Mother to the Royal Children

Abstract

The primary duty of a queen consort was the perpetuation of the royal line through the birth of children, particularly male heirs. The political, social, and ideological realities of mid-seventeenth century England and Scotland and late eighteenth century France, however, made the position of mother to the royal children contentious for both Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette. During the reigns of Charles I and Louis XVI respectively, there were alternate successors among the monarch’s siblings and extended family whose positions were threatened by the birth of legitimate children to the queen. For those who welcomed or accepted the birth of children to Henrietta Maria or Marie Antoinette, the queen still faced intense scrutiny as a mother because the ideology of the Reformation, Counterreformation, and Enlightenment emphasized the importance of maternal influence and education for children. Both queens therefore oversaw the upbringings of their children in environments fraught with political, religious, and ideological tensions that threatened their legitimacy as mothers to royal heirs.