Chapter IV

1624-1625.

The Remarks of Sir Henry Wotton upon Buckingham’s
Uninterrupted Prosperity during the Reign of James--His
Most Perilous Time yet to Come--The Character of Charles
Difficult to Manage--His Affections Divided--Request of
the Privy Council Regarding the Late King’s Funeral and
the Young King’s Marriage--Good Taste displayed by Charles
in his Conduct at the Funeral--The Influence of Buckingham
still Paramount--Roger Coke’s Remark upon King James’s
Regret on observing that his Son was overruled by the
Duke--The Three Great Kingdoms of Europe at this Period
ruled by Favourites--The Marriage of Charles and Henrietta
Maria--Motive attributed to Buckingham--Preliminary
Steps--Letter from Lord Kensington to the Duke of
Buckingham detailing his Interview with the
Queen-Mother--Description of the Young Princess--The Duke
prepares for his Journey into France to fetch home the
Bride--The Expense of his Mission objected to by the
Nation--The Two Ambassadors Described--Rich--Lord
Kensington, First Earl of Holland--His Beauty of Person,
Address, and Early Favour at the Court of James--His
resting solely upon Buckingham--His Marriage with the
Daughter of Sir Walter Coke, the Owner of the Manor of
Kensington--The Earl of Holland regarded by some as a
Rival to Buckingham--James Relied more on the Earl of
Carlisle--Character of the Two Noblemen by Bishop
Hacket--Successful Interviews on the Part of Lord Holland
with Mary de Medici--Her Disposition to favour Charles as
a Suitor to her Daughter--Anecdote of Henrietta Maria and
of Charles’s Portrait--Encomiums on Henrietta--The Duchess
de Chevreuse--Her Influence over Anne of Austria--Her
Splendour--Resentment of the Count de Soissons on Account
of the Marriage Treaty with England--The Willingness
evinced by Henrietta Maria to the Marriage--Lord
Kensington’s Flattery of the Queen-Mother--Their
Conversations on the Subject of the Spanish Match--The
Marriage Finally Concluded--Charles’s Conduct to the
Recusants regarded as a Proof of his Aversion to Catholic
Hopes 161