Anne Stuart & Prince George of Denmark
Anne Stuart, the last of the Stuart monarchs, was born into the heart of royal life on 6th February 1665.
Anne was the daughter of Anne Hyde and James, Duke of York – the future King James II.
Her uncle was King Charles II.
When she was born, it was not anticipated that Anne would ever become queen.
While her education was more suitable for a domestic lady than a future queen, it did instill in her a strong loyalty to the Church of England.
Anne married Prince George of Denmark on 28th July 1683, in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace.
Although it was an arranged marriage, they were devoted partners.
Even though Anne loved her husband, she managed to entangle herself in some pretty passionate female friendships!
King Charles II enjoyed being cruel about Prince George of Denmark.
He once said-
” I have tried him drunk.
I have tried him sober.
There is nothing in him!”
Despite his reputation for dullness, Anne came to love George very dearly, and unlike many royal couples, they regularly shared a bed.
Anne endured eighteen pregnancies, but only five of the children were born alive.
The longest-lived of these children was the Duke of Gloucester, who died at the age of eleven in 1700, two years before Anne became queen of Great Britain.
Anne and George were “overwhelmed with grief” at the loss of their son.
Their advancing age meant this was a tragedy, not just inside the palace walls, but outside them, too.
The future of the Stuart dynasty came to depend on Anne’s ability to produce an heir.
Anne was crowned Queen on St George’s day ~ 23rd April 1702.
George became the first ever British Royal Consort.
Prince George may never have aspired to public life, but he did not shy away from duties that were laid on him, or the positions he felt compelled to take.
However, Prince George’s most important role was a more private one – as a devoted support to his wife as she suffered numerous unsuccessful pregnancies, and now as queen.
George never demanded that he should be king alongside his wife.
Anne, though, was ambitious for him – and quickly loaded him with honours.
In April 1702, only weeks after coming to the throne, Anne appointed George ‘generalissimo’ of the English forces, preparing for the impending War of the Spanish Succession.
A month later he was also made Lord High Admiral, giving him nominal control of the Royal Navy.
As well as these grand-sounding offices, George was made Constable of Windsor Castle, and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.
George’s public life during Anne’s reign was sharply curtailed as he had long suffered from debilitating chronic asthma.
In March and April 1706, George was seriously ill.
There was blood in his sputum, but he seemed to recover.
By October, George was on his deathbed, suffering from severe asthma and dropsy.
Anne never left her husbands bedside.
She continued to kiss him, until the very moment his breath went out of his body.
George died at 1:30 p.m. on 28th October 1708, at Kensington Palace.
Anne was devastated by her husband’s death.
Devoted to her kind but dull husband, yet entangled in passionate female friendships.
Anne wrote to her nephew~
“the loss of such a husband, who loved me so dearly and so devotedly, is too crushing for me to be able to bear it as I ought.”
Anne was desperate to stay at Kensington with the body of her husband – but under pressure from the Duchess of Marlborough, Anne reluctantly left Kensington for St James’s Palace.
George was buried privately at midnight, on 13th November in Westminster Abbey.
Six years after the loss of her beloved husband, Anne died around 7:30 a.m. on 1st August 1714.
Queen Anne was buried beside her husband and children in the Henry VII Chapel, on the South Aisle of Westminster Abbey on 24th August 1714.
? Queen Anne and Prince George 1706 ~ By Charles Boit.
Royal Collection.
