"I can only marry a King's son, and a King's son must reign over his father's kingdom. I should no longer be a Frenchwoman. I do not wish to cease to be one. It is far better to stay here at the foot of my brother's throne than to ascend another." Madame Élisabeth did not play any royal role prior to the Revolution; she viewed the royal court as decadent and a threat to her moral welfare, and acted to distance herself from it, and she attended court only when her presence was absolutely necessary or when she was explicitly asked by the king or queen. 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. Denis". She often visited her aunt, Louise of France, at the Carmelite convent of St. Denis. The king, who was somewhat worried that she would become a nun, once said "I ask nothing better than that you should go to see your aunt, on condition that you do not follow her example: Élisabeth, I need you." A staunch believer in absolute monarchy, Élisabeth had great respect for the position of her eldest brother the king, and regarded it her duty to stand by him. On a personal level, she was deeply devoted to her second brother, the Count of Provence: "My brother the Comte de Provence, is at the same time the best adviser and the most charming conteur. He is seldom mistaken in his judgment of men and things, and his prodigious memory furnishes him in all circumstances with a never ending flow of interesting anecdote." Her youngest brother, the Count of Artois, was dissimilar to her and was sometimes given an "affectionate lecture" by her for his scandals, though he came to admire her. Her relationship with Queen Marie Antoinette was complicated, as they were quite dissimilar. Marie Antoinette reportedly found Élisabeth delightful when she first entered court as an adult: "The Queen is