with long memories of French aggression, viewed it as a betrayal of Habsburg tradition. The court chaplain, Father Ignatius Müller, privately recorded his concerns about sending a young, innocent girl into what he viewed as a den of corruption and impiety.