The forgotten queen who changed a country and a Monarchy

On 1 August 1714, a chapter closed in British history. Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch, died at Kensington Palace at the age of 49, ushering the Hanoverian period. Anne is now largely thought of as an hysterical queen who wrapped up in her personal relationships thanks to the 2018 film, The Favourite. However, she was a fascinating figure who was so much more than the drama portrayed. 

Born to James, Duke of York, and Anne Hyde- a commoner- in 1665, she spent much of her childhood with elder sister, Princess Mary. Her uncle was the newly resored King Charles II while her father was heir to the throne.

Anne felt very strongly about those in her life. Her father converted to Catholicism in the late 1660s, and following Anne Hyde’s death in 1671, he married the Catholic Mary of Modena. 

The then-Princess Anne remained staunchly Anglican and did everything she could to distance herself from her father and step-mother. When Mary was pregnant in late 1687, Anne spread rumours that it was a false pregnancy. These rumours would later lend credence to the “Warming Pan Scandal” where many believed that James and Mary’s baby was stillborn and swapped out for a different baby in a warming pan. 

Although Anne did survive smallpox, a deadly virus that killed many, she was ill throughout much of her life. She suffered from gout and the complications of what we now consider obesity. Many researchers now believe that she may have had lupus, a disease that can affect many areas of the body. 

Queen Anne also sadly struggled through seventeen pregnancies. Only five babies were born alive, and only one lived beyond infancy. Prince William, Duke of Gloucester tragically died days after his eleventh birthday, leaving Anne without an heir. 

There is a notable legacy from Queen Anne’s reign, though- the Acts of Union. In 1707, two Acts (one passed in the Scottish Parliament, one passed in Westminster) joined the Kingdoms of Scotland and England into the united Great Britain. 

She was succeeded by a distant cousin who became King George I on August 1 1714.