Nope. But just speculating, I think it's a mixture of that get out clause of monarchies at play that allows loyal subjects like HH to absolve their monarch - i.e. "evil advisors/lovers/spouses made him do it, take your scapegoat of choice" -, and political positions. I mean: it stands to reason the Kattes with their family ties and religious politics are all for an English alliance and not that keen on Team Austria. Just think of how easy our Hans Hermann fell for the "G & S want to make Fritz marry an archduchess!" canard when Fritz tried that out on him. I therefore wouldn't be surprised if Hans Heinrich would love to believe it was all an intrigue by evil Catholics that influenced the King and made him hand out such a harsh sentence. As G & S did massively push against the English project, against the Queen and against the two oldest in this context, it wouldn't be an idea without foundation or precedent, either, and still wrong in this particular context.