Christine was born in the Palais du Louvre in Paris and was the third child of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. As a daughter of the king, she held the prestigious rank of "Fille de France". Baptised with the names "Christine Marie", she was known simply as Christine. She was a younger sister of Louis XIII of France and Élisabeth, a future queen of Spain. After the marriage of Princess Élisabeth in 1615 to the future Philip IV of Spain, Christine took on the honorary title of "Madame Royale" indicating her status as the eldest and most senior unmarried daughter at the court. She would be known as this till her own marriage.