Sarah-Beth Watkins - The Tragic Daughters of Charles I: Mary, Elizabeth & Henrietta Anne

First published by Chronos Books, 2019

Chronos Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., No. 3 East St., Alresford, Hampshire SO24 9EE, UK

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Text copyright: Sarah-Beth Watkins 2018

ISBN: 978 1 78904 113 2

978 1 78904 114 9 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018942987

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The rights of Sarah-Beth Watkins as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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On a cold winters morning King Charles I was led from St James Palace to Whitehall by the New Model Army, their drums beating along the route. It was so cold the Thames had frozen over and Charles wore two shirts to keep out the chill. At Whitehall the king prayed and took a drink of claret. Quietly composed, he awaited his fate.

Huge crowds had gathered but were kept back from the scaffold that had been prepared for the execution of a king. He had prepared a speech but was worried that no one would hear him so he directed his words to those that were witnesses at the scaffold:

I have forgiven all the world, and even those in particular that have been the chief causes of my death. Who they are, God knows, I do not desire to know, God forgive them. But this is not all, my charity must go further. I wish that they may repent, for indeed they have committed a great sin in that particular. I pray God, with St. Stephen, that this be not laid to their charge. Nay, not only so, but that they may take the right way to the peace of the kingdom, for my charity commands me not only to forgive particular men, but my charity commands me to endeavour to the last gasp the Peace of the Kingdom. So, Sirs, I do wish with all my soul, and I do hope there is some here (turning to some gentlemen that wrote) that will carry it further, that they may endeavour the peace of the Kingdom.

A soldier interrupted his speech when he stumbled against the axe and Charles told him Hurt not the axe that may hurt me fearing it may become blunt. He continued addressing the witnesses until another man did the same and he said Take heed of the axe, pray, take heed of the axe.

When he was ready the king turned to the executioner said,

Taking off his cloak, he checked with the executioner that his hair was out of the way and removed his doublet and waistcoat before replacing his cloak. He asked the executioner whether the block could be higher but it could not. The king placed his head on the block and asked the executioner to wait for the sign. When he stretched forward his hands, the axe fell and Charles I lost his head in one stroke. It was held aloft with the words behold the head of a traitor.

He left behind him his queen Henrietta Maria, his sons, Charles, James and Henry and his daughters Mary, Elizabeth, Anne and Henrietta Anne. The kings daughters, these Stuart princesses, would lead short, troubled lives. This is their story.

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The married life of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France was destined to be tumultuous. Their relationship would be set against years of civil war, political upheaval and bloodshed. As a family they would be driven apart and their children would be forced to face their own destinies. The couple would have four sons and five daughters yet two of their children would be stillborn. Of the four surviving daughters, Mary, Elizabeth, Anne and Henrietta Anne, only three lived into their teenage years and not one of them would reach their thirties.

This ill-fated royal couple married by proxy in May 1625 in a Catholic ceremony in front of the Notre Dame in Paris with the Duke of Chevreuse standing in as bridegroom. The notorious George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, was supposed to fill in for Charles but due to the death of King James, his journey was delayed. Buckingham had been the kings favourite since Charles was fourteen. They had hated each other at first but now he was the new kings right-hand man and as such would have a huge influence on his marriage.

Henrietta Maria would rue the day she met him even though he had so much charm and magnificence that he won the admiration of all the people. The ladies of the court were filled with joy (and something more than joy); the court gallants were openly envious; and all the husbands at court were consumed with jealousy. But already they had argued over her greeting the papal legate.

Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV and Marie de Medici, had been brought up as a Catholic and she would never sway in her beliefs. Her marriage treaty had included secret promises that Charles would end the persecution of Catholics in England and she had sworn to her mother and the Pope to help put a stop to their suffering. The least she could do was greet the papal representative in Paris but Buckingham could see trouble brewing.

In June the fifteen-year-old Henrietta sailed across the Channel with her huge entourage including twenty-eight Catholic priests and began her married life in her new country. Charles I met her at Dover and they travelled on to Canterbury for another wedding ceremony. She was described as being of a more lovely and lasting complexion, a dark brown; she hath eyes that sparkle like stars, and for her physiognomy she may be said to be a mirror of perfection. But she also had a fierce temper and would soon show she was unhappy with Charles and his favourite.

Her religion immediately caused problems as Buckingham had foreseen. Where was the chapel Charles had promised to have built for her? Her priests complained to the king and were told they could say Mass in the Great Chamber and if the Great Chamber were not wide enough, they might use the garden; and if the garden would not serve their turn, then was the park the fittest place. He angered Charles further by refusing to attend the ceremonies of the Order of the Garter a Protestant ceremony and now there was the problem of their coronation.

Charles and Henrietta Marias coronation ceremony was to take place in Westminster Abbey, an Anglican church, which posed a dilemma to Henrietta and her Catholic French advisers. It was suggested perhaps that the ceremony could take place outside the building with a Catholic priest officiating but any change to the coronation ceremony was unheard of. Charles had no intention of breaking with tradition and continued with his plans regardless of his new wifes wishes. In the end Henrietta didnt even attend the ceremony but watched the procession from a nearby house. She was never crowned which would lead to many believing she was not a true queen of England and would pose her problems in the future.