Father Philip Preston (d.1647) was a priest of the Oratory who was confessor to Queen Henrietta Maria.
In the summer of 1641, it was proposed that, in compliance with the request of the prince of Orange, the Queen should attend her daughter, Mary, Princess Royal into Holland, and also use the Spa waters, which were strongly recommended for her own health.
The parliament, correctly surmising that there was some secondary motive in the queen's proposed visit, raised objections to her departure.
According to a letter sent to Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange:[3]The confessor, Father Philip, was sent to the tower by parliament, for placing improper persons about her, such as her secretary, Sir John Winter ; a letter from him to Montague having been intercepted, in which he said "The Puritans, if they dared, would pull the good queen to pieces; and can the good king of France suffer a daughter of France, his sister, and her children, to be thus affronted?
"He must soon have been released, because he was with Queen to Hague, where she went to urge solid assistance from the Prince of Orange and raising money by pawning her own jewels and those of the crown, amongst the rich merchants of Holland.