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Anne of Great Britain

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History
1500-1750; Monarchs of Great Britain

                        Anne
   Queen of Great Britain and Ireland;
   prev. Queen of England and Scotland (more...)
      Reign    8 March 1702 – 1 August 1714
   Predecessor William II
    Successor  George I
     Consort   George of Denmark
                       Issue
   William, Duke of Gloucester
                       Detail
   Titles
   HM The Queen
   HRH Princess Anne of Denmark
   HRH Princess Anne of York
   Royal house House of Stuart
     Father    James II
     Mother    Anne Hyde
      Born     6 February 1665
               St. James's Palace, London
      Died     1 August 1714 (aged 49)
     Burial    Westminster Abbey, London

   Anne ( 6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) became Queen of England,
   Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, when England and
   Scotland combined into a single state, Anne became the first sovereign
   of the Kingdom of Great Britain. She continued to reign until her
   death. Anne was the last monarch of the House of Stuart; she was
   succeeded by a second cousin, George I, of the House of Hanover.

   Anne's life was marked by many crises relating to succession to the
   Crown. Her Roman Catholic father, James II, had been forcibly deposed
   in 1688; her brother-in-law and her sister then became joint monarchs
   as William III and Mary II. Anne suffered from Hughes syndrome or
   'sticky blood' which resulted in miscarriages. The failure of both Anne
   and her sister to produce a child who could survive into adulthood
   precipitated a succession crisis, for, in the absence of a Protestant
   heir, the Roman Catholic James Francis Edward Stuart (the "Old
   Pretender"), son of James II, could attempt to claim the throne. It was
   for this reason that the Parliament of England passed legislation
   allowing the Crown to pass to the House of Hanover. When the Parliament
   of Scotland refused to accept the choice of the English Parliament,
   various coercive tactics (such as crippling the Scottish economy by
   restricting trade, see Alien Act) were used to ensure that Scotland
   would co-operate. The Act of Union 1707 (which united England and
   Scotland into Great Britain) was a product of subsequent treaty
   negotiations.

   Anne's reign was marked by the development of a two-party system. Anne
   personally preferred the Tory Party, but endured the Whigs. Her closest
   friend, and perhaps her most influential advisor, was Sarah Churchill,
   Duchess of Marlborough, though there was a falling out later when the
   Duchess of Marlborough was banned from court during the War of the
   Spanish Succession. The Duchess of Marlborough's husband was John
   Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, who led the English—and after the
   Union, the British—armies in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Early life

   The royal arms of Queen Anne
   The royal arms of Queen Anne

   Anne was born in St. James's Palace of London, the second daughter of
   James, Duke of York, (afterwards James II) and his first wife, the Lady
   Anne Hyde. Her paternal uncle was King Charles II and her older sister
   was the future Mary II. Anne and Mary were the only children of the
   Duke and Duchess of York to survive into adulthood. Anne suffered as a
   child from an eye infection; for medical treatment, she was sent to
   France. She lived with her grandmother, Henrietta Maria of France, and
   on the latter's death with her aunt, Henrietta Anne, Duchesse
   d'Orléans. Anne returned from France in 1670. In about 1673, Anne made
   the acquaintance of Sarah Jennings, who would become her close friend
   and one of her most influential advisors. Jennings later married John
   Churchill (the future Duke of Marlborough), who would later become
   Anne's most important general.

   In 1673 Anne's father's conversion to Roman Catholicism became public.
   On the instructions of Charles II, however, Anne and her sister Mary
   were raised as strict Protestants. In 1678 Anne accompanied Mary of
   Modena to Holland, and in 1679 joined her parents abroad and afterwards
   in Scotland. On 28 July 1683, Anne married the Protestant Prince George
   of Denmark, brother of the Danish King Christian V (and her third
   cousin through Frederick II), an unpopular union but one of great
   domestic happiness, the prince and princess being comfortable in temper
   and both preferring retirement and quiet to life in the great world.
   Sarah Churchill became Anne's Lady of the Bedchamber, and, by Anne's
   desire to mark their mutual intimacy and affection, all deference due
   to her rank was abandoned and the two ladies called each other Mrs.
   Morley and Mrs. Freeman.

   When Charles II died in 1685 (converting to Roman Catholicism on his
   deathbed), Anne's father ascended the Throne as James II. But James was
   not well-received by the English people. Public alarm increased when
   James's second wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son ( James
   Francis Edward) on 10 June 1688, for a Roman Catholic dynasty became
   apparent. Anne was not present on the occasion, having gone to Bath,
   and this gave rise to a belief that the child was spurious; but it is
   most probable that James's desire to exclude all Protestants from
   affairs of state was the real cause. "I shall never now be satisfied,"
   Anne wrote to Mary, "whether the child be true or false. It may be it
   is our brother, but God only knows ... one cannot help having a
   thousand fears and melancholy thoughts, but whatever changes may happen
   you shall ever find me firm to my religion and faithfully yours."

   Princess Anne's sister and brother-in-law, Mary and William,
   subsequently invaded England to dethrone the unpopular and perceived
   despot James II. James attempted to flee the realm on 11 December 1688,
   succeeding twelve days later.

   During the events immediately preceding the Glorious Revolution Anne
   was kept in seclusion. Her ultimate conduct was probably influenced by
   the Churchills; and though forbidden by James to pay Mary a projected
   visit in the spring of 1688, she corresponded with her, and was no
   doubt aware of William's plans. Her position was now a very critical
   and painful one. She refused to show any sympathy with the king after
   William had landed in November, and wrote, with the advice of the
   Churchills, to the prince, declaring her approval of his action.
   Churchill abandoned the king on the 24th, Prince George on the 25th,
   and when James returned to London on the 26th he found that Anne and
   her lady-in-waiting had during the previous night followed their
   husbands' examples. Escaping from Whitehall by a back staircase they
   put themselves under the care of the bishop of London, spent one night
   in his house, and subsequently arrived on the 1st of December at
   Nottingham, where the princess first made herself known and appointed a
   council. Thence she travelled to Oxford, where she met Prince George,
   in triumph, escorted by a large company. Like Mary, she was reproached
   for showing no concern at the news of the king's flight, but her
   justification was that "she never loved to do anything that looked like
   an affected constraint." She returned to London on December 19, when
   she was at once visited by William.

   In 1689, a Convention Parliament assembled and declared that James had
   abdicated the realm when he attempted to flee, and that the Throne was
   therefore vacant. The Crown was offered to, and accepted by, William
   and Mary, who ruled as joint monarchs. The Bill of Rights 1689 settled
   succession to the Throne; Princess Anne and her descendants were to be
   in the line of succession after William and Mary. They were to be
   followed by any descendants of William by a future marriage.

William and Mary

   Soon after their accession, William and Mary exalted Lord Churchill by
   granting him the Earldom of Marlborough. The subsequent treatment of
   the Marlboroughs, however, was not as favourable. In 1692, suspecting
   that Lord Marlborough was a Jacobite (that is, one who believed that
   James II was the legitimate monarch), Mary II dismissed him from all
   his offices. Lady Marlborough was subsequently removed from the Royal
   Household, leading Princess Anne to angrily leave her royal residence
   for Syon House, the Duke of Northumberland's home. Princess Anne was
   then stripped of her guard of honour, and the guards at the royal
   palaces were forbidden to salute her husband.

   When Mary II died of smallpox in 1694, William III continued to reign
   alone. Seeking to improve his own popularity (which had always been
   much lower than that of his wife), he restored Princess Anne to her
   previous honours, allowing her to reside in St. James's Palace. At the
   same time William kept her in the background and refrained from
   appointing her regent during his absence. In 1695, William sought to
   win Princess Anne's favour by restoring Marlborough to all of his
   offices. In return Anne gave her support to William's government,
   though about this time, in 1696—according to James, in consequence of
   the near prospect of the throne—she wrote to her father asking for his
   leave to wear the crown at William's death, and promising its
   restoration at a convenient opportunity. The unfounded rumour that
   William contemplated settling the succession after his death on James's
   son, provided he were educated a Protestant in England, may possibly
   have alarmed her.
   Princess Anne with her son William, Duke of Gloucester
   Princess Anne with her son William, Duke of Gloucester

   In the meantime, Prince George and Princess Anne suffered from a series
   of personal misadventures. By 1700, the future Queen had been pregnant
   at least eighteen times; thirteen times, she miscarried or gave birth
   to stillborn children. Of the remaining five children, four died before
   reaching the age of two years. Her only son to survive infancy,
   William, Duke of Gloucester, died at the age of eleven on 29 July 1700,
   precipitating a succession crisis. William and Mary did not have any
   children; thus, Princess Anne, the heir apparent to the Throne, was the
   only individual remaining in the line of succession established by the
   Bill of Rights. If the line of succession were totally extinguished,
   then it would have become simple for the deposed King James to reclaim
   the Throne. To preclude a Roman Catholic from obtaining the Crown,
   Parliament enacted the Act of Settlement 1701, which provided that,
   failing the issue of Princess Anne and of William III by any future
   marriage, the Crown would go to Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and her
   descendants, who descended from James I of England through Elizabeth of
   Bohemia. Several genealogically senior claimants were disregarded due
   to their Catholicism. Anne acquiesced to the new line of succession
   created by the Act of Settlement.

Early reign

   William III died 8 March 1702, leaving the Crown to Anne ( 23 April).
   At about the same time, the War of the Spanish Succession began; at
   controversy was the right of Philip, grandson of the French King Louis
   XIV, to succeed to the Spanish Throne. Although Philip was named in the
   will of the previous King of Spain, Charles II, much of Europe opposed
   him, fearing that the French royal dynasty would become too powerful.
   The will included a condition that Philip should give up his right to
   the throne of France, but Louis XIV had this condition overturned in
   case many of his heirs died. This was not an unrealistic worry: most of
   Louis XIV's family was killed by smallpox shortly before his death,
   leaving his five-year-old great-grandson Louis XV on the throne.
   England had also been angered by Louis XIV's proclamation of James
   Stuart, the Old Pretender, as " James III of England" following the
   death of James II. Therefore, England supported the rival claims of
   Archduke Charles, the Austrian cousin of the previous Spanish King.

   The War of the Spanish Succession (known in North America as Queen
   Anne's War, the second of the French and Indian Wars) would continue
   until the last years of Anne's reign, and would dominate both foreign
   and domestic policy. Soon after her accession, Anne appointed her
   husband Lord High Admiral, giving him control of the Royal Navy. Anne
   gave control of the army to Lord Marlborough, whom she appointed
   Captain-General. Marlborough also received numerous honours from the
   Queen; he was created a Knight of the Garter and was elevated to the
   ducal rank. The Duchess of Marlborough was appointed to the post of
   Mistress of the Robes, the highest office a lady could attain.

   Anne's first ministry was primarily Tory; at its head was Sidney
   Godolphin, 1st Baron Godolphin. The Whigs—who were, unlike the Tories,
   vigorous supporters of the War of the Spanish Succession—became much
   more influential after the Duke of Marlborough won a great victory at
   the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. The Whigs quickly rose to power; soon,
   due to Marlborough's influence, almost all the Tories were removed from
   the ministry. Lord Godolphin, although a Tory, allied himself with
   Marlborough to ensure his continuance in office. Although Lord
   Godolphin was the nominal head of the ministry, actual power was held
   by the Duke of Marlborough and by the two Secretaries of State (
   Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland and Robert Harley). One may
   observe that Lord Godolphin's son married the Duke of Marlborough's
   daughter, and that Lord Sunderland was the Duke of Marlborough's
   son-in-law. Several others benefited from Marlborough's nepotism.

Reign in Great Britain

   Half-crown coin of Anne, 1708. The inscription reads ANNA DEI GRATIA
   (Anne by the Grace of God)
   Half-crown coin of Anne, 1708. The inscription reads ANNA DEI GRATIA
   (Anne by the Grace of God)

   The next years of Anne's reign were marked by attempts to merge England
   and Scotland into one realm. When it had passed the Act of Settlement
   1701, the English Parliament had neglected to consult with the
   Parliament of Scotland or Estates of Scotland, who, furthermore, sought
   to preserve the Stuart dynasty. The Act of Security was passed by
   Scotland; failing the issue of the Queen, it granted the Estates the
   power to choose the next Scottish monarch from amongst the Protestant
   descendants of the royal line of Scotland. The individual chosen by the
   Estates could not be the same person who came to the English Throne,
   unless various religious, economic and political conditions were met.
   Though it was originally not forthcoming, the Royal Assent was granted
   when the Scottish Parliament threatened to withdraw Scottish troops
   from the Duke of Marlborough's army in Europe and refused to impose
   taxes. The English Parliament — fearing that an independent Scotland
   would restore the Auld Alliance (with France) — responded with the
   Alien Act 1705, which provided that economic sanctions would be imposed
   and Scottish subjects would be declared aliens (putting their right to
   own property in England into jeopardy), unless Scotland either repealed
   the Act of Security or moved to unite with England. The Estates chose
   the latter option, and Commissioners were appointed to negotiate the
   terms of a union. Articles of Union were approved by the Commissioners
   on 22 July 1706, and were agreed to by the Scottish Parliament on 16
   January 1707. Under the Act, England and Scotland became one realm
   called Great Britain on 1 May 1707.

   The Duchess of Marlborough's relationship with Anne deteriorated during
   1707. The Duchess had proved a termagant, and had been undermined by
   another of the Queen's friends Abigail Masham. Mrs Masham, a cousin of
   the Duchess of Marlborough, was also related to one of Anne's Whig
   ministers, Robert Harley. Through Masham, Harley exerted influence over
   the Queen. Learning of Harley's new-found power, Lord Godolphin and the
   Duke of Marlborough grew jealous, seeking his dismissal. Anne was
   compelled to accept Harley's resignation in 1708. A group of five Whigs
   — Lord Sunderland, Thomas Wharton, 1st Earl of Wharton, John Somers,
   1st Baron Somers, Charles Montagu, 1st Baron Halifax and Robert Walpole
   — dominated politics, becoming known as the " Junto". Also, Harley
   continued to retain influence with the Queen as a private advisor.

   Anne's husband, Prince George of Denmark, died in October 1708. His
   leadership of the Admiralty was unpopular amongst the Whig leaders; as
   he lay on his deathbed, some Whigs were preparing to make a motion
   requesting his removal from the office of Lord High Admiral. Anne was
   forced to appeal to the Duke of Marlborough to ensure that the motion
   was not made. After her husband's death, however, Anne grew more
   distant from the overbearing Duchess of Marlborough, preferring the
   companionship of the much more respectful Abigail Masham. The Queen
   terminated their friendship in 1709.

Later years

   Queen Anne, by an unknown artist, studio of John Closterman (c. 1702)
   Queen Anne, by an unknown artist, studio of John Closterman (c. 1702)

   The fall of the Whigs came about quickly as the expensive War of the
   Spanish Succession grew unpopular in England; Robert Harley was
   particularly skilful in using the issue to motivate the electorate. A
   public furor was aroused after Dr Henry Sacheverell, a Tory clergyman
   who attacked the Whig government for offering toleration to religious
   dissenters, was prosecuted for seditious libel. Even more humiliating
   was the failure of the Whigs to obtain the desired sentence; Dr
   Sacheverell was merely suspended from preaching for three years, and
   did not face imprisonment, as some Whigs had hoped. In the general
   election of 1710, a discontented populace returned a large Tory
   majority.

   Marlborough's relatives soon began to lose their offices. Lord
   Godolphin was removed on 7 August 1710; the new ministry was headed by
   Robert Harley and included Henry St John. Marlborough was dismissed on
   charges of misuse of public money. The new Tory government began to
   seek peace in the War of the Spanish Succession, for (as later events
   proved) an unmitigated victory for Austria (Great Britain's primary
   ally) would be just as damaging to British interests as a loss to
   France. The Tories were ready to compromise by giving Spain to the
   grandson of the French King, but the Whigs could not bear to see a
   Bourbon on the Spanish Throne.

   The dispute was resolved by outside events: the elder brother of
   Archduke Charles (whom the Whigs supported) conveniently died in 1711
   and Archduke Charles then inherited Austria, Hungary and the throne of
   the Holy Roman Empire. To also give him the Spanish throne to which he
   had aspired was no longer in Great Britain's interests, as he would
   become too powerful. But the proposed Treaty of Utrecht submitted to
   Parliament for ratification did not go as far as the Whigs wanted to
   curb Bourbon ambitions. In the House of Commons, the Tory majority was
   unassailable, but the same was not true in the House of Lords. To block
   the peace plan, the Whigs made an alliance with Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl
   of Nottingham and his Tory associates in the Lords. Seeing a need for
   decisive action, the Queen and her ministry dismissed the Duke of
   Marlborough, granting the command of British troops to James Butler,
   2nd Duke of Ormonde. To erase the Whig majority in the House of Lords,
   Anne created twelve new peers, namely Lords Compton, Bruce (both by
   writ of acceleration), Hay, Mountjoy, Burton, Mansell, Middleton,
   Trevor, Lansdowne, Masham, Foley and Bathurst, all on 1 January 1712.
   Such a mass creation of peers was unprecedented; indeed, Elizabeth I
   had granted fewer peerage dignities in almost fifty years than did Anne
   in a single day.

   Under the terms of the ratified treaty, Philip, grandson of the French
   King Louis XIV, was allowed to remain on the Throne of Spain, and was
   permitted to retain Spain's New World colonies. The rest of the Spanish
   inheritance, however, was divided amongst various European princes;
   Great Britain obtained the Spanish territories of Gibraltar and
   Minorca. Various French colonies in North America were also ceded to
   Great Britain. Thus ended Great Britain's involvement in the War of the
   Spanish Succession (as well as Queen Anne's War).

Death

   Anne died of suppressed gout, ending in erysipelas, which then produced
   an abscess and fever, at approximately 7 o'clock on 1 August 1714. Her
   body was so swollen that it had to be buried in Westminster Abbey in a
   vast almost-square coffin.

   She died shortly after the Electress Sophia ( 8 June of the same year);
   the Electress's son, George I, Elector of Hanover, inherited the
   British Crown. Pursuant to the Act of Settlement 1701, the crown was
   settled on George as Electress Sophia's heir, with the possible
   Catholic claimants, including James Francis Edward Stuart, ignored.
   However, the Elector of Hanover's accession was relatively stable:
   Jacobite risings in 1715 and 1719 both failed.

Legacy

   The reign of Anne was marked by an increase in the influence of
   ministers and a decrease in the influence of the Crown. In 1708, Anne
   became the last British Sovereign to withhold the Royal Assent from a
   bill (in this case, a Scots militia bill). Preoccupied with her health
   (she suffered from porphyria), Anne allowed her ministers, most notably
   Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, as well as her
   favourite companions ( Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough and
   Abigail Masham) to dominate politics. The shift of power from the Crown
   to the ministry became even more apparent during the reign of George I,
   whose chief adviser, Sir Robert Walpole, is often described as the
   "first Prime Minister."

   In 1709 Anne issued a proclamation to the people of the German
   Palatinate of the Rhine known as the Golden Book. In it she urged the
   population to make their way down the Rhine river to Rotterdam where
   they would embark on Royal Navy ships and be taken to British colonies
   of the Americas. However, the Palatinate had been so devastated by the
   War of the Spanish Succession that thousands made their way to the
   Dutch Republic. As a result, the British government was forced to
   settle over 3,000 Germans (800 families in total) in Ireland, mainly in
   County Limerick and County Wexford, their cause being publicised by the
   writer Daniel Defoe. As all of these people were Protestant, they were
   each given a standard British Army musket affectionately labelled a
   "Queen Anne Musket". Their descendants live there to this day though
   their numbers are greatly diminished, with the unique dialect of German
   virtually extinct.

   The age of Anne was also one of artistic, literary, and scientific
   advancement. In architecture, Sir John Vanbrugh constructed elegant
   edifices such as Blenheim Palace (the home of the Marlboroughs) and
   Castle Howard. Writers such as Daniel Defoe, Alexander Pope and
   Jonathan Swift flourished during Anne's reign. Sir Isaac Newton lived
   during Anne's reign, although he had reached his most important
   discoveries under William and Mary. Her name remains associated with
   the world's first substantial copyright law, known as the Statute of
   Anne (1709), which granted exclusive rights to authors rather than
   printers.

   Anne had a fondness for brandy, which sometimes led to her being known
   as "Brandy Nan."

   Queen Anne's County in the state of Maryland is named for Queen Anne.
   She was Queen when the county was established in 1706.

Titles, Styles, and Arms

Titles

     * 6 February 1665- 28 July 1683: Her Royal Highness Princess Anne of
       York
     * 28 July 1683- 8 March 1702: Her Royal Highness Princess Anne of
       Denmark and Norway
     * 8 March 1702- 1 May 1707: Her Majesty The Queen of England,
       Scotland, and Ireland
     * 1 May 1707- 1 August 1714: Her Majesty The Queen of Great Britain
       and Ireland

Styles and Arms

   The official style of Anne before 1707 was "Anne, by the Grace of God,
   Queen of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith,
   etc." (The claim to France was only nominal, and had been asserted by
   every English King since Edward III, regardless of the amount of French
   territory actually controlled.) After the Union, her style was "Anne,
   by the Grace of God, Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland,
   Defender of the Faith, etc."

   Anne's arms before the Union were: Quarterly, I and IV Grandquarterly,
   Azure three fleurs-de-lis Or (for France) and Gules three lions passant
   guardant in pale Or (for England); II Or a lion rampant within a
   tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland); III Azure a harp Or
   stringed Argent (for Ireland). After the Union, the arms of England and
   Scotland, which had previously been in different quarters, were
   "impaled," or placed side-by-side, in the same quarter to emphasise
   that the two countries had become one Kingdom. The new arms were:
   Quarterly, I and IV Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for
   England) impaling Or a lion rampant within a tressure
   flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland); II Azure three fleurs-de-lys
   Or (for France); III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland).

Ancestry and descent

Ancestors

   CAPTION: Anne's ancestors in three generations

   Anne of Great Britain Father:
   James II of England Paternal Grandfather:
   Charles I of England Paternal Great-Grandfather:
   James I of England
   Paternal Great-grandmother:
   Anne of Denmark
   Paternal Grandmother:
   Henrietta Maria of France Paternal Great-Grandfather:
   Henry IV of France
   Paternal Great-Grandmother:
   Marie de' Medici
   Mother:
   Anne Hyde Maternal Grandfather:
   Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon Maternal Great-Grandfather:
   Henry Hyde
   Maternal Great-Grandmother:
   Mary Langford
   Maternal Grandmother:
   Frances Aylesbury Maternal Great-grandfather:
   Sir Thomas Aylesbury
   Maternal Great-Grandmother:
   Anne Denman

Issue

   Name Birth Death
   By George of Denmark ( April 2, 1653– October 28, 1708; married in July
   28, 1683)
   Stillborn Daughter 12 May 1684 12 May 1684
   Mary 2 June 1685 8 February 1687
   Anne Sophia 12 May 1686 2 February 1687
   Stillborn Child January 1687 January 1687
   Stillborn Son 22 October 1687 22 October 1687
   Stillborn Child 16 April 1688 16 April 1688
   William, Duke of Gloucester 24 July 1689 29 July 1700
   Mary 14 October 1690 14 October 1690
   George 17 April 1692 17 April 1692
   Stillborn Daughter 23 April 1693 23 April 1693
   Stillborn Child 21 January 1694 21 January 1694
   Stillborn Daughter 18 February 1696 18 February 1696
   Stillborn Child 20 September 1696 20 September 1696
   Stillborn Child 21 September 1696 21 September 1696
   Stillborn Daughter 25 March 1697 25 March 1697
   Stillborn Child December 1697 December 1697
   Charles 15 September 1698 15 September 1698
   Stillborn Daughter 25 January 1700 25 January 1700

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