Queen Anne was born February 6th 1665 in London. She was the second daughter of James, Duke of York and Lady Anne Hyde. Her famous relatives were her Uncle King Charles II, and Sister Queen Mary II. Queen Mary II and Queen Anne were the only children to survive into adulthood out of the Duke and Duchess of York.
Early in Queen Anne's life she moved in with her grandmother, Henrietta Maria of France. She had to go to France to seek medical attention for her eye infection. In 1669 her grandmother died, and she later on to live with her aunt, Henriette, Duchess of Orleans. Her Aunt has two children who she would spend most of her time with, Marie Louise and Anne Marie d'Orleans. Although she has her cousins to consult with, she needed a close friend, she confided in Sarah Jennings, whom she met in 1673. Not only did they become very good friends, but Queen Anne made her one of her advisors. James, Duke of York would convert to Roman Catholicism in 1673, Queen Anne did not follow suite though. Charles II stated Queen Anne and Mary should still be raised Protestant. In 1683, on July 28th Queen Anne married the brother of her second cousin once removed through Frederick II, the Protestant Prince George of Denmark. This was a very unpopular marriage, but the two of them could not have been happier. Upon her marriage she named Sarah Churchill her Lady of the Bedchamber or Lady-In-Waiting. This was an honor for Sarah Churchill, and it made her appear as royalty.
In 1985 Queen Anne's father became King as James II and VII, when his brother Charles II died. Anne had gone to Bath when her father's second wife had given birth to son. This son was raised as Christian, which would indicate a possible Catholic dynasty. It was believed that this son was illegitimate, because no one had been present for the birth. It was later thought that James wanted to exclude all Protestants from the Childs life. Queen Anne was upset about this birth, and wrote to her sister, "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."
In 1688, The Glorious Revolution took place. William and Mary had invaded England, in order to overthrow James. Queen Anne was forbidden by James to have any communication with her sister Mary. Queen Anne went against her father's will, and had communicated with Mary that she was pleased with her actions. Queen Anne knew of Williams intentions the entire time, and did nothing to stop him. When James returned to London, he had found that Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill had abandoned him. Upon his discovery he had the two ladies put on house arrest at the Place of Whitehall, but soon after they had both escaped, with the help of the Bishop of London. They had stayed at his house until they could arrive in Nottingham. Once she arrived in Nottingham, appointed herself a council, and let everyone know who she was. She later traveled to Oxford, and then back to London, where she was seen by William right away.
In 1689 James was relinquished from his duties as King, this left the throne open. It was offered to Mary, but she declined. Instead it would mutually be taken by William and Mary. In 1689 The Bill of Rights laid out the chain of the throne. Anne would now be next in line after William and Mary.
In 1962 Anne was stripped of her guard of honor. This was due to her leaving her royal residence. Anne was very upset because Sarah Churchill's husband, The Duke of Marlborough was dismissed of his offices by Mary. He was accused of being a Jacobite, or someone who wanted to restore the Stuart kings to the throne. With all this Anne fled to Syon House, which was owed by the Duke of Northcumberland. Anne was restored to her royal honor in 1694, when her sister died of smallpox. William knew that he was not a popular as his past wife, and in order to restore his popularity, he had to welcome back Anne. Anne became Williams's heir apparent which meant that she could not be displaces from inheriting the throne, unless she had a fundamental change.
In 1965 William restored Marlborough to all of his office. Anne knew that this was just in fact to win her over, but in return she was able to support William's government. After a rumor that William was going to succeed the throne to James's son, Anne wrote a letter to her father, wanting his leave to wear the crown.
Anne and George had terrible misfortunes in their private life as well. By 1700 Anne had been pregnant at least eighteen times. She either had a miscarriage or gave birth to a still born child thirteen of those pregnancies. A medical historian accredited these issues with lupus. With five children remaining, Anne was hopeful that she would have a large family. Unfortunately four of these five children would have died before reaching two years old. Anne and George had one remaining son though all their troubles, his name were William Duke of Gloucester. As fate would have it he died at the age of eleven on July 29th 1700. With his death there arose a succession problem. The Bill of Rights from 1689 said that now King James or his son would be heir to the throne. This was due to the fact that neither Mary nor Anne had any surviving children. Parliament did not want a Catholic king, so they put forth the Act of Settlement 1701, which said that the next heir would be Sophia, who was grand-daughter of James I.
Anne was named Queen on April 23, 1702. Upon accepting her crown she strongly involved with the War of the Spanish Succession. England wanted Charles VI, to succeed the Spanish throne, this war would last until the last few years of Anne's crown. Once she had the crown, she appointed her close friends and family to high ranks in England. Anne named her husband Lord High Admiral, which gave him the power to control the Royal Navy. She named Lord Marlborough Captain-General, which gave him power over the army. Finally she named the Duchess of Marlborough to the highest office that a woman could sit, the Mistress of the Robes.
Anne was well noted for her introduction of a two-party system. Anne had supported the Tory party, but was later tolerate the Whigs. Most of Anne's party was comprised of Tories, but some had a strong connection with the Whigs. Queen Anne would later be tormented by her two party systems. Some members from each side vowed not to service Anne, if she would allow the other party to reside. Anne's relationship with Marlborough changed for the worse, when Marlborough told Anne to either choose himself or Robert Harley, who was the Speaker of the House of Commons. She chooses to retire Harley, but did not enjoy being forced to choose one or the other.
Annes Husband, George died in October of 1708, he was hated by most of the Whigs. There was a plot by the Whigs to overthrow him as Admiral while he lay on his deathbed. Queen Anne reached out to Marlborough to ensure that this did not happen. After the death of George, Anne was forced to move into St. James's Palace. She was forced by her friend Sarah Churchill, who she later resented for making her do this. Being that Anne was still grieving her husband, it was the perfect time for the Whigs to come in and shake things up. The Whigs forced Anne to accept a couple of Junto leaders into the cabinet. However their powers were not as they pleased, because Anne kept her duties as Lord High Admiral. They asked her to appoint someone else, but she refused. The War of the Spanish Succession grew very unpopular, and Anne removed most of the Junto Whigs from power, and reinstated Harley, who wanted to have peace with France.
Anne died on August 1st, 1714 of suppressed gout, which later turned into holy fire, which is an acute streptococcus bacterial infection. She was buried in the Henry VII chapel. She was well noted for being the first Queen to pass most of the power from the crown to the ministries.
