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The House Of Stuart |
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Queen Anne
1664-1714
EARLY LIFE
The last of England's Stuart monarchs, Queen Anne, the younger daughter of James II and Anne Hyde, was born on
6th February, 1664 at St. James' Palace, London.
Anne suffered from a weakness in her eyes from childhood and was sent to France to consult an oculist when she was four years old, she was to remain very short-sighted all her life and suffered from a squint.
She spent the first part of her visit with her French grandmother, Henrietta Maria, but when the Dowager Queen died Anne went to live with her Aunt Henriette, Duchess of Orleans, informally known in the family as 'Minette'. Minette was taken violently ill in 1670, and died soon after amongst rumours of poison. Her five year old niece was then returned to her parents in England.
Anne's mother was mortally ill, it is suspected of breast cancer. Anne had not been back in England a year when Anne Hyde died, she was only six, possibly too young to remember her mother well. Sarah Jennings, a girl older than herself, became a firm favourite, with whom she formed a close relationship, Sarah later married a young army officer, named John Churchill.
PRINCE GEORGE OF DENMARK
A marriage was arranged for Princess Anne with Prince George of Denmark, a good-looking
young man, who was tall and blonde. The marriage took place on 28th July,
1683. Despite his good looks, George was rather dull and stupid, he also
had a rather unpleasant fondness for the bottle. Charles II unkindly said of him " I have tried him drunk and I have tried him sober and there is nothing in him."
Anne and George, however, became devoted to each other. After her marriage, her favourite Sarah Jennings was appointed as her Lady of the Bedchamber.
When William of Orange landed in 1688, the Protestant Anne deserted her Catholic father, a heart breaking experience for him, despite his many faults he had been a doting father to both his daughters. William and Mary were jointly offered the throne. The two sisters had an emotional reunion on Mary's return from Holland, which unfortunately did not endure and they soon fell into disagreement. Anne came to strongly resent William's much voiced low opinion of her husband.
Despite numerous pregnancies Anne had only two live daughters, Mary and Anne Sophia, both of whom died in infancy. In July 1688 she was delivered of a son, who was christened William Henry, and later created Duke of Gloucester. The baby was found to be suffering from hydrocephalus, or water on the brain. He was frequently ill and remained a constant source of anxiety to his adoring parents.
RELATIONS WITH MARY
Anne's relations with her sister Mary continued to deteriorate, Anne added to the growing ill-feeling by calling William such names as "Caliban" and "the Dutch abortion" behind his back. When Sarah's husband , John Churchill, was sent to the Tower, Anne openly sided with the Churchills against her sister. Finally, they ceased to communicate.
Sarah Jennings ifluence over Anne grew steadily. Sarah was one of the great beauties of her age, Anne suggested that they should correspond with each other as Mrs. Morley (Anne) and Mrs. Freeman (Sarah) to demonstrate the equality of their relationship.
Mary died of Smallpox in 1694, but coldly, Anne did not even visit her on her death-bed. A surprising but superficial reconciliation took place between Anne and William, even the previously detested Churchill was received back into the royal favour.
WILLIAM DUKE OF GLOUCESTER
Anne had eighteen pregnancies in all , but the Duke of Gloucester remained her only surviving child. Her figure ruined, Anne was now obese and decidedly middle aged, she also began to suffer very badly from gout.
Anne with William, Duke of Gloucester, her only surviving child
William, Duke of Gloucester celebrated his eleventh birthday in 1700 with a banquet and firework display at Windsor Castle. Always a delicate child, he complained of feeling unwell the following day and tragically, his condition continued to deteriorate. His mother kept an agonizing vigil at his bedside, he died shortly after. There is evidence to suggest that Anne saw the death of all her children as God's punishment for the way she had treated her own father. She was ridden with a guilt complex about her desertion of the father she was never to see again.
In 1701, James II died at St. Germain in France. Anne received a letter from her step-mother, Mary of Modena, informing her that before he had died James forgave her and asked her to make reparations to his son. Anne sent no reply to the letter. but she did go into mourning for her father, an act which evoked the annoyance of William. In February 1702, William III himself died, making Anne Queen of England and Scotland at the age of thirty-eight.
REIGN
Three days later Anne addressed Parliament as Queen. Her dress was modelled on one worn by Elizabeth I, she drew a further parallel with the great Queen by stressing that she was "entirely English" as Elizabeth had done when succeeding her sister Mary and her unpopular foreign husband. Anne assured Parliament that there was nothing she would not do to promote the "happiness or prosperity of England".