At the time the drawing was made, Henriette was only five or so years old. She wears a simple dress, and her hair is tied back from her face, but is otherwise unadorned. Her only jewellery is a plain one-strand pearl necklace. Her right arm is resting on a table, which is covered with a cloth, but which appears to be otherwise empty.
Mellan appears to have caught Henriette in one of her unguarded moments, hastily drawing a rough sketch perhaps with a view to using it as the basis for a more formal portrait.
One of the last royalist strongholds, it was a small oasis of safety amid the turmoil of the Civil War.
The little girl was only two weeks old when her mother fled to her native France. The child was left behind in the care of Lady Dalkeith.
The king now saw his new daughter for the first time. Determined that she be brought up a Protestant, he arranged to have her christened according to the rites of the Church of England, and gave her the name Henriette, after her mother, his beloved queen.
