Mary and Anne of Denmark
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Mary (Danish: [Maria] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help); 2 June 1685– 8 February 1687) and Anne Sophia ( Danish: [Anna Sophia] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help); 12 May 1686– 2 February 1687) were the only two daughters to survive infancy born to Princess Anne and Prince George of Denmark.
Life edit
Princess Anne went into labour on 1 June[1] and Mary was born on 2 June 1685 at Whitehall Palace and christened the next day by Henry Compton[1]. Anne Sophia was born on 12 May 1686 at Windsor Castle and christened the next day by Nathaniel Crew, Bishop of Durham with the Lady Churchill as one of her godmothers[1]. Prince George was the third son of Frederick III of Denmark and Princess Anne was heiress presumptive to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland. Their daughters were styled The Lady Mary and The Lady Anne Sophia.[2][3].
In early 1687, while at Windsor Castle, both the girls and their father became ill with smallpox.[4] The younger Anne Sophia succumbed to the illness on 2 February. Two-year-old Mary died almost a week after her younger sister, at approximately seven o'clock in the evening[3], of an acute infection[5]. Mary's funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 10 February[3] and Anne Sophia's on 4 February, at the same Abbey[3]. They had four more siblings born alive, while only one, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, survived past his birthday and died aged eleven. Fifteen years after the girls' deaths, Princess Anne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, and five years later, the Acts of Union 1707 were passed and England and Scotland united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Ancestors edit
References edit
- ^ a b c Darryl Lundy. Exhibit-Queen Anne. thePeerage.com. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ Heraldica
- ^ a b c d London Gazette, 3 February 1687; London Gazette, 10 February 1687; London Gazette, 7 February 1687
- ^ Green, p. 39; Gregg, p. 47; Waller, p. 301
- ^ Weir, Alison (1999). Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy, p. 268
- Green, David (1970). Queen Anne. London: Collins. ISBN 0-00-211693-6.
- Gregg, Edward (2001). Queen Anne. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09024-2.
- Waller, Maureen (2006). Sovereign Ladies: The Six Reigning Queens of England. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-6628-2.