Princess Sophie Hélène Béatrice of France

Sophie
Sophie by Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun (1786)
Full name
Marie Sophie Hélène Béatrice de France
Father	Louis XVI of France
Mother	Marie Antoinette
Born	9 July 1786(1786-07-09) Palace of Versailles, France
Died	19 June 1787(1787-06-19) (aged &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000345000000345 days) Palace of Versailles, France

Marie Sophie Hélène Béatrice de France, Fille de France, Madame Sophie (9 July 1786 – 19 June 1787) was a French princess, daughter of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI of France.

Biography

Sophie was born at the Palace of Versailles, the youngest of the four children of King Louis XVI of France and his Queen consort, Marie Antoinette. She was named after her great-aunt, Sophie de France, Louis XV's sixth daughter who had died five years earlier.

As the daughter of the king, Sophie was a Fille de France (Daughter of France), ranking third in importance after her mother the queen and her older sister Marie Thérèse, known as Madame Royale.

Sophie was born a very large baby: une très grosse fille^[1] but her fragile health was undermined by tuberculosis^{[citation needed]}. She died in Versailles after suffering five or six days of convulsions caused by the cutting of new teeth.^[2] She was only eleven months old.

Her death was a cause for much sorrow on the part of her parents. When Marie Antoinette's foster-brother, Joseph Weber,^[3] attempted to console her with the fact that given Sophie's tender age Marie Antoinette must not have grown overly attached to her, the bereaved mother said only, "Don't forget that she would have been my friend." This was a reference to her words after the birth of Sophie's older sister in 1778.^[4]

She was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis north of Paris.

The Royal Family of France, 1787

Queen Marie Antoinette with her children, 1787 at Versailles; (L-R); Marie Thérèse, known as Madame Royale at court; the Queen with the Duke of Normandy on her lap; the Dauphin is on the right pointing into an empty cradle; the cradle used to show Madame Sophie; she died later in the year and had to be painted out; by Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun; the Fleur-de-lis of France and the Bourbons can be seen behind on the cabinet

References

1. ^ Lever, Evelyne, Marie-Antoinette, Fayard, Paris, 1991, p. 414, ISBN 2-213-02659-9,
2. ^ Fraser, Antonia, Marie Antoinette, The Journey, Anchor Books, USA, 2001, p. 257, ISBN 0-385-48949-8.
3. ^ Fraser, p. 4. Joseph Weber was the son of Marie-Antoinette's wet nurse, Constance Weber. His memoirs were published by Baudouin Frères, Imprimeurs-Libraires, in Paris, in 1822: http://www.archive.org/stream/mmoiresdeweberc03tolgoog/mmoiresdeweberc03tolgoog_djvu.txt
4. ^ Fraser, p. 257.

Ancestry

Titles, styles, honors and arms

Titles and styles

• 9 July 1786 – 19 June 1787 Her Royal Highness Princess Sophie of France (de facto Madame Sophie)

See also

Kingdom of France portal

Persondata
Name	Sophie Helene Beatrix Of France, Princess
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	9 July 1786
Place of birth	Palace of Versailles, France
Date of death	19 June 1787
Place of death	Palace of Versailles, France