Madame Élisabeth of France, sister of King Louis XVI of France

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Madame Élisabeth of France, Credit – Wikipedia

Élisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène, the youngest of the eight children of Louis, Dauphin of France and his second wife Maria Josepha of Saxony, was born on May 3, 1764, at the Palace of Versailles.  Her father was the only surviving son of King Louis XV of France and his wife Marie Leszczyńska, but he predeceased his father.  Upon King Louis XV’s death, his grandson (Elisabeth’s brother) succeeded him as King Louis XVI.  When Elisabeth was just two years old, her mother died of tuberculosis.  Elisabeth was raised by her governess Marie Louise de Rohan.

Elisabeth as a child; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth had seven siblings:

Elisabeth was devoted to her brother King Louis XVI, and with his permission, declined all marriage offers so that she could remain in France.  Several times during the French Revolution, Elisabeth refused to leave France when she had the opportunity, choosing to remain with her brother and his family.  She accompanied her brother and his family on their unsuccessful attempt to flee Paris.  Elisabeth was present during the siege of the Tuileries Palace and accompanied her brother and his family to imprisonment in the notorious Temple. After the execution of Louis XVI on January 21, 1793, Elisabeth remained imprisoned in the Temple with her sister-in-law Marie Antoinette and niece Marie-Thérèse Charlotte.  In August 1793, Marie Antoinette was taken to the Conciergerie where she was tried and then taken to her execution on October 16, 1793.  On the day of her execution, Marie Antoinette wrote her last letter, addressed to Elisabeth, but it was never delivered.

On May 9, 1794, Elisabeth was transferred to the Conciergerie where she was tried and condemned to be executed the next day.  She was executed by the guillotine at the Place de la Révolution in Paris (now called Place de la Concorde) with 23 other people on May 10, 1794.  A very religious person, Elisabeth comforted and prayed with several others awaiting execution.  She was originally buried in a common grave at the Errancis Cemetery in Paris.  At a later date, Elisabeth’s remains along with the remains of other guillotine victims were buried in the Catacombs of Paris.  The Roman Catholic Church views Elisabeth as a martyr and a Servant of God. The Cause of Beatification of Élisabeth was introduced in 1924 but has not yet been completed.

The photo below is a memorial to Madame Elisabeth at the Conciergerie, a former palace and prison in Paris where hundreds of guillotine victims including Madame Elisabeth and Marie Antoinette were tried and imprisoned before their executions.

Memorial to Madame Elisabeth at the Conciergerie; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

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