Princess Sophie of France
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Sophie Philippine Élisabeth Justine (27 July 1734 - 2 March 1782) was a French princess. She was the sixth daughter and eighth child of Louis XV of France and his Queen consort Maria Leszczyńska, and was later known as Madame Sophie.
Sophie is less well known than many of her sisters. Her birth at Versailles was relatively unremarked. Unlike the older children of Louis XV, she was not raised at Versailles, but sent to live at the Abbey of Fontevraud with her older sister Victoire and younger sisters Félicité (who died young) and Louise.
She had a shy, reserved nature, and was considered ugly and uninteresting. She did not exercise any influence at the court, but let herself be directed by her older sister Adélaïde, following her in her antipathy against her father's mistresses, Madame de Pompadour and then Madame du Barry.
She was one of the four royal sisters to survive their parents. She was buried in the royal tomb at the Abbey of Saint-Denis which was plundered and destroyed at the time of the French Revolution.
Her nephews included (among others) Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, Louis XVI of France, Louis XVIII of France, Charles X of France. Her nieces included Madame Élisabeth and Queen Maria Louisa of Spain.
In 2006, she was played by Scottish actress Shirley Henderson in the movie Marie Antoinette.
[edit] Ancestry
[edit] References
- This article is based on a translation of the equivalent article of the French Wikipedia on 3 November 2006
