Henrietta Stewart (1573–1642) was a Scottish courtier. She was the influential favourite of the queen of Scotland, Anne of Denmark.
Life Henrietta Stewart was the daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, favourite of James VI of Scotland, and Catherine de Balsac. On 16 June 1581 the king gave Henrietta the right to award the marriage of the Earl of Huntly, which was forfeited to the crown.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 58 no. 353: William Boyd, Calendar of State Papers Scotland: 1581-1583, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1910), p. 43. Their marriage contract was made in 1586, while she was in France, and James VI granted the Duke of Lennox 5000 merks to organise her transport from France.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland: 1585-1592, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1881), p. 103.
Henrietta, her sister Marie and her brother Ludovic came back to Scotland from France in November 1583 with their mother to see James VI.Thomas Birch, Memoirs of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 1 (London, 1754), p. 42. The two sisters returned in June 1588 and were lodged in Edinburgh at the town's expense.James Marwick, Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh: 1573-1589 (Edinburgh, 1882), p. 524.
Marriage and masque On 21 July 1588, Henrietta married George Gordon, Earl of Huntly, at Holyroodhouse.Ruth Grant, "Friendship, politics and religion: George Gordon, Sicth Earl of Huntly and King James VI", Miles Kerr-Peterson & Steven J. Reid, James VI and Noble Power in Scotland (Routledge, 2017), p. 69. Before the wedding the couple were made to declare their (Protestant) faith, without which the minister John Craig would not declare the banns.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1915), pp. 583, 587. According to a letter of George Dundas, the Archbishop of St Andrews gave a sermon in French and the assembled nobility were dressed in French style.John McGavin, "Spectatorship in Scotland", Janet Hadley Williams & J. Derrick McClure, Fresche Fontanis (Cambridge Scholars, 2013), p. 289 citing NRS GD 75/563. James VI of Scotland wrote a masque to be performed at the wedding celebrations.Allan Westcott, New poems by James I of England: from a hitherto unpublished manuscript (Columbia University Press, 1911), pp. 47–52: Jane Rickard, Authorship and Authority in the writings of James VI and I (Manchester, 2007), pp. 54-56: Rhodes Dunlap, "King James's Own Masque", Philological Quarterly, 41 (1962), pp. 249-56.Clare Jackson, The Mirror of Great Britain: A Life of James VI & I (Allen Lane, 2025), p. 247. The king sent requests to lairds, like Robert Murray of Abercairny, for "venison, wild fowls, fed capons" for the feasts.Jennifer Morag Henderson, Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots (Whittles, 2025), p. 193: HMC 3rd Report: Moray (London, 1872), p. 419.William Fraser, The Lennox, 2 (Edinburgh, 1874), p. 463. The celebrations involving "plays and masquerades" lasted two or three days. Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell gave her a chain of pearls and hair garnishings, and wore several jewels himself which Dundas called "mirrors".HMC Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquess of Salisbury at Hatfield House, vol. 3 (London, 1889), pp. 336 no. 691, 341 no. 709: Fresche Fontanis, p. 289. There was "great triumph, mirth, and pastime",James Dennistoun, Moysie's Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1830), p. 69. and James VI may have written the leading role in his masque to perform himself in person.Jenny Wormald. "View from the Throne", Julian Goodare & Michael Lynch, Reign of James VI (Tuckwell, 2000), p. 253.
As was customary in Scotland, after her marriage she did not change her name, but continued to sign letters and documents as "Henriette Stuart".E. Dunbar Dunbar, Documents Relating to the Province of Moray (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1895), p. 53. Her sister, Marie Stewart, became a lady-in-waiting in the household of Anne of Denmark in December 1590 at Henrietta's request, which increased Henrietta's access at court. She married the Earl of Mar in December 1592.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 429. Their younger sister Gabrielle was a nun in France at Glatigny, but a scheme for her to marry Hugh Montgomerie, 5th Earl of Eglinton in 1598 came to nothing.Scots Peerage vol. 5 (1908), p. 356: William Fraser, Memorials of the Montgomeries Earls of Eglinton, vol 2 (Edinburgh, 1859), no. 201, now NRS GD3/2/15/10.
After the murder of the Earl of Moray by the Clan Gordon at Donibristle in February 1592, James VI allowed her to stay at court, and gave her and her followers legal protection.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 641.
In February 1593 King James came north to punish and subdue the earls of Huntly, Angus, and Erroll for plotting on behalf of the Catholic faith but they went into hiding. Henrietta and Elizabeth Douglas, Countess of Erroll came to him at Aberdeen and he allowed them to keep their houses and estates.Historie and Life of King James the Sext (Edinburgh, 1830), p. 268. She was at court in May 1593 with a "greater train and busier heads than are thought fit" according to the English diplomat Robert Bowes.Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 89. He and some of the Privy Council tried to persuade James VI to send her away. On 31 May she accompanied the queen and her sister the Countess of Mar to Leith to inspect the ship of the Danish ambassadors Niels Krag and Steen Bille at Leith.Michael Pearce, 'Anna of Denmark: Fashioning a Danish Court in Scotland', The Court Historian, 24:2 (2019), pp. 138-151, p. 150: Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 94 no. 63: Acta Legationis Scotica, 1593: A journal of the Danish embassy (Latin), p. 17, Rigsarkivet
In June 1593 Robert Bowes argued the king should send her from court. A Scottish ambassador Sir Robert Melville sent to London would be able report this action to Queen Elizabeth, who would approve of it. Henrietta Stewart went to Leith and intended to go north to Carneborough near Strathbogie.Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 91, 96-7. However, she came back to court in September 1593 at the invitation of the queen, first to Falkland Palace, and it was supposed Anne of Denmark had invited her to please the king. Henrietta Stewart was pregnant at this time.Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 176, 171, 181: See also TNA SP51/52 f.22r.
Henrietta came to be a favourite of the queen, Anna of Denmark, and exerted an influence over her which became controversial. Henrietta was known to be a fervent Catholic, and the friendship between her and Anne was politically sensitive and developed into a cause for conflict between the king and the queen. It also brought Queen Anne negative publicity and exposed her to criticism from the Scottish church. Henrietta Stewart is said to have played a part in Queen Anne's rumoured secret Catholic conversion, and was reported to have given her a French catechism in 1593.Albert Loomie, "King James I's Catholic Consort", Huntingdon Quarterly, 34 (1971), pp. 304–305. When she parted from the court in April 1594, the disapproving English ambassador Robert Bowes wrote that the queen gave her gifts that were "liberal and exceeding the common order and proportion used here."Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 321.
Seeking audience at court Henrietta was able to further her husband's cause at court even when he was forfeited, except in June 1594 when James expressly forbade her attendance. She defied his order, and came to Leith and visited Anne of Denmark at Holyroodhouse in "base array", disguised as a servant,Michael Pearce, 'Anna of Denmark: Fashioning a Danish Court in Scotland', The Court Historian, 24:2 (2019), p. 139. on a day when the king had gone to Stirling Castle to see the building work on the new Chapel Royal.Grant (2017), p. 71: Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 362–3.
James VI told the English ambassador Robert Bowes that "by evil advice the Queen was drawn lately to give over-great countenance to the Countess of Huntly". The king suggested that problems were partly caused by friction between some members of his Privy Council and the council appointed to manage the queen's estates.Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 368.
Bowes realised that Huntly and his factions depended on the Countess interceding for them. She was able to give the king and Privy Council a petition for the restoration of the Huntly lands. The Queen helped, and when it was refused asked for the lands to be given to her. Bowes was able to search the registers to check that such a document had not been issued.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 370, 375, 382.
James VI comes to Huntly Castle On 6 July 1594 James VI ordered Robert Melville to tell her to leave Edinburgh, and she went to Seton Palace and took a ship to Aberdeen. At Huntly Castle, the Earl was confidently building a new hall and gallery.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 375, 382.
At the end of October 1594 James VI came to Huntly Castle to demolish or slight the building. David Foulis wrote to Anthony Bacon that the Countess of Huntly watched the demolition and was not allowed to have an audience with the king to plead her case.Thomas Birch, Memoirs of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 1 (London, 1754), p. 192. The kirk minister Andrew Melville was present and urged James VI to blow the castle up.Robert Pitcairn, Autobiography and diary of James Melville (Edinburgh, 1842), pp. 314, 319.
The king placed the castle and estates in the hands of Sir John Gordon of Pitlurg, but on 9 November 1594 he requested that Pitlurg should not take up her rental incomes.Miscellany of the Spalding Club, 1 (Aberdeen, 1841), p. 9. Her brother, the Duke of Lennox, was the left as the king's lieutenant at Elgin, declared that she was his enemy because her husband had not left Scotland, and she would not get her "living" or landed income unless she came south.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 514.
Lord Gordon at Court The ministers of the Kirk of Scotland petitioned the king in March 1595 that she and the Countess of Erroll should be forced to live in or near Edinburgh. They also requested that her son, Lord Gordon, should be kept by the king.Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 295.
In October 1596 pressure was exerted on her and her husband to convert from Catholicism by taking away her eldest son Lord Gordon.Thomas Birch, Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 2 (London, 1754), p. 157. He was delivered to Anna of Denmark to be brought up at court and sent to the University of Edinburgh as a pupil of Robert Rollock.Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1882), p. 362. Anna of Denmark bought him clothes including a velvet coat and a belt with a little dagger.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1952), pp. 162, 183, 359, 388. David Moysie wrote that Henrietta's representations to a Convention of the Estates were twice rejected.David Moysie, Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1830), p. 127. On 19 October 1596 Henrietta's representatives presented her signed seven-point offer to the Synod of the Presbyteries of Moray at Elgin on behalf of her husband, undertaking to assist the Protestant ministry and to eject Jesuits from his company.Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1952), pp. 358, 360-1.
In favour again