James, brother of Charles II led an irreverent life. One of the most controversial decisions in his life was to marry his pregnant mistress, the commoner Anne Hyde. The results were Mary and Anne, two of their children, who both survived into adulthood.
His future marriage was no less salacious at the time. He married 15 year old Catholic Marie Beatrice, and soon converted to Catholicism. Fifteen years later she gave birth to a boy, and then the tension mounted. The throne would go to a boy, pushing Mary and Anne aside, and furthermore to a Catholic.
Maureen Waller discusses her historical book Ungrateful Daughters published 16th May 2002 by Hodder and Stoughton, ISBN 0340 794615.
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