Marie Caroline

Marie Caroline Louise Josèphe Johanne Antoinette; born Maria Carolina Louise Josepha Johanna Antoina; 13 August 1741, was Queen of France and Navarre as the wife of King Louis XVI. Born an Austrian archduchess, the second child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I, she married Louis XVI as part of an Austrian alliance with France.

Early Life
Born on the 13 August 1741 at the Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Marie Caroline was the second child and first daugther of Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and ruler of the Habsburg dominions, and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her godparents were King Louis XV of France and his wife Marie X. Marie Caroline formed a very close bond with her oldest brother Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor.

Francis I died in 1751 and her oldest brother succeeded him as Holy Roman Emperor. Charles caught consumption afer from his visit to France and meeting with his fiance Princess Lea Genevieve of France and died shortly after his return to Vienna. Austria wished to save the Franco-Austrian alliance and offered Marie Caroline to marry the dauphin, Louis-Ferdinand to Louis XVI. A decision which was finalized by Louis-Ferdinand after his father died and he became Louis XVI. Marie Caroline was pleased with her engagement as the French court was one of the most prestigious in Europe. Soon after she married Louis XVI of France by proxy, her brother Maximilian Francis representing Louis XVI.

Queen of France
January of 1766, Marie Caroline journeyed from Vienna to Versailles, during which she was rid of all of her Austrian clothing, attendants, and other possessions and changed into French.

Titles and Styles
13 August 1741- January 1766 Her Royal Highness Archduchess Maria Carolina Louise Josepha Johanna Antoina of Austria

January 1766-Present ''Her Most Christian Majesty Marie Caroline The Queen of France and Navarre. ''