Henrietta's unpopularity was increased to an alarming degree on account of her laying the corner-stone of a Capuchin chapel, in the courtyard of Somerset House. She had already commenced one at St. James's; and when the Roman Catholic service was celebrated in them, about two years later, it was most injurious to the prosperity of the king, although it had been agreed that these chapels should be built. Henrietta refused to take part in her husband's coronation in Scotland as she had done in England, consequently he went alone.
A.D. 1633 On his return another prince was added to the family, and baptized James. His title was the Duke of York. He was a handsome baby, and his father destined him for the navy. Henrietta was a fond mother, and devoted much of her time to the nursery. Etiquette prevented a queen from entertaining guests with her voice, but its magnificent strains often filled the galleries of the palace when she sang to her infants.
A.D. 1638. In 1638 King Charles incurred the displeasure of Cardinal Richelieu by offering a home in England to Marie de Medicis. This cardinal owed much of his grandeur to the queen-mother of France, but when she was in distress he turned his back on her.
A.D. 1641. Marie de Medicis prolonged her stay in England nearly three years. During that period she witnessed the riots and disturbances that led to the execution of the Earl of Strafford,—an event that seriously grieved Charles I. and his wife, and that, in the end, was disastrous to both.
In the midst of these scenes of terror, Mary, the princess-royal, who was just ten years of age, was publicly espoused, at Whitehall chapel, to the son of the Prince of Orange, a boy of eleven.
The queen-mother had been so maligned by the rioters that she was terrified for her personal safety, and insisted on departing forthwith for Holland. She was escorted, by the king's orders, as far as Dover, and about the same time Charles I. set out on a journey to Scotland.
During his absence the queen's confessor, Father Phillips, was summoned several times by parliament, for examination, and ominous threats were made regarding the establishment of Capuchins at Somerset House. Signs of civil war were daily becoming more numerous and more marked, Sir Edward Nicholas, the king's private secretary, wrote a letter urging his majesty to dismiss the monks at the next session of parliament; but he would take no decided steps in opposition to his wife's religion without consulting her. The consequence was that an infuriated mob destroyed the Capuchin chapel a year later.
A.D. 1642. Among the queen's attendants was Lady Carlisle, who, while appearing loyal, was acting the part of a spy, and reporting every incident of the royal household to the Roundhead leaders.
These Roundheads were Puritans, and it was Queen Henrietta herself who named them, because their hair was clipped so close and short that their heads looked like balls, and formed a marked contrast to the flowing locks of the courtiers.
When parliament informed the queen that she must surrender her children into their hands until her husband's return, lest she should make papists of them, she refused, but left them at Oatlands and went to live at Hampton Court, hoping thus to keep her five little ones together and remove all cause of complaint. Her youngest child, Henry, was then only a few months old.