Elizabeth Stuart, Daughter of Decapitated King Charles I

And her tragically short life which inspired Queen Victoria to construct an effigy for her 200 years later.

Elizabeth (on the left) holding her little sister Anne, who also died young, painted by Anthony van Dyck.

One of the most memorable events in English history is the death sentence given to King Charles I, followed by Oliver Cromwell becoming Lord Protector of England for the remainder of his life until England figured it rather fancied being ruled by a sovereign when Cromwell’s son turned out to be nothing more than his father’s child (in summary — there’s always more to historical happenings than that). Or, as Monty Python helpfully word it before their song Oliver Cromwell starts, ‘The most interesting thing about King Charles the First, is that he was 5’6 inches tall at the start of his reign, but only 4’8 inches tall at the end of it.’

Yet Charles I and his wife Henrietta Maria of France, herself a daughter of the Protestant-Gone-Catholic king Henri IV of France, left several children behind after Charles’s decapitation in 1649. In fact, Henrietta herself lived until 1669, staying faithful to Catholicism and perhaps having influenced her eldest son Charles (II) enough to have contributed to his decision to convert to Catholicism on his death bed in 1685. While in exile, the royal children formed a continuous problem to Cromwell and Parliament…