About this artwork

As an infant, Princess Henrietta was smuggled to France by her governess after the imprisonment of her father, King Charles I. She grew up at the French court with her mother and became a favourite of the French royal family. In 1661, Henriette Anne – as she was now known – married Philippe, Duke of Orléans, but the marriage was not a happy one. Jealous of his elder brother, Louis XIV, who openly flirted with Henrietta, Philippe later deprived his wife of any friends, leaving her isolated and lonely. Her health failing, she nevertheless contributed to international diplomacy by facilitating a treaty between the French king and her brother, King Charles II. Her untimely death was first blamed on poison, but subsequent autopsies revealed that she died of a punctured ulcer.

Updated before 2020

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Jean Nocret

Jean Nocret