Mary II

Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York (who succeeded as James II in 1685) and his first wife Anne Hyde (1637-1671). She was born at St James's Palace on 30th April 1662.

Marriage

She was married, aged 15, to her cousin William, Prince of Orange. For many years they lived in Holland but when the Catholic James II had a son the English authorities called on William to come to England to safeguard the Protestant succession and rule jointly with Mary as William III. Before William reached London James had fled to France. They had no children. Her sister Anne succeeded to the throne on the death of William III.

Coronation

William III and Mary II were crowned as joint monarchs in the Abbey on 11th April 1689. The king was crowned in the ancient Coronation Chair so a new chair had to be specially made for Mary's use and this is still in the Abbey collection.

Burial

She died of smallpox on 28th December 1694. She lay in state in Whitehall Palace and had a grand procession from there to the Abbey. This procession included singers from the Chapel Royal, carrying 100 white wax lights, and trumpeters but it is not known what the music was. All shops in the city were closed for the occasion.

Her magnificent funeral on 5th March 1695 cost £50,000.  Some music Henry Purcell composed for the service was used at his own funeral a year later. His setting of Thou knowest, Lord  was seemingly used, and it is thought that Thomas Morley's setting of the burial service was the main music. William III did not attend but both Houses of Parliament were there (normally Parliament would be dissolved on the death of a sovereign). A sermon was given by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first part of the service took place in the main body of the Abbey and the lantern, where her hearse with the coffin was set up, and the second part, with the interment, was held in the Lady Chapel. It was the first time that an order of ceremonial was printed for a royal funeral.

She lies buried in a vault in the south aisle of Henry VII's chapel, not far from her mother Anne. A monument to her memory was designed by Grinling Gibbons but never erected, probably due to lack of space in the chapel. Only a small stone marks her grave.

Wax effigy

In 1725 the Abbey acquired life-size wax effigies of the two monarchs, possibly made by Mrs Goldsmith. That of William is a remarkable likeness. Mary was larger and taller (5 feet 11 inches) than her husband (5 feet 6½ inches) and his effigy stands on a cushion beside hers. Underneath her brocaded silk petticoat is a brown leather one with Baroque patterns and Chinese figures painted in gold. A crown is placed between them to signify they were joint monarchs.

The wax effigies and Mary's coronation chair are on display in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries

Further reading

William and Mary by H. & B. van der Zee, 1973

The funeral effigies of Westminster Abbey edited by A. Harvey & R. Mortimer, revised 2003

The form and proceeding to the funeral of...Queen Mary II, 1695

British Royal and State funerals...by M. Range, 2016

Romeyn de Hooghe and the funeral of the People's Queen by Ralph Hyde, in Print Quarterly XV, 1998 (with engravings of the procession and hearse)

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004

Papers concerning the funeral are in The National Archives