ON THIS DAY IN ROYAL HISTORY . 5 March 1695 . The funeral of Queen Mary II . . ◼ In late 1694, Mary had contracted smallpox. She sent away anyone who had not previously had the disease, to prevent the spread of infection. Her sister Anne (later Queen Anne), who was pregnant, sent Mary a letter saying she would run any risk to see her sister again, but the offer was declined by Mary’s groom of the stole, the Countess of Derby. . ◾ Mary died at Kensington Palace shortly after midnight on the morning of 28 December 1694 aged 32. . ◼ King William III, who had grown increasingly to rely on Mary, was devastated by her death, “from being the happiest” he was “now going to be the miserablest creature on earth”. She was widely mourned in Britain. . ◼ During a cold winter, in which the Thames froze, her embalmed body lay in state in Banqueting House, Whitehall until her burial in March the following year. . ◼ On 5 March, Mary II was buried at Westminster Abbey. . ◼ Her funeral service was the first of any royal attended by all the members of both Houses of Parliament. . ◼ For the ceremony, composer Henry Purcell wrote Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary. . . . #ONTHISDAYINHISTORY #TheYear1695 #thisdayinhistory #MaryII #QueenMaryII #d5mar #Mary II #WestminsterAbbey #HenryPurcell #History #QueenofEngland #Stuarts #HouseofStuart #EnglishMonarchy #BritishMonarchy #RoyalHistory #WilliamandMary #WilliamIII #Whitehall #RoyalHistory #HistoryFacts #Otd #OnThisDay #Royalhistory (at Westminster Abbey) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9XfAl2JPeR/?igshid=1scgj05bvz3wg
