Queen Anne
Born on February 6, 1655, Anne Stuart was the second daughter and fourth child of James, Duke of York, and his wife Anne Hyde. James was the brother of the king, Charles II.
King Charles II had no legitimate children, which meant that Anne's father James was his heir presumptive. This left Mary and Anne as his only heirs.
Anne who married Prince George of Denmark became pregnant eighteen times during their marriage, but those pregnancies ended in miscarriages and only one child survived infancy.
Overthrowing her Father in the Glorious Revolution
Anne had resumed closer correspondence with her sister, so she was aware of plans being made to overthrow their father James II.
On November 5, 1688, William of Orange landed on English shore. Anne refused to support her father, instead taking the side of her brother-in-law. James fled to France on December 23, and William and Mary were hailed as the new monarchs.
Even after years of marriage, William and Mary had no children to inherit the throne. Instead, they declared in 1689 that Anne and her descendants would reign after both of them died, followed by any children William might have if Mary predeceased him and he remarried.
Heiress to the Throne
In 1700, Anne suffered a pair of losses: her final pregnancy ended in miscarriage, and her sole surviving child, Prince William, died at age eleven. Because this left the succession in question – Anne was not well, and she was of an age where more children were all but impossible – Parliament created the Act of Settlement: if Anne and William both died childless, the succession would go to the line of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, who was a descendant of the Stuart line through James I.
Becoming Queen Regnant
William died on March 8, 1702, and Anne became queen regnant of England. She was the first queen regnant who was married but did not share power with her husband.
Anne was actively involved in affairs of state. The most significant international event of her reign was the War of Spanish Succession, in which England fought alongside Austria and the Dutch Republic against France and Spain.
On May 1, 1707, the Acts of Union were ratified, bringing Scotland into the kingdom and establishing the unified entity of Great Britain.
Final Years, Death, and Legacy
Anne’s husband George died in 1708, a loss that devastated the queen. Anne’s health continued to decline. Although she vehemently supported the Hanoverian succession, rumours persisted that she secretly favoured her half-brother James. She had a stroke on July 30, 1714, and died two days later on August 1. She was buried beside her husband and children in Westminster Abbey.
Because Electress Sophia had died two months prior, Sophia’s son George of Hanover took the throne.
As queen regnant, Anne’s reign was relatively short—less than fifteen years. In that time, however, she proved her worth as a queen who maintained her authority even over her own husband, and she participated in some of the defining political moments of the era. Although her dynasty ended with her death, her actions secured the future of Great Britain.
Note. Adapted from Prahl, A. (n.d.). House of Stuart Family Tree. Britroyals. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from
https://britroyals.com/stuarttree.asp