Anne of Austria was born in Valladolid, Spain, in 1601 as the eldest daughter of Philip III and Margaret of Austria, Queen consort of Spain. She held the titles of Infanta of Spain and of Portugal (since her father was king of Portugal as well as Spain) and Archduchess of Austria. In spite of her birth in Spain, she was referred to as Anne of Austria because the rulers of Spain belonged to the House of Austria.Exceptionally for a royal princess, Anne grew up close to her parents, who were very religious, and was raised to be religious too. In 1611, she lost her mother, who died in childbirth. Despite her grief, Anne did her best to take care of her younger siblings, who referred to her with affection as their mother.She was engaged at the age of eleven to Louis XIII of France and married him by proxy in 1615, while Louis' sister, Elisabeth of France, married the future Philip IV of Spain, Anne's brother. During her early period as Queen consort, she underwent extreme pressure to produce an heir from the highly strict Spanish etiquette of the French court and especially her mother-in-law, Marie de' Medici. In 1617, however, the King proceeded to a successful coup d'etat to overthrow his mother. He later appointed his trusted advisor, Cardinal Richelieu, as prime minister, causing tensions between him and Anne.After many years of childlessness, Anne gave birth to the future Louis XIV in 1638 and Philippe, Duke of Orl Show less «