Princess of Orange

Mary, Princess of Orange (1631-1660). Portrait painted in 1639.

The eldest daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Mary was distinguished as a young girl for her intelligence and beauty. She married William II of Orange when she was nine and he fifteen and went to the Netherlands three years later in 1644. When her husband became Stadholder in 1647 she shared in his public duties. After William’s sudden death the Republicans gained control and for the rest of her life Mary struggled for the rights of her son William (later William III of England), born just a few days after his father’s death, and those of her brother Charles (later Charles II). This charming portrait shows her before a view of a knot garden in which women and children are walking with a vista of a landscape beyond. 

(National Portrait Gallery)