Marie Antoinette May 1774, the Dauphin ascended the throne as King Louis XVI of France and Navarre with Marie Antoinette as his Queen. At the outset, the new queen had limited political influence with her husband, who, with the support of his two most important ministers, Chief Minister Maurepas and Foreign Minister Vergennes, blocked several of her candidates from assuming important positions, including Choiseul. The queen did play a decisive role in the disgrace and exile of the most powerful of Louis XV's ministers, the Duke of Aiguillon. On 24 May 1774, two weeks after the death of Louis XV, the king
Marie Antoinette and remarked in a letter to Auguste Marie Raymond d'Arenberg, comte de La Marck, that she was the only person the king had by him: "La reine est le seul homme que le roi ait auprès de lui." An agreement was reached turning Mirabeau into one of her political allies: Marie Antoinette promised to pay him 6000 livres per month and one million if he succeeded in his mission to restore the king's authority. The only time the royal couple returned to Paris in that period was on 14 July to attend the "Fête de la Fédération", an official ceremony