Henrietta Maria

An English envoy wears the future king’s portrait around his neck; fifteen-year-old Henrietta Maria secretly borrows it and blushes as she studies it for an hour. By sunset on a May day in 1625, she is to be Charles I’s betrothed.

At the French court in Paris, the youngest daughter of Henry IV has learned that family affection and court politics rarely stay apart. Her marriage promises the homage she once envied—and makes her a key piece in Richelieu’s designs, a Catholic princess bound for Protestant England, where even the faith of her future children has been negotiated. Henrietta is witty and delighted by the match, but the glitter of a royal alliance cannot hide the rivalries and expectations gathering around her. Can a girl of fifteen make a life of her own in a marriage arranged for kingdoms?

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