Footnotes

• William III of Orange was born at The Hague in 1650, the son of William II of Orange and of Mary Stuart, the eldest daughter of Charles I. He married in 1677 his first cousin, Mary Stuart, eldest daughter of James II of England, and first in line to the throne of England.
  
  Mary was displaced in the Line of Succession on the birth of her half brother, James Francis Edward, in 1688. The English, weary of James pro-Catholic policies, and faced with the prospect of another catholic king, invited William to England to redress the situation. William arrived in England on 5th November, 1688 and James II fled to France. The crown was accordingly offered to Mary, however William would not agree to rule only in his wife's name, so the crown was offered to William and Mary jointly. William never inspired the loyalty of his English subjects and was always dismissed as an arrogant foreigner who was chillingly reserved.
  
  Mary died in 1694 of smallpox, leaving William prostrate with grief at her death. On 21st February, 1702, William's horse stumbled on a molehill while he was out riding, causing him to fall badly and break his collar bone, an accident from which he never recovered. He died on 7th March 1702.

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Category: Fine Art / Portrait Miniatures

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