Charles I and Henrietta Maria by Daniël Mijtens, c. 1630-32, Royal Collection
I’m still working my way through British queens we haven’t yet covered, and now we come to Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-69), who often shows up in English Civil War productions or in films about her son. She was the daughter of the French king, and married Charles I of England in 1625. She was vilified for being Roman Catholic, and per Wikipedia, “has been criticised as being an ‘intrinsically apolitical, undereducated and frivolous’ figure during the 1630s; others have suggested that she exercised a degree of personal power through a combination of her piety, her femininity, and her sponsorship of the arts.”
When the Civil War broke out, she had to seek refuge in France, staying there more permanently after the execution of her husband. She returned to England when her son, Charles II, ascended the throne, but returned to Paris for the last four years of her life.
Let’s take a look at Henrietta Maria on screen! Sadly I had to yet again scrape the bottom of the barrel to find many of these.
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers (1967)
A British TV show set 20 years after the usual Three Musketeers.
Cromwell (1970)
A British historical drama film focused on, you guessed in Cromwell. Dorothy Tutin (The Six Wives of Henry VIII) played Henrietta Maria.
Churchill’s People (1975)
A BBC series, based on Winston Churchill’s A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, featuring various historical dramas.
By the Sword Divided (1983-85)
A British TV series about the impact of the Civil War on a fictional family that included both Royalists and Parliamentarians. Henrietta Maria seems to be small part and is played by Marsha Fitzalan (Pride and Prejudice).
Keeping Up Appearances (1995)
A modern British sitcom, but too funny not to include. In one episode, Hyacinth organizes a pageant based on the English Civil War, with herself as Queen Henrietta Maria and Richard as Charles I.
The Devil’s Whore (2008)
One of the better English Civil War miniseries out there, but Henrietta Maria (Melodie Abad) is barely in this.
National Civil War Centre Film Series (2015)
A series of short films created for then-new National Civil War Centre. Elizabeth Berrington (The Nevers, Sanditon, Vanity Fair) played Henrietta Maria.
The Musketeers (2016)
The weird Three Musketeers reboot. HM shows up in one episode, wearing a godawful dress, and is played by Olivia Poulet.
Horrible Histories (2009-22)
Henrietta Maria seems to have shown up in several episodes of this slapstick historical comedy. She was played by Alice Lowe.
Why hasn’t there been a better depiction of Henrietta Maria on screen?
Pardonnez moi, ou-est Dame Diana Rigg en THE POWER AND THE PASSION, s’il-vous plait?
Just coming to post same…
On a less croaking note, I suspect that this particular Queen Consort seldom shows up because she was (A) wife to a king, rather than a ruler herself
AND
(B) Acutely respectable (she and King Charles appear to have been GASP mutually loving and faithful), not to mention much-slandered, so there’s not much of the Good Stuff to draw our eye away from the court of His Britannic Majesty King Charles II being the CARRY ON sex comedy that really should have been.
I mean come on, they had Mr Bernard Breslaw RIGHT THERE being absurdly tall and rather charming (not to mention the obvious ‘Swinging Sixties Mk. 1’ gag with him).
For pity’s sake, His Late Majesty’s reaction to finding his maitresse en titre in bed with a very junior officer was (more or less) “Don’t worry, I know you only love her for her money” – how much more CARRY ON can you get?
Henrietta Maria was also the namesake for the state of Maryland, my home state. :) I actually kind of like that “hideous dress” Olivia Poulet wears but then again I wouldn’t wear it for historical re-enactment purposes. Fantasy Lwaxana Troi outfit, though, it’s perfect!
I don’t think I could write a better descriptor with all the time left in the world. Vive Lwaxana!
I wonder if it was actually meant to be a masque costume? The Goddess Minerva, or something like that? Because insofar as those tabs hanging from the waist resemble anything at all, they remind me of the protective leather straps below a Roman soldier’s breastplate.
Love this blog. And her is a book which would make a great film of HM. https://www.amazon.com/My-Queen-Love-Henrietta-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B09L6KTC2H/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Big Sleeves! My jam.
Not a big fan of Charles I, a typically idiotic Stuart, but am rather sorry for all Marie Henriette went through. Charles was a lousy king but an excellent husband and she loved the fool.
Oops! That’s Henrietta Maria.
I suspect that we don’t see Henrietta Maria more often on screen because this whole time period (the civil war and the seventeenth century in general) is a hard sell to the general public on account of the god bothering and the complicated (and from a 21st century standpoint, unsympathetic) politics – and unlike the Tudors, the Stuarts were failures as a dynasty, so there’s that too. She also kept her head which means there’s no dramatic climax for film or TV – also a problem.
That said, according to Leanda de Lisle’s twitter, who has just released a new bio of HM, her book was picked up for film rights so we might be getting a HM movie or series in the future – fingers crossed….
Which general public are you referring to? Here in the UK, English Civil War re-enactment is HUGE; there are two major national societies, the Sealed Knot and the English Civil War Society (ECWS, pronounced like ‘equus’), and they both have thousands of active members.
I disagree that the House of Stuart were failures as a dynasty – they very successfully united the British Isles, after all.
United the British Isles against THEM, admittedly, but nobody’s perfect.
😆😆
That shot from CHURCHILL’S PEOPLE– aren’t they cavorting in front of Frank N. Furter’s throne from the “Sweet Transvestite” number in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW?
I LOVED “By the Sword Divided” and wish I could find a copy somewhere. I remember watching it when it came out. oddly enough it’s not on the PBS/masterpiece streaming site or britbox.
OMG!! The dress from The Musketeers (which I LOVED–I can’t defend my love for that crazy-ass show–but I did LOVE it)–that dress looks like a Mardi Gras costume!!!
And also, for me, Peter Capaldi IS Charles, based on his performance in The Devil’s Whore.