Convention Parliament (1689)
William and Mary accept the English and Irish crowns and are proclaimed in London
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗The proclamation made a nominal claim to France, but could not yet truthfully include Scotland.
At the Banqueting House, February 1689
On 13 February 1689 the English Convention formally offered the crowns of England and Ireland jointly to William and Mary at the Banqueting House in Whitehall, and read the Declaration of Rights aloud to them. William answered for himself and Mary, accepting the offer.
The settlement made them king and queen while assigning the full exercise of regal power to William during their joint lives. Contemporary English paperwork calls the day 13 February 1688, because the legal year began on 25 March; in modern numbering it is 13 February 1689, or 23 February Gregorian.
Heralds first, print afterwards
Officers of arms then proclaimed William and Mary in London as King and Queen of England, France, and Ireland. A contemporary annotation records the oral proclamation at about 11 a.m. at Whitehall Gate, followed by Temple Bar, Cheapside, and the Royal Exchange.
Printed proclamations were afterwards ordered posted in the customary public places, turning the shouted ceremony into displayed official news.
What was not settled
The French title was a traditional English claim, not a description of anything they ruled. Scotland was not settled by this ceremony at all: the Scottish estates made a separate offer, which William and Mary accepted 87 days later, on 11 May 1689.
The Declaration of Rights was read out with the offer of the crown. UK Parliament cautions that it was not formally presented as a condition they had to accept before becoming monarchs.
Sources
Researched 24 Aug 2026 6 sources not yet audited Date corrected
How this was checked
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Date corrected. The research places this at 1689-02-23.
What the sources leave uncertain
- The ceremony occurred on 13 February 1688 in contemporary English Old Style notation because England's legal year began on 25 March. In modern year numbering that is 13 February 1689, equivalent to 23 February Gregorian; the ISO date uses Gregorian.
- The proclamation's formal style included England, France and Ireland, not Scotland.
- The English Parliament claimed authority over Ireland, but William and Mary's effective rule there was contested by James's supporters.