Review: The Tragic Daughters of Charles I by Sarah-Beth Watkins

The period of the English Civil War has not historically been an area of reading interest to me; however, a number of fiction and non-fiction books have crossed my path over the last couple of years and my interest has been piqued. I will preface that statement by saying I was not at all unfamiliar with the historical aspects and the main players.

In short, for those who are unfamiliar with this period, the English Civil War, fought between 1642-1651, saw King Charles I battle Parliament for control of the English government. The war began as a result of a conflict over the power of the monarchy and the rights of Parliament. During the early phases of the war, the Parliamentarians expected to retain Charles as king, but with expanded powers for Parliament. Though the Royalists won early victories, the Parliamentarians ultimately triumphed. As the conflict progressed, Charles was executed and a republic formed. Known as the  Commonwealth of England, this state later became the Protectorate under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell. Though Charles II was invited to take the throne in 1660, Parliament's victory established the precedent that the monarch could not rule without the consent of Parliament and placed the nation on the path towards a formal parliamentary monarchy.

It is against this backdrop that Sarah-Beth Watkins, rather than focusing on the more famous sons, introduces us to Charles I's three eldest surviving daughters - Mary (1631 - 1660), Elizabeth (1635 - 1650), and Henrietta Anne (1644 - 1670). There were two other daughters, Anne (1637 - 1640), though she did not survive childhood (toddlerhood), and baby Catherine (b&d. 1639).

Watkins presents the lives of these young women in accordance with the chronology of Charles I. We are treated to a family history before we start with the elder of the daughters, Mary Stuart, and then each successive daughter, their lives intertwining, not only with each other, but also with their brothers and mother.

Five eldest children of Charles I: Mary, James, Charles, Elizabeth (holding baby Anne)

Watkins tells the story of a separated family - Charles I off fighting or in custody; the children either fled abroad or in the hands of the Parliamentarians; their marriages; their tragic deaths. Each chapter is allocated a time frame from which to place the girls - for example, under the heading of 1634 - 1637, we look at the Queen's last pregnancy; the Queen's flight to France; the escape and smuggling of the baby Henrietta Anne to France to join her mother. These women lived short lives.

Poor Elizabeth who from age six until her death at age 14, was a prisoner of the English Parliament during the English Civil War. Unlike her other siblings, she and her younger brother Henry, were the only ones to see their father before his execution - she left a tragic account of this last meeting. Only after Elizabeth's death would Henry himself be released from his imprisonment.  Elizabeth herself would never know freedom.

Her hands in prayer enfolded, her Bible open spread, 

Her pale cheek on her pillow, the Stuart Rose lay dead. 

Thus nursed in tears and early pangs of sorrow's bitter rod, 

The daughter of the Martyr King went to the martyrs' God.

(Lays of the English Cavaliers by John Jeremiah Daniell, 1866)

Mary Stuart, the eldest daughter, was a fascinating woman. Married off early to William Prince of Orange, she spent most of life in Holland, fighting for her brother Charles' cause and providing what refuge and support she could. Yet ".... Mary had done so much for her brother ... but Charles was still unhappy with her ..." - he comes off as rather a rather ungrateful sod. Not only fighting for his cause but also acting as regent for her infant son!

Lastly, there is Henrietta Anne. Smuggled out of England and into France as a baby, she would grow to find herself at odds with the rest of her siblings, especially over the issue of religion. From this point onwards (about the halfway mark in the book) the focus is on Henrietta Anne. Her short yet eventful life was marked by scandal, political intrigues, an unhappy marriage (she said of her husband "... his hatred is unreasonable ..."), illness and pregnancies.  In fact, Henriette Anne could quite easily have had her own book so remarkable was her life!

" ...Stuart princesses lived complicated lives in turbulent times ... all of them suffered from great unhappiness as well as moments of joy ... their lives ended way too soon .."

This could quite easily have been applied to any number of women of this and earlier time periods. Women were expected to marry and provide heirs; princesses were expected to support their family's interests abroad as well as their husbands  - many times, these interests were conflicting; their efforts to procreate often ended their lives all too soon.

I have not in the past actively sought out books on any of the offspring of Charles I, though Watkins' book does collate the biographical information of the surviving daughters into one.  Whilst I would have preferred each daughter to have her own dedicated chapter or chapters, combining them does cut down on the repetition of information, and the use of time markers as chapter headings does given us an idea of where they are placed in the chronology of both their father Charles I and their brother Charles II's reigns.

What I enjoyed, and what readers will enjoy, are the final chapters which sums up the genealogical legacy of Mary and Henriette Anne.

Further reading:

Epistolary Power: the Correspondence of the Dutch and Frisian Stadtholders’ Wives, 1605–1725 (Mary Stuart has over 300 letters on file here that you can read either in their original format or translated).
Descedants of Charles I of England
Royal Renegades: The Children of Charles I by Linda Porter