Princess Victoire of France

Infobox Person
name = Victoire Louise Marie Thérèse de France

---

image_size =280px
caption = Victoire Louise Marie Thérèse of France
birth_date = birth date|1733|5|11|mf=y
birth_place = Palace of Versailles, France
death_date = June 7, 1799
death_place = Trieste, Italy
parents = Louis XV of France and Maria Leszczyńska

Victoire Louise Marie Thérèse de France (May 11, 1733 - June 7, 1799) was the seventh child and fifth daughter of King Louis XV of France and his Queen consort Maria Leszczyńska. As the daughter of the king, she was a Fille de France.

Originally known as "Madame Quatrième" (her older sister died in February 1733, before her birth) she was later known as "Madame Victoire". She outlived eight of her nine siblings, and was survived by her older sister "Adélaïde de France" by less than a year.

Life

Victoire was born at the Palace of Versailles. Unlike the older children of Louis XV (including Adélaïde, just one year her senior), Victoire was not raised at the Palace of Versailles, but sent to live at the Abbey of Fontevraud. She would remain there till 1748 when she was 15.

Versailles

At 15 she was allowed to return to her fathers court. Very close to her mother, brother and her sisters, like most of the family her father's constant mistresses at court posed a problem and pushed the family away from him. He turned more and more to Madame de Pompadour and later Madame du Barry.

Often thought to be the most beautiful of the kings daughters, she was to never marry although in 1753, it was suggested that she marry her brother-in-law Ferdinand VI of Spain (her sister had married his younger brother Philip, Duke of Parma) as his wife, Maria Barbara of Portugal, was ill at the time. Despite that, the queen survived another five years dying at 46 leaving her husband distraught.

In 1765, her older brother died of consumption at Fontainebleau at the age of 36. Victoire, like all of her sisters mourned intently. The family were again pushed closer together. By 1768, Versailles was again in mourning for the death of the Queen - her mother Maria Leszczyńska. This sorrow was further encouraged by the fact that her father had a new Maîtresse-en-titre - the "comtesse du Barry". Victoire, like all her sisters felt that her father was to o preoccupied with her.

The next big event at court was the marriage of Louis-Auguste, the Dauphin of France to one Maria Antonia of Habsburg-Lorraine. The wedding occurred at the palace on May 16 1770. Victoire and her sister, by then known as Madame Adélaïde, met the girl and tried to use her influence over king in order to get rid of "La du Barry". Sadly, this idea did not work but before their father died in 1774, he was obliged to remove her from the palace. His successor Louis XVI, Victoire's nephew, then exiled her from court forever.

It was during the next reign that the lives "Mesdames" were really shocked. The Dames de France were allowed to stay at the court and were still treated with respect, and Victoire kept her apartments at Versailles. Now that the people of Versailles were now concerned with showing their loyalty to Louis XVI and his wife, the dames de France were some what redundant. As a Victoire and her older sister Madame Adélaïde stayed together and toured the country staying in lavish style which was a great irritation to the state and thus helped fan the flames for the revolution.

Gallery

Revolution

The two sisters, now alone as were the only children of Louis XV still alive by 1787 took up residence at Château de Bellevue from 6 October 1789 after the infamous storming of their birthplace. Revolutionary laws against the church caused them to leave for Italy on 20 February 1791, although they were arrested and detained for several days at Arnay-le-Duc before they were allowed to depart.

They visited their niece Clotilde, Queen of Sardinia, sister of Louis XVI, in Turin, and arrived in Rome on 16 April 1791.

Death

As a result of the increasing influence of Revolutionary France, they travelled further afield, moving to Naples in 1796, where Marie Caroline, sister of Marie Antoinette, was Queen. They moved to Corfu in 1799, and finally ended up in Trieste, where Victoire died of breast cancer. Adélaïde died one year later in Rome. The bodies of both princesses were later returned to France by their nephew, King Louis XVIII, and buried at the Abbey of Saint-Denis.

Her nephews included (among others) Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, Louis XVI of France, Louis XVIII of France, Charles X of France. Her nieces included Madame Élisabeth and Queen Maria Louisa of Spain. Her goddaughter was Angélique Victoire, comtesse de Chastellux.

*It has also been suggested that it was she that said the phrase "let them eat cake" but it is not for certain
*She is portrayed by Molly Shannon in the 2006 film "Marie Antoinette".

Ancestry

ahnentafel-compact5
style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%;
border=1
boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0;
boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
1= 1. Victoire de France
2= 2. Louis XV of France
3= 3. Maria Leszczyńska
4= 4. Louis, Dauphin of France and Duke of Burgundy
5= 5. Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy
6= 6. Stanisław Leszczyński, King of Poland
7= 7. Countess Katarzyna Opalińska
8= 8. Louis, Dauphin of France
9= 9. Maria Anna of Bavaria
10= 10. Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
11= 11. Anne Marie of Orléans
12= 12. Rafał Leszczyński, Duke of Lesno
13= 13. Anna Jabłonowska
14= 14. Count Jan Karol Opaliński
15= 15. Countess Zofia Czarnkowska
16= 16. Louis XIV of France
17= 17. Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain
18= 18. Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
19= 19. Henriette Adelaide of Savoy
20= 20. Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy
21= 21. Princess Marie Jeanne of Savoy-Nemours
22= 22. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
23= 23. Princess Henrietta Anne of England
24= 24. Bogusław Leszczyński
25= 25. Countess Anna von Denhoff
26= 26. Prince Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski
27= 27. Countess Marianna Kazanowska
28= 28. Count Krzystof Opaliński
29= 29. Countess Teresa Konstancya Czarnkowska
30= 30. Count Adam-Uryel Czarnkowski
31= 31. Countess Teresa Zaleska

References

*"This article is based on a translation of the equivalent article of the French Wikipedia on 1 November 2006'