Page "Glorious Revolution" Paragraph 18

Mary had a husband, her cousin William Henry of Orange.

Both were Protestants and grandchildren of Charles I of England.

Before the birth of James's son on 10 June, William had been third in the line of succession.

However, there was a strong faction at the English court, headed by Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, proposing that Mary and William, because of their anti-Catholic position, should be replaced by some Catholic French heir.