William III of Orange was born at The Hague on 4th November, 1650. He was the posthumous son of William II of Orange and of Mary Stuart, Princess Royal the eldest daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France. His grieving mother had given birth to him in a chamber draped with black mourning. William's father, the Prince of Orange, had died but a week previously on 27th October, of smallpox.
William was not a healthy child, small and thin, with a slightly hunched back, he suffered very badly from asthma all his life. Tragically, William also lost his mother when he was but nine years old. On a visit to England after the Restoration of her brother, Charles II, she had contracted smallpox and died there. Being left alone at this early age, he developed a strong sense of self reliance. William received an excellent education and was brought up in Holland in the Protestant, Calvinist faith.
His future wife and first cousin, Mary Stuart, was born at St. James Palace on 30th April 1662, the eldest daughter of the future James II of England and his first wife Anne Hyde, daughter of Edward, Earl of Clarendon. Anne Hyde had been a maid of honour to William's mother, Mary Stuart. Mary's parent's secret marriage had been occasioned by the fact that Anne was pregnant with his child. Although Charles II welcomed Anne into the family, the Queen-Mother, Henrietta Maria, felt James had married beneath him and opposed the marriage venomously. The child, a son, had died young.
