Marie Thérèse was the fourth child and third daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his wife, Maria Theresa of Spain. As the king's daughter, she was a Fille de France and was known at court by the traditional honorific of Madame Royale because she was the king's eldest surviving daughter. She did not survive childhood, dying at the age of five due to tuberculosis.

Maria Theresa of Spain was Queen of France from 1660 to 1683 as the wife of King Louis XIV. She was born an Infanta of Spain and Portugal as the daughter of King Philip IV and Elisabeth of France, and was also an Archduchess of Austria as a member of the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg.