[7] Her mother considered her childish and immature, calling her eine Kokette der Schönheit ('a pretty coquette'), observing: 'It mattered not if the look of admiration came from a prince or a Swiss guard, Elisabeth was satisfied.

'[6] She was active in court life: at the wedding of her brother Joseph in 1765, she played the part of Apollo in the operetta Il Parnaso confuso by Christoph Willibald Gluck.

She was a subject of marriage speculations at an early age, but many proposals were denied because of the Viennese court's high expectations for the status of her groom.

[citation needed] A marriage with King Stanisław II August of Poland was suggested after his succession in 1764, but both Catherine the Great of Russia and Maria Theresa disapproved for political reasons.

The empress of Russia was wary of the Habsburg monarchy becoming stronger in Central and Eastern Europe, and Elisabeth's mother considered King Stanisław untrustworthy and of lowly origins.

Persons in power imagine that a queen, judicious and amiable, who would succeed in gaining the affection of her husband, might open his eyes to the irregularities and the enormous abuses which exist in all departments here, and cause much embarrassment to those who direct them.

Like her unmarried sister Maria Anna, she did not live in the convent but continued to spend her time with the imperial court in Vienna.

[citation needed] Her younger brother Leopold, who succeeded Joseph as emperor in 1790 involved her more in state affairs, giving her representational tasks.

She was allowed to travel again[clarification needed] and visited the Puster Valley several times with her chamberlain, Count Spaur, and spent the winter of 1800–1801 in Bruneck.

[citation needed] In January 1806, Elisabeth fled from Innsbruck to Vienna and then to Linz when Tyrol was taken over by Napoleon Bonaparte’s ally, the Kingdom of Bavaria.