Princess Marie Zéphyrine of France

Marie Zéphyrine
Princess of France
Marie Zéphyrine by Jean Marc Nattier
Father	Louis de France
Mother	Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony
Born	26 August 1750(1750-08-26) Palace of Versailles, France
Died	2 September 1755(1755-09-02) (aged 5) Palace of Versailles, France
Burial	Royal Basilica of Saint Denis

Marie Zéphyrine de France, fille de France^[1] (26 August 1750 – 2 September 1755) was a French Princess. The daughter of the Dauphin and Dauphine, Louis and Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony. She was the first of her parents' children to live to the age of five.

Biography

Marie Zéphyrine de France was born at the Palace of Versailles to the Dauphin and Dauphine of France. Her curious name comes from Zephyrus, the Greek name for the west wind; it was given to her because she was born on August 26, the feast of St Zephyrinus.

Her birth was greeted with caution; in the previous two years, 1748 and 1749, Maria Josepha had suffered miscarriages and her health was of a fragile nature; Louis XV had hoped for a boy.

As the daughter of the Dauphin, she took the rank of Daughter of France and outranked the daughters of the king, her aunts. These included the Duchess of Parma, Madame Infante and her twin Madame Henriette among others. As a member of the Royal family, Marie Zéphyrine had the right to the style of Royal Highness but at court she was known as Madame Royale or la Petite Madame. Her mother had wanted her to marry her first cousin, Prince Anthony, Electoral Prince of Saxony.^[2]

She was raised by Marie Isabelle de Rohan.

Madame Royale was joined by a brother in September 1751, Louis, Duke of Burgundy.

Madame Royale was said to resemble her mother, despite not surviving childhood. In 1753 another brother joined Xavier de France, Duke of Aquitaine. He died in 1754. Her most famous brother, the future Louis XVI of France, was born on 23 August 1754. The future Louis XVIII of France was born November 1755, two months after her death at Versailles.

Marie Zéphryine died at Versailles due an attack of convulsions. She died in the early hours of the morning of 2 September having been baptised just days before by the abbé de Chabannes, the aumonier du Roi.

Madame Royale was not even officially mourned; at Versailles a princess could only be mourned if she was over the age of 7.

Madame Royale was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis outside the capital of Paris.

Ancestry

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 26 August 1750 - 1 September 1755 Her Royal Highness Madame Royale

Notes

1. ^ Achaintre, Nicolas Louis, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de Bourbon, Vol. 2, (Publisher Mansut Fils, 4 Rue de l'École de Médecine, Paris, 1825), 167.
2. ^ He later married Maria Carolina of Savoy. She died of Smallpox and remarried, this time to Maria Theresa of Austria

See also

Persondata
Name	Princess Marie Zephyrine Of France
Alternative names
Short description	Father is Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765)
Date of birth	26 August 1750
Place of birth	Palace of Versailles, France
Date of death	1 September 1755
Place of death	Palace of Versailles, France