These two sons of Louis Ferdinand and Marie Josèphe could hardly have been more different. Whereas Louis Auguste - later Louis XVI - was reserved and contemplative, Louis Stanislas Xavier was confident and intensely discontent with his lot as the younger son.
Their relationship had been rocky from an early age. One episode when the two brothers were in their teens involved the accidental breaking of porcelain belonging to the Comte de Provence by his notoriously inelegant elder brother. Quick to anger, the two actually ended in a fight which was only broken up by the interference of the newly arrived Marie Antoinette. The last years of Louis XV's reign saw the three princely pairs (Louis XVI/Marie Antoinette, Comte and Comtesse de Provence and Comte and Comtesse d'Artois) mingling as a family, including with weekly dinners and evenings spent with each other. This period was largely dominated by an awkward stalemate with the power of the king acting as a stabilizing factor. However, when Louis XV died in 1774, the ascension of Louis XVI immediately shattered any illusion of equality between the brothers.
Fundamentally, the brothers were like night and day. Provence tended to prefer a hardline against attacks on the monarchy - he would later urge Louis XVI to handle the revolutionaries with an iron fist. In contrast, Louis XVI had a tendency to dither endlessly on the course of action. This indecisiveness essentially stemmed from an immense insecurity and self-doubt which Provence had little understanding for. Provence himself said that trying to pin his brother's character down was like trying to hold "two oiled billiard balls together".
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| Louis Stanislas Xavier, Comte de Provence |
Louis XVI's character was incredibly difficult to read as he rarely gave a clear indication of what he was thinking. This, in turn, made it impossible to anticipate his next move which Louis Stanislas Xavier simply did not understand. Like many of their contemporaries, the Comte de Provence likely interpreted the silence of Louis XVI as stupidity - in Provence's case, because he himself would never react in that manner.
The crux of the issue was primarily jealousy. The Comte de Provence considered his brother a weak ruler and often challenged him, even in public. The seven long years of infertility of his elder brother's marriage meant that Louis Stanislas Xavier remained the heir to the throne for close to a decade. However, with the births of two nephews, the Comte de Provence saw himself sliding lower down the succession. This was a source of immense frustration for a man who considered himself better suited for kingship than his brother. Louis XVI - in turn - did not permit his younger brother to play a part in the politics of the court which caused Provence to leave Versailles for extended periods from 1774.
While in his self-imposed exile, the Comte de Provence used his influence to undermine both his brother and his sister-in-law whom he had rapidly fallen out with. The leaking of a confidential memorandum in April 1781 was largely attributed to Provence; as were scandalous pamphlets mocking the infertility of his brother's marriage prior to 1778. After the birth of Madame Royale, Provence turned his attention to questioning her paternity instead. Once again, such seemingly unprovoked - and remarkably vicious - attacks on his brother can be attributed to jealousy. Despite loud boasting of his own virility, the Comte de Provence was by all accounts impotent. His marriage to the Comtesse remained childless and it was even questioned whether it had been consummated at all. In that light, he might have been further angered when Marie Antoinette finally began giving birth to the new generation of royals. If one is to look sympathetically on Provence, it must have been frustrating to always feel outdone by his brother. Not only did Louis XVI possess all the power that Provence desperately desired, he was also able to produce a family. In contrast, Provence was without both influence and children.
While the rumours surrounding his brother's marriage were crude, at least, the memorandum was a political challenge to his brother. The new king had shown himself to be more amenable to the parlements who had caused Louis XV endless troubles with their attacks on royal authority. As usual, Provence advocated a stern response and even went so far as to publicly demand of his brother (in the memorandum) whether he intended to replace an openly disobedient Parlement in a position of power. Naturally, Louis XVI did not take kindly to been thus publicly challenged on his policies.
| Louis XVI |
If Louis XVI's relationship with his brother had cooled over the years, that with his wife had become far stronger. Having initially been extremely skeptical of Marie Antoinette's intentions (he was instructed to consider her little more than an Austrian spy), the queen's unwavering support of her husband throughout his public trials brought them closer together. Thus, when Provence turned his attacks on Marie Antoinette, any chance of a reconciliation vastly dwindled.
Oddly enough, despite their differences the two helped each other out when it came to financial issues. Both the Comte and Comtesse de Provence were living lavishly and racked up immense debts which they had no way of repaying. Consequently, Louis XVI paid off 10.000.000 livres for his wayward brother and sister-in-law in 1780. Likewise, it was Louis XVI that the Comte de Provence turned to when he fell out with Beaumarchais after the publication of the Marriage of Figaro. Provence deeply hated that particular play and had publicly criticised it prompting Beaumarchais to retort in a manner considered deeply insulting by Provence. Louis XVI would sanction the imprisonment of Beaumarchais for a brief period.
Ten years later, Provence was implicated in the so-called Favras-conspiracy which focused on the forceful removal of Louis XVI and the appointment of the Comte de Provence as Lieutenant General of the Realm. However, the plans were discovered and quickly abandoned by Provence while Favras himself was executed.
The relationship between Louis Auguste and Louis Stanislas Xavier might have been merely an average fraternal relationship between two very different people - if they had not been royal. However, their very status elevated their internal feuds to nationwide issues; anger that could have been kept within the family was easy to display using the established papers, and jealousy over precedence had influence over the very perception of the monarchy as a unit.
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