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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Mary II
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(1662–94) Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, ruling jointly with her husband, from 1689; elder daughter of *James II and Anne Hyde; married William of Orange (1677).
Although her father became a Roman Catholic during her childhood, she continued to be brought up as a Protestant and was married to her Protestant Dutch cousin, William of Orange (see the *royal house). After his unopposed invasion of England in the *Revolution of 1688, they were proclaimed joint king and queen in April 1689. Pious and much loved by those who knew her, she deferred on public matters to her husband, *William III. She died of smallpox at the age of 32, without children, so her sister *Anne became her husband's heir.
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