Editing Mary II (section)

== Early life ==
Mary, born at [[St James's Palace]] in London on 30 April 1662, was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York (the future [[King James II & VII]]), and his first wife, [[Anne Hyde]]. Mary's uncle was [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], who ruled the three kingdoms of [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]]; her maternal grandfather, [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon]], served for a lengthy period as Charles's chief advisor. She was baptised into the [[Anglican]] faith in the [[Chapel Royal#St James's Palace|Chapel Royal]] at St James's, and was named after her ancestor [[Mary, Queen of Scots]]. Her godparents included her father's cousin [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]].<ref>Waller, p. 249</ref> Although her mother bore eight children, all except Mary and her younger sister [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]] died very young, and Charles II had no legitimate children. Consequently, for most of her childhood, Mary was second in line to the throne after her father.<ref>Waller, p. 252</ref>
[[File:Maria II Stuart.JPG|thumb|Portrait by [[Caspar Netscher]], 1676, the year before her marriage]]
The Duke of York converted to [[Roman Catholicism]] in 1668 or 1669 and the Duchess about eight years earlier, but Mary and Anne were brought up as Anglicans, pursuant to the command of Charles II.<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 32</ref> They were moved to their own establishment at [[Richmond Palace]], where they were raised by their governess [[Lady Frances Villiers]], with only occasional visits to see their parents at St James's or their grandfather Lord Clarendon at [[Twickenham]].<ref>Waller, p. 251</ref> Mary's education, from private tutors, was largely restricted to music, dance, drawing, French, and religious instruction.<ref>Waller, pp. 251–253</ref> Her mother died in 1671, and her father remarried in 1673, taking as his second wife [[Mary of Modena]], a Catholic who was only four years older than Mary.<ref>Waller, p. 255</ref>

From about the age of nine until her marriage, Mary wrote passionate letters to an older girl, [[Frances Apsley]], the daughter of courtier [[Sir Allen Apsley]]. Mary signed herself 'Mary Clorine'; Apsley was 'Aurelia'. In time, Frances Apsley became uncomfortable with the correspondence,<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 34</ref> and replied more formally. 

At the age of 15, Mary became betrothed to her cousin, the Protestant [[Stadtholder]] of [[Holland]], [[William III of Orange]]. William was the son of Charles II's late sister [[Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange|Mary, Princess Royal]], and thus fourth in the line of succession after James, Mary, and Anne.<ref>Waller, p. 256</ref> At first, Charles opposed the alliance with the Dutch ruler—he preferred that Mary wed the heir to the French throne, the [[Louis, Grand Dauphin|Dauphin Louis]], thus allying his realms with Catholic France and strengthening the odds of an eventual Catholic successor in Britain—but later, under pressure from Parliament and with a coalition with the Catholic French no longer politically favourable, he approved the proposed union.<ref name="JP">{{Cite book |last=Pollock |first=John |url=http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh509.html |title=The Policy of Charles II and James II. (1667–1687)}}</ref> The Duke of York agreed to the marriage, after pressure from chief minister [[Lord Danby]] and the King, who incorrectly assumed that it would improve James's popularity among Protestants.<ref>Van der Kiste, pp. 44–45</ref> When James told Mary that she was to marry her cousin, "she wept all that afternoon and all the following day".<ref>Mary's chaplain, [[Edward Lake (priest)|Edward Lake]], quoted in Waller, p. 257</ref>