Princess Louise-Élisabeth of France

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Louise-Élisabeth of France and her daughter, Isabella Maria of Parma

Marie Louise Élisabeth (14 August 1727 – 6 December 1759) was the eldest daughter of King Louis XV of France and his Queen consort, Maria Leszczyńska, and the elder twin sister of Henriette-Anne. She married Philip de Bourbon, younger son of Philip V of Spain, and was later Duchess of Parma. Only one of her nine siblings was married – her younger brother, the dauphin Louis-Ferdinand.

Élisabeth and her twin sister Henriette were born at Versailles. From her birth, she was known as "Madame Première", but was called "Babette" by her father. Her prospective engagement to Philip of Bourbon was announced at court in February 1739. Philip was the third son of Louis' uncle, King Philip V of Spain, and his second wife, Queen Elizabeth Farnese. He was the third oldest of the Spanish king's surviving sons. This engagement followed a tradition of cementing military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain with royal marriages. The tradition went back to the marriage of King Philip II of Spain with the French princess, Élisabeth de Valois, the daughter of King Henry II of France, in 1559 as part of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. Despite this and the fact that Philip was her father's first cousin, the match was not well received at the French court, as there was little chance that Philip would become King of Spain. Nevertheless, the 12-year-old Élisabeth was engaged by proxy on 26 August 1739, without having met her future husband, after which she was known as "Madame Infante". After extravagant celebrations, she tearfully left Versailles, and her beloved twin sister, for Spain on 30 August. She finally met her 19-year-old husband at Alcalá de Henares, some 30 km northeast of Madrid, and they were married on 25 October 1739. The marriage was not a happy one, but the couple had three children:

Isabella Maria of Parma (1741–1763)
Ferdinand of Parma (1751–1802)
Maria Louisa of Parma (1751–1819)

Through Élisabeth´s daughter Maria Louisa, Louis XV is an ancestor of the Bourbons of Spain, the Bourbons of the Two Sicilies, and the House of Orleans.

In Spain, court etiquette was much stricter than in France, and the young Élisabeth found that her mother-in-law tried to dominate her. She spent much of her time playing with dolls, and spoiled her daughter, only 14 years younger than herself. Élisabeth wrote despairing letters of her unhappiness to her father.

Philip's younger sister, Maria-Teresa, was married to Élisabeth's brother, Louis-Ferdinand, Dauphin of France, in 1745.

Élisabeth as Duchess of Parma, by Louis-Michel van Loo and Pietro Melchiorre Ferrari

Élisabeth was able to escape Spain in 1748. In the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which ended the War of the Austrian Succession, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria was forced to cede the duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla to her enemy, Philip V of Spain. At Louis XV's instigation, Élisabeth and her husband became Duke and Duchess of Parma. Élisabeth returned to Versailles on 11 December 1748, en route to Parma, to thank her father. She stayed for almost a year, during which time she grew to know and understand Madame de Pompadour (unlike her mother, brother and sisters, who hated Louis' mistress). She moved on to Parma in October 1749, importing French court manners and cuisine.

Élisabeth's twin sister Henriette died in 1752, and Élisabeth returned to France in September to visit her tomb at Saint-Denis. She was expected to stay for only a few weeks, but remained in Versailles for almost a year.

Élisabeth was bored when she returned to Parma, and sought a wider realm to rule. She allied herself with Empress Maria Theresa, who promised Élisabeth the throne of the Netherlands, which had been returned to Austrian rule under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Élisabeth returned to France again in September 1757, hoping to marry her daughter Isabella to Archduke Joseph of Austria, the future Emperor Joseph II. They were married in 1760. Scandalous gossip linked Élisabeth to Bernis, an abbot she had known in Parma, but this receded when he fell out of favour and was banished.

King Ferdinand VI of Spain died without an heir in August 1759 and was succeeded by his younger (and Philip's older) brother Charles, who became Charles III of Spain. Although Philip and Élisabeth came one step closer to the throne of Spain, Charles' young family, including several sons, meant that there was still little chance of them reaching the Spanish throne.

Élisabeth fell ill while she was at Versailles, and she died of smallpox on 6 December 1759. She was buried on 27 March 1760 at Saint-Denis, beside her twin sister, Henriette. Their tombs were later desecrated during the French Revolution.