Prince Henry

Henry (Sr.) is a supporting character on Once Upon a Time. He was the loving father of Queen Regina. Despite his profound love and friendship for his daughter, Henry was still unable to stop his wife Cora from manipulating their child into doing right by her will. Henry always showed himself to be supportive of his daughter, in a rather sycophantic manner, even when it came to the execution of evil deeds. He was killed by Regina when she needed the heart of a loved one to set the Dark Curse into motion.

Before the Curse
Henry is introduced as the loving father of Regina, a loving, warm young woman who is constantly subdued by her controlling, harsh mother, Cora. Henry is very supportive of Regina and her passions, including horseback riding, but Cora judges her daughter limitlessly based on her preferred activities and the lifestyle she leads. Henry always presents himsel as submissive to Cora and her will, and never confronts her, possibly due to his fear of her powers. Henry knows that his daughter is not as interested in finding a love for herself as Cora is in getting her a husband. After Regina saves young Snow White from a rampaged horse, her father, the kind King Leopold, proposes to her, and Cora accepts on her daughter's behalf, even though Henry can tell it's not what Regina wants.

The stress of getting married to a man she doesn't love gets to Regina, to the point she starts fantasizing about murdering Snow White. One day, Regina is walking outside her castle with her father, Henry. Crying, she tells him that he doesn't understand what her mother is doing to her. She claims it is like her mother is turning her into her. She insists she must get away, shocking her father. He reminds her that the wedding is tomorrow, so Regina explains that she doesn't want to marry the king. He tries to play it off as cold feet, but Regina tells him that it is insanity. She explains that she's angry all the time and her mother is making her crazy. Henry tells his daughter that Cora wants to give her everything she never got for herself. Upset, Regina cries that she doesn't want her mother's life, but a life of her own, Henry is unsure how to respond. Regina then asks how her mother got the way she is. Her father shockingly tells her that there was a "man". He tells his daughter that this man brought magic to Cora and gave her the book of spells. Regina asks his name, but her father doesn't know, stating not even Cora will tell him. Regina then evilly asks her father to confirm the the book is that man's. Later, while her parents sleep, Regina gets the book from under Cora's pillow. The following day, Regina banishes her mother to Wonderland.

At some point, Cora manages to get Henry to Wonderland, and emprisons him in a box, in miniature size. Regina and Jefferson come to Wonderland and, after they've eluded Cora's guards, they make it back to the looking glass with what Regina came to look for. Regina stops to inspect a giant mushroom, and he asks her what she's doing. She tells him that there's something she has to do first. She takes a piece of mushroom, Jefferson asks her if she knows what the food there does, and she then sets the box down and opens it. She places the food in the box, stands up, and quickly steps back. Then, her father is returned to his normal size. Jefferson is shocked, but Regina hugs her father, happy to see him. Henry tells her that they must hurry as the Queen's soldiers are coming. "You knew only two could go through the hat." Jefferson says, realizing Regina's evil game. Jefferson tries to grab her but his feet are stuck to the ground, thanks to Regina's magic. Jefferson is horrified that she tricked him and that now he can't go back to his daughter, to which Regina tells him that he shouldn't have left her in the first place, because one should never abandon family. This said, she and Henry go through the portal.

After King Leopold suspects that Regina had another man, he locks her up in a tower. The Genie is alone in the gardens when he uses a knife to cut off an apple from Regina's tree. As he eats it, he hears someone approach him from behind, so he states he was starting to think they weren't coming. Henry approaches the Genie with a box and says he was expecting Regina. The Genie angrily points his knife at the man and asks who he is and what he did with Regina. Henry explains that the king has locked her away in the chambers, so his daughter is a prisoner in her own kingdom. The Genie is shocked to discover that Henry is the queen's father. Henry hands the Genie the large box and asks him to take it to Regina as the palace guards won't allow him to enter her chambers as they know he'd die for her. He adds that the king trusts the Genie and is unaware that he's the one who took her heart so the guards will allow him in to give the box. Confused, the Genie asks what is inside, but Henry gives him a vague answer, saying it is the only thing that can free her from the wretched life. "If you truly care for my daughter, I know you'll do whatever it takes to set her free" he says. Henry Sr then walks away, leaving a very confused Genie. He picks up a key that opens the box and looks at it - we later find out it contains Agrabahn vipers.

Back in the fairytale land, Regina is seen looking at the people below her from the window of her contained room. A prison guard tells her that she has a visitor, and walks away to reveal Regina's father. The Queen is happy to see him, but Henry himself looks heart-wrenched. He tells her, through the bars on her door, that this is all her fault, that he failed her as a father. With his head against the bars, he adds that he should had done more to protect her, and wonders if she can ever forgive him. Regina is brought to tears and tells him that there's no need, for how could she blame the one she loves most? "The only one to stand by me to the end." Henry tells her that it doesn't have to be the end, to which Regina replies that Snow and her Prince seemed rather determined to make it so. Henry begs her to show a little regret for what she's done, the pain she's caused, to show them that she can change. "They will spare you, just give them a reason. I beg of you." Regina looks at him, not saying a word. Later, Henry attends his daughter's execution, but she is spared by Snow White. When Rumplestiltskin comes to visit with a proposal, Regina tells her father to set up her entourage, for she has a wedding to crash...

After Regina crashes the wedding of Snow White and Prince Charming with the promise of taking away their happy endings, she reveals to her father and to the Magic Mirror that she plans on enacting the Dark Curse. They try to convince her not to, but to no avail. Therefore, Regina retrieves the curse from her friend Maleficent, but when she first tries to enact it, before her father and some of the darkest creatures of the Enchanted Forest, the curse becomes a dud, because the heart she used, that of her steed, isn't good enough. Rumplestiltskin explains to her that she needs to kill the thing she loves most: her father. He tells her that she doesn't have to do this. She walks away, and he asks her why she'd do it if the price is a hole that can never be filled. He begs her to stop worrying about Snow White and start over. "We can have a new life.", he says. She asks him what kind of life, because all she's worked for and all she's built will be gone. Her power will disappear, and they already think she's nothing. The valet tells her "Power is seductive. But so is love. You can have that again." She looks at him for a few seconds, sadly so, and then leans against his body as he embraces her. She then tells him, with a brokenhearted look, that she just wants to be happy. He reassures her that she can be. He believes that they can find happiness together. Tears stream down the Queen's face, as he tells her that the choice is hers. She then tells him that she thinks he's right, as she continues crying. She looks at him with a smile and says "I can be happy." He smiles back at her, filled with relief, until she adds "Just not here." This said, the Queen thrusts her hand into her father's chest and takes out his heart. He falls dead to the floor and she says "I'm sorry...", with genuine sorrow. Later, after she enacts the curse for real, she plants a flower on her father's tombstone.

Season 1
Regina keeps her vault in the local cemetery, disguised as her father's mausoleum. Inside there's a coffin where his body presumably lies, but once one pushes the coffin open it reveals a passageway to the vault where she keeps her collection of hearts, as well as various other items. When Mr. Gold and Regina discuss Emma Swan and her connection to Henry Mills, the Mayor's adopted son, the pawnbroker asks the Mayor how she came about choosing her son's name, but she doesn't reply.

Season 2
When Henry Mills becomes determined to help bring back his birth mother and grandmother from the fairytale land, he gets Regina's skeleton keys and enters his grandfather's mausoleum. He pays close attention to his inscription, before pushing the coffin and entering the vault. When Dr. Whale confronts Regina, wanting to go back to his land and to his brother, Archie comes to understand that his brother is dead and the curse only brought the living. Archie orders Whale to leave, and then has a talk with Regina, failing to believe that the curse only brought the living because her father's mausoleum is in town.

Trivia

 * Henry shares his name with his foster grandson, Henry Mills.

Origins
Henry is the father of the Evil Queen, the primary antagonist from the fairytale of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". He also features in the original story of the character of Rumplestiltskin (from the tale of "Rumplestiltskin"), as the son of the King whose hand in marriage is promised to the woman who can spin straw into gold. His wife Cora also doubles as the Queen of Hearts (from "Alice in Wonderland"), and it is unknown whether Henry is meant to embody the role of the King of Hearts, a persona that his sycophantic traits seem to allude to.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character.