Mary Princess Royal
1631 – 1660 · Generation XXVII · Princess of Orange · House of Stuart
Mary Princess Royal (1631–1660). Princess of Orange. Married William II of Orange in 1641. One of their children is recorded in this archive. Eldest daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, she was wed at nine in a modest Whitehall ceremony, then taken to The Hague by her mother in 1642 as civil war loomed; before she left, her father made her the first Princess Royal. Her husband died of smallpox in November 1650, and eight days later, on her nineteenth birthday, she bore their son, the future William III. Guardianship was shared with her mother-in-law, Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, with whom she clashed repeatedly, and her open support for her exiled Stuart brothers made her unpopular with the Dutch. After the Restoration she sailed to London, where she was dismayed to find her brother James’s marriage to her former lady-in-waiting Anne Hyde recognised; within weeks she caught smallpox, and she died on Christmas Eve 1660.
Place in the family
- Mary Princess Royal was a 4× great-niece of King Henry VIII.
- Mary Princess Royal was the second of 3 children of King Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France recorded in this archive.
One of 17 people of House of Stuart (from 1371) in this archive. Scotland’s royal house for three centuries before James VI inherited England and wore both crowns.
Line of descent: Owen Tudor → Edmund Tudor → King Henry VII → Margaret Tudor → King James V of Scotland → Mary Queen of Scots → King James I → King Charles I → Mary Princess Royal.
Parents
- King Charles I (1600 – 1649)
- Henrietta Maria of France (1609 – 1669)
Siblings
- King Charles II (1630 – 1685)
- King James II (1633 – 1701)
Partners
- Married William II of Orange (1626 – 1650) in 1641 — one child together
Children
- King William III (1650 – 1702)
Life
- 1631 — Born
- 1641 — Married William II of Orange
- 1660 — Died