Queen Anne of Great Britain
Queen Anne was born on February 6, 1665 and died on August 1, 1714. She was the Queen of England and Ireland as well as of Scotland from March 8, 1702. In May 1, 1707, when England and Scotland was combined into a single unified state, Anne became the first ever monarch to rule under this new Kingdom of Great Britain. She held the title of Queen of Great Britain until her death. Queen Anne was the last reigning monarch of the House of Stuart and after her death, her second cousin George I of the House of Hanover ascended to the throne.
Anne was born into a family of royalty and many of her immediate relatives held prominent positions in the monarchy. Her father James, the Duke of York would later on come to rule over England, Ireland and Scotland as James II. Charles II, a former King of England was her uncle and even her older sister would later be crowned Queen Mary II.
Anne's rise to the throne was by no means a smooth process and several obstacles related to the state of politics in England hindered her progress. The long running conflict between the Protestant and the Catholic churches played a significant role as well.
Her father James II who was a Roman Catholic, had been deposed in 1688 and many in the Parliament were wary of any succeeding Catholic leadership. Their fears were somewhat assuaged when the Protestants William III and Mary II (her brother in law and sister respectively) assumed leadership of the throne. However, the failure of Mary and Anne to produce a legitimate heir to the throne, gave rise to these old fears once again. Anne was afflicted with Hugh's syndrome (what was then known as "sticky blood"), which made child bearing difficult.
Without a legitimate Protestant heir to the throne, the path was wide open for the son of James II, James Francis Edward Stuart to assume leadership of the country. James was a Roman Catholic and with the potential threat of another Catholic monarch on the horizon, the Parliament of England passed legislation that mandated the succession of the crown to the House of Hanover after Anne's death.
The Parliament of Scotland was initially reluctant to accept the English Parliament's decision but in the face of restricted trade, which threatened to cripple their economy, Scotland was forced to accept these terms. This led the way to further treaty negotiations between the two countries, which later resulted in the uniting of Scotland and England under the common banner of Great Britain.
While Anne's father James was a Roman Catholic by faith, having publicly announced his religious affiliation in 1673, Anne herself and her sister Mary were raised in the Protestant faith on the orders of Charles II, their uncle. Anne's allegiance to the Protestant church was further reinforced when she married Prince George of Denmark who was the brother of the Danish King, Christian V on July 28, 1683.
The relationship between King William and Queen Mary and Anne herself was not without trials either. When the Lord Marlborough was suspected of being a Jacobite in 1692, the Lady Marlborough was banned from the court, which led to Anne who was then a Princess to leave her royal residence in anger. William and Anne made peace a few years later however and after William died, Anne assumed leadership of the country.
Another prominent feature of Anne's reign was the development of the two-party system, then comprised of the Tory Party and the Whig party. Anne was personally more supportive of the Tory party although for strategic reasons she tolerated the presence of the Whigs.
One of Anne's dearest friends and closest political advisor was the Duchess of Marlborough, Sarah Churchill. A rift developed between the two during the war of the Spanish Succession, which resulted in the Duchess of Marlborough being banned from the court of Queen Anne. Sarah was married to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill who had a remarkable military career as the leader of the English forces in the Spanish War of Succession. John Churchill would later prove to be one of the most valued generals in England's armies.
Original Authors: Doods Pangburn
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 25/07/2008
