Madame Royale
Encyclopedia
Madame Royale was a style customarily used for the eldest living unmarried daughter of a reigning French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

.

It was similar to the style Monsieur, which was typically used by the King's second son. Just as Gaston, duc d'Orléans (1608–1660), the second son of King Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....

 (1553–1610), was known as Monsieur, Princess Elisabeth (1602–1644), the eldest daughter of Henry, was known before her marriage to King Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...

 (1605–1665) as Madame Royale. After her death, the title was borne by her younger sister, Princess Christine
Christine Marie of France
Christine of France was the sister of Louis XIII and the Duchess of Savoy by marriage. At the death of her husband Victor Amadeus I in 1637, she acted as regent of Savoy between 1637 and 1648....

 (1606–1663), who was married to Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy
Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy
Victor Amadeus I was the Duke of Savoy from 1630 to 1637. He was also titular King of Cyprus and Jerusalem. He was also known as the Lion of Susa-Biography:...

 (1587–1637).

The most famous holder of this honorific
Honorific
An honorific is a word or expression with connotations conveying esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term is used not quite correctly to refer to an honorary title...

 was King Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....

's eldest daughter, Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte
Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France
Marie Thérèse de France was the eldest child of King Louis XVI of France and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette...

 (1778–1851), the only one of his immediate family to survive the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. She later married her cousin, Louis-Antoine, duc d'Angoulême
Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angouleme
Louis Antoine of France, Duke of Angoulême was the eldest son of Charles X of France and, from 1824 to 1836, the last Dauphin of France...

 (1775–1844), and played a prominent role during the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon  – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...

.

The style Madame Royale was not regulated by any other code than that of etiquette
Etiquette
Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...

. Its very simplicity, however, was considered more desirable than being known more formally as Son Altesse Royale ("Your Royal Highness"
Royal Highness
Royal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...

) in conversation.

The style was customarily held until the death of the royal parent or until the princess married.

The equivalent style in Great Britain is Princess Royal
Princess Royal
Princess Royal is a style customarily awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. The style is held for life, so a princess cannot be given the style during the lifetime of another Princess Royal...

. This title came into existence when Queen Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria of France
Henrietta Maria of France ; was the Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I...

 (1609–1669), another daughter of King Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....

, and the wife of King Charles I of England
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 (1600–1649), wanted to imitate in the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

 the way in which the eldest daughter of the sovereign in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 was styled Madame Royale.

In Savoy
Duchy of Savoy
From 1416 to 1847, the House of Savoy ruled the eponymous Duchy of Savoy . The Duchy was a state in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula, with some territories that are now in France. It was a continuation of the County of Savoy...

, Henrietta Maria's older sister, Christine Marie
Christine Marie of France
Christine of France was the sister of Louis XIII and the Duchess of Savoy by marriage. At the death of her husband Victor Amadeus I in 1637, she acted as regent of Savoy between 1637 and 1648....

, became known as Madama Reale in reference to her French manner of address. Her daughter-in-law, Marie Jeanne of Savoy, when she became regent of Savoy after the early death of her husband, called herself Madama Reale, after her mother-in-law, who had also been a regent of Savoy. This was despite the fact that Marie Jeanne's father was not a king.

See also

  • Dauphin
  • Monsieur
    Monsieur
    ' is an honorific title that used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It is also a customary French title of respect and term of address for a French-speaking man, corresponding to such English titles as Mr...

  • Madame
  • Fils de France
    Fils de France
    Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...

  • Petit-Fils de France
  • Prince du Sang
    Prince du Sang
    A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...

  • First Prince of the Blood
  • Prince of the Blood
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