teatimeatwinterpalace: May 3, 1764 – Birth of Elisabeth of France, sister of King Louis XVI. &
teatimeatwinterpalace:May 3, 1764 – Birth of Elisabeth of France, sister of King Louis XVI.Élisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène de France was born at 2am on Thursday, 3rd May 1764, the daughter of the unusually devoted royal couple, the Dauphin Louis of France and his second wife Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, who was affectionately known as ‘Pépa’.The young couple enjoyed a blissful life together, almost a second honeymoon and were to be seen daily at their devotions together in the Versailles chapel before taking the air together on the terrace by the Orangerie.The Princesse Élisabeth was to be the royal couple’s final child. She was baptised shortly after birth by the Archbishop of Rheims, presumably because she was not at that time expected to live long due to being an extremely frail baby. It is likely that she survived only because of the excellent care of her wet nurse, Marie-Thérèse Hecquet, who cared for her most devotedly.Élisabeth was fortunate enough to be born into a loving, normal, affectionate family but it was to be a short lived happiness as her devoted father, succumbed to consumption a year later and very quickly became dangerously ill, dying at Fontainebleau at 8am on the 20th November 1765 at the age of just thirty six. He asked that his children be brought to see him before the end and is said to have remarked ‘What goodness in her eyes’ about the eighteen month old Élisabeth.Madame Élisabeth was thought to be very like her father as a child and so the mourning Dauphine kept her close beside her, enjoying her childish prattle and occasional fits of rage, which the older courtiers assured her were very like those of her deceased husband who had been a very spirited child, with a quick and impatient temper.{MadamGuillotine}“She was an angel of goodness. Many a time have I been a witness to her deeds of charity on behalf of the poor. All the virtues were in her heart, she was indulgent, modest, compassionate, devoted.” Madame Vigée Lebrun. -- source link
#history#18th century