Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I. of England

The proposed marriage between Charles, Prince of Wales, and the Infanta of Spain having failed, a matrimonial negotiation was opened with Henrietta, the youngest daughter of King Henry IV of France whom he had first met at a ball in Paris while on his way to Spain. The marriage was celebrated by proxy at Paris in 1625.

		when she arrived only fifteen she could not speak a word of English, and soon made a bad impression on the people. Her popularity was destroyed by her bigotry, hauteur, and despotic ideas as to divine right. She had also brought with her a large number of Catholic servants Parliament demanded that all her Papist attendants be banished, and Charles quickly sent them back to France Charles was constantly in the company of his favourite, Buckingham, and paid scant attention to her. Buckingham tried hard to drive a permanent wedge between the King and his wife, afraid that the Queen would in time oust him from his position of influence. For three years Henrietta was desperately unhappy , however Buckingham's assassination in 1628 changed Charles opinion. He turned to Henrietta for comfort, the court gossips were amused at the sight of the King falling in love with his own wife, and she with him. From then on they became an exceptionally devoted couple.
The youngest child of Henry IV. of France, by his second wife, Maria de' Medici; born in Paris 1609 - died 1669		Their letters to each other show none of the merely formal courtesies so common among aristocratic couples of the time.

Henrietta - who in time mastered English sufficiently to write long. ungratmnatical letters - signed herself Entirety thyne', or "Absolutely yours', and generally opened with Dear heart! "

The ten or twelve years following Buckingham's assassination were almost idyllic. Henrietta had several children in rapid succession, most of whom survived.

Charles allowed her to have Mass celebrated openly, and the court became the centre of a Catholic revival - Jesuits and papal agents abounded, and conversion became fashionable among the aristocracy. She wrote to her mother that she was not only the happiest queen alive, but without doubt " the happiest woman in the world ". Though not especially intelligent, Henrietta was gay and quick-witted, and made the court the centre of fashion and elegance. She loved dancing and masques, and employed Inigo Jones to design many of the settings for her entertainment's. She took little interest in politics, and was totally unaware of the increasing hostility to the extravagances of the court in Puritan London.

It did not last. Following the execution of Stratford, Parliament dismissed the royal servants and Henrietta's confessor was sent to the Tower. Henrietta became the centre of opposition to the Commons, during Charles's absence in Scotland. She urged the calling in of foreign troops: and the Irish rebellion was known as the "Queen's Rebellion", as it was commonly held that she had supported and authorised it.

In 1642 on the break out of war Henrietta went to the Netherlands to sell or pawn most of the jewels Charles had given her, to procure money and troops. Writing to Charles who was visiting London for what would be the last time " Do not suffer your army to be disbanded, or any peace to be made, till this Parliament be ended." Henrirtta was afraid that while she was away Charles would be influenced by some of his more reasonable advisers.

She landed at Bridlington in Yorkshire the following year, with, several munition ships. The town was bombarded by Parliamentary ships, but Henrietta displayed her usual courage in the face of danger and brought her followers and supplies safely out of the town. On May 23 the Commons voted her impeachment, but this did not deter her from rallying Yorkshire to the Royalist cause. With the spirit and energy that she had collected the troops she rode south at their head to join Charles in Oxford.

Much of the subsequent procedure which brought Charles to the block may be traced indirectly to her influence. She urged him to take the Covenant, for to her there was no difference between one heresy and another, and she completely failed to realise or understand Charles's devotion to Anglicanism.

The Oxford court was a scene of desperate gaiety. Henrietta was lodged at Merton College for several months, but finally, as Cromwell closed in on the town, she was forced to flee without Charles, pregnant yet again. In Falmouth she gave birth to her last child, Minette, but had to leave the baby behind when she escaped to France ten days later. In France she was seriously ill for several months but as she came back to health again started to work once more for her husbands cause. She was given an allowance of twelve thousand crowns a month by the Queen Regent, her sister in law, Anne of Austria, which enabled her to pay messengers to keep her in touch with Charles.

In 1644 after Charles's execution Henrietta again went to the Continent, and resided in France till the Restoration. at the Chateau of Colombes near Paris. Minette her constant companion, the child to be raised a Catholic. There was a dreadful scene when she failed to convert her youngest son, Henry, to Catholicism, and she never saw him again. The other three surviving children while fond of their mother were determined to have their own way. Charles, the eldest, refused to allow her to influence policy or members of his council, and Henrietta had taken a particular dislike to Edward Hyde. James distinguished himself by fighting in Flanders. Mary, the widowed Princess of Orange, despite her mother's disapproval, kept as one of her attendants Anne Hyde, daughter of Edward.

It was rumoured that Henrietta's and her old friend and Chamberlain, Henry Jermyn, married but there is no evidence to suggest that he was anything other than her, closest companion, though a shrewd observer once remarked that his advice was not often followed.

In 1660, Henrietta reluctantly returned to England following the Restoration. She had failed to marry Charles to "Mademoiselie" - the wealthiest royal heiress in France - and she was forced to accept Anne Hyde as James's wife. She received a grant from Parliament of £30,000 a year, much of which she spent rescuing debtors from prison, for she knew what it was like to be in debt. She soon returned to France, with Minette for her marriage to the King's brother, and remained there, dying at Colombes near Paris in 1669.