During this week’s excitement over the birth of Prince George of Cambridge, a number of commentators have discussed the ‘warming-pan baby’ – James Edward Francis Stuart. It was his birth, in 1688, that led to the now abandoned tradition of Home Secretaries being present at a royal birth. Here, Dr Charles Littleton explains the circumstances and dramatic political consequences of that royal birth… While the … Continue reading The ‘warming-pan baby’: James Edward Francis Stuart