On July 6, 1807, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, Louise set off to meet the French emperor in Tilsit. She declined Napoleon’s offer to send a guard of French dragoons to accompany her and was accompanied by the Prussian Horse Guards. The queen stayed at the king’s house at 11 Schlossmühlenstrasse (later Ludendorffplatz 4). Although Napoleon had prepared lodgings with every comfort for her, Louise declined this courtesy as well.

Napoleon arrived on a white Arab horse and took his entire chiefs of staff with him. Alexander I and Frederick William III met him at the entrance. Napoleon easily climbed the narrow, steep staircase, and came before Louise, introduced to him by the king. Louise greeted the French emperor with a polite phrase, which referred to the uncomfortable staircase that the emperor had had to overcome in order to reach her. Napoleon responded courteously,

They entered into a long discussion. The meeting between the French emperor and the Prussian queen took place in private; Minister Talleyrand was not present. Napoleon struck the queen as noble and aristocratic in speech. Louise wrote to her brother:

As Napoleon stood before her in his simple green uniform, lacking all glitter, she could not believe that this small, inconspicuous man had brought so much misery to her country through his vanity. From the first minutes of the meeting, the queen began to speak of the things that tormented her heart. Napoleon interrupted the queen with polite phrases and deliberately reduced the conversation to secondary matters, just as he had with Frederick William. But the longer the conversation continued, the more confident Louise became. Napoleon seemed captivated by her speech; he answered the queen in a way that allowed her to harbor some hopes, but he was not committed to anything. He was gracious and courteous, nothing more. Even if Napoleon’s iron will did weaken a little at the sight of Queen Louise, that weakness did not last long. The fate of Prussia had long since been decided in his mind. At no price would he allow his political intentions to be determined by inner feelings. A statesman of his caliber and character could not be influenced by outsiders.