William III Dies When His Horse Stumbles on a Molehill

William III (William Henry; Dutch: Willem Hendrik; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the 1670s, and King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702.

As King of Scotland, he is known as William II. He ruled Britain and Ireland alongside his wife, Queen Mary II, and their joint reign is known as that of William and Mary.

In 1702, William died of pneumonia, a complication from a broken collarbone following a fall from his horse, Sorrel. It was rumoured that the horse had been confiscated from Sir John Fenwick, one of the Jacobites who had conspired against William.

Because his horse had stumbled into a mole’s burrow, many Jacobites toasted “the little gentleman in the black velvet waistcoat”.

Years later, Winston Churchill, in his A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, stated that the fall “opened the door to a troop of lurking foes”.

William was buried in Westminster Abbey alongside his wife.

His sister-in-law and cousin, Anne, became queen regnant of England, Scotland and Ireland.