WI: Louis XVII becomes King of France, who does he marry?

[ByzantineLover]

I do apologise if I am beating a dead horse here, but the subject of France from the Revolution to the July Monarchy has been on my mind as of lately, and I'd like to try and get an answer to this question out of sheer curiosity.

Let's say Louis Charles (or Louis XVII as he was proclaimed by royalists), his sister and parents escape in a successful Flight to Montmedy, then ends up on the throne during a Bourbon Restoration instead of his uncles. Who might he marry in the interim?

His mother, Marie Antoinette, had plans for his elder brother, Louis Joseph, to marry his first cousin, Maria Amalia of Naples & Sicily, and in the ATL "The Bourbons in Exile: After Varennes" by REICHFURST, that does happen, with Louis Charles marrying Grand Duchess Catherine of Russia. But as Louis Joseph did die IOTL in 1789, the option for a marriage between Maria Amalia of Naples and Louis Charles might still be open.

I've found a few other potential candidates who might been options during an ATL exile:

Princess Maria Augusta of Saxony, the only daughter of Elector Frederick Augustus III of Saxony (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Maria_Augusta_of_Saxony).

Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, the youngest daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduchess_Maria_Amalia_of_Austria_(1780-1798)).

Tsar Paul of Russia's elder daughters - Alexandra (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Alexandra_Pavlovna_of_Russia), Elena (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Elena_Pavlovna_of_Russia), Maria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Maria_Pavlovna_of_Russia_(1786–1859)) or Catherine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Pavlovna_of_Russia).

Princess Maria Louisa of Spain, OTL Duchess of Lucca (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Luisa,_Duchess_of_Lucca).

Princess Maria Isabella of Spain, OTL Queen of the Two Sicilies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/María_Isabella_of_Spain).

Any thoughts?

 

[Alcsentre Calanice]

Saint-Just, Robespierre, Napoléon... there're so many possibilities

 

[Autocrat]

Most likely Spain or Saxony.

 

[isabella]

I think either Amnalia are the most likely candidates. The russian grand duchesses are out because of their religion, the Spanish princesses are really unlikely for many reasons so the order of preference of his parents is likely:
Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, Maria Amalia of Austria and Maria Augusta of Saxony

 

[chateauroux]

I think I'd go for Maria Amalia of Naples (due to the family connection with Marie Antoinette and the previous plans to marry her to his elder brother). Another possibility, simply in terms of trying to have the smallest possible age gap, might be her younger sister, Maria Antonia (who in OTL married the future Ferdinand VII of Spain). However, as died of tuberculosis in 1806 it really depends on when the marriage was arranged.

 

[ByzantineLover]

Okay, I see the majority have voted for Maria Amalia of Spain. I knew there would be problems with some of the others. Maria Augusta of Saxony's father initially didn't want to get involved in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, a marriage with any of the Grand Duchesses or Maria Amalia of Austria might depend on whether the royal family would have stayed in Vienna or gone to live with the Comte de Provence in Russia. Marie Antoinette supposedly wasn't as close to her brother and nephew, Emperors Leopold II and Francis II, as she had been with their elder brother, Emperor Joseph II. And there's the ever-changing relationship between France and Spain under Manuel Godoy.

 

[unprincipled peter]

I think the interim is going to be a tough time to find him a spouse.

the Spanish are out as they're being held under the thumb of Napoleon France. Maybe once Spain gets invaded
the saxon is out as they're also on Nap's side.
Marie Antoinette was none too popular in France due to her Austrian heritage. why marry him to someone not likely to garner acceptance in France?

As long as Nap is kicking everyone's butts, it's going to be tough for a royal marriage

might just be better to let the dust settle, then everyone is going to want to marry him.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

Well, if he marries after the Restoration then most of those ladies will either be PAST their sell-by dates or widows, and also the whole political landscape is different:

Alexander I of Russia proposed his youngest sister, Anna, for Louis XVIII/the duc de Berri, but then came the Hundred Days with the Bourbons losing their throne and Sasha decided that the Bourbons weren't really a horse he wanted to back (TBH there was some snobbery towards him, esp. by Mme Royal and the king, he was treated rather shabbily in Paris (Josèphine treated him better), and the jewelry that he gave Mme Royal as a partig gift she passed onto her chambermaids, that might've also played a part in the decision).

As to other Restauration options, Louis XVIII sent out feelers both to Naples and to Dresden for a bride for Berri after that. See, while Saxony had SUPPORTED Napoléon, it differed from Bavaria, Baden and Württemberg in that it hadn't actually married into his family, so I guess it was still a good idea.

I agree about the Spanish infantas, and Maria Amalia of Naples reportedly burst into tears when her sisters (Cristina and Antonietta) left home after marrying, bemoaning that she was "a bride with no bridegroom" - so naturally when Orléans asked for her hand she was thrilled, her mother, not so much. (There had been an incident in the early 1800s when Berri was sent to Naples to scout out a potential wife (Maria Amelia or Maria Cristina) and there was a bit of a scandal that resulted in a kerfuffle with Berri sent home with no bride.

As to the Austrian archduchess, the match considered between France and Austria was a double one. Mme Royal would marry the duke of Teschen, while the duc d'Angoulême (her brother was dead by this point) would marry Marie Amalie, who would bring certain parts of the Austrian Netherlands as her dowry. Louis XVIII wasn't interested, since he pointed out that the Austrians were holding Mme Royal, and plus had never pqid the full sum of Marie Antoinette's dowry over to the French. (The Austrians had, but supposedly the reason Louis XVIII brought the topic up was to point out that as long as they held Mme Royal he wouldn't bite, it was either HER or the outstanding amount - Austria insulted, sent Mme Royal to Courland rather than cough up MORE money). Also, the Empress, Maria Teresa of Naples, might've influenced her husband in this decision, since in several cases, she made bones about Mme Royal being a "poor" relation of her husband, who "owed" him her loyalty (and could show this by agreeing to a match with Teschen (which Mme Royal refused, since she believed LXVIII that her parents had wanted her to marry Angoulême).

 

[ByzantineLover]

Well, if he marries after the Restoration then most of those ladies will either be PAST their sell-by dates or widows, and also the whole political landscape is different:

Alexander I of Russia proposed his youngest sister, Anna, for Louis XVIII/the duc de Berri, but then came the Hundred Days with the Bourbons losing their throne and Sasha decided that the Bourbons weren't really a horse he wanted to back (TBH there was some snobbery towards him, esp. by Mme Royal and the king, he was treated rather shabbily in Paris (Josèphine treated him better), and the jewelry that he gave Mme Royal as a partig gift she passed onto her chambermaids, that might've also played a part in the decision).

As to other Restauration options, Louis XVIII sent out feelers both to Naples and to Dresden for a bride for Berri after that. See, while Saxony had SUPPORTED Napoléon, it differed from Bavaria, Baden and Württemberg in that it hadn't actually married into his family, so I guess it was still a good idea.

I agree about the Spanish infantas, and Maria Amalia of Naples reportedly burst into tears when her sisters (Cristina and Antonietta) left home after marrying, bemoaning that she was "a bride with no bridegroom" - so naturally when Orléans asked for her hand she was thrilled, her mother, not so much. (There had been an incident in the early 1800s when Berri was sent to Naples to scout out a potential wife (Maria Amelia or Maria Cristina) and there was a bit of a scandal that resulted in a kerfuffle with Berri sent home with no bride.

As to the Austrian archduchess, the match considered between France and Austria was a double one. Mme Royal would marry the duke of Teschen, while the duc d'Angoulême (her brother was dead by this point) would marry Marie Amalie, who would bring certain parts of the Austrian Netherlands as her dowry. Louis XVIII wasn't interested, since he pointed out that the Austrians were holding Mme Royal, and plus had never pqid the full sum of Marie Antoinette's dowry over to the French. (The Austrians had, but supposedly the reason Louis XVIII brought the topic up was to point out that as long as they held Mme Royal he wouldn't bite, it was either HER or the outstanding amount - Austria insulted, sent Mme Royal to Courland rather than cough up MORE money). Also, the Empress, Maria Teresa of Naples, might've influenced her husband in this decision, since in several cases, she made bones about Mme Royal being a "poor" relation of her husband, who "owed" him her loyalty (and could show this by agreeing to a match with Teschen (which Mme Royal refused, since she believed LXVIII that her parents had wanted her to marry Angoulême).

Yeah, I had thought about Louis not marrying until after the Bourbon Restoration, but ever since watching a documentary on Louis XV, I've been under this impression that nobles, especially royal heirs, were under pressure to get breeding ASAP. I've had a look and I've only really got one candidate - Maria Leopoldina of Austria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Leopoldina_of_Austria), OTL Queen consort of Portugal and Empress consort of Brazil. Though, if the earlier double-Austrian match is proposed, I think Marie Antoinette might have jumped on it.

 

[isabella]

A Louis Charles who is not captive of the French will be likely married as soon is possible. If Marie-Antoinette can have voice in the choice of her future daughter-in-law she will surely support her dearest sister's daughter so either Maria Amelia or Maria Antonia of Naples. I think at least Marie Antoinette really wanted one of Marie Caroline's daughters as bride for her son and Angouleme as husband for her own daughter (Married to him Marie Therese Charlotte will remain a French Princess and able to stay close to her family). About the Austriam matches I am not sure if she will accept something like that (Teschen is only the third son of Leopold) and in any case with Louis Charles alive and free the Austrian will have at least more courtesy: Louis XVII is the titual King and Madame Royal his sister and they are both close relatives and children of an Austrian Archduchess and if they are with her mother I think Leopold and after him Franz will not openly insult them.

Berry was unmarried at the Restauration mostly become he was unable to find a bride and in any case he was a spare, his brother was already married but sadly without childrens. Louis XVII as titular king will be quicly married when he will reach the right age and a princess a little older than him (like his cousins of Naples) will be the ideal choice (because they do not need to wait for her).

After the Restauration (but likely searching a second and not a first wife for the reasons I said before) the most logical choices are either Maria Leopoldina of Austria or Marie Caroline of Naples (daughter of Francis I and his first wife, OTL duchess of Berry) and I still think the princess of Naples a better choice (she is a Bourbon, not an Habsburg and she is not Napoleon's sister-in-law). IF her brother will be willing to force her a change her religion also Anna of Russia (the OTL queen of Netherlands) can be a good choice

 

[ByzantineLover]

A Louis Charles who is not captive of the French will be likely married as soon is possible. If Marie-Antoinette can have voice in the choice of her future daughter-in-law she will surely support her dearest sister's daughter so either Maria Amelia or Maria Antonia of Naples. I think at least Marie Antoinette really wanted one of Marie Caroline's daughters as bride for her son and Angouleme as husband for her own daughter (Married to him Marie Therese Charlotte will remain a French Princess and able to stay close to her family). About the Austriam matches I am not sure if she will accept something like that (Teschen is only the third son of Leopold) and in any case with Louis Charles alive and free the Austrian will have at least more courtesy: Louis XVII is the titual King and Madame Royal his sister and they are both close relatives and children of an Austrian Archduchess and if they are with her mother I think Leopold and after him Franz will not openly insult them

I'm pretty sure Marie Therese Charlotte only married Angouleme because Angouleme's father said that's what her parents wanted. I know Marie Antoinette was on better terms, even friends, with Artois than Provence, but I'm not sure there's no way of knowing who Marie Antoinette wanted her daughter to marry. I suppose she would support a marriage between her daughter and Angouleme if she falls out with Emperor Francis.

As for Maria Amalia and Maria Antonia of Naples, I'd have to go with Maria Amalia, since, while both of Maria Antonia's pregnacies ended in miscarriages, eight out of Maria Amalia's ten OTL children survived into adulthood. Although, that might be because she and Louis Philippe weren't as closely related as she and Louis Charles were.

 

[isabella]

I'm pretty sure Marie Therese Charlotte only married Angouleme because Angouleme's father said that's what her parents wanted. I know Marie Antoinette was on better terms, even friends, with Artois than Provence, but I'm not sure there's no way of knowing who Marie Antoinette wanted her daughter to marry. I suppose she would support a marriage between her daughter and Angouleme if she falls out with Emperor Francis.

As for Maria Amalia and Maria Antonia of Naples, I'd have to go with Maria Amalia, since, while both of Maria Antonia's pregnacies ended in miscarriages, eight out of Maria Amalia's ten OTL children survived into adulthood. Although, that might be because she and Louis Philippe weren't as closely related as she and Louis Charles were.

Maria Antonia also was unhappily married and died very young.
Marie Antoinette was really close to her daughter and marrying her to the First Prince of Blood (after her brothers) was a good solution for keep her in France (and Marie Antoinette own life support that theory: she was unhappy to left Austria and unhappy in her first years as bride and likely she does not wanted who that happened also to her daughter). Maybe Artois made that up for convincing Madame Royale to marry Angouleme but likely he was telling the truth.

 

[ByzantineLover]

Maria Antonia also was unhappily married and died very young.
Marie Antoinette was really close to her daughter and marrying her to the First Prince of Blood (after her brothers) was a good solution for keep her in France (and Marie Antoinette own life support that theory: she was unhappy to left Austria and unhappy in her first years as bride and likely she does not wanted who that happened also to her daughter). Maybe Artois made that up for convincing Madame Royale to marry Angouleme but likely he was telling the truth.

Okay. I didn't know that.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

Yeah, I had thought about Louis not marrying until after the Bourbon Restoration, but ever since watching a documentary on Louis XV, I've been under this impression that nobles, especially royal heirs, were under pressure to get breeding ASAP. I've had a look and I've only really got one candidate - Maria Leopoldina of Austria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Leopoldina_of_Austria), OTL Queen consort of Portugal and Empress consort of Brazil. Though, if the earlier double-Austrian match is proposed, I think Marie Antoinette might have jumped on it.

Well, the main reason that there was such a rush to get Louis XV was breeding was because his minister, the Duc de Bourbon, wanted to avoid the succession crisis that would occur should the young king die childless. According to the Treaties of Utrecht, the heir to Louis was the duc d'Orléans (whom the Bourbon-Condé hated (can't remember the details, but it started out due to sibling rivalry between Madame la Duchesse and her sister, the duchesse d'Orléans, and poured over into succeeding generations), according to French house law, the heir was the king of Spain. So while the Regent had been willing to allow Louis XV to wait for Mariana Vittoria of Spain to grow up, the duc de Bourbon was not. This was part of the reason that Marie Leczszynska was chosen, she was older than Louis and ready to start breeding posthaste, although the French courtiers disparaged the match, citing "one did not even know who her grandparents were" (despite the fact that she descended from the Piasts), and "that her complexion had known no other cosmetics than melted snow".

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

A Louis Charles who is not captive of the French will be likely married as soon is possible. If Marie-Antoinette can have voice in the choice of her future daughter-in-law she will surely support her dearest sister's daughter so either Maria Amelia or Maria Antonia of Naples. I think at least Marie Antoinette really wanted one of Marie Caroline's daughters as bride for her son and Angouleme as husband for her own daughter (Married to him Marie Therese Charlotte will remain a French Princess and able to stay close to her family). About the Austriam matches I am not sure if she will accept something like that (Teschen is only the third son of Leopold) and in any case with Louis Charles alive and free the Austrian will have at least more courtesy: Louis XVII is the titual King and Madame Royal his sister and they are both close relatives and children of an Austrian Archduchess and if they are with her mother I think Leopold and after him Franz will not openly insult them.

Berry was unmarried at the Restauration mostly become he was unable to find a bride and in any case he was a spare, his brother was already married but sadly without childrens. Louis XVII as titular king will be quicly married when he will reach the right age and a princess a little older than him (like his cousins of Naples) will be the ideal choice (because they do not need to wait for her).

After the Restauration (but likely searching a second and not a first wife for the reasons I said before) the most logical choices are either Maria Leopoldina of Austria or Marie Caroline of Naples (daughter of Francis I and his first wife, OTL duchess of Berry) and I still think the princess of Naples a better choice (she is a Bourbon, not an Habsburg and she is not Napoleon's sister-in-law). IF her brother will be willing to force her a change her religion also Anna of Russia (the OTL queen of Netherlands) can be a good choice

As said, Alexander I was rather miffed with the Bourbons during his stay in Paris, and didn't consider them a horse worth backing. Plus, there would be an equal amount of snobbery, since the Bourbons (particularly Madame Royal) didn't consider the Romanovs as "equals". Mme Royal for one, pulled strings in Rome to move heaven and earth in order to prevent the proposed marriage between the Comte de Chambord and the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna

 

[isabella]

I do not knew about that kind of snub, who in any case is something happening well after our POD. And sure Louis XV was a special situation both for the trouble about the eventual succession and because Mariana Vittoria was a big political match (so big who Louis's son will marry as his first wife Mariana's youngest sister who was a little older than him) and Marie Leczszynska a political nonenty but usually princes and princesses were married young, in most cases between fourteen and twenty years old...

 

[Emperor Constantine]

Difficult question really. If your having Louis XVII marry in exile then the best bets are Naples or Austria. Both were avowed enemies of Revolutionary France and would be willing to marry one of their princesses to the uncrowned King. Personally I like the idea of having Franz I's oldest daughter Ludovika Elisabeth survive and marry Louis XVII, but that wasn't an option. A Spanish match could happen, depending on the date. The latest would be before Napoleon fully cements his power, like say 1802. A small window to be sure but possible.

Although to be honest, as the French Royal family is likely in Vienna or Naples at this point, a Bourbon or Habsburg match makes more sense.

 

[ByzantineLover]

Difficult question really. If your having Louis XVII marry in exile then the best bets are Naples or Austria. Both were avowed enemies of Revolutionary France and would be willing to marry one of their princesses to the uncrowned King. Personally I like the idea of having Franz I's oldest daughter Ludovika Elisabeth survive and marry Louis XVII, but that wasn't an option. A Spanish match could happen, depending on the date. The latest would be before Napoleon fully cements his power, like say 1802. A small window to be sure but possible.

Although to be honest, as the French Royal family is likely in Vienna or Naples at this point, a Bourbon or Habsburg match makes more sense.

I could see the royal family escaping to the Austrian Netherlands, then Vienna, where Louis XVII eventually marries Maria Amalia of Naples. If the War of the First Coalition goes as poorly as IOTL, Emperor Francis may tell his aunt's family to GTFO, and so they flee to Naples, and then Sicily if the French come after Italy. Louis XVII and Maria Amalia's son I could maybe see marrying Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Ludovika_of_Bavaria).