Page "Mary II of England" Paragraph 2

Mary, born at St. James's Palace in London on 30 April 1662, was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York ( the future James II & VII ), and his first wife, Lady Anne Hyde.

Mary's uncle was King Charles II, who ruled the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland ; her maternal grandfather, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, served for a lengthy period as Charles's chief advisor.

She was baptised into the Anglican faith in the Chapel Royal at St. James's, and was named after her ancestress, Mary, Queen of Scots.

Her godparents included her father's cousin, Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

Although her mother bore eight children, all except Mary and her younger sister Anne died very young, and the King had no legitimate children.

Consequently, for most of her childhood, Mary was second in line to the throne after her father.