At the sudden death of her father in 1765, Élisabeth's oldest surviving brother, Louis-Auguste (later to be Louis XVI) became the new Dauphin (the heir apparent to the French throne).

[7] They were tutored in botany by M. Lemonnier, in history and geography by M. Leblond, and in religion by Abbé de Montigat, Canon of Chartres, and they followed the court among the royal palaces, with their days divided between studies, walks in the Park, and drives in the forest.

[6] While Clotilde was described as a docile pupil "who made herself loved by all who approached her", Élisabeth long refused to study, saying that "there were always people at hand whose duty it was to think for princes",[6] and treated her staff with impatience.

[6] After this, Élisabeth was given Marie Angélique de Mackau as her tutor, who reportedly had "the firmness which bends resistance, and the affectionate kindness which inspires attachment", and under whose tuition Èlisabeth made progress in her education, as well as developing a softer personality, with her strong will directed toward religious principles.

[6] Next, she was offered a proposal by the Duke of Aosta (future Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia), brother of the Crown Prince of Savoy and brother-in-law of her sister Clotilde.

The court of France, however, did not consider it proper for a French princess to be married to a prince of lower status than that of a monarch or an heir to a throne, and the marriage was refused on her behalf.

[5] Finally, a marriage was suggested between her and her sister-in-law's brother Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, who had a good impression of her from his visit to France the previous year, and commented that he was attracted by the "vivacity of her intellect and her amiable character.

[6] When she left the royal children's chamber and formed her own household as an adult, she reportedly resolved to protect herself from the potential moral threats from court life by continuing to follow the principles set by her governesses and tutors during her childhood: to devote her days to a schedule of religious devotion, study, riding and walks, and to socialize only with "the ladies who have educated me and who are attached to me [...] my good aunts, the Ladies of St. Cyr, the Carmelites of St.

Regardless of these differences, she did occasionally visit Marie Antoinette in the Petit Trianon where they fished in the artificial lake, watched the cows being milked and welcomed the King and his brothers for supper "in white cotton dresses, straw hats and gauze fichus", and she did, at least on one occasion, agree to participate in one of the Queen's amateur theatre performances.

The learned Professor shared his botanical studies in his garden with the Princess, and even his experiments in his laboratory; and Mme Élisabeth in return associated her old friend with her in her charities, and made him her almoner in the village.

She attended the opening of the Assembly of Notables at Versailles on 22 February 1787 and commented: Élisabeth and her brother Charles-Philippe, Comte d'Artois, were the staunchest conservatives in the royal family.

Unlike Artois, who, on the order of the king, left France on 17 July 1789, three days after the storming of the Bastille,[10] Élisabeth refused to emigrate when the gravity of the events set in motion by the French Revolution became clear.

She advised the king to carry out "a vigorous and speedy repression of the riot"[6] rather than to negotiate, and that the royal family should relocate to some town further from Paris, so as to be free from any influence of factions.

[6] In contrast to the queen, Madame Élisabeth had a good reputation among the public, and was referred to as the "Sainte Genevieve of the Tuileries" by the market women of Las Halles.

"[6] At the inn at Dormans, Élisabeth was reportedly contacted by Officer Jean Landrieux, who used her as an intermediary in his unsuccessful attempt to help the family escape through the window and via the river to Vincelles.

[6] After the execution of the former king on 21 January 1793 and the separation of her nephew, the young 'Louis XVII', from the rest of the family on 3 July, Élisabeth was left with Marie Antoinette, and Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, Madame Royale, in their apartment in the Tower.

When her sister-in-law was removed, both Élisabeth and her niece unsuccessfully requested to follow her; initially, however, they kept in contact with Marie Antoinette through the servant Hüe, who was acquainted with Mme Richard in the Conciergerie.

"[6][12] On 9 May 1794, Élisabeth, referred to only as "sister of Louis Capet", was transferred to the Conciergerie by a delegation of commissaries headed by Monet acting upon the orders of Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville.

She was accused of having participated in the secret councils of Marie Antoinette; of having entertained correspondence with internal and external enemies, among them her exiled brothers, and conspired with them against the safety and liberty of the French people; of supplying émigrés with funds financing their war against France by selling her diamonds through agents in the Netherlands; of having known and assisted in the King's Flight to Varennes; of encouraging the resistance of the royal troops during the events of 10 August 1792 to arrange a massacre on the people storming the palace.

[6] Élisabeth stated that she knew for a fact that Marie Antoinette had not held secret councils; that she had only known and had contact with friends of France, and had no contact with her exiled brothers since she left the Tuileries; that she had not provided émigrés with funds; that she had not known of the Flight to Varennes beforehand and that its purpose had not been to leave the country but only retire to the countryside for the King's health and that she had accompanied her brother on his orders; she also denied having visited the Swiss Guard with Marie Antoinette during the night before the 10 August 1792.

Relating to the accusation that she had encouraged the Swiss Guard and the royalist defender against the attackers during the 10 August, she was asked: "Did you not, take care of and dress the wounds of the assassins who were sent to the Champs-Élysées against the brave Marseillais by your brother?"

"[6] When asked whether she did not refer to her nephew as king, ignoring the fact that France was a republic, her reply: "I talked familiarly with the poor child, who was dear to me on more than one account; I, therefore, gave him the consolation which appeared to me capable of comforting him for the loss of those to whom he owed his being."

This was interpreted as a sign that she "nourished the little Capet with the projects of vengeance which you and yours have not ceased to form against Liberty, and that you flattered yourself with the hope of raising again a broken throne by inundating it with the blood of patriots.

"[6] Her defender Chauveau-Lagarde later recollected his speech in her defence: Dumas replied to her defender's "audacity to speak of what he called the pretended virtues of the Accused and to have thus corrupted public morality", and then held his speech to the Jury: "Plots and conspiracies have existed formed by Capet, his wife, his family, his agents, his accomplices, in consequence of which there have been provocations to war from the allied Tyrants abroad, and civil war at home.

Succours in men and arms have been furnished to the enemy; troops have been assembled; dispositions taken; chiefs named to assassinate the people, annihilate liberty, and re-establish despotism.

"[6] The Jury declared Elisabeth and all of her 24 co-accused guilty as charged, after which the Tribunal, "according to the fourth Article of the second part of the Penal Code",[6] condemned them to death and to be guillotined the following day.

[6] While she was being strapped to the board, her fichu (a sort of shawl) fell off, exposing her shoulders, and she cried to the executioner "Au nom de votre mère, monsieur, couvrez-moi.

[19] On 15 November 2017, Vingt-Trois, after consulting the Conference of Bishops of France and the nihil obstat of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome, hopes that the process will lead to the canonization of Princess Elisabeth, sister of Louis XVI.

[20] Snoëk has suggested an alternate path for the beatification of Élisabeth based on the motu proprio Maiorem hac dilectionem promulgated by Pope Francis on 11 July 2017.

[21] Élisabeth, who had turned thirty a week before her death, was executed essentially because she was a sister of the king;[22] however, the general consensus of the French revolutionaries was that she was a supporter of the ultra-right royalist faction.