Henrietta of England (16 June 1644 – 30 June 1670) was the Duchess of Orleans and the wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orleans. She was a lover of the bisexual duke's brother, King Louis XIV of France, during her stay at the Palace of Versailles.
Biography[]
Henrietta of England was born in the Bedford House in Exeter, England on 16 June 1644, the daughter of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France. She was raised in France during the English Civil War, and Henrietta and her mother stayed at the Louvre during the Fronde revolt of the early 1650s. On 30 March 1661, she married Philippe I, Duke of Orleans, the brother of King Louis XIV of France. Her husband's lover, the Chevalier de Lorraine, often fought with her over control of the Duke's household, and she became a lover of King Louis. In 1670, she played a key role in negotiating the secret Treaty of Dover, convincing her brother Charles II of England to ally with the Kingdom of France. She unexpectedly died that same month.