Fils de France - Madame Royale

Madame Royale

This was the style of the eldest surviving daughter of the king. Those who held this honorific were:

• Princess Élisabeth of France, eldest daughter of King Henry IV of France (1553–1610) and his second wife, Queen Marie de' Medici (1575–1642). In 1615, Élisabeth was married to the future king, Philip IV of Spain (1605–1665). On her death in 1644, the style reverted to her younger sister, Christine Marie.
• Princess Christine Marie of France (1606–1663), the second daughter of Henry IV and Marie de' Medici. In 1619, Christine was married to Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (1587–1637). She assumed the style of Madame Royale upon the death of her older sister, the Queen of Spain.
• Princess Marie-Thérèse of France (1667–1672), the only daughter of Louis XIV and his queen to live beyond infancy.
• Princess Marie Louise Élisabeth of France (1727–1759), eldest daughter of Louis XV and his queen, Maria Leszczyńska (1703–1768). As a twin, Louise-Élisabeth rarely if ever used this title. She preferred being called Madame Première, to distinguish herself from her younger twin, Henriette-Anne of France (1727–1752), who was referred to as Madame Seconde. See more on this below.
• Princess Marie-Thérèse of France (1746–1748) eldest daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765) and his first wife Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (1726–1746). Her mother died three days after her birth.
• Princess Marie-Thérèse Charlotte of France, eldest daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Marie-Thérèse was the sole member of her immediate family to survive the French Revolution. She also exerted a great deal of political influence during the Bourbon Restoration (1815–1830).

Between the death, in 1672, of Marie-Thérèse of France, the longest living daughter of Louis XIV, and the birth, in 1727, of Louise Élisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of Louis XV, there were no legitimate daughters of a French king. Because of this, the style was occasionally used by the most senior unmarried princess at the French Court during that period. It was briefly used by the eldest niece of Louis XIV, Marie Louise d'Orléans (1662–1689), later known as just Mademoiselle. After her marriage to King Charles II of Spain (1661–1700), in 1679, the style was assumed briefly by her younger sister, Anne Marie d'Orléans (1669–1728), before she married Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (1666–1732).