Henriette Anne was born on 14 August 1727, shortly after her twin-sister, Louise Élisabeth. As the daughter of the king of France, Henriette Anne was immediately given the rank of fille de France or "daughter of France"; commonly, she would be referred to either as Madame Henriette or Madame Seconde.
Henriette Anne and Louise Élisabeth were handed over to the care of the Duchesse de Tallard, who served as governess to the children of France - that is, the royal children. Despite the initial disappointment over their gender, the king soon came around; their mother, Marie Leszczynska, doted on them as much as she could but was soon occupied with adding to their nursery.
The two girls were inseparable and are even portrayed standing side by side at the age of 10. Not much was said of their childhood - generally, the education of girls were not considered to be of much importance, so there are few direct references to their childhood's earliest years. Both Henriette and Louise Élisabeth were brought up in the gilded halls of Versailles; their first seven years were spent entirely in the company of women with the exception being the male guardsmen or valets.
As the daughters of a king, it was expected that their august father would arrange prestigious marriages for them. Despite not being more than minutes older, Louise Élisabeth was the initial focus for such plans. To the chagrin of almost everyone, the choice fell on the Infante Philip of Parma. The arrangement was reached when the girls were 12 years old and Henriette had to bid adieu to her sister.
Having grown up together, Henriette reacted to the loss with the expected sadness and seemed to dearly miss her twin. Yet, she was not left alone in the children's rooms - far from it. After her own birth, the queen had given birth to a boy, Louis Ferdinand, and another girl, Madame Adélaide, both of whom were likewise raised at the palace. Another four girls were born to the royal couple but they were cared for at the Abbey of Fontevraud at this time.
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| Louise Élisabeth (blue) and Henriette Anne (pink) |
Despite her young age, Henriette - who had assumed the title of Madame upon her sister's marriage - was expected to partake in the everyday life at Versailles. This included the royal hunts which she joined at age 16 and the trips to the Opera which followed at 17. That same year, Henriette was officially given her own household.
At this stage the court were eagerly awaiting news of whom Madame Henriette would be wedded to. However, to the astonishment of all, nothing new was coming on that front. Despite being well into her marrying years (by the standards of the time) the king does not appear to have made any particular advances on her behalf. For a daughter of France, this was strange enough but the character of the young woman in question added to the mystery.
Henriette was an ideal bride by 18th century standards. She was considered to be beautiful - more so than her sisters - and possessed a calmness that soothed those around her. Her gentleness was well-noted as were her pristine manners and her shyness. Combined with her taste for music and her talent of having "no enemies at court" (largely attributed to her having few - if any - political inclinations) this made Henriette a desirable bride indeed.
When looking at her portraits, her claim to beauty does not seem unmerited. Her almond-shaped eyes were dark blue and her eyebrows remarkably dark. Her mouth appears rather small but with rosy, voluptuous lips. Likewise, her figure was fine and her complexion healthy.
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| The young Henriette shown at one of her favourite pastimes |
Yet, no husband appeared on the horizon. It is not clear whether this situation was of Henriette's own choosing - after all, noted as being her father's favourite daughter, he would not have forced her into marriage. While the Prince de Conti offered himself, Henriette is alleged to have had her eyes set on another princely presence: the Duc de Chartres. As the son and heir of the Duc d'Orléans, he could certainly match her lineage and his fortune was already immense. The matter went so far that Louis XV gave his approval to the match which could indicate that Henriette herself was not opposed to it. However, her father would soon change his mind and revoke his approval - after all, should his only son die, the next male in line would be the Duc d'Orléans. If the king were to bestow his daughter on this part of the family their claim to the throne would be too strong. So, the match was called off and by 1743 the Duc de Chartres married another cousin.
Meanwhile, Henriette maintained a fierce loyalty to her sister who was growing increasingly discontent at her lot in Parma. Louise Élisabeth had expected more of a marriage than a prince with no prospects of ever taking a throne. While she could do nothing about the choice of brother-in-law, Henriette could - and did - do what she could to further her sister's interests at the French court.
Piety was another strong streak in Madame Henriette's character; together with her siblings she grew to strongly dislike her father's taste for mistresses. While she was more than pleased to welcome her sister, Louise Élisabeth, back to Versailles for a year in 1748, she was less so when Louise Élisabeth warmed to Madame de Pompadour. This led to the only reported schism between the sisters.
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| Henriette portraying the element fire - she was 23 at this time |
Around the same time, Henriette would welcome a new sister-in-law to her family, when Marie Josèphe of Saxony was married to Louis Ferdinand. It would seem that the two women struck up a friendship and Henriette was widely credited with having helped Louis Ferdinand overcome his sorrow for his first wife and accept his new.
Her relationship with her father was also cause of much comment. It had already been noted that Louis XV seemed to prefer her to her sisters and their close relationship continued even after the cancelled marriage proposals. Henriette seemed to have had the knack of understanding her father's often restless and melancholic disposition like few - if any - others did.
As the year 1752 dawned, Henriette partook in the usual festivities including sledge rides with her parents and siblings. One such took place on 7 February and shortly after she began to complain of feeling unwell. Initially there was no need for concern. Henriette was a healthy, young woman and catching a common cold would not have been surprising given the season. However, it was not a common cold - it was small pox. Just three days later - on 10 February - Henriette Anne died at the age of just 24.
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