Portal:England/Selected biography/4

Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was Queen of England and Ireland from 13 February 1689, and Queen of Scotland from 11 April 1689 until her death.

Born at St James's Palace in London, she was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York (the future James II of England) and his first wife, Anne Hyde. Mary's uncle was Charles II; her maternal grandfather, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, served for a lengthy period as Charles's chief advisor. Although her mother bore eight children, only Mary and her younger sister Anne survived into adulthood. Mary, a Protestant, became queen following the Glorious Revolution, which deposed her Roman Catholic father. Mary reigned jointly with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, who became sole ruler on her death in 1694. Popular histories usually refer to the joint reign as that of "William and Mary". Mary wielded less power than William during the parts of her reign when William remained in England, ceding most of her authority to her husband, though he heavily relied on her. She did, however, govern the realms alone when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad, proving herself to be a powerful, firm, and effective ruler. She was very active in the Church of England, of which she was Supreme Governor. Though she shared the post with her husband, she largely exercised its power alone.