My latest guest is Leanda de Lisle, author of Henrietta Maria: Conspirator, Warrior, Phoenix Queen. She was the wife of Charles I, the English king executed in 1649 after a bloody civil war. Poor old HM got the blame for many of Charles’ blunders, even though she married him when she was 15, and he 24.
She grew up in an abusive household – we’ll hear about her father, Henri IV’s parenting methods, and she was treated very badly when in England.
But, despite her husband’s killing, she rose again when her son, Charles II was restored, and her blood flows through Princes William and Harry.