***A Best Book of 2022, The Times***
***Book of the Year, Spectator***
A myth-busting biography of Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, which retells the dramatic story of the civil war from her perspective
Henrietta Maria, Charles I''s queen, is the most reviled consort to have worn the crown of Britain''s three kingdoms. Condemned as that ''Popish brat of France'', a ''notorious whore'' and traitor, she remains in popular memory the wife who wore the breeches and turned her husband Catholic - so causing a civil war - and a cruel and bigoted mother.
Leanda de Lisle''s White King was hailed as ''the definitive modern biography about Charles I'' (Observer). Here she considers Henrietta Maria''s point of view, unpicking the myths to reveal a very different queen. We meet a new bride who enjoyed annoying her uptight husband, a leader of fashion in clothes and cultural matters, an innovative builder and gardener and an advocate o
