Henrietta of England Henrietta of England Henrietta of England (16 June 1644 O.S. (26 June 1644 N.S.) – 30 June 1670) was the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and his wife, Henrietta Maria of France. Fleeing England with her governess at the age of three, she moved to the court of her first cousin Louis XIV of France, where she was known as "Minette". After she married Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, brother of King Louis XIV, known as "Monsieur", she became known as "Madame". Her marriage was marked by frequent tensions. Henrietta was instrumental in negotiating
Henrietta Maria of France conversions amongst Henrietta Maria's circle; historian Kevin Sharpe argues that there may have been up to 300,000 Catholics in England by the late 1630s – they were certainly more open in court society. Charles came under increasing criticism for his failure to act to stem the flow of high-profile conversions. Henrietta Maria even gave a requiem mass in her private chapel for Father Richard Blount, S.J. upon his death in 1638. She also continued to act in masque plays throughout the 1630s, which met with criticism from the more Puritan wing of English society. In most of these masques she