SIX UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF QUEEN HENRIETTA MARIA

Amongst papers left by Edward Nicholas, Secretary of State to Charles I and II, are six letters written by, or at the command of, Queen Henrietta Maria. Three of them are important; this article places them in historical context. Two are addressed to Nicholas, date from the summer of 1648 and shed light on the measures taken by the Queen and Royalists in exile at the outbreak of the second civil war and express concerns in respect of the predicament of Charles I. The other is a copy, written in French, addressed to her son James, Duke of York, dated 10 February 1651. It reflects the precariousness of the Stuart position at a time of factional struggle in Paris.