Christine of France

Christine Marie of France (10 February 1606 – 27 December 1663) was Duchess of Savoy from 26 July 1630 to 7 October 1637 as the consort of Duke Victor Amadeus I.

Born in the Palais du Louvre in Paris, Christine was the third child and second daughter of King Henry IV of France and his second wife Marie de' Medici.

After the marriage of her older sister Elisabeth in 1615 to the future Philip IV of Spain, Christine took on the honorary title of Madame Royale, which indicated her status as the eldest and most senior unmarried daughter at the court of her brother.

Her residences included the Palazzo Madama, which she had rebuilt, and she was also the driving force for the reconstruction of the Castello del Valentino as well as the additions to the Royal Palace of Turin.

She was a confidant to the exiled Queen Henrietta, who often wrote to her about her experiences during the English Civil War and her son's restoration.

At the death of Francis Hyacinth in 1638, her second son Charles Emmanuel II succeeded and Christine retained the regency.

When the first heir Francis Hyacinth died in 1638, both brothers started the Piedmontese Civil War with Spanish support.

Christine of France stayed in firm control of the Duchy of Savoy until her son could follow in her footsteps; her formal regency ended in 1648, but she remained in charge at his invitation until her death.

17 years after her death, in 1680, her granddaughter Victoria of Bavaria via her third daughter Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, would marry her older brother's grandson Louis de France known as 'the Fat' and Monseigneur.

Christine as a child, by Frans Pourbus the Younger .