The sitter in this portrait has traditionally been identified as the French princess Henrietta Maria, later consort of Charles I. Dynastic marriages encouraged the exchange of fashion across borders. Upon her marriage to Charles I in 1625, Henrietta Maria brought with her French fashions in her ‘trousseau’ and French talent in the forms of a tailor, embroiderer and dresser. She continued to write to France for fashionable accessories throughout her time in England. Her clothes here, with their formal sleeves set in rolls, are distinctively French.