Mary II
Mary II ruled England, Scotland and Ireland jointly with her husband William III from 1689 until her death, having taken the throne from her own father. Born in London in 1662, she was the elder daughter of James, Duke of York, and was raised Protestant on Charles II's insistence despite her father's conversion to Catholicism. She was married at fifteen to her cousin William of Orange, the Dutch stadtholder, and reportedly wept for two days. She moved to the Netherlands, learned the language, and the marriage became a genuine partnership, though it produced no surviving children. She was heir presumptive until June 1688, when her father's second wife bore a son who would be raised Catholic. English politicians invited William to intervene; he landed in November, James fled, and parliament declared the throne vacant. The settlement of 1689 was unusual. Mary had the hereditary claim and William refused to reign as consort, so they were made joint sovereigns — the only such arrangement in English history — with executive power vested in William alone. They accepted the Bill of Rights, which limited the crown's ability to suspend laws, keep a standing army or tax without parliament, and it is the foundation of the constitutional monarchy. Mary governed alone whenever William was campaigning in Ireland or on the continent, which was much of the time, and proved decisive and competent, handling the navy, church appointments and a Jacobite conspiracy. She was privately tormented by having displaced her father, who never forgave her. She died of smallpox in December 1694, aged thirty-two, and William, who was grief-stricken, reigned alone until 1702.
- Lived: 1662 CE – 1694 CE
- Nationality: English
- Roles: queen, head_of_state
