In 1630 Charles
II was born at St
James's Palace. He became King of England and Scotland in 1660
after eleven years of a republican Commonwealth which had been installed
after the English Civil War and the execution of his father Charles
I. He ruled until his death in 1685 at Whitehall
Palace when he was succeeded by his brother James II. He was buried
in Westminster
Abbey.
James
II was born at St
James's Palace in 1633 and was kept there as a prisoner after
his capture at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642. He escaped and fled
to the continent eventually returning to succeed his brother Charles
II in 1685. His short reign lasted only until the Glorious
Revolution of 1688 when the Protestant William of Orange forced
him into exile in France
where he spent the rest of his life.
It was in front of the part of Whitehall
Palace known as the Banqueting House that Charles
I was executed
in 1649 after losing the English Civil War. He had ruled since
1625 and his death brought the Stuart rule to a temporary end (in
1660 his son Charles II would be restored to the throne). He was buried
in St
George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
William
III died at
Kensington Palace after a riding accident at Hampton Court Palace
in 1702. He had been born in The Hague, in the Netherlands in 1650.
He ruled with his wife from the Glorious
Revolution of 1689 until her death in 1694 and then alone until
1702. He was buried in Westminster
Abbey.
James II's youngest daughter Queen Anne
was born at St
James's Palace in 1665 where in 1683 she married George
of Denmark. She ruled from 1702 until her
death in 1714 at Kensington
Palace, bringing the Stuart rule of England to a close. She was
buried in Westminster
Abbey.