What best explains the collapse of royal authority in France by 1789?

What best explains the collapse of royal authority in France by 1789? Louis XVI was in theory an absolute monarch who ruled according to the Divine Right of Kings. However, by 1789 this theoretical power had completely collapsed as Louis found himself in a state of legislative and military impotence. Much ink has been spilt in attempts to explain this collapse of royal authority: the most convincing arguments are those which combine long-term structural factors, such as the Crown's longstanding financial problems, with short term factors such as the calling of representative bodies.Arguments of historians from the ‘annales’ school (such as Francois Furet) are convincing in explaining the collapse of royal authority through long-term structural factors such as the Crown’s financial problems. Two major wars financed by loans and an ineffective fiscal system meant that Louis was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1788. This bankruptcy undermined royal authority because Louis had failed his duty as absolute monarch (the 'pere nourricier', the 'baker') to preserve the security of the nation and moreover his financial insolvency made him incapable of passing reforms. Furthermore, Louis' financial problems seemed to support criticisms of opulence and indolence which had been consistently damaging his authority since the 'Diamond Necklace Affair' of 1784.However, one might argue that annales historians focus too much on long-term factors. Rather, we might consider the short-term constitutional implications of Louis’ financial problems, in the tradition of revisionist historians such as Doyle and Cobban. For example, in attempting to restore financial solvency Louis was forced to call upon and consult representative bodies such as the Assembly of Notables and the Estates General. Through calling these representative bodies Louis seemed to dilute his absolute power - particularly in the case of the Estates General which had not been assembled since 1614. Indeed, many absolutist dynasties were deep in debt for most of the eighteenth centuries without witnessing the total collapse of the royal prerogative; as such we might consider that it was Louis' response to his financial situation that was particularly damaging for royal authority, rather than the situation itself. Indeed, the severe implications of the summoning of representative bodies for royal authority is summarised by the words of the Comte de Segur upon hearing about the Assembly of Notables: 'the king has just resigned’.