Editing Mary of Modena (section)

== Queen consort (1685–1688) ==
Despite all the furore over Exclusionism, James ascended his brother's thrones easily upon the latter's death – which occurred on 6 February 1685 OS – possibly owing to the risk that the said alternative might provoke another civil war.<ref>Waller, pp. 143–144</ref> Mary sincerely mourned Charles, recalling in later life, "He was always kind to me."<ref>Oman, plate no. VII</ref> [[Coronation of James II and VII and Mary|Mary and James's £119,000 coronation]], occurring on 23 April OS, Saint George's day, was meticulously planned.<ref name=Oman85>Oman, p. 85</ref><ref>Haile, p. 129</ref> Precedents were sought for Mary because a full-length joint coronation had not occurred since the [[coronation of King Henry VIII and Queen Catherine]].<ref name=Oman85 />
[[File:James III and Mary of Modena.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Queen Mary with her son, [[James Francis Edward Stuart|James Francis Edward]], by [[Benedetto Gennari II|Benedetto Gennari the Younger]]|alt=An informal portrait of Mary with her infant son. She is seated, wearing a regal velvet cloak edged with ermine. The boy, aged about one year, stands on a table and is held by his mother. He wears a cream satin dress with lace bonnet, sleeves and apron.]]
Queen Mary's health had still not recovered after the death of Lady Isabella. So much so, in fact, that the Tuscan envoy reported to [[Florence]] that "general opinion turns [for Mary's successor] in the direction of the [[Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici|Princess]], [[Cosimo III de' Medici|Your Highness]]'s daughter".<ref name=Haile124 /><ref>Waller, p. 40</ref> France, too, was preparing for Mary's imminent demise, putting forward as its candidate for James's new wife the [[Henri Jules, Prince of Condé|Duke of Enghien]]'s daughter.<ref name=Haile124>Haile, p. 124</ref> The Queen was then trying to make her brother, the Duke of Modena, marry the former, Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici.<ref>Oman, p. 96</ref>

In February 1687, Mary, at the time irritated by James's affair with [[Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester]], moved into new apartments in [[Palace of Whitehall|Whitehall]]; Whitehall had been home to a Catholic chapel since December 1686.<ref>Fea, p. 138</ref><ref>Haile, p. 142</ref> Her apartments were designed by [[Christopher Wren]] at the cost of £13,000.<ref>Oman, p. 98</ref> Because the palace's renovation was thus far unfinished, James received ambassadors in her rooms, much to Mary's chagrin.<ref>Oman, p. 99</ref> Five months later, shortly after the marriage talks with Tuscany collapsed, the Queen's mother, Duchess Laura, died.<ref name=Haile159 /> Therefore, the whole English court went into mourning.<ref name=Haile159>Haile, p. 159</ref> Duchess Laura left Mary "a considerable sum of cash" and some jewellery.<ref>Oman, p. 99</ref> William III of Orange, James's nephew and son-in-law, sensed popular discontent with James's government; he used the death of Mary's mother as a guise to send his cousin [[William Nassau de Zuylestein, 1st Earl of Rochford|Count Zuylestein]], to England, ostensibly to condole the Queen, but in reality as a spy.<ref name="Chapman144" /><ref>Haile, p. 163</ref>
[[File:1662 Mary II.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|[[Mary II of England]] in a painting by [[Sir Peter Lely]]|alt=Formal seated portrait of Mary II. She wears a grey satin decollatage dress and a blue satin cloak with gold swathes at her shoulders. Her hair is formally arranged in curls and she wears a necklace of large grey pearls.]]

Having visited [[Bath, England|Bath]], in the hope its waters would aid conception, Queen Mary became pregnant in late 1687.<ref>Waller, p. 11</ref> When the pregnancy became public knowledge shortly before Christmas, Catholics rejoiced.<ref>Harris, p. 239</ref> Protestants, who had tolerated James's Catholic government because he had no Catholic heir, were concerned.<ref>Waller, p. 12</ref> The Protestant disillusion came to a head after the child was known to be male, and many Protestants believed the child was spurious;<ref name=Oman108109 /> if not, James II's Catholic dynasty would have been perpetuated.<ref name=Oman108109 /> Popular opinion alleged that the child, named [[James Francis Edward]], was smuggled into the birth chamber as a substitute for the Queen's real but stillborn child.<ref name=Oman108109 /> This rumour was widely accepted as fact by Protestants, despite the many witnesses of the birth.<ref name=Oman108109>Oman, pp. 108–109</ref><ref>Harris, pp. 239–240</ref> Mainly by mismanagement on James's part, these rumours had some excuse as from personal prejudice he had excluded many from the ceremony whose testimony must have been counted valid; most of the witnesses were Catholics or foreigners, and several, such as his daughter Anne and the Protestant prelates, or the maternal relatives of his daughters, whom the new birth would remove from the direct succession, were not present.

Anne and her elder sister, Mary,  still suspected that their father had thrust a changeling upon the nation.<ref name="Chapman144">Chapman, p. 144</ref> Count Zuylestein, returning to the Netherlands shortly after the birth, agreed with Anne's findings.<ref name="Chapman144" />

Issued by seven leading [[Whig (British political party)|Whig]] nobles, [[Invitation to William|the invitation for William to invade England]] signalled the beginning of a revolution that culminated in James's deposition.<ref name="Waller, p. 216">Waller, p. 216</ref> The invitation assured William that "nineteen parts of twenty of the people throughout the kingdom" wished for an intervention.<ref name="Waller, p. 216" /> The revolution, known as the [[Glorious Revolution]], deprived James Francis Edward of his right to the English throne, on the grounds that he was not deemed the King's real son, and later because he was a Catholic.<ref name="Waller, p. 216" /> With England in the hands of William of Orange's 15,000-strong army, James and Mary decided to go into exile in France.<ref name="Waller, p. 216" /> On 9 December 1688, Mary left London in disguise with the infant Prince of Wales and in the company of [[Victoria Davia-Montecuculi]], under the arrangement of [[Antoine Nompar de Caumont]]. After arriving in France through [[Calais]], she was joined by James a few weeks later. There, they stayed at the expense of James's first cousin [[King Louis XIV]], who supported the [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] cause.<ref name="Waller, p. 216" /><ref name="FraserLoveandLouisXIV270" />