On this day Mary of Modena, an Italian princess and the wife of King James II escaped from England to France with her son, James Francis Edward Stuart, after prominent Protestants, fearful of a continuing Catholic dynasty, had invited James II’s Protestant nephew and son-in-law, William of Orange, to invade England. In what was later to be known as “The Glorious Revolution”, King James II was overthrown by William who later allowed him to escape to France. William and Mary (James II’s daughter by his first marriage) were jointly crowned in Westminster Abbey on 11th April 1689.
Queen Mary Escapes to France
9th December 1688