She was raised at court. Stuart was once engaged, but her bridegroom was killed in an accident when their coach overturned on their wedding day. At one point, she was imprisoned with Quaker theologian Thomas Elwood. She left court for a life in keeping with her values as a Quaker around age 34, when her father, by then king, was exiled to France. She left in disguise, perhaps in Quaker's dress, and went north, ending in Wisbech, working first in fields and then as a spinner. Wisbech Castle had formerly been used for religious prisoners, both Catholic and Protestant and later a Quaker, John Inds was taken from a peaceable meeting on 16 February 1663 and imprisoned for three years in Wisbech Gaol.