Louis, Dauphin of France, with a kite. One of 5 paintings on the outside of a snuffbox.
While dining with one of his sisters, Prince Louis, eldest son of Louis XV and Dauphin of France, noticed that she helped herself first, and he made up his mind to teach her something.
— “Madame,” he said to her, “I was under the impression that, whenever I am present, the honors are not given to you, but to me.”
The duchess of Ventadour immediately administered the appropriate corporal punishment and then rebuked the Dauphin, saying:
— “I see that Your Highness has learned better the lesson on your birthright than the one on your obligation to have good manners.”
Jacques Necker, Galerie de l’ancienne cour (Maestricht: J. E. Dufour, 1787), Vol. 3, 142. (Nobility.org translation.)
Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 387
