History is messy. It’s rarely the clean, romanticized version we see on period dramas where the lighting is perfect and the motives are clear. When people ask, did James love Mary, they’re usually looking for a "yes" or "no" answer, but life in the 17th century—especially for royals like James II and Mary of Modena—was anything but simple. Love wasn't the starting point. It was a potential byproduct of a political transaction.
James, the Duke of York (and later King James II), was a man of intense, often conflicting passions. By the time he married the fifteen-year-old Italian princess Mary of Modena in 1673, he was a forty-year-old widower with a reputation for being, well, a bit of a womanizer. He had a string of mistresses, a stubborn streak a mile wide, and a recent, controversial conversion to Catholicism. Mary, on the other hand, was so young she reportedly cried when she found out she had to marry him instead of entering a convent.
It was a rough start. Honestly, it was a disaster. But to understand if James actually loved her, you have to look past the wedding night and into the years of exile, loss, and political turmoil that followed.
The Cold Reality of the 1673 Marriage
The match was a political chess move. James needed a Catholic heir. Louis XIV of France wanted to strengthen the Catholic alliance. Mary of Modena was the pawn. When she arrived in England, she was greeted by a husband who was old enough to be her father and a public that hated her religion.
Did James love Mary at first sight? Probably not in the way we define love today. He found her beautiful—most accounts from the time, including those from the courtier John Evelyn, describe her as tall, graceful, and strikingly handsome. But James was still deeply involved with his mistress, Catherine Sedley. It’s hard to argue a man is "in love" with his teenage bride while he’s sneaking off to see a woman known for her sharp wit and lack of traditional beauty.
Mary was miserable. She was a devout girl thrust into the debauchery of the Restoration court. She had to deal with James’s infidelity and the stinging realization that she was a replacement for his first wife, Anne Hyde. Yet, something shifted.
🔗 Read more: Pink White Nail Studio Secrets and Why Your Manicure Isn't Lasting
Turning Points: Why "Did James Love Mary" is a Complicated Question
The transformation of their relationship is one of the more fascinating footnotes in Stuart history. As the years went by, the external pressure on the couple became immense. They weren't just a husband and wife; they were the targets of the "Popish Plot" and the Exclusion Crisis. People wanted James dead or at least removed from the line of succession.
Nothing bonds people like being hated by everyone else.
James began to rely on Mary’s unwavering loyalty. Unlike his mistresses, who were often manipulative or politically motivated, Mary was genuinely devoted to him. Historians like Antonia Fraser have noted that as James aged and his political fortunes dimmed, his domestic life became his only sanctuary.
The Grief That Bound Them
You can’t talk about their bond without talking about the children. Mary was pregnant ten times. Most of those pregnancies ended in miscarriages, stillbirths, or children who died in infancy. In an era where infant mortality was high, the sheer volume of loss they experienced together was staggering.
When their son, James Francis Edward Stuart (the "Old Pretender"), was finally born in 1688, it should have been their greatest triumph. Instead, it triggered the Glorious Revolution. James’s devotion to Mary during this time was evident. He was terrified for her safety. When he sent her and the baby fleeing to France in the middle of a stormy December night, he wasn't just saving a Queen; he was saving the woman who had stood by him when his own daughters, Mary and Anne, had betrayed him.
💡 You might also like: Hairstyles for women over 50 with round faces: What your stylist isn't telling you
Life in Exile at Saint-Germain
If you want proof of James’s feelings, look at their life in France. Louis XIV gave them the palace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. By this point, James had largely given up his philandering. He became increasingly obsessed with his faith and his sins, often practicing extreme penance.
In this final chapter, the answer to did James love Mary becomes much clearer. He spent almost all his time with her. He wrote about her with a tenderness that was absent in his youth. He grew to respect her intelligence—Mary was often the one handling the complex diplomatic correspondence with the Jacobite supporters while James drifted into a sort of religious melancholy.
He was a flawed man. He was bigoted, often tactless, and remarkably bad at reading the room when it came to English politics. But in his private letters and the records of the French court, he appears as a man who finally realized the treasure he had in his wife. Mary, for her part, remained fiercely protective of his memory long after he died in 1701. She spent her widowhood trying to put their son on the throne, a task fueled by a sense of duty to the man she had grown to love.
Misconceptions About the Stuart Romance
There's a common idea that all royal marriages were cold. That's a bit of a lazy take. While they started as a "business arrangement," the Stuarts were a highly emotional family. James’s brother, Charles II, loved his wife Catherine of Braganza in his own weird, unfaithful way—defending her against those who wanted to divorce her because she couldn't have children.
James was different. He was more somber.
📖 Related: How to Sign Someone Up for Scientology: What Actually Happens and What You Need to Know
Some people think Mary was just a victim. It’s a popular narrative: the poor girl forced to marry the old King. But Mary of Modena was tough. She found power in her role as James’s partner. She wasn't just sitting around sewing; she was navigating the most dangerous political waters in Europe. To say he didn't love her is to ignore the partnership they built under fire.
Evidence From the Memoirs
The Memoirs of James II, though partially reconstructed and edited, give us a window into his psyche. He frequently refers to the "Queen’s great affection" and his own reliance on her.
- The 1688 Flight: James's primary concern during the invasion by William of Orange was getting Mary out of London. He was paralyzed by indecision regarding the military, but he was decisive about her safety.
- The Final Days: On his deathbed, James told Mary, "I am going to a kingdom of which I have often told you we should never be deprived." He spoke to her not as a subject, but as a soulmate in their shared religious journey.
- The Mistresses: While he had them, he never allowed them to publicly disrespect the Queen, a small mercy but a significant one in the context of the 1600s.
How to View Their Relationship Today
If you're looking for a fairy tale, James II and Mary of Modena aren't your couple. He was a difficult, stubborn man who made life very hard for himself and his family. He was unfaithful for a significant portion of their marriage.
However, if you view love as a slow-burn development of mutual respect, shared trauma, and ultimate loyalty, then the answer is yes. James did love Mary. It was a love forged in the fires of revolution and the quiet halls of exile.
To understand this better, one should look into the letters Mary wrote during her widowhood. They are filled with a genuine sense of loss that goes beyond the "official" mourning required of a Queen. She missed him. And in the end, he had become the man she didn't want to leave.
Actionable Steps for History Enthusiasts
If this bit of royal drama has you hooked, there are a few ways to dig deeper into the actual primary sources rather than just taking a historian’s word for it.
- Read the Correspondence: Look for the published letters of Mary of Modena. They provide a much more intimate look at her feelings than the official court records.
- Visit Saint-Germain-en-Laye: If you’re ever in France, the site of their exile is a stark contrast to the grandeur of Versailles and tells the story of their final years together.
- Compare with Anne Hyde: Research James’s first marriage to Anne Hyde. Seeing how he treated his first wife (whom he married for love, or at least out of obligation after an affair) helps contextualize how his relationship with Mary was different.
- Explore the Jacobite Collections: Many of the personal items and portraits of the couple are held in Scottish museums and private collections, showing the visual legacy of their partnership.