Henrietta Maria of France along with her sisters, in riding, dancing, and singing, and took part in French court plays. Although tutored in reading and writing, she was not known for her academic skills; the princess was heavily influenced by the Carmelites at French court. By 1622, Henrietta Maria was living in Paris with a household of some 200 staff, and marriage plans were being discussed. Henrietta Maria first met her future husband in Paris, in 1623, while he was travelling to Spain with the Duke of Buckingham to discuss a possible marriage with the Infanta Maria Anna of Spain – Charles first saw
Henrietta Maria of France her fellow Catholics and, in 1632, began construction of a new Catholic chapel at Somerset House. The old chapel had been deeply unpopular amongst Protestants, and there had been much talk amongst London apprentices of pulling it down as an anti-Catholic gesture. Although modest externally, Henrietta Maria's chapel was much more elaborate inside and was opened in a particularly grand ceremony in 1636. This caused great alarm amongst many in the Protestant community. Henrietta Maria's religious activities appear to have focused on bringing a modern, 17th century European form of Catholicism to England. To some extent, it worked, with numerous