She was the seventh daughter and ninth child of King Louis XV of France and his Polish-born consort Marie Leszczyńska.

This rank allowed her the style of Royal Highness, and she was the most important lady at court after her mother and her elder sisters.

This was done because Cardinal Fleury, the king’s chief minister, thought that the cost of raising them in Versailles would be too expensive with all the luxuries they were entitled to.

In mid-September 1744 as her father Louis XV was also sick and thought to be dying at Metz, Thérése fell ill with smallpox.

Madame Thérèse was buried at the Abbey of Fontevraud, which, in earlier times, had been the traditional burial place of members of the House of Plantagenet.

A Mass was held for her soul in Notre Dame de Paris in October 1744 with the King and Queen and her elder siblings in attendance.