Orléans was born at the Château de Saint Germain en Laye outside Paris in 1648. She was the youngest surviving daughter of Gaston d'Orléans and his second wife Marguerite of Lorraine. From birth, she was styled Mademoiselle de Valois, derived from one of her father's subsidiary titles.
She was the shortest Savoyard consort dying at the age of fifteen, childless. She was the favourite sister of La Grande Mademoiselle, the famous heiress. She resided at the Château de Blois.
Her father died in 1660 and her mother remained unmarried. As French court etiquette dictated, she held the status of a Granddaughter of France as a male line descendant of the late king Henry IV of France. She was styled as a petite-fille de France.
The match was approved of by Cardinal Mazarin who had previously rejected Marie Jeanne of Savoy, another candidate for Charles Emmanuel II. Orléans proved suitably docile and was chosen over Marie Jeanne. Orléans married the Duke of Savoy by proxy at the Palais du Louvre on 4 March 1663. The couple travelled to Turin, capital of Savoy, where they arrived on 15 June 1663.
She was known as Francesca Maddalena d'Orléans in her adopted Savoy. She was buried at Turin Cathedral where she rests today. Her husband, inconsolable at her death, ordered a lavish funeral.
After Orléans' death, Louis XIV tried to engage La Grande Mademoiselle to Charles Emmanuel II who refused the match. Titles and Styles
13 October 1648 – 4 March 1663 Her Royal Highness Mademoiselle de Valois
4 March 1663 – 14 January 1664 Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Savoy.
