As the daughter of the Dauphin, she was a fille de France. Lemonnier, in history and geography by M. Madame de Marsan would often take her to visit the students at St.
Cyr , where select young ladies were presented to be introduced to the princess. Queen Marie Antoinette commented:. Several attempts were made to arrange a marriage for her. The first suggested partner was Jose, Prince of Brazil. She made no objections to the match but was reportedly relieved when the negotiations were discontinued. The court of France, however, did not consider it proper for a French princess to be married to a prince of lower status than that of a monarch or an heir to a throne, and the marriage was refused on her behalf.
Finally, a marriage was suggested between her and her sister-in-law's brother Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor , who had a good impression of her from his visit to France the previous year, and commented that he was attracted by the "vivacity of her intellect and her amiable character.
I should no longer be a Frenchwoman. I do not wish to cease to be one. It is far better to stay here at the foot of my brother's throne than to ascend another. Cyr, the Carmelites of St. She often visited her aunt, Louise of France , at the Carmelite convent of St. On a personal level, she was deeply devoted to her second brother, the Count of Provence: "My brother the Comte de Provence, is at the same time the best adviser and the most charming conteur. He is seldom mistaken in his judgment of men and things, and his prodigious memory furnishes him in all circumstances with a never-ending flow of interesting anecdote.
Her relationship with Queen Marie Antoinette was complicated, as they were quite dissimilar. She tells everyone that there is no one more amiable, that she did not know her well before, but that now she has made her her friend and that it will be for life.
