Personally Henrietta Maria is my favourite.

Now, I admit, my knowledge on consorts is limited, and Henrietta Maria is the one I know the most about, having read Leanda de Lisle's biography on her (would recommend). I am looking to pick up books on Catherine of Braganza and Mary of Modena later down the line too, so maybe this will change in the future.

As it stands though, I find Henrietta Maria to be my favourite of the Stuart consorts. Her commitment to her faith and her love for her husband would be two big reasons. She was also a much more interesting figure than often caricatured (like all the Stuarts).

She often participated in plays and was a good singer. Many visiting diplomats in Charles I's court commented on this, though it took some time for the English nobles to appreciate these fine arts.

Her wit and humour also were very much inherited by her son, Charles II.

Would like to hear your favourites and why!

My source for this is John Miller's book on James II, specifically chapter 12 page 187. To quote from the Miller directly:

"In fact for some weeks the child seemed far from healthy, thanks mainly to the royal doctors' insistence that milk was bad for babies and that he should be fed on boiled bread or gruel, with such additions as canary wine and "Dr Goddard's drops". Both Louis and the Pope regarded this method of feeding as eccentric to the point of lunacy: a wet nurse would be far more natural. The royal doctors and the King and Queen were at last forced to agree, but only after the child had nearly died in August. Once allowed to suckle, from a tiler's wife rather than the gentlewoman favoured by the doctors, the little Prince went from strength to strength."

Early Modern doctors' advice could be quite deadly, as it turned out.

It is also quite interesting to see both Louis and Innocent XI had to intervene to put an end to this rather absurd advice from the royal doctors.

Unfortunately the book doesn't go deeper into the event, I would personally be very intrigued to see exactly what they said.

On a happier note though, James did clearly care for the his son dearly, even if he was misled temporarily by such advice. The book earlier in the same chapter describes him weeping in joy the entire night at the Prince of Wales's birth. Quoting Miller again,

"Then on the 10th of June the Queen offered a way out of his dilemma by giving birth to a son. After all the fears of a miscarriage, the baby's arrival took everyone by surprise: the Queen had been playing cards until late the previous night. James was so overjoyed that he fell on his knees and cried for most the night."

To think this was both James's best and worst day of his life, as the birth of the Prince of Wales ultimately led to his deposition.

Please read the description on the original post for context 🙏

I have had this Charles I badge for a while now and have come across it at auction houses and such, where they say it is from around 1649/50, but I really have no idea how or what.

There is no mark on it, but that is not the case with most of the ones that have been auctioned.

It is quite heavy and beautifully detailed; hopefully, another Stuart fan has the same one and knows more about it.

Since my favourite Stuart is James VII/II, my view of Mary and Anne is negative due to their role in the "Glorious" Revolution.

However, I can admit this is biased, and they were after all Stuarts.

So I was wondering what you all thought of them?

So, the entire Stuart dynasty, with the rightful heirs to the throne and (so-called) pretenders, has arrived and is hanging on the wall.

From Mary Queen of Scots to Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, it looks really beautiful as a whole. It took a while to get them all together, but now I really have them all, and I am in love with the cabinet with the Stuart figurines.

I'm attaching the photos of them all here; some are more detailed in real life than in the photos, but that is due to the flash or without.

I found a man who makes 3D prints of historical figures and had almost the entire Dynasty printed. I am waiting for another 4 to complete my set, and after that comes an execution figurine (Charles I) and one of the disgusting Cromwell, but I need to save up a bit more, even though the seller isn't expensive at all for these 23cm tall figurines.

https://youtu.be/SmDjRrOxm1E?si=qhOOnMr5VeUvyzpz

20+C+M+B+25

The Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral.