His brief was to push through the innovations that Joseph II had determined on and that the previous minister plenipotentiary, Ludovico, Count of Belgioioso, had been forced to dial back.

Count Richard d'Alton (1732-1790), General Commander of Imperial Forces in Austrian Netherlands was against such drastic reforms and advised against them.

In November, he began to offer concessions and recognise ancient liberties, but too late to stem revolutionary rejection of Austrian authority.

He accompanied the Emperor Francis II to Brussels for his reception as ruler during the short-lived Austrian restoration of 1793–1794.

The title of Fürst was inheritable only by the Head of the family, while all other legitimate male line descendants were Count/Countess von Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg.