Everything about Henrietta Anne Stuart totally explained
Princess Henrietta Anne of England (born Henrietta; later Duchess of Orléans;
16 June (Old Style)
26 June (New Style)
1644 –
30 June 1670), in French
Henriette d'Angleterre, sometimes known familiarly as
Minette, was the youngest daughter of King
Charles I of
England and
Henrietta Maria of France. The Jacobite claims to the throne following the death of
Henry Benedict Stuart descend from her. After her marriage to Philippe d'Orléans, she became known as
Madame at court. Her husband was known as
Monsieur.
Early life
Princess Henrietta was born at Bedford House,
Exeter, at a time when the
English Civil War was raging across the land. Two weeks after Henriette's birth, her mother, the Queen, fled the country leaving her in the care of Lady Villiers. Henrietta Anne (the "Anne" was added after she was baptized into the Catholic Church) wasn't reunited with her mother until she was two years old. After Henrietta's father
Charles I was beheaded in 1649 and a republic was proclaimed in
England, Henrietta's mother made her home at the French court, nominally presided over by her minor nephew,
Louis XIV. Henrietta thus grew up at the French court.
Duchesse d'Orléans
At the age of 17, Princess Henrietta married her first cousin,
Philip I, Duke of Orléans, who was the younger son of her maternal uncle
Louis XIII and the only brother of
Louis XIV, then King of France. The wedding was held at the Chapel Palais Royal in
Paris on
31 March 1661. The marriage was unhappy, and her husband preferred the affections of his gentlemen, who vied with Henrietta for power.
Louis XIV
Louis XIV was very close to his sister-in-law, and the two were possibly lovers. Louis' mourning of her after her tragic death was even greater than that of Philippe, her husband, lending credence to that theory. However, Philippe was extremely jealous of his wife, possibly abusive, and paraded a succession of male lovers before her.
Popular at court, much to Philippe's annoyance, Henriette was known as a pretty, good-natured girl who enjoyed flirting. She soon attracted the attention of her husband's older, more virile, brother. In order to hide their attraction from the king's mother and wife, Henriette and Louis invented the story that he was constantly in Henriette's company in order to be close to one of her ladies-in-waiting,
Louise de la Vallière. Only later did Henriette realize that the ruse had been so successful that Louis had indeed begun an affair with Louise.
The comte de Guiche
Reluctantly and somewhat bitterly, Henriette stepped aside. Later, she seems to have taken one of her husband's earlier conquests, the
comte de Guiche, as a lover. This caused all sorts of arguments at the
Palais Royal, where the Orléans lived.
Children
Despite the marital dissension between
Monsieur and
Madame, several children were born of the union. Some believed at the time that the King was the real father of Henrietta's two daughters:
Not unusually for the era, Henriette had four miscarriages 1663, 1666, 1667, 1668.
By the time of the birth of
Anne Marie in 1669, the couple was notorious for their constant arguing at court and at home in the
Palais Royal. Philippe now had a new lover, and many were aware of the great influence this man had over Philippe.
Image:Marie Louise Orleans Spain.jpg|Marie Louise, Queen Consort of Spain
Image:MARIA ANNA of Orleans.jpg|Anne Marie, Queen consort of Sardinia and Sicily
The Chevalier de Lorraine
The favorites of
Monsieur, invariably younger, handsome men, would dominate contemporary and historical commentary about his role at court, particularly with one man who shared his
princely rank and much of his life:
Philip of Lorraine-Armagnac was three years younger than Philip of Orléans. Insinuating, brutal and devoid of scruple, he was the great love of the life of Monsieur. He was also the worst enemy of the latter's two wives. As greedy as a vulture, this cadet of the French branch of the House of Lorraine had, by the end of the 1650s, hooked Monsieur like a harpooned whale. The young prince loved him with a passion that worried Madame Henrietta and the court bishop,, but it was plain to the King that, thanks to the attractive face and sharp mind of the good-looking cavalier, he'd have his way with his brother.
Under these circumstances it's no surprise that
Monsieur's first marriage wasn't a happy one. In January 1670 his wife prevailed upon the King to imprison the chevalier, first near
Lyon, then in the
chateau d'If, and finally he was banished to
Rome. But by February
Monsieur's protests and pleas persuaded the King to restore him to his brother's
entourage.
Later life
Today, she's best known through her correspondence with her brother
King Charles II of England, with whom she was very close. With her brother, she helped to negotiate the
Secret Treaty of Dover (1670), which was an offensive and defensive
alliance between
England and
France.
She died at the
Palace of Saint-Cloud, near
Paris on
30 June 1670, just two weeks after the treaty was signed. At the time of her death, it was widely believed that Henrietta-Anne had been poisoned by friends of her husband’s jealous lover and exiled favourite, the Chevalier de Lorraine.
An autopsy was performed, however, and it was reported that Henrietta-Anne had died of
peritonitis caused by a perforated
ulcer.
Ancestors
Further Information
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