Fils de France

''Fils de France'' (, ''Son of France'') was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France (, ''Daughter of France'').

The children of the dauphin (a title reserved for the king's heir apparent whether son, grandson or great-grandson of the monarch) were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his grandchildren or great-grandchildren.

Styles

The king, queen, queen dowager, ''enfants de France'' (children of France) and ''petits-enfants de France'' (grandchildren of France) constituted the ''famille du roi'' (royal family). More remote legitimate, male-line descendants of France's kings held the designation and rank of '' princes du sang'' (princes of the blood) or, if legally recognised despite a bar sinister on the escutcheon, they were customarily deemed ''princes légitimés'' (legitimated princes).

The dauphin, the heir to the French throne, was the most senior of the ''fils de France'' and was usually addressed as '' Monsieur le dauphin''. The king's next younger brother, also a ''fils de France'', was known simply as '' Monsieur'', and his wife as '' Madame''.

Daughters were referred to by their given name prefaced with the honorific ''Madame'', while sons were referred to by their main peerage title (usually ducal), with the exception of the dauphin. The king's eldest daughter was known as '' Madame Royale'' until she married, whereupon the next eldest ''fille de France'' succeeded to that style.

Although the children of monarchs are often referred to in English as ''prince'' or ''princess'', those terms were used as general descriptions for royalty in France but not as titular prefixes or direct forms of address for individuals (with the exception of ''Monsieur le Prince'' for the senior '' prince du sang'') prior to the July Monarchy (1830–1848). Collectively, the legitimate children of the kings and dauphins were known as ''enfants de France'' ("children of France"), while examples abound in reputable works of ''fils de France'' and ''fille de France'' being converted into other languages as "Prince/Princess of France" (however the same works, as cited, leave the Spanish equivalent, '' Infante/Infanta de España'', untranslated). The illegitimate children of French kings, dauphins, and ''princes du sang'' were not entitled to any rights or styles ''per se'', but often they were legitimised by their fathers. Even then, however, they were never elevated to the rank of ''fils de France'', although they were sometimes accorded the lower rank and/or privileges associated with the '' princes du sang''.

All ''enfants de France'' were entitled to the style of Royal Highness (''altesse royale'') from the reign of Louis XIII. However, in practice that formal honorific was less often used than the more traditionally French styles of ''Monsieur, Madame'' or ''Mademoiselle''. The styles of the royal family varied as follows:

Titles

Under the Valois monarchs, the titles borne by the sons of kings became regularized. Philip VI made his eldest son ''Duke of Normandy'' and his second son ''Duke of Orléans''. Normandy would have become the regular title of the heirs apparent of kings, but the acquisition of Dauphiné and the request of its last count ensured that the heirs apparent would be called ''Dauphin'' instead.

John II made his eldest son Duke of Normandy, and his younger sons dukes of Anjou, Berry, and Burgundy. Anjou and Burgundy established long-lived dynasties, while the Duke of Berry lived for a long time. Orléans was reused for the younger son of Charles V, while Berry was reused for the younger son of Charles VII. By the accession of Francis I, all of the cadet branches descended from Valois kings had either succeeded to the throne or become extinct. Thus the king had a wide selection of traditional titles to choose from. Orléans was the most preferred, followed by Anjou.

The Bourbon kings followed the traditional titling, with Berry used for the third son. As lifespans extended, Burgundy was used for the eldest son of the Dauphin, and Brittany for the eldest son of the eldest son of the Dauphin. But as fortune would have it, only the title of Orléans would be transmitted hereditarily until the Revolution.

Monsieur le Dauphin

This was a form of address for the dauphin. The ''dauphin de France'' (strictly speaking the dauphin de Viennois), was the title used for the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791 and then from 1824 to 1830.
* Louis de France (1661–1711), the only surviving legitimately born son of Louis XIV (1638–1715), was usually not addressed by this style as he was usually referred to at court as either ''Monseigneur'' (see more below) or, informally, as ''le Grand Dauphin''.
* Louis de France, (1682–1712), son of the preceding, who became the dauphin in 1711, was informally known as ''le Petit Dauphin''.

Image:Grand Dauphin.jpg, Louis de France, called ''le Grand Dauphin'', officially known at court as ''Monseigneur''.
Image:Louis Duc de Bourgogne.jpg, le Petit Dauphin, son of Monseigneur, le Grand Dauphin
File:Portrait dauphin louis france hi.jpg, Louis of France - Dauphin of Louis XV

Monseigneur

This was another way of addressing ''Le Grand Dauphin'', the only legitimate son of Louis XIV. After the death of ''le Grand Dauphin'', the heir apparent to the throne of France for half a century, the style of ''Monseigneur'' was not used again to describe the dauphin himself. Rather, it became the style used by his sons as prefix to their peerages. During the lifetime of the ''Grand Dauphin'', his three sons were addressed as:

* '' Monseigneur le Duc de Bourgogne''
* '' Monseigneur le Duc d'Anjou''
* '' Monseigneur le Duc de Berry''

Madame la Dauphine

This was the style of the dynastic wife of the ''dauphin''. Some holders of the honorific were:

* Duchess Maria Anna Christine Victoria of Bavaria (1660–1690), also called ''Dauphine Victoire'', first wife of ''le Grand Dauphin'', and the grandmother of Louis XV (1710–1774)
* Princess Maria Adélaïde of Savoy (1685–1712), wife of the Dauphin Louis (1682–1712) and mother of Louis XV.
* Infanta Maria Teresa Antonia Rafaela of Spain (1726–1746), first wife of Louis (1729–1765), the only son of Louis XV, and held the style till her death at age twenty-one.
* Duchess Maria Josepha of Saxony (1731–1767), second wife of the Dauphin Louis, and mother of Louis XVI (1754–1793), Louis XVIII (1755–1824) and Charles X (1757–1836).
* Archduchess Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna of Austria (1755–1793), known as ''Marie Antoinette'' was the dauphine from 1770 until her husband succeeded to the throne in 1774 as Louis XVI.
* Princess Marie-Thérèse Charlotte of France (1778–1851); daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, known as '' Madame Royale'', she became the last Dauphine of France when her father-in-law, Charles X, succeeded to the throne in 1824.

Image:Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy.jpg, Madame la Dauphine, wife of le Petit Dauphin
File:María Teresa de España.jpg, Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain first wife of Louis de France - daughter-in-law of Louis XV
File:Marie Josèphe of Saxony as Dauphine of France by Jean-Marc Nattier (1751).jpg, Duchess Maria Josepha of Saxony
File:Marie Antoinette Adult4.jpg, Marie Antoinette

Madame Royale

This was the style of the eldest surviving daughter of the king. Those who held this honorific were:
* Princess Élisabeth of France, eldest daughter of King Henry IV of France (1553–1610) and his second wife, Queen Marie de' Medici (1575–1642). In 1615, Élisabeth was married to the future king, Philip IV of Spain (1605–1665). On her death in 1644, the style reverted to her younger sister, Christine Marie.
* Princess Christine Marie of France (1606–1663), the second daughter of Henry IV and Marie de' Medici. In 1619, Christine was married to Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy

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