Here's a thread about these two Stuart queens regnant!
First, the facts:
#Mary II, or the Lady Mary of York, as she was then, was born on April 30 1662 to Prince James, Duke of York and heir presumptive to the throne of England, and his wife, Anne Hyde, daughter of Charles II's chancellor, Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. The Lady Anne of York was born on 6 February 1665. Though Anne Hyde produced many other children, only Mary and Anne survived. Charles II, whose wife was childless, recognised that Mary at least stood a chance of becoming Queen of England some day, so he declared her and her sister 'Children of the State' and had them brought up as Protestants. They both became devoutly pious, especially Anne.
#Since their father's second wife, Mary Beatrice of Modena, produced no living children either, it seemed more and more likely Mary would be one day Queen. So, in an effort to get Parliament off his back (they were heckling him about a secret treaty with Catholic France) Charles insisted that Mary marry the person next in the line of succession after Anne - the girl's first cousin, William of Orange, son of their father's sister the late Princess Royal. Mary did not wish to marry William. She wept the entire day after she was told. William was 27 and Mary was 15. When the couple were being 'bedded' Charles II said with characteristic flair 'Now nephew, to your work! St George foe England, hey!'
#Now known as the Princess of Orange, Mary accompanied William back to Holland, where she soon became popular with the Dutch people. She was still, at this stage, heiress presumptive to the throne after her father. Sadly, though she conceived three times, she had no children with William, whom she grew to love dearly.
#Back in England, Lady Anne of York married Prince George of Denmark in 1683. He was rather stolid and dull, but Anne adored him. Even though it was her sister who was heiress, Anne was seen as representing the 'Protestant Faction' in England, especially after the death of Charles II in 1685. Anne conceived 18 times, but only one child, William, Duke of Gloucester, born in 1689, survived.
#In 1688, three years after James II became King, Queen Mary Beatrice gave birth to a son, James Francis Edward Stuart. Princess Anne of Denmark, as she was then known, had taken special care not to be at the birth so she did not have to admit the baby was legitimate. Instead, she spread the rumour that it was a changeling. The Princess of Orange, in Holland, had no idea what was happening, and Anne fed her letters, claiming the baby was not their brother. Mary, encouraged by her ambitiou husband, was inclined to agree.
#In the Glorious Revolution of 1688, William of Orange invaded England and James II fled with his wife and baby son. Parliament wanted to offer the crown to Mary, but William insisted he should be king, and his wife agreed. they became, 'Joint Sovereigns' - William III and Mary II, though the real power rested with William, which suited Mary well enough.
#During her reign, Mary fell out with Anne over the latter's continued friendship with Sarah Churchill. Sadly, the didn't make up before Mary's death of smallpox in 1694. William was devestated, and said he had never known Mary to have had a single fault.
#With the death of the Duke of Gloucester in 1700 aged 11, there was no Protestant heir to the throne. So the Act of Settlement was passed in 1701, stating that after William, Anne would reign, and then the throne would pass to Sophia, Electress of Hanover, a granddaughter of James I.
#Anne became Queen in 1701, by now grossly overweight and suffering from gout. She had no children, and her husband died in 1707. She eventually fell out even with Sarah Churchill. She died in 1714, the last of the Stuarts.
Now, opinions please!
