Profile of the Day: Mary II

Mary II

On this day in 1694, Mary II, Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, died at the age of 32. Her death came just five years after Mary and her husband, William III, jointly became king and queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland following the Glorious Revolution.

Mary was born on April 30, 1662 and was the eldest daughter of King James II and VII and his first wife, Anne Hyde. Although her mother bore eight children, only Mary and her sister Anne survived into adulthood. In 1677, she married her first cousin, William of Orange. His mother, Mary, was the sister to King James II.

In 1685, James II became king after the death of his brother Charles II. A Catholic convert, James’s pro-Catholic policies and the recent birth of his son (which displaced Mary, a Protestant, as heir-presumptive) provoked a constitutional crisis. William III, with the support of his wife, successfully led an invasion of England and deposed of Mary’s father in what would become known as the Glorious Revolution. William and Mary would then be crowned King and Queen and rule jointly until her death.

How are you related to Mary II? Explore her family tree on Geni and share your connection to the royal.
 

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Image: Wikimedia Commons