Marie Antoinette & Maria Carolina

Maria Carolina of Austria was born on 13 August 1752 as the 13th child of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Empress Maria Theresa. She was just three years older than her younger sister Marie Antoinette, the tragic Queen of France.

All the children began their day at 7.30 and always started with prayer. After prayer, they received instruction in grammar and handwriting before attending Mass. Afterwards, they saw their mother for an hour or so and in the afternoon, more lessons followed. Around 5, they were back in church, and they also exercised. Only the evenings were free.

Maria Carolina did not stand out from her siblings, although she was known to be clever, but she failed to apply herself. Instead, she preferred to have fun with Marie Antoinette. When their elder sister Maria Christina married in 1766, they were still deemed too young to join in celebrations. The eldest of the sisters, Maria Anna, suffered from ill health and remained unmarried. One by one, the sisters were considered for marriage, but the year 1767 would change everything.

Her mother was planning the wedding of her sixteen-year-old sister Maria Josepha to Ferdinand, King of Naples, although he had originally been betrothed to their sister Maria Johanna, who had died of smallpox in 1762. Ferdinand’s behaviour apparently left much to be desired, and Maria Theresa wrote, “The young King shows no taste for anything but hunting and the theatre; he is unusually childish, learns nothing, and knows nothing except bad provincial Italian, and has on several occasions given proof of harshness and arbitrariness. He is accustomed to have his own way, and there is no one with him who can or will give him a good education.”¹ She later added, “I look upon poor Josepha as a sacrifice to politics.”¹ For Maria Carolina, Maria Theresa seemed to have settled on another Ferdinand, the Duke of Parma.

Then smallpox struck once more. Both Maria Theresa and her daughter-in-law, coincidentally also named Maria Josepha, fell ill and the latter fatally so. Maria Theresa survived the illness, but it was not done with the family yet. On 4 October, to prepare for the journey to Naples, Maria Theresa took Maria Josepha down to the crypt to pray at the tomb of her father. Soon afterwards, smallpox returned and took the life of the would-be Queen of Naples. Her elder sister Maria Elisabeth also fell ill and was left horribly scarred, which also ruled her out as a royal bride.

Maria Carolina was chosen to be the new Queen of Naples, while another sister, Maria Amalia, would marry the Duke of Parma. A new alliance between France and Austria determined that Marie Antoinette would marry the future King Louis XVI. Maria Carolina was horrified and pleaded with her mother. It was no use. On 17 April 1768, Maria Carolina married the King of Naples by proxy, and she was sent off the very same day. She tearfully clung to her little sister Marie Antoinette until they were finally pried apart. Even then, she jumped from the carriage at the last moment for another embrace.²

Almost immediately during the journey, Maria Carolina wrote to her former governess, “Write to me the smallest details of my sister Antoinette, what she says, what she does, and almost what she thinks. I beg and entreat you to love her very much, for I am terribly interested for her.”³ Upon arrival, Maria Carolina was disappointed in her husband’s appearance, but “one gets used to that.”⁴ His character was much better than she had been told, and she became resolved to win him over. Eventually, she managed to influence him, and she gave birth to 18 children.

When Marie Antoinette married the future King Louis XVI of France in 1770, Maria Carolina wrote to their former governess, “When I reflect that her fate will, perhaps, be like mine, I wish I could write volumes to her about it. I desire greatly that she may have someone with her like me at the beginning, otherwise, I frankly own that it is desperation.”⁵ Once married, Marie Antoinette kept up a steady correspondence with Maria Carolina. In 1785, Maria Carolina was asked to be the godmother of Marie Antoinette’s third child, Louis Charles, Duke of Normandy.⁶

As the French Revolution hit, Maria Carolina was appalled and wanted to send an army to put it down. However, their brother Leopold could only be prevailed upon to threaten with an invasion, but he did not want to actually do it. After the failed flight to Varennes, Maria Carolina wrote, “I am tormented by the continual fears for the unhappy fate of my sister in France.”⁵

When news reached Naples that Marie Antoinette had been executed on 16 October 1793, Maria Carolina – heavily pregnant with her 17th child – was so distraught that it was feared that she would lose the baby. She cried, “Good God! Did you ever think the French would have treated my sister and her husband in so horrible a way?”⁷ She gave birth to a healthy daughter two months later, but she did not rally quickly. She wrote, “I am so excessively ill that I can barely hold my pen and spend only the briefest time out of bed. The torments I have endured have ruined my health.”⁷

Maria Carolina lived through the troubles caused by Napoleon, although they would be exiled from Naples for a time. She was in Vienna when she probably suffered a stroke during the night. She was found dead on the morning of 8 September 1814. She was buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, far away from her beloved sister. Nine months after her death, her husband was restored to the throne. Her daughter, Maria Amalia, became Queen of the French in 1830.

1. In the Shadow of the Empress by Nancy Goldstone p.199
2. Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser p.64
3. A sister of Marie Antoinette by Catherine Mary Charlton Bearne p.68
4. A sister of Marie Antoinette by Catherine Mary Charlton Bearne p.71
5. In the Shadow of the Empress by Nancy Goldstone p.255
6. Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser p.267
7. In the Shadow of the Empress by Nancy Goldstone p.498