The Life of Henrietta Anne: Daughter of Charles I

by Melanie Clegg

Henrietta Anne Stuart, youngest child of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, was born in June 1644 in the besieged city of Exeter at the very height of the English Civil War. The hostilities had separated her parents and her mother was on the run from Parliamentary forces when she gave birth with only a few attendants on hand to give her support. Within just a few days she was on her way to the coast for a moonlit escape to her native France, leaving her infant daughter in the hands of trusted supporters. A few years later Henrietta Anne would herself be whisked, disguised as a boy, out of the country and reunited with her mother in France, where she remained for the rest of her life.

Henrietta’s fortunes dramatically changed for the better when her brother Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660. After being snubbed by her cousin Louis XIV, she would eventually marry his younger brother Philippe, Duc d’Orléans and quickly become one of the luminaries of the French court, although there was a dark side to her rise to power and popularity when she became embroiled in love affairs with her brother in law Louis and her husband’s former lover, the dashing Comte de Guiche, giving rise to several scandals and rumors about the true parentage of her three children.

However, Henrietta Anne was much more than just a mere court butterfly, she also possessed considerable intelligence, wit and political acumen, which led to her being entrusted in 1670 with the delicate negotiations for the Secret Treaty between her brother Charles II and cousin Louis XIV, which ensured England’s support of France in their war against the Dutch.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Royalty

216 pages, Hardcover

Published November 21, 2017

About the author

International woman of history, biographer, posh doomer, chaotic good, anxious, ENFP, flame haired Robespierre, Scottish, a sweet titbit for the Devil's mouth.

To date, my published books include biographies of Marie de Guise, Henrietta Anne of England, Margaret Tudor and Empress Alexandra of Russia, all of which were published by Pen and Sword Books.

My next book, a biography of Madame Élisabeth, sister of Louis XVI, is due to be published by Pen and Sword Books in the summer of 2023.

After this, I am contracted to write about women guillotined during the French Revolution, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, Marie Antoinette, Madame Royale, Louis XVI and the daughters of Louis XIV.

Reviews

[Beata · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read several books by Ms Clegg and have never been disappointed.
The life of Henrietta Anne, born during the tumultuous times at the end of her father's reign, she was lucky to have survived the fall of the monarchy. She spent her young days at the French court, being close to becoming the queen at some point, and then manouvering in the labirynth of court intrigues. She was always close to Charles II, and played some part in secret negotiations between the English ad French courts.
Well-written and well-researched, this book casts new light on the English princess who still remains in the shadow of her domineering mother and royal brother.
*Many thanks to Melanie Clegg, Pen & Sword, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Life of Henrietta Anne: Daughter of Charles I by Melanie Clegg is a great biography of the sister of Charles II. Beyond fascinating!

I absolutely loved reading and learning about Henreitta Anne Stuart. She was so much more than just the daughter of Charles I and the sister of Charles II. I sadly knew such little about her, but after reading this book, I can now say that I have a wonderful insight into the jam-packed and eventful life of this complex woman.

It was engaging and bittersweet to learn more about her life and the important role that she played.

I highly recommend this!

Thank you NG and Pen & Sword for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 4/30/22.

[Lady Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henrietta-Anne is a favourite historical figure of mine so I was thrilled to see a book written about her. This is an engaging, sympathetic and informative look at Henrietta's sadly short life. It was a fantastic book and a worthy followup to the author's 'Minette', which is also highly recommended.

[Helen Carolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a disappointing read. Read like a gossip magazine. No new information here. Henrietta comes across as a real goody goody who loved everyone and was loved in return. I found her boring but in other books I've read there is a little more meat on her. Not great.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review to follow on my blog: https://wheretheresinktherespaper.wor...

[BookRascal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read several books where Henrietta Anne Stuart was a supporting character. She was always presented in a favorable light. In this book she is presented the same way. She was born to King Charles I and his French wife Henrietta Maria. Born during the English Civil War she started out in a precarious position. Eventually smuggled out of England and taken to France where her mother had already escaped to, she would live out her life in the French court. Described as charming, charismatic and delightful she was considered the darling of the French court she was also politically savvy and the King counted on her for help dealing with her brother the King of England who loved her very much. Prince Philippe who was King Louis XIV younger brother fell in love with her and they were eventually married. He was emotionally abusive towards her and it was a very chaotic marriage but did produce several children.

I enjoyed reading about her life in this very well researched and written book. I have no doubts that anyone interested in this time in history would enjoy learning about this woman's life.

[Alex Sarll]

Appropriately enough, I've realised my taste in history is quite old-fashioned. I'm not against lots of big picture, wider forces stuff from someone who can do it properly like John Reader, but a lot of the time that approach can result in a morass of theory, or losing track of who's winning the Thirty Years War because the book decided we needed to eat our greens, where by 'greens' I mean several pages on the agricultural economy of Frisia. At the other extreme, there's being accessible and with-it, showing the kids that history is cool by talking about how in many ways, Disraeli was just like an influencer, and coming across at best like Daisy Steiner yelling 'Girl Power', at worst like a trendy vicar. Again, it's not impossible to pull off – just look at Barbara Tuchman – but dear heavens, it's a minefield. No, mostly what I want is just someone who knows the period or personality, telling me the interesting stuff that happened, making it a story but an erudite one; getting me some facts, but entertainingly. Now, granted, to get that I could just read old history books, but the problem there is that for all they had the style, there's so many things we know better now, whether that be in social justice terms, or simply the facts (I'm still not over my recent discovery that the siege of Maiden Castle as I devoured it in childhood, derived from Mortimer Wheeler's gloss on his 1930s excavations, has since turned out to be pretty much complete bollocks). So really, something like this will do me nicely; a book where a historian from seventy years ago might be a little surprised at the choice of subject, and at least in the Netgalley ARC* might fancy a few more commas, but where barring one (entirely fair, TBH) use of the word 'vibe', they would still recognise it as very much a product of their own field, rather than some dystopian gewgaw. A book coming out in 2022 which will happily say something like "The little princess, who had inherited the delicate features and red hair of her Stuart ancestors and the dark, dancing eyes of her mother's Medici forebears, was much admired, especially by her brother Charles", and initially you're taken aback, but only in the same way as when you see someone who still wears a three-piece suit, and only for the moment before you realise they're rocking it.

So who is the subject? The youngest daughter of Charles I, sister to Charles II and James II, sister-in-law to the Sun King, mate of Moliere. Posh, like. Though also, in early life, a refugee, on account of the whole Civil War business. You know how there are still an awful lot of little girls obsessed with princesses? Imagine you had one who genuinely was a princess, and she absolutely couldn't tell anyone that for fear of imprisonment, and instead had to pretend to be a poor boy called Pierre. How well do you think that would go? Pretty much, though somehow they got away with it anyway (Henrietta Anne's long-suffering governess Lady Dalkeith is possibly the most sympathetic figure in the whole book). Which leaves her with the dubious pleasure of getting to be part of the Stuart court in its Parisian exile, where pretty much everyone is entertainingly awful at this remove, though probably just plain awful if you were actually stuck there. Henrietta Anne's mother, Henrietta Marie, who I was amused to see does have a revisionist biography coming out soon, is here in her more traditional guise, attempting to convert anyone who stands still for five minutes to Catholicism and petulantly oblivious to the fact that this is a big part of the reason she's an exiled widow in the first place. Gaston, Duc d'Orleans, seems like the model of a Disney evil uncle, and as for his daughter Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans, the less said the better. There were times when the entitlement and backbiting had me mentally labelling the whole blasted pack of them as The Real Housewives Of Early Modern Paris – though as per my mutterings above re: trendy vicar historians, I should emphasise that this was my own conclusion, rather than the book belabouring us with a comparison for which I sincerely wish I didn't have the reference point myself. Still, at least there are occasional glimpses of light from the dashing Prince Rupert and his less celebrated brother Prince Maurice (whose name I can only ever hear in the style of Steve Miller). And it's not like things back in London presented a more appealing prospect. I was particularly taken with the detail of Cromwell dying in what had been Charles I's bed, which plays into all my own feelings about how little separated him from a king, and at the same time feels like a weird kink thing, a la the stories about Trump and the Obamas' mattress.

Still, as seemed unlikely at the time but the modern reader knows to expect, the Restoration wasn't far off. Pulling that off was fairly impressive, even when you consider what a dreadful bunch of prigs and hypocrites had been running the show in the interim, but I think Charles II's achievement there may play a part in the one claim in the book which really had me doing a double-take: "Like her eldest brother, Henrietta was clearly imbued with the Stuart gift, which had so signally eluded their brother James, of always knowing the right thing to say and being able to win any audience to her side with an apparently effortless winning combination of charm and disarming affability." That Charles II was charming is hard to dispute, likewise that James VII & II was not. But at least James got away with his head, unlike a certain other Stuart monarch who features heavily in the story, and given neither James VI & I nor Queen Anne seems the sort who'd wow the chat show circuit, I'm not convinced the numbers support claiming it as a dynastic gift, any more than you'd applaud the Plantagenets for their peaceable natures. But I digress. Soon her brother is enthroned and Henrietta Anne is a deeply marriageable young woman. Which doesn't work out brilliantly for her, as she gets paired with the French king's brother Philippe. Who...well, his parents hadn't wanted him jockeying for position with his big brother, long a problem in France, so his mother "set out on a policy of ensuring that her younger son was dissuaded from taking any interest in politics and would instead be encouraged to focus on more frivolous matters, which would hopefully divert his attention from anything more serious." Sounds like a dream job, doesn't it, but sadly the result seems to have been the worst sort of spiteful queen who, while managing to beget the odd heir, seems to have spent most of his marriage to Henrietta ganging up on her with his 'favourites'. Not that she was exactly mother of the year material herself, as witness the birth of her first child, a girl: "When she heard that she had failed to outdo her sister-in-law Maria Theresa by producing a son, Henrietta immediately ordered that the child be thrown out of the window." And within the constraints of 17th century patriarchy, for a time she makes a decent stab at giving as good as she gets, as when she goes from having a maybe affair with her husband's brother (AKA Louis XIV, lest we forget) to a pretty definite one with the husband's ex-boyfriend after there was a plan to distract the king with a lady in waiting except then the lady in waiting got too into it and various people are getting outraged and sacking ladies in waiting but then having to reinstate them and this is only one corner of a mess which brought back memories of a diagram to which I was party in the noughties that detailed who'd done what with whom and looked like someone started drawing the tube map and then also put bus routes on it. And breathe. At one stage during all this a lover gets hidden in a fireplace and there's some business with an orange which reminds the reader that France was, after all, the birthplace of the farce.

Alas, it doesn't last. And emotionally exhausting as it was, what follows is worse. The husband's boyfriends get worse; France and England end up at war; Henrietta Anne starts taking after her mother and trying to get her brother to convert, none of her undoubted intelligence quite coming to bear on how utterly this would doom him as monarch of a by now deeply Protestant nation. And ultimately all biographies end the same way, hers sooner than most. Whether or not she was in fact poisoned by her ghastly husband and/or his dreadful coterie, their treatment of her can hardly have helped matters even if it was natural causes. That she was harangued on her deathbed by an unsympathetic cleric just seems like taking the piss after all she'd already endured, and as for Phillipe's performative sadness afterwards, words fail me. But despite everything, she packed an awful lot into 26 largely unhappy years; when you look at people whose goals included keeping England and France from each other's throats, her hit rate may not have been perfect, but it was a damn sight better than Talleyrand's. Hell, she even (probably) managed to get Charles II to come back to Rome without it threatening his throne, no small thing given the times. Quite the emotional rollercoaster, all in all; I'm glad to have made Henrietta Anne's acquaintance in more detail, but also that I didn't have to move in her circles.

*That's half the disclaimer; the other is that I know the author, which always feels like showboating if you include it every time, but dishonest if you never do.

[Shoshana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melanie Clegg, who as far as I can tell is an independent biographer, writes about interesting women. Henrietta Anne Stuart is a perfect subject for her. Henrietta Anne was born in Exeter during the civil war waged in Britain, and was smuggled out of England to her mother's native France where she spent the rest of her short life.

Henrietta Anne shows up in many biographies of Louis XIV because she, poor thing, ended up married to the king's reprobate brother, Phillipe. The fact that he had boyfriends, some of them quite horrible, was not the problem in and of itself. Fidelity was not expected in royal marriages, and really, who cares if your husband's extramarital affairs are with men or women? The problem was that Phillipe was notoriously abusive to Henrietta Anne, and she had limited ways to defend herself.

This book, like all of Melanie Clegg's books, is well-researched and well-written, I thoroughly enjoyed it. So often one reads about the major figures of history, but wonders about some of the lesser players. Henrietta Anne is someone I have always wanted to know more about; she is always described as charming and knowing just what to say, much like her brother, King Charles II. And stuck in that horrible marriage,

I am glad that Clegg wrote this book and I read it. I thought that she sounded like someone of whom I wanted to know more, and this biography was it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a biography of the youngest child of Charles I of England who was executed by Parliament during the English Civil War. It goes through the English Civil War when Henrietta Anne was born, through her years as a dependent on foreign royalty for her home and even her clothes on her back, to her difficult marriage and the early years of Louis XIV (the Sun King)’s reign and the building of the magnificent Versailles.

It was interesting to read about how she was the child of a royal couple who actually cared for each other (a rarity in those days), how she was close to some of her siblings even though they were separated by years and geographically—sometimes countries away from one another. The description of Louis XIV’s court and entertainments were fun to read. I was particularly interested in how she played a big role in getting a treaty between France and England.

I only wish that there had been an epilogue or a conclusion. It ended abruptly with her death. I wanted to know about the importance of the treaty that she helped facilitate between France and England shortly before her death and what happened to her children. I didn’t know anything about Henrietta Anne. Princesses are usually overlooked by history so it was interesting to read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Elma Voogdt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good biography of Henrietta Anne. From the very beginning of this book I was completely hooked and could not put it down. The Life of Henrietta Anne was a well-written and well-researched. I recommend The Life of Henrietta Anne: Daughter of Charles I by Melanie Clegg to anyone who is interested in this period of history.

[Mariama Thorlu-Bangura · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Life of Henrietta Anne" is a well- written, engaging biography. That was a pleasant surprise for me. Usually, when royals are written about, it's the monarch or his wife that get the attention. It was nice to see someone else's life presented. Henrietta certainly went through a lot, particularly in her marriage. To have such an immature and jealous person for a spouse...I felt bad for her. But what I particularly liked was just how intelligent she was, so much so that her brother and brother-in-law viewed her as an integral part in some of their political negotiations. That was impressive to me considering the usual attitude of women not being astute enough for such a role. The only issue I had was the author's penchant for long run-on sentences. There were too many instances of me having to read many parts 2 or 3 times over to get the full gist. Commas and semicolons need to be used, and in many cases, sentences that take up one third of a paragraph need to be trimmed. Aside from that, it was an enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for this ARC, which I voluntarily read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Georgie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the life of Henrietta Anne Stuart in this book by Melanie Clegg. Prior to reading I did not know much about her, and found this book easy to follow and understand. The book was also very well researched, giving a level of detail that is interesting for both newcomers to the Stuart period, as well as those who have more knowledge in the area. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about the Stuart period and the role Henrietta Anne played in it.

Thank you NetGalley and Pen & Sword for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I will be posting my review on Goodreads and Storygraph, and on Amazon and Waterstones upon the publishing date.

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile...

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched book by Melanie Clegg, detailing the life of Charles II's little sister 'Minette' from her birth in England during the Civil War and growing up a pauper in the French Court, while her mother alienated her brothers by trying to force them to convert to Catholicism.
To her marriage to Phillipe, duc d'Orleans, his scandalous affairs with men and how she persuaded her brother to sign a secret treaty that would give him financial independence from Parliment if her were to support France's policies in Europe over any other treaties he signed with other countries.
Melanie Clegg has done an excellent job on trsnporting us back to the 1600s to show us what life was like for Henrietta as she grew up.

[Adam Windsor · Rating 4 out of 5]

NB: free ARC received for honest review

A solid account of the life of Henrietta of England, from her birth during the Civil War to her youth as the 'poor dependant' of the French royal family, to her - often unhappy - marriage to Prince Philippe of France. Much emphasis is placed on Henrietta Anne's role in the treaty between her brother (Charles II of England) and her brother-in-law (Louis XIV of France). Trusted by both men, she was a conduit for secret communication between them.

This is a readable text and it shed light on some details of the period which I had previously not known, so I am glad I read it.

[Georgie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the life of Henrietta Anne Stuart in this book by Melanie Clegg. Prior to reading I did not know much about her, and found this book easy to follow and understand. The book was also very well researched, giving a level of detail that is interesting for both newcomers to the Stuart period, as well as those who have more knowledge in the area. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about the Stuart period and the role Henrietta Anne played in it.

Thank you NetGalley and Pen & Sword for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

[Janilyn Kocher]

A princess of England who spent most of her life in France and married her first cousin is the subject of Clegg’s latest royal biography. Henrietta Anne, born during the English Civil War, led a life of turmoil. She was under the influence of her mother during her formative years and never knew her father. I am always saddened by how many children women lost back then and the toll it took on their psyche. She died very young.
This biography was a quick read and allows readers to become more familiar with the youngest sister of two kings of England.
Thanks to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for the advance read.

[Stuart Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henrietta Anne Stuart had a brief but quite extraordinary life. She played a key diplomatic role acting as an intermediary between her brother, Charles II of England, and her brother-in-law, Louis XIV of France which resulted in the secret Treaty of Dover. Much admired for her looks, intelligence and kindness, she is a little known historical figure. This account explains why Henrietta Anne should be taken more seriously and also gives a very good overview of royal life in late 17th century France and England.

[Andrew Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful biography that is difficult to put down. I knew very little about Henrietta other than she was the sister of Charles II, but this book shows that she was much more than that. She spent most of her life in France married to Philippe, duc D'Orleans, the brother of Louis XIV, and had to endure his affairs, but she was politically astute and played a key diplomatic role in brokering the Treaty of Dover between England and France. Melanie Clegg, through much of Henrietta's correspondence, paints a vivid picture of her life which ended in a premature death in 1670.

[History Buff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was better than I expected, since it's always best not to expect too much from popular history books. It provides a thorough study of its subject's life in 200 pages, and its only flaw is that it is marred by some ridiculously long sentences that it should have been evident to the publisher (and author) needed to be broken up with commas. A good editor could have made the book even better, but it's still a more than adequate short biography. If you want a longer and more detailed study of Henrietta of England, Julia Cartwright's 400-page biography 'Madame' might do the trick.

[Kathy Archambeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Duchess of Orleans and a Stuart Princess

A well told story about the life of an English born noble woman who lived her life mainly in France, in Louis the XIV ( The Sun King) married to his brother Philipe the Duc of Orleans, who treated her very badly as he had a favorite male lover.
Henrietta loved her father Charles1 with all her loving devoted heart.
A glimpse into Royal life in the golden era in the 1600s!
A great read for any fan of Royal history!

[Caroline Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have wanted to read this for a long time, and I was not disappointed in my expectations! Everyone focuses on the Tudors, but the Stuarts had as much drama in there lives, and Henrietta Anne is one of history’s most overlooked players.

[Donna Pingry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley.com. . I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express are my own.

Fabulous read! This author just added herself to my favorites list! Can't wait to read more by her.