Queen Anne

Anne
(6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) [n 1]
became Queen of England , Scotland and
Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707,
under the Acts of Union , two of her realms,
the kingdoms of England and Scotland,
united as a single sovereign state known as
Great Britain . She continued to reign as
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her
death.
Anne was born in the reign of her uncle
Charles II, who had no legitimate children.
Her father, James, was first in line to the
throne. His suspected Roman Catholicism
was unpopular in England, and on Charles's
instructions Anne was raised as an Anglican .
Three years after he succeeded Charles,
James was deposed in the "Glorious
Revolution " of 1688. Anne's Dutch Protestant
brother-in-law and cousin William III became
joint monarch with his wife, Anne's elder
sister Mary II . Although the sisters had been
close, disagreements over Anne's finances,
status and choice of acquaintances arose
shortly after Mary's accession and they
became estranged. William and Mary had no
children. After Mary's death in 1694, William
continued as sole monarch until he was
succeeded by Anne upon his death in 1702.
As queen, Anne favoured moderate Tory
politicians, who were more likely to share
her Anglican religious views than their
opponents, the Whigs. The Whigs grew more
powerful during the course of the War of the
Spanish Succession , until in 1710 Anne
dismissed many of them from office. Her
close friendship with Sarah Churchill,
Duchess of Marlborough , turned sour as the
result of political differences.
Anne was plagued by ill health throughout
her life. From her thirties onwards, she grew
increasingly lame and obese. Despite
seventeen pregnancies by her husband,
Prince George of Denmark , she died without
any surviving children and was the last
monarch of the House of Stuart. Under the
terms of the Act of Settlement 1701 , she was
succeeded by her second cousin George I of
the House of Hanover , who was a
descendant of the Stuarts through his
maternal grandmother, Elizabeth, a daughter
of James VI and I .