Queen Mary II of England
A lady who was a devout Protestant and always resisted attempts by the king to
convert to Catholicism. She became second in the line of succession to the crown
of England. But she was no power-hungry royal, marriage to a foreign Prince would
seal her future fortunes. So was Mary a powerful, firm and effective ruler, or a
lady who enjoyed a simpler life away from the politics of the day? Find out now
as we look at the life of Mary Stuart. Mary was born on the 30th of April 1662
at St James's Palace in London. She was the eldest daughter of the Duke of York
and his first wife Anne Hyde. Charles II was Mary's uncle, her grandfather
Edward Hyde was the first Earl of Clarendon and he served under Charles as his
chief adviser. She was entered into the Anglican faith and named after Mary Queen
of Scots, one of her ancestors. Mary was one of eight children yet only herself
and her sister Anne lived beyond their infant years, because Charles II
have no legitimate children, Mary found herself second in line to the throne
throughout her life. Although their father converted to Catholicism, it would be
a further eight years before Mary converted herself. The Anglican background
remained in place under the command of Charles II. Overtime Mary and Anne
were moved to spend time with Lady Frances Villiers at Richmond Palace. Mary had
private tutors, education restricted but she managed to study music, dance, art
and French. In 1671, her mother passed away by 1673 her father had remarried, this
time to Mary of Modena. She was also a Catholic, but only four years older than
Mary. At an early age, Mary began writing letters to a girl older than herself
called Mary Apsley. She was the daughter of Sir Allen Apsley. In writing,
Mary always signed the notes with Mary Clorine, Frances was known as Aurelia.
By the age of 15, Francis began to feel uncomfortable about the letters
and possibly considered them, a little tool suggestive for the time, so
correspondence reverted to a more formal level. When Mary was 15, she became
betrothed to the Protestant stadtholder of Holland, William the third of orange.
William was fourth in line to the crown was he was the son of the late king,
Sister Mary Princess Royal, but he was still behind James Mary herself, and Anne
Charles II initially opposed the marriage as his wish was to see Mary with
the heir to the French throne, the Dauphin Louis. This would undoubtedly
strengthen relations between the two countries and possibly provide a Catholic
successor in Britain. However, after disapproval from parliament, he grudgingly
agreed to the Union. Her father, the Duke of York, gave his blessing upon pressures
raised by the king, and Lord Danby James would break the news to Mary about the
wedding with William, her cousin.
On the fourth of November 1677, Mary married William in St. James's Palace,
Mary was tearful throughout yet Bishop Henry Compton helped settle her down.
The next phase for Mary was quite possibly one of the most daunting. The bedding
ceremony was a way to establish the consummation of the marriage an observation
attended by the royal family. The final act of the king pulling too the curtains around
the bed. Later that month, William and Mary headed out to the Netherlands.
Initially, they were delayed due to bad weather. But still on the 14th of
December, they made it safely to the Hague. In what turned out to be a grand
procession. Mary had an excellent nature she was friendly, which endeared her to
the people. Her marriage was also popular throughout Britain. William spent
weeks if not months away from home at times, yet Mary showed great devotion and
often thought about his well being. Some months later there was an announcement
that Mary was pregnant. Unfortunately, this resulted in a miscarriage. It was
just the start of unhappiness for Mary, but the one thing she wanted a child,
would elude her. James Scott, who was the Duke of Monmouth stayed with Mary and
Williams around 1648 however, Monmouth was not on friendly terms with Mary's
father, and seen by many as a rival. Monmouth's need was to become a potential
protestant heir. However, William was not about to consider this option and
believed that Monmouth had no support in his quest. In February 1685, Charles II
died, the leading cause of concern was that he left no legitimate heir to
take his place. It made Mary's father the Duke of York King as James II in
England and Ireland, and James VII in Scotland. When the news got to Mary
she was wiling away the hours playing cards with her husband, but now she knew
she had become heir presumptive. When Duke of Monmouth planned a raid on
England William sent word to James about Monmouth departure. He had sent word
for the English regiment who were currently based in the Netherlands to return
to Britain. As for Monmouth it became catastrophic, he was defeated, captured
and eventually executed. But more would come of this as James subsequent actions
proved to be quite strange.
James had devised a somewhat controversial policy,
his thoughts were to grant freedom of religion under a royal decree to all non
Anglicans. This drastic idea had no support Mary even considered it to be illegal.
Although Mary sent a letter to James via the Archbishop of Canterbury, this was
something that James seemed to have his heart set on. Further worries occurred
when James refused to help Loui XIV, the King of France after invading
orange and persecuting the Huguenot refugees. James now had heard enough from
his daughter and unbelievably sent out a message to damage Mary's marriage. He
said that William was having an affair with Elizabeth Villiers, the daughter of
her child governess Frances. With this information, Mary one evening waited
outside the room of Villiers, when she saw her husband coming out at a late
hour, she confronted him. William denied the rumours and the insult of adultery.
Mary believed him and forgave him, her infatuation with William was powerful, and
she'd always hope nothing would come between them. As early as 1686, Mary's
husband had contact from disgruntled Protestant politicians. This was due to
James forcing Anglican clergy members to read a new proclamation granting
freedom to Catholics and other dissenters within their churches. It proved
useless and his popularity decreased further. More concern was raised when
James's wife Mary of Modena gave birth to a child, a son, James Francis Edward
in June 1688. Yet unlike Mary and Anne, he would be raised as a Catholic. Some
asked questions about the legitimacy of the birth, some claimed he had been
smuggled into the Queen's room as a substitute for actual stillborn baby. The delivery
remained a controversial topic for some time,
and suspicions grew. A group known as the Immortal Seven Sent word to William,
who was in the Netherlands alongside Mary to lead an army to England to depose
James. William was reluctant and quite possibly thought about his own wife
succession to the throne. Mary convinced William she was no threat and that she
didn't care about power. William agreed to the request and began plans to
invade. Although grievances were surrounding the English people. He wanted the
country to have a free and lawful parliament. Mary stayed behind and William and
his army landed on the shores, on the fifth of November 1688. The battle for power
was short, many of the English Army and Navy transferred over to Williams aid.
King James tried to escape but was caught, however, a second attempt to flee on
the 23rd of December was successful. James travelled to France, where he would
spend the remainder of his life in exile. The overall circumstances of James
left Mary upset, she was torn between him and her husband. However, she was
convinced her husband had done the right thing in this matter. Mary came to
England in the new year, William told her she must appear cheerful on arrival in
London. Sarah Churchill and others were in no mood for such joy, and openly
criticised Mary for disloyalty. A convention parliament was convened by William on
the 13th of February 1689. The session was to discuss the abdication of James
from the throne. Now it was a vacant position, Parliament in their wisdom
offered the crown, not to James's son, but to William and Mary, who would become
joint sovereigns. Parliament decided that William would become king and remain
in the position even if his wife died. Another critical finding was declared
stating that Parliament would place exclusions upon James and his heirs from
the throne, and in fact, all other Catholics, England was now Protestant
kingdom. On the 11th of April 1689, the coronation of William and Mary took
place at Westminster Abbey, it would be Henry Compton the Bishop of London who
carried out the ceremony. With state occasions the Archbishop of Canterbury was
the person to do this. However, William Sancroft refused after the removal of
James II. The same day in Scotland, the convention of estates declared that
they had removed James from power. That both William and Mary would also
become king and queen of Scotland. They undertook the Scottish oath in London on
the 11th of May. Although James was gone, he still had support in the highlands
Viscount Dundee raised an army but he suffered a fatal wound and leaders quickly
disbanded his army and the resistance stopped in its tracks. There would be no
more bloodshed. The Bill of Rights was one of the most important constitutional
documents ever passed by Parliament in December 1689, it confirmed and
established restrictions on the Royal prerogative and declared items such as a
sovereign would not be able to suspend laws that have been sanctioned by
Parliament. It's also confirmed the succession to the throne. As an example, if
William or Mary would die, the other would continue to reign. Any children from
the couple would automatically be part of any succession. Throughout the coming
years, William was away from England mainly on campaigns, he would war with
Ireland against the Jacobites in 1690, against France who had camped in the
Netherlands. Mary continued to control and administer the government in
England, in which she had a nine-member Council. It was quite a tough time for
Mary the declaration and Bill of Rights would not allow her to partake in
government matters. This was something she was happy to see. Yet, she still
ruled and was no pushover and she had her uncle arrested Henry Hyde, the second
Earl of Clarendon, plotting to restore James II. In January 1692, John
Churchill, the first Earl of Marlborough was dismissed on similar charges. Once
again, these two occasions created a more significant void between herself and Anne
was now strongly influenced by Sarah Churchill. In April 1692, Mary contracted a
fever she missed the Sunday church service for the first time in 12 years. When
Mary recovered, she set about putting things straight with her sister Anne who had
unfortunately been suffering herself, her recent child had died. Although
saddened by the news, Mary kept her main objective in the following discussion
to criticise Anne's relationship with Sarah. It would be a telling point in both
their lives as they never saw each other again. Mary stated in her journal that
the split from her sister was a punishment from God.
When the Archbishop of Canterbury died in 1694, Mary
who would normally deal with all ecclesiastical matters, wanted to appoint the
Bishop of Worcester, Edward Stillingfeet. However, husband William overruled her
choice and the Bishop of Lincoln, Thomas Tenison took the role. Mary was a fit
lady and she regularly walked between the palaces of Whitehall and Kensington.
People said she would probably outlive her husband and sister, who both suffered
from ill health. In 1694, Mary contracted smallpox, she was sent away to help
stem the infection from spreading. Her sister Anne was again pregnant but sent
Mary letter saying she would run the risk to see her sister again. Mary declined
the offer. Within a few days, the marks on Mary's skin disappeared, and she was
said to be feeling well again. Her attendants thought it might have been
measles that Mary had suffered. However, her condition again fell sharply.
smallpox had turned inward, a sign of a fatal form of the disease. On the 28th
of December, at the age of just 32. Mary died at Kensington Palace. William was
inconsolable at the news, and he spoke saying he was now the most miserable
creature on earth. Mary was widely mourned across Britain her embalmed body lay in
state at the banqueting house at Whitehall. She was buried on the fifth of March
at Westminster Abbey. Her service was the first of a royal family member to be
attended by all parliament members. Mary had a crucial role in the kingdom.
Although she didn't realise at the young age, the future of the British crown.
Her marriage to a foreign Prince split her loyalties between her new husband
and her father. Yet, she would always be loyal to William accepting dual
sovereignty but allowing William to have the final say. Constitutional changes
would send repercussions throughout the land, and Mary received them knowing the
previous regimes had poorly suffered under their own rule. But don't let her
somewhat coy attitude fool you. Mary was also a strong character, she could
undoubtedly handle affairs if called on. Throughout her life, she had to deal
with some big decisions. Although Mary didn't have the whole life many expected
due to illness, she set a standard for future members of the royal family. And
even though some say she was again just a pawn in the political minefield of the
time, I'm not so sure. Unfortunately, Mary had two miscarriages and could not
have any children again, which left a void in her life. Mary was loved not only
by the people of Britain, but of those in the Netherlands. Further afield people
admired her as being an animated lady with a lovely disposition, yet she agonised
over her sister and never managed to mend their differences and Anne was ready to
step into her shoes. Marys story is of a woman that carefully tiptoed through
life and all the while created a unique persona of appeal to the masses. Sadly,
it's all ended for Mary, but not for the House of Stuart.
Thank you so much for watching. I really appreciate it!
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