Editing Mary II (section)

== Reign ==
[[File:5 Guineas, William III and Mary, England, 1692 - Bode-Museum - DSC02760.jpg|thumb|left|William and Mary on a [[Five guineas (British coin)|five guinea coin]] of 1692]]
In December 1689, Parliament passed the [[Bill of Rights 1689|Bill of Rights]]. This measure—which restated and confirmed many provisions of the earlier Declaration of Right—established restrictions on the [[royal prerogative]]; it declared, among other things, that the Sovereign could not suspend laws passed by Parliament, levy taxes without parliamentary consent, infringe the [[right to petition]], raise a standing army during peacetime without parliamentary consent, deny the [[right to bear arms]] to Protestant subjects, unduly interfere with parliamentary elections, punish members of either House of Parliament for anything said during debates, require excessive bail, or inflict cruel or unusual punishments. The Bill of Rights also confirmed the succession to the throne. Following the death of either William III or Mary II, the other was to continue to reign. Next in the line of succession would be any children of the couple, to be followed by Mary's sister Anne and her children. Last in the line of succession stood any children William III might have had from any subsequent marriage.<ref name="BOR">{{Cite web |date=1689 |title=Bill of Rights |url=http://www.constitution.org/eng/eng_bor.htm |access-date=19 September 2006}}</ref>

From 1690 onwards, William was often absent from England on campaign, each year generally from the spring until the autumn. In 1690, he fought [[Jacobitism|Jacobites]] (who supported James) in Ireland. William had crushed the Irish Jacobites by 1692, but he continued with campaigns abroad to wage war against France in the Netherlands. Whilst her husband was away, Mary administered the government of the realm with the advice of a nine-member Cabinet Council.<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 138</ref><ref>See also the [[Absence of King William Act 1689]].</ref> She was not keen to assume power and felt "deprived of all that was dear to me in the person of my husband, left among those that were perfect strangers to me: my sister of a humour so reserved that I could have little comfort from her."<ref>''Memoirs of Mary, Queen of England'' edited by R. Doebner (1886), quoted in Van der Kiste, p. 138</ref> Anne had quarrelled with William and Mary over money, and the relationship between the two sisters had soured.<ref>Van der Kiste, pp. 130–131</ref>
<!--"Mary was horrified" by the [[massacre of Glencoe]],<ref name=VdK155/> and "pressed for an enquiry in the hope of saving the King's reputation".<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 192</ref-->

When her husband was away, Mary acted on her own if his advice was not available; whilst he was in England, Mary completely refrained from interfering in political matters, as had been agreed in the Declaration and Bill of Rights,<ref name="Parl" /><ref name="BOR" /> and as she preferred.<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 144; Waller, pp. 280, 284</ref> However, she proved a firm ruler, ordering the arrest of her own uncle, [[Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon]], for plotting to restore James II to the throne.<ref>Waller, p. 281</ref> In January 1692, the influential [[John Churchill, 1st Earl of Marlborough]], was dismissed on similar charges; the dismissal somewhat diminished her popularity<ref name="neb" /> and further harmed her relationship with her sister Anne (who was strongly influenced by Churchill's wife, [[Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough|Sarah]]).<ref>Van der Kiste, pp. 159–160</ref> Anne appeared at court with Sarah, obviously supporting the disgraced Churchill, which led to Mary angrily demanding that Anne dismiss Sarah and vacate her lodgings.<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 160</ref>

Mary fell ill with a fever in April 1692, and missed Sunday church service for the first time in 12 years.<ref name="VdK155">Van der Kiste, p. 155</ref> She also failed to visit Anne, who was suffering a difficult labour. After Mary's recovery and the death of Anne's baby soon after it was born, Mary did visit her sister, but chose the opportunity to berate Anne for her friendship with Sarah.<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 161</ref> The sisters never saw each other again.<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 162</ref> Marlborough was arrested and imprisoned, but then released after his accuser was revealed to be an impostor.<ref>Van der Kiste, pp. 161–162</ref> Mary recorded in her journal that the breach between the sisters was a punishment from God for the "irregularity" of the Revolution.<ref>Quoted in Waller, p. 279</ref> She was extremely devout, and attended prayers at least twice a day.<ref>Waller, pp. 277, 282</ref>

Many of Mary's proclamations focus on combating licentiousness, insobriety and vice.<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 164; Waller, pp. 281, 286</ref> She often participated in the affairs of the [[Church of England|Church]]—all matters of ecclesiastical patronage passed through her hands.<ref>Van der Kiste, pp. 163–164</ref> On the death of [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] [[John Tillotson]] in December 1694, Mary was keen to appoint [[Bishop of Worcester]] [[Edward Stillingfleet]] to the vacancy, but William overruled her and the post went to [[Bishop of Lincoln]] [[Thomas Tenison]].<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 176</ref>

=== Death ===
Mary was tall (5&nbsp;foot 11&nbsp;inches; 180&nbsp;cm) and apparently fit; she regularly walked between her palaces at [[Whitehall]] and [[Kensington]], and it appeared likely she would outlive her husband and sister, both of whom suffered from ill-health.<ref>Waller, p.285</ref> In late 1694, however, she contracted [[smallpox]]. She sent away anyone who had not previously had the disease, to prevent the spread of infection.<ref name="Van der Kiste, p. 177">Van der Kiste, p. 177</ref> Anne, who was once again pregnant, sent Mary a letter saying she would run any risk to see her sister again, but the offer was declined by Mary's [[groom of the stool]], the Countess of Derby.<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 179</ref> Several days into the course of her illness, the smallpox lesions reportedly disappeared, leaving her skin smooth and unmarked, and Mary said that she felt improved. Her attendants initially hoped she had been ill with measles rather than smallpox, and that she was recovering. But the rash had "turned inward", a sign that Mary was suffering from a usually fatal form of smallpox, and her condition quickly deteriorated.<ref>Waller, pp. 286-287</ref> Mary died at [[Kensington Palace]] shortly after midnight on the morning of 28 December, at the age of 32.<ref>Van der Kiste, pp. 179–180</ref>

William, who had grown increasingly to rely on Mary, was devastated by her death, and told Burnet that "from being the happiest" he was "now going to be the miserablest creature on earth".<ref name="Van der Kiste, p. 177" /> While the Jacobites considered her death divine retribution for breaking the [[Ten Commandments|fifth commandment]] ("honour thy father"), she was widely mourned in Britain.<ref>Waller, p. 288</ref> During a cold winter, in which [[the Thames]] froze, her embalmed body [[lay in state]] in [[Banqueting House, Whitehall]]. On 5 March, she was buried at [[Westminster Abbey]]. Her funeral service was the first of any royal attended by all the members of both [[Houses of Parliament]].<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 186; Waller, p. 289</ref> For the ceremony, composer [[Henry Purcell]] wrote ''[[Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Music for Queen Mary |url=http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/spotlight/feature.asp?id=7882 |access-date=18 September 2006 |publisher=The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County |archive-date=8 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008210838/http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/spotlight/feature.asp?id=7882 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Van der Kiste, p. 187</ref>