Anne of Great Britain

Anne was born on 6 February 1665, during the reign of Charles II, her uncle. She was the fourth child of James, Duke of York and his first wife, Anne Hyde. Anne had seven siblings but only she and her sister Mary survived childhood. Anne and Mary grew up in their own establishment at Richmond and were raised as Protestants.

In 1673, the Duke of York’s conversion to Catholicism became public and he married a Catholic princess, Mary of Modena. They didn't have any living children and Mary and Anne were second and third in the line of succession after their father.

King Charles started to look for a suitor for Anne. An eligible prince was needed and Prince George of Denmark was chosen. Anne and George married on 28 July 1683. Though it was an arranged marriage, they were faithful and devoted to one another.

In 1685, Charles died and Anne’s father became James II and VII. To everyone’s consternation, James started favouring Catholics. Anne shared everyone’s concern and continued to attend Anglican services, her family being the only members of the royal family to do so. Public alarm raised when James’ wife, Mary, became pregnant for the first time since James’ accession. Mary gave birth to a son, James Francis Edward. A Catholic succession became even more likely.

William of Orange invaded England on 5 November 1688 in an action, known as Glorious Revolution, which deposed King James. She refused to side with her father and wrote a letter to William, declaring approval of his action. James ended up fleeing to France on 23 December 1688. William and Mary were declared monarchs of England, Scotland and Ireland. On 24 July 1689, Anne gave birth to a son, Prince George, Duke of Gloucester. Though frail and ill, he managed to survive infancy.

Mary died in 1694 and William continued to reign alone. Anne became heir apparent and they both reconciled publicly. Her sole surviving child, George, died at the age of 11 on July 1700 and she and her husband were overwhelmed with grief. With William childless and George dead, Anne was now the heir to the throne.

Anne became Queen upon the death of William, on 8 March 1702. As Queen, Anne favoured moderate Tory politicians, who shared her Anglican religious views. The Whigs grew more powerful during the War of Spanish Succession until, in 1710, Anne dismissed many of them.
She died on 1 August 1714 after being ill for a very long time. One of her doctors said: I believe sleep was never more welcome to a weary traveller than death was to her.

Anne of Great Britain
Michael Dahl
(1705)