Birth of Élisabeth of France
Élisabeth Philippe Marie Hélène was born on 3rd May 1764, in the Palace of Versailles.
She was the youngest child of Louis~Dauphin of France and Marie Josèphe of Saxony, and the youngest sister of Louis XVI.
Orphaned at the age of three, Élisabeth was described as proud, inflexible, and passionate.
She received an excellent education and revealed a considerable talent in maths and science.
From an early age she seemed to have a rather ambiguous personality, combining great devotion with a certain eccentricity and dissipation, sometimes signing her letters as “Mad Élisabeth”
In 1770, her eldest brother, the Dauphin, married Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, better known as Marie Antoinette.
Marie Antoinette found Élisabeth delightful, and Élisabeth developed a very strong attachment to Louis and Marie~Antoinette.
Élisabeth would remain loyal to the royal couple throughout her life, refusing to marry, and moving away.
In 1783, at the age of 19, Madame Élisabeth’s brother King Louis XVI presented her with a house and land in the village of Montreuil.
The estate survives to this day in the Montreuil district of Versailles and is known as “Domaine de Madame Élisabeth”.
Although she was not permitted to stay overnight there until she came of age at 25, she visited every day, travelling on horseback from the Palace of Versailles.
Life in Montreuil was simpler than at court.
She structured her life around the interests she had cultivated since her childhood, as well as her good works and acts of devotion.
This earned her the nickname “the Good Lady of Montreuil”.
When the French Revolution broke out, Madame Élisabeth maintained a fierce opposition to those who argued in favour of a constitutional monarchy.
She ejected all attempts at a compromise.
Her attachment to Louis XVI was such, that she refused to go into exile with her aunts and other brothers.
Élisabeth accompanied her brother the King and Marie-Antoinette on the flight to Varennes, and followed them into the Temple prison.
After the exEcution of Élisabeth’s brother, the former king on 21st January 1793, she was left with Marie Antoinette and Marie-Thérèse~Madame Royale, in their apartment in the Tower.
Marie Antoinette was exEcuted on 16th October.
Marie Antoinette’s last letter, written in the early hours of the day of her exEcution, was addressed to Élisabeth, but never reached her.
On 9th May 1794, Élisabeth was accused of having participated in the secret councils of Marie Antoinette.
She was also accused of having entertained correspondence with internal and external enemies, among them her exiled brothers ~ and conspired with them against the safety and liberty of the French people.
The Jury declared Élisabeth guilty as charged, and condemned her to death by guillotine the following day.
Élisabeth was to be exEcuted along with 23 men and women who had been tried and condemned at the same time as herself.
While in the cart taking them to their exEcution, she helped several of them through the ordeal, whispering words of encouragement, to stay strong and be brave.
Élisabeth departed the cart first, refusing the help of the exEcutioner ~ but she was to be the last to be called upon, which resulted in her witnessing the death of all the others.
While she was being strapped to the board, her shawl fell off, exposing her shoulders, and she cried to the exEcutioner~
‘Au nom de votre mère, monsieur, couvrez-moi.’
In the name of your mother, sir, cover me.
Then the blade fell, and ended Élisabeth, the Princess of France’s life.
Élisabeth’s body was buried in a common grave at the Errancis Cemetery in Paris.
At the time of the Restoration, her brother Louis XVIII searched for her remains, only to discover that the bodies interred there had decomposed to a state where they could no longer be identified.
Élisabeth’s remains, with that of other victims of the guillotine, were later placed in the Catacombs of Paris.
A medallion represents her at the Basilica of Saint Denis.
🌼 Élisabeth of France 1782~By Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun~Versailles
