Henrietta Maria was the wife of Charles I. Henrietta Maria was
born in France on November 25th, 1609. Her father was Henry IV
and she was the sister of Louis XIII. Henry IV was killed
shortly before Henrietta Maria’s first birthday. Henrietta Maria
was brought up and educated as a Roman Catholic. News that
Charles was going to marry a Roman Catholic did not go down well
in England, Wales and Scotland. However, the marriage went
ahead. Both were married by proxy on May 11th, 1625 while they
married in person on June 13th, 1626 at St. Augustine’s Church
in Canterbury. However, the coronation service of Charles was an
Anglican one and as a result Henrietta Maria could not be
crowned as queen. The marriage was a re-bound from the failure
of the ill-fated Spanish Match. Both barely knew one another
when they did marry and both were the victims of the way royal
marriages were carried out then – more out of a duty than for
any other reason. The marriage was considered the best way to
bring France and England closer