The gentleman in black velvet waistcoat triumphs

Posted by Tory Historian Tuesday, March 08, 2011 ,

It is not entirely clear to Tory Historian why International Women's Day, ignored in Britain since beginnings a century ago, should now be celebrated across the land. It is, however, satisfactory to know that March 8 is also the anniversary of Queen Anne's ascension to the throne after the death of her brother-in-law, William III, after a hunting accident. He was thrown from his horse who had stumbled into a mole's burrow. William's collar bone was broken and the complicating pneumonia carried him off.

The Jacobites now had another toast to drink: not just "the King over the water" but also "the gentleman in the black velvet waistcoat", that is the mole.

Curiously enough, the other William who had conquered England, though somewhat more bloodily, also died as a result of a fall off a horse.

3 comments

  1. Sandy Jamieson Says:
    12:03 am

  2. Monarchs and horses do not seem to get on. Alexander III fell to his death off his horse on the cliffs on Kinghorn triggering off a constitutional crises in the 13th century while two hundred years later Richard III wandered round Leicestershire looking for one

     
  3. Demetrius Says:
    3:13 pm

  4. Interesting that Anne and Mary had G-G-Grandparents named William and Anne, although in their case surnamed Aylesbury and Poole. Their cousins were the Somervilles of Stratford upon Avon and they had property in mid Warwicks and Holborn around the turn of the 16/17 Century. Not many people know that.

     
  5. Sandy Jamieson Says:
    12:31 am

  6. Belatedly following up my previous comment on reflection those monarch who were the third of their name have had problems with horses
    William III's horse stumbled over a mole hill
    Alexander III's horse stumbled over the cliffs at Kinghorn
    James III dismounted from his horse at Sauchieburn only to be stabbed to death by a mysterious assailant.
    Robert III was kicked by a horse which gave rise to his nickname "Lame John"
    Richard III lost his horse at Bosworth

     
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