cahn

Franz Stefan was Liselotte's and thus of course Philippe's) grandson on his mother's side. His mother wasn't pleased that he was required to give up Lorraine in order to marry Maria Theresia; he got Tuscany for it as the last Medici duke had just died, which was part of a deal with France so France would support the Pragmatic Sanction once Maria Theresia's dad was dead. (Spoiler: they didn't and let Fritz invade instead.) Franz Stefan, aka Franzl, thus basically had to give up his duchy on the chance that he'd be elected Emperor (a job which however his wife would execute), and if his father-in-law had gotten a male heir at the last minute, he'd have been stuck with Tuscany (that was, IF he'd been able to hold it without support) for the rest of his life. However, he and Maria Theresia had known each other from childhood onwards and were that extreme rarity in 18th century Europe, a love match, and even a strong-willed teen, she insisted it had to be him and no other. Mind you, he still cheated on her later on. But he still rates highly among 18th century spouses: their first few kids were girls until Joseph arrived, and instead of being upset, he was doting, he supported her emotionally through all the ups and downs (really important when the first thing that happened upon her father's death was Fritz pouncing, Bavaria following suit and the rest of Europe saying "Pragmatic Sanction? What pragmatic sanction, that's a WOMAN on the throne, hahaha), and as mentioned, he was that further rarity among nobles in any century, a truly good businessman adapt at making cash, not just spending it. (This meant when his son Joseph - aka the rational fanboy - had to balance the state budget, he could draw from the private Habsburg accounts that Dad had so ably filled.) Since the 7-years-war drained the Austrian budget A LOT, this came in really handy at that time, too. Maria Theresia seems to have fallen as a young girl and remained in love through all of her life, his mistresses not withstanding. Basically, he invented being a good Prince Consort though he was technically the Emperor.