Madame Royale
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Madame Royale (Royal Lady) was a style customarily used for the eldest living daughter of a reigning French monarch. It was similar to the style Monsieur, which was typically used by the King's second son. Just as Gaston, duc d'Orléans (1608-1660), the second son of King Henry IV of France (1553-1610), was known as Monsieur, Princess Elisabeth (1602-1644), the eldest daughter of Henry, was known before her marriage to King Philip IV of Spain (1605-1665) as Madame Royale (after her death, the title was borne by her younger sister, Princess Christine). The most famous holder of this honorific was King Louis XVI of France's eldest daughter, Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte (1778-1851), the only one of his immediate family to survive the French Revolution. She later married her cousin, Louis-Antoine, Duc d'Angouleme (1775-1844), and played a prominent role during the Bourbon Restoration.
The style Madame Royale was not regulated by any other code than that of etiquette. Its very simplicity, however, was considered more desirable than being known more formally as Son Altesse Royale ("Your Royal Highness") in conversation.
The style was customarily held until the end of the reign of the parent or until her marriage.
The equivalent style in Great Britain is Princess Royal. This title came into existence when Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-1669), another daughter of King Henry IV of France, and the wife of King Charles I of England (1600-1649), wanted to imitate in the Kingdom of England the way in which the eldest daughter of the sovereign in France was styled Madame Royale.
