In 1688 King James VII and II fled into exile with his family, eventually settling in the French royal palace of St Germain, near Paris. There, in 1692, his last child, Louisa Maria Teresa, was born. James declared that God had sent her to be his consolation in adversity. Named after the French king Louis XIV, Louisa had a sweet, gentle nature. She was only sibling of Prince James Francis Edward, the Old Pretender, to survive infancy.