Queen Anne

6 February, 1665 – 1 August, 1714. Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland (1702-1714). Last Stuart Monarch.

Anne was born the second daughter of James II and Anne Hyde. In 1683 she married George, Prince of Denmark. During her marriage she became pregnant 17 times but only one child, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, survived the early years of childhood. Due to the number of pregnancies and miscarriages her health was badly affected up to her death.

The Act of Settlement had established a new line of succession in 1701. It excluded more than 50 Catholic families from the succession to the throne. Since Anne was raised a Protestant, she fulfilled the conditions determined in the Act of Settlement. She refrained from making her husband king. He did not show any will to play a bigger political role anyways. Anne on the other hand, showed great political ambition and visited cabinet meetings regularly (Panzer 166).

In questions of domestic and foreign politics Queen Anne followed the example of her predecessor and brother-in-law William III. The most significant political achievements were the battle of Blenheim, which lead to steady security for England and Holland, the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) and the Act of Union (1707), which united England and Scotland and created Great Britain.

Anne’s closest friend and confidante was Sarah Churchill, who influenced her strongly. Sarah’s husband, the Duke of Marlborough, was considered a war hero after the War of Spanish Succession, which gave her a high social status. During the beginning of Anne’s regency Sarah was her lady in waiting. In 1710/1711 the friendship between the women ended due to strong conflicts and Sarah was dismissed from her office. Lady Abigail Mashams, a distant relative of Sarah Churchill and other than her a supporter of the Tories, succeeded in this office.

The last years of Anne’s reign were influenced by the question of succession. The Whigs supported the House of Hanover, the Tories did not really take sides and Anna herself did not like her Hanoverian relatives, while at the same time rumors started every time Anne became ill that the Old Pretender was about to come back to London. When Sophia of Hanover, the great granddaughter of James I and therefore the next successor of the trone, died in June 1714 her son George got the prospective entitlement to the British throne. Anne died only two months later. As soon as possible George was declared the new king of Great Britain.

Anne’s reign was considered rather successful. Politically she created a period of security. However, many poor people remained poor, while merchants and traders became richer and richer. On the other hand she was famous for her strict Protestant religious streak. Besides there is a style of furniture named after Queen Anne.

References

"Anne (1702-14 AD)." Britannia, http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon52.html.

Jordan, Ulrike. "Anna (1702-1714)". Englische Könige und Königinnen. Ed. Peter Wende. München: Verlag C.H. Beck, 1998. 176-187.

Panzer, Marita A. Englands Königinnen: Von den Tudors zu den Windsors. München: Piper, 2009.