Princess Marie Thérèse of France (1667–1672)

Marie Thérèse
"Madame Royale"
Portrait by Nocret (1671)
Born	(1667-01-02)2 January 1667 Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Died	1 March 1672(1672-03-01) (aged 5) Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Burial	Royal Basilica, Saint Denis, France
Full name Marie Thérèse de France
Father	Louis XIV of France
Mother	Maria Theresa of Spain

Marie Thérèse of France, Daughter of France (2 January 1667 – 1 March 1672) was the fourth child and third daughter of Louis XIV of France and his wife, Maria Theresa of Spain. As the king's daughter, she was a Fille de France and was known at court by the traditional honorific of Madame Royale because she was the king's eldest surviving daughter. She did not survive childhood dying at the age of five.

Marie Thérèse of France was born 2 January 1667 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Her parents had her baptised in the Palais du Louvre in 1668. Her parents reputedly adored the young girl, and her mother wanted her to become the queen of her native Spain. As a Fille de France, Marie Thérèse was entitled by law to the style of Her Royal Highness and had de France as her surname, but was referred to simply as '"Madame Royale".

She was also known as La Petite Madame to distinguish her from her aunts, the wives of her uncle Monsieur, who were known as the first Madame (Henrietta of England) (died 1670) and the second Madame (Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate) (died 1722). The young Marie Thérèse died on 1 March 1672 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis, outside Paris, France.

Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that if Princess Marie Thérèse were to choose an historically accurate house name it would be Robertian, as all her male-line ancestors have been of that house.