HENRIETTA ANNE OF ENGLAND: (1644-1670) Duchess of Orleans, the youngest daughter of King Charles I o

HENRIETTA ANNE OF ENGLAND: (1644-1670) Duchess of Orleans, the youngest daughter of King Charles I o

The Duchess writes her first letter in English, just seven days before her death

HENRIETTA ANNE OF ENGLAND: (1644-1670) Duchess of Orleans, the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria of France. An exceptionally rare A.L.S., with her monogram, two pages, small 4to, Paris, 23rd June [1670], to Thomas Clifford. The Duchess writes her first letter in English, just seven days before her death, informing Clifford about her brother, King Charles II's, promise regarding Clifford and Lord Arlington, 'When i have write to the King from calais i praid him to tel milord Arlington an you what hi had promisd mi for bothe, his ansers was that hi gave mi againe his word that hee youl performe the thing bot that hi did not thing it fit to exequ[te] it nou, i tel you this souner then to Milord Arlington becase y know you ar not so hard to satisfie as hee, i should be so my self if y was not sure that the King would not promis my a thing to faille in the performance of it, this is the ferste letter y have ever write in inglis, you wil eselay see it……prai see in the same time…..hou much y am your frind'. With integral address leaf ('for Sr Thomas Clifort') bearing two black wax seals. A letter of excellent historical content and association. VG Thomas Clifford (1630-1673) 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh. English Statesman, Comptroller of the Household 1666-68, Treasurer of the Household 1668-72 and Lord High Treasurer 1672-73. Henry Bennet (1618-1685) 1st Earl of Arlington. English Statesman, Keeper of the Privy Purse 1661-62. Clifford and Arlington were the only two ministers to whom the first Secret Treaty of Dover, one clause of which provided for King Charles II's declaration of his conversion to Catholicism, was confided. Henrietta Anne was instrumental in diplomatic negotiations between her native England and adopted France which culminated in the Secret Treaty of Dover of June 1670 (the same month in which the present letter was written). King Charles II, who had always been close to his sister, nicknaming her Minette, had been trying to establish a closer relationship with France since 1663, but it was not until 1669 that he set the wheels in motion by openly admitting that he would become a Catholic and vowing to bring England back to Catholicism. Henrietta Anne was eager to visit her homeland and King Louis XIV encouraged her in order for the treaty to take place and she arrived in Dover on 26th May 1670, remaining there until 1st June, the day the treaty was signed. In 1667 Henrietta Anne began complaining of an intermittent, intense pain in her side and several years later, beginning in April 1670, she began having digestive problems so severe that she could only consume milk. On 29th June 1670, just a matter of days after writing the present letter, Henrietta Anne drank a glass of iced chicory water and immediately felt a pain in her side, leaving her to believe that she had been poisoned. Extreme Unction was administered, however Henrietta Anne died at 2 o'clock in the morning on the following day, 30th June 1670, aged just 26. The only letter of Henrietta Anne recorded as having been previously sold at auction. The present letter is listed by American Book Prices Current as having originally been sold by Sotheby's as part of the Clifford of Chudleigh Collection on 24th July 1987 (Lot 249, £2400).