Maison du Roi) in the government of the first Bourbon restoration and given the rank of maréchal de camp (major general). He assumed a dominant role in the new king's Conseil du Roi, essentially acting as prime minister. But, unskilled, he made an assortment of errors, favoring members of the Ancien Régime too often. In addition, his cool and aloof behavior alienated many. On Napoleon's return from Elba, Blacas accompanied the new king on his flight to Ghent. Upon the king's return to Paris after the Battle of Waterloo, though, Blacas' unpopularity led to his dismissal. In compensation, he was named a peer of France with the title of Comte de Blacas d'Aulps. Soon, however, his place as royal advisor was taken over by the more moderate Élie Decazes. Diplomatic service in Italy A scapegoat for the royalist excesses of 1814, Blacas was unofficially exiled as the French ambassador to the court of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, whose capital was located in Naples. There, he negotiated the 1816 marriage of the Louis XVIII's nephew, the Duke of Berry, to Francis I of the Two Sicilies's daughter Caroline. Also in 1816, Blacas became a member of both the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Afterwards, he was appointed to be the French ambassador to the Holy See in Rome. He signed a concordat between Bourbon France and Pope Pius VII on 11 June 1817. In 1820, he received the Ordre du Saint-Esprit. While still ambassador in Rome, he was one of three French representatives to the Congress of Laibach in 1821. Remaining in Rome for many years, he provided the French artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres in 1817 with his first official commission since 1814 and became a patron to the German classicist Theodor Panofka, who returned with him to Paris in 1828. In addition, he worked closely with Italian archaeologist Carlo Fea in the excavation of the Roman Forum. Together, they correctly identified the Temple of Castor and Pollux in 1816. Return in France and final years Louis XVIII raised his title of comte (Count) to that of Duke of Blacas (Duc de Blacas) on 30 April 1821. After his death, the new king, Charles X, chose him to be one of his premier gentilhommes de la chambre. Blacas was also appointed superintendent to the Crown properties (intendant général des Bâtiments de la Couronne). During