Queen Anne Becomes The Last Stuart Monarch
Born 6th February 1665, Anne was the last Stuart Monarch – and the first married Queen to rule Great Britain.
Though her reign was short, it was one of the most significant, and perhaps tragic ones, with her time as ruler marking the union of England and Scotland, in 1707.
From an early age, Anne suffered from many chronic and extremely painful illnesses, which would sadly remain present throughout her entire life.
In 1683 Anne married Prince George of Denmark.
He was easy-going, uninterested in politics, and had a drinking problem.
Following her marriage, Anne kept her friend Sarah Churchill close by, making her lady of the bed-chamber.
They became so close, that they dropped all pretense of titles, and used pseudonyms when writing to each other:
Anne was Mrs. Morley and Sarah was Mrs. Freeman.
Many suspected them of having a love affair, such was their close relationship with each other.
Anne had 17 pregnancies during her marriage.
12 were miscarriages or stillbirths, and four of her children died in infancy.
The one child who survived past infancy, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, was ill for much of his life.
He was a source of constant worry for Anne and he died at the age of 11, in 1700.
For 20 years, she tried to have children – and the only son who had survived, was now dead.
When William of Orange and her sister Mary became joint monarchs, King William III and Queen Mary II, Anne was disinterested, she did not get along with either of them.
Her sister Mary died in 1694 of smallpox, without having produced an heir.
William continued to rule but did not remarry.
To determine the succession and maintain a Protestant monarchy, the Act of Settlement was enacted in 1701 – establishing Anne as heir to the throne.
On 8th March 1702, King William died.
At the age of 37, Anne was now queen.
By this time, Anne was already suffering from gout, leading to a largely sedentary lifestyle.
Due to her illness, Queen Anne’s coronation wasn’t exactly the most inspiring coronation of all.
Her pain was so bad, that she was helped by her servants to get to the cathedral, in a sedan chair.
But her physical disabilities were nothing, next to her willpower to rule.
To her joy, the people of England were delighted by her coronation.
With Anne on the throne, they were finally represented by an Anglican English Monarch, sadly her personal life was in turmoil.
Her pain was so strong, that she barely had time to worry about her appearance, so it was common to see Anne dressed in dirty clothes, wearing tons of bandages, and having a spotted and ruddy face.
According to Sarah Churchill, Anne “grew exceedingly gross and corpulent”
Anne’s husband George died in October 1708, devastating Anne and precipitating a falling out with Sarah Churchill.
This would gradually worsen, until Anne expelled Sarah from court after a violent quarrel in 1710.
Queen Anne gradually replaced Sarah in her affections with Abigail Masham.
Anne and Abigail’s friendship would only grow stronger, until Abigail got married.
Sarah wouldn’t go down without a fight though, and decided to write a scandalous letter, that claimed Anne and Abigail were in a lesbian relationship.
Around 1713, sadly Anne’s health began deteriorating further, to the point that she lost her ability to walk.
Doctors attending her tried to cure her with bleeding, applying hot irons, and other cures of the time.
It was apparent that the end was approaching, and there was nothing anyone could do to prevent it.
Around Christmas, Anne fell ill with a horrible fever.
In July of the following year, she had a stroke and passed away on the 1st August 1714.
She was succeeded by George I, great-grandson of James I.
No matter how many difficulties Queen Anne did have during her lifetime, her reign was definitely one that would be forever remembered.
She oversaw The Acts of Union – one of the most important moments in British history.
Both England and Scotland became one single country of Great Britain.
Queen Anne would become the first Queen of a United Great Britain.
Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in ‘The Favourite’
