King William II of Wessex

King William II of Wessex, was the Soverign of the Kingdom of Wessex. He succeded to the throne after the death of his mother, Queen Anne I of Wessex and was himself succeded by his eldest son King George II of Wessex, who later became known as George the Great.

Crown Prince of Wessex
On the death of Edward V, William's mother became the first Queen-Regnant in Wessex.

Anne's first act as Queen, was to declare that her son Prince William was he rightful heir and natural successor. She created him the first "Crown Prince of Wessex" and decreeded that an attack on the Crown Prince, or any attempt to disrupt the natural succession, was an act of treason and an attack on the Sovereign herself.

William and his younger brother, Prince George of Wessex, _

Marriage
William married Princess Mary of Orange at the Chapel Royal, Woodstock Palace. The couple grew close to each other _.

William presented his wife with White Hall, that was a newly built Royal residence in Winchester Great Park off of the River _. The couple used the House as their official private residence, and raised their family their and often entertained

Later Reign
William heard of Sophia and George’s marital problems, as they became more apparent. After the birth of The Prince William of Wessex, the couple mutually decided to cease carnal relations, though they both lived together and preformed duties.

The couple were a royal force, and put the needs of the dynasty before their own. Their eldest son, The Prince George of Wessex was the driving force to secure the monarchy’s position and support in the country. William created his grandson the “Duke of Westminster” on the occasion of his birthday, it was said that William had planned for George to inherit White Hall after his and his wife’s death.

William played little role in his grandchildren lives or education. His only pressing matter was securing a match for his grandson the newly created, Duke of Westminster. William hoped for a match to be made that would strengthen the ties of Wessex with that of Macedonia and Germanic countries, but William was often at odds with his own son and the Duke of Westminster over their shared belief that by selecting a bride from these countries it would spread the practice of vampirism in Wessex.

George’s own policies was to break ties with Macedonia and other Germanic countries were vampirism was widely practice.

Despite Crown Prince George’s and the Duke of Westminster’s beliefs, William’s dream of a united force with Germanic country was fulfilled with Prince George’s marriage to Princess Charlotte of Hanover years later.

Creation of Counsellors of State
In William’s old age he became a recluse due to the constant cycle of illness and recovery. During this time he spent most of his days at Woodstock Palace in his private apartments. After a serious illness that William unconscious for two days, the question arose as to who should assume the role as Sovereign during William’s unavailability.

At first thoughts were that a Regency or a Regency council should be created during William’s periods of illness, but there was fear that political rivals to the monarchy and to the Bagartion dynasty would use this as a moment of weakness, a new position was created for members of the Royal Family to take on William's duties will he was ill.

Counsellors of State would serve as the official representative of the Sovereign during his period of absence or incapacity. These individuals would perform duties, meet with government officials, and preform the royal engagements assigned to the Sovereign.

The first Counsellors of State were created by an Order in Council by William II, and this process was repeated on each occasion of the King's absence or incapacity.

The creation of this position created friction within the Royal Family, mostly over who should and should not serve in this role. It was around this time that William’s son, Crown Prince George began to break family tradition over the Bagration-Edwardas support of Vampirism, and aligned his beliefs on vampirism, with what many considered more Welsh.

This led to a direct conflict with Prince James of Worcester who began studying vampirism, and rumors of James converting were abundant around court. Crown Prince George already disliked both of the Worcester brothers (William Henry and James) and thought them both brash and harsh and unable to live up to their father’s reputation.

Crown Prince George didn’t want James so close to government, due James’ own pro-vampirism views. And often tried to block him in becoming a Counsellor of State. Crown Prince George favored his younger uncle’s branch of the family, The Dukes of Taunton, and wanted them to serve in a more official role than the Worcesters.

Until William’s later years and the passing of The Fifth Regency Act that established in law those individuals that could serve as Counsellors of State, by meeting certain qualifications, the family often quarreled over who served as one of the five Counsellor of State.

Death
William died suddenly at Woodstock Palace. Only Mary and his younger son Prince Philip, The Duke of Chelsea were present at the time of his death. Crown Prince George was residing at St Andrews Lodge, Hyde Park when he heard of his father’s death and his ascension as King.

William’s funeral was held at Woodstock Palace, Chapel Royal and he was buried at Ombra Cathedral. His funeral was in attendance by many heads of state and all members of the Welsh Royal Family.

On William’s death, his son Crown Prince George automatically became King George II of Wessex. William’s wife thus became known as the Mary, The Queen Mother. Mary took up residence at Woodstock Palace, in the Cronwall Suite and retained the lease on White Hall, now known as the Queen’s House.

William was the first King to reign as the Sovereign of the three major Anglo reigns of Wessex, Albany, and Cornwall. He was also the first member of the House of Bagration to reign as King of Wessex, as his mother belonged to the House of Edwardas.

Issue
William married Princess Mary of Orange, who was the daughter of Louis III, The Prince of Orange and his wife Princess Adalaide of Anjou. Together the couple would have a happy marriage and produce three surving childern and later have nine grandchildren, some of whom became Kings and Queens in their own right.