#19: Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria
Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria’s story began in 1625 with politics doing most of the matchmaking. They married by proxy in Paris on 11 May 1625, before he had even met her in person. She was the daughter of King Henry IV of France and Marie de’ Medici, raised in a Catholic French court that made her arrival in Protestant England anything but simple. The couple first met days later in Dover on 13 June 1625, where the marriage was formally completed. What followed was a marriage shaped by tension, faith, and a surprisingly persistent personal attachment amid a divided kingdom.
