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Henrietta Stuart (Princess)

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Wikipedia

Henrietta Anne
Duchess of Orléans
Portrait by Pierre Mignard
Portrait by Pierre Mignard
Spouse Philip I, Duke of Orléans
Issue
Marie Louise
Anne Marie
Titles and styles
The Duchess of Orléans
Princess Henrietta Anne of England
Princess Henrietta of England
Royal house House of Bourbon
House of Stuart
Father Charles I of England
Mother Henrietta Maria of France
Born 16 June 1644
Flag of England Bedford House, Exeter
Died 30 June 1670 (aged 26)
Flag of France Palace of Saint-Cloud, Paris

Princess Henrietta Anne of England (born Henrietta; later Duchess of Orléans; 16 June (Old Style) 26 June (New Style) 164430 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.

[edit] 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) was not 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.[1]

[edit] 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.[2] This caused all sorts of arguments at the Palais Royal, where the Orléans lived.

[edit] 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.[3]

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.[4] Philippe now had a new lover, and many were aware of the great influence this man had over Philippe.


[edit] 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, Cosnac, but it was plain to the King that, thanks to the attractive face and sharp mind of the good-looking cavalier, he would have his way with his brother.[5]

Under these circumstances it is no surprise that Monsieur's first marriage was not 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.

[edit] Later life

Today, she is 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.[6]

[edit] Ancestors

Henrietta Anne Stuart's ancestors in three generations
Henrietta Anne Stuart Father:
Charles I of England
Paternal Grandfather:
James I of England
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Mary I of Scotland
Paternal Grandmother:
Anne of Denmark
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Frederick II of Denmark
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Mother:
Henrietta Maria of France
Maternal Grandfather:
Henry IV of France
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Antoine of Bourbon
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Jeanne III of Navarre
Maternal Grandmother:
Marie de' Medici
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Francesco I de' Medici
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Johanna of Austria


[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Hartmann, Cyril Hughes (1954). The King, my brother. London: William Heinemann.  OCLC: 2292261 ASIN: B000GBX3JS
  2. ^ Brother to the Sun king:Philippe, Duke of Orléans by Nancy Nicholas Barker
  3. ^ Royal Genealogy, Information on Stuart, Henrietta Anne
  4. ^ Brother to the Sun king:Philippe, Duke of Orléans by Nancy Nicholas Barker
  5. ^ Van der Cruysse, Dirk (1988). Madame Palatine, Princesse Européenne (in French). Fayard, page 165. ISBN 2213022003. “Philippe de Lorraine-Armagnac était de trois ans le cadet de Philippe d'Orléans. Séduisant, brutal et dénué de scrupules, il fut le grand amour de la vie de Monsieur. Il fut aussi le pire ennemi des deux épouses de celui-ci...Rapace comme un vautour, ce cadet de la branche française de la maison de Lorraine avait mis dès la fin des années 1650 le grappin sur Monsieur comme on harponne une baleine. Le jeune prince l'aimait avec une fougue qui inquiétait Madame Henriette et Cosnac, mais qui fit comprendre au Roi que, grâce à la figure charmante et la tête bien organisée du joli chevalier, il aurait barre sur son frère.” 
  6. ^ Robinson, James. "The History of Gastric Surgery" Chapter 20, page 239. The History of Gastroenterology.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[edit] Titles

Henrietta Anne Stuart
Born: 26 June 1644 Died: 30 June 1670
British royalty
Preceded by
N/A
Princess of England
1644–1661
Succeeded by
N/A
French royalty
Preceded by
Marguerite de Lorraine
duchesse d'Orléans
1661–1670
Succeeded by
Elisabeth Charlotte von der Pfalz

This text was last fetched from this Wikipedia page (where you can edit it) on
13 May 2008, 12:05am under the terms of the GFDL.

Annotations

  • Stuart, Henrietta Anne
    Birth : 16 Jun 1644 Bedford House, Exeter, England
    Father: Stuart, Charles I King of England
    Mother: Bourbon, Henriette Marie
    Marriage: 31 Mar 1661 in Paris, France
    Spouse: Orleans, Philippe Duke of
    Death : 30 Jun 1670 St. Cloud - poisoned

    She appears to be Philippe’s second wife and the first wife lived into the next century.

  • Henrietta actually was Philippe’s first wife. In 1671 he remarried Elisabeth Charlotte, daughter of Charles I of the Pfalz (son of the “Winter King” Frederick V and Elisabeth, sister of king Charles I). She was the famous “Liselotte” von der Pfalz, known for her intelligence and good companionship with Louis XIV.

  • Yeah, I know, Michiel
    Made the mistake and couldn’t figure out how to correct it. This is an unforgiving medium.

  • Henrietta-Anne Stuart was left behind at Exeter when her mother fled to France, but her governess smuggled her to France in 1646, where she was raised Catholic. With a reputation for cleverness and beauty, she was married to Philippe d’Orleans in 1661. Shortly afterwards, the obvious attentions of both Buckingham and De Guiche did indeed arouse her husband’s jealousy, leading to both Buckingham and De Guiche being persuaded to leave the court. Their marriage, due to Philippe’s homosexuality and excessive
    jealousy, was far short of successful. Before the king took La Valliere as his mistress, he was quite captivated by Henrietta, and it wasn’t
    until the monarch’s attentions shifted to La Valliere that she became
    receptive to De Guiche’s advances. In 1670 she was sent to England to
    persuade Charles II to sign the Treaty of Dover, which he did, and was
    poisoned to death on her return.

    from http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/soc/gutenberg/etext02/vbcom10.txt

  • Henrietta Anne

    Charles II was devoted to this sister, his beloved Minette, who was in some ways the one,true love of his life. He once confessed that she was the only woman who really had any influence over him.

  • Henrietta in better days
    http://www.abcgallery.com/V/vandyck/vandyck26.html
    :

  • Vincent, that looks like Henrietta-Maria rather than Henrietta-Anne.

  • Portraits of Henrietta-Anne:

    http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp03380

    http://www.exeter.gov.uk/visiting/attractions/local_history/exeter_guildhall/history/portraits.xml

    “The Unlucky Duchess of Orleans

    “Henrietta Anne was the daughter of Charles I of England and Henrietta Marie from France. She was born in 1644 at Exeter and was exiled by Cromwell with her brother, Charles II. She was unlucky in her attempts to marry and was rejected by the Duke of Savoy and the de Medici heir of Tuscany.

    “In 1661, the year after her brother was restored to the throne, she married Philippe, Duke of Orleans. The marriage was rather unfortunate. Philippe had been a pretty boy who liked dressing as a girl and helping the court ladies sew. As he grew older, his effeminacy and prettiness became more pronounced; he loved parties, gossip, jewels, fussy clothes and the tinkle of bells. Philippe remained amorous for only two weeks after his marriage, though the couple still had four children.”

    “Henrietta died suddenly on 30 June 1670 aged only twenty-six. Poison was suspected and so was Philippe, but an investigation by the Duke of Montagu found that she had died of natural causes. Henrietta is buried at St. Denis, France.”

    Source —
    http://finmere.org.uk/history/pubs/newsletters/second/record3.htm

  • Peter ‘Tis true I cannae read thanks :

  • From Grammont’s footnotes

    Henrietta, youngest daughter of Charles the First, born at Exeter, 16th June, 1644, from whence she was removed to London in 1646, and, with her governess, Lady Dalkeith, soon afterwards conveyed to France. On the Restoration, she came over to England with her mother, but returned to France in about six months, and was married to Philip, Duke of Orleans, only brother of Lewis XIV. In May, 1760, she came again to Dover, on a mission of a political nature, it is supposed, from the French king to her brother, in which she was successful. She died, soon after her return to France, suddenly, not without suspicion of having been poisoned by her husband. King James, in his Diary, says, “On the 22nd of June, the news of the Duchess of Orleans’ death arrived. It was suspected that counter-poisons were given her; but when she was opened, in the presence of the English ambassador, the Earl of Ailesbury, an English physician, and surgeon, there appeared no grounds of suspicion of any foul play. Yet Bucks talked openly that she was poisoned; and was so violent as to propose to foreign ministers to make war on France.” — Macpherson’s Original Papers, vol. i. At the end of Lord Arlington’s Letters are five very remarkable ones from a person of quality, who is said to have been actually on the spot, giving a particular relation of her death.

    http://www.pseudopodium.org/repress/grammont/notes06.html see note 155

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References in the diary

1660
Sep: 5
Nov: 20, 22
1661
Jan: 1, 11, 15, 27
Mar: 18
1663
Dec: 22