8 March 1702: The death at Kensington Palace of William III and II. William died of pneumonia, which arose as a complication from a fractured collarbone sustained in a fall from his horse, Sorrel, after it stumbled over a molehill. Consequently, the Jacobites toasted “the little gentleman in the black velvet waistcoat.” Following William’s death, his sister-in-law Anne ascended to the throne, becoming the final monarch of the senior line of the House of Stuart.
