Queen Anne

The second daughter of James, Duke of York (later King James II) was born on 6 February 1665 in St. James´s Palace. She and her older sister Mary (future Queen Mary II) were the only surviving children of James and his first wife. Both were brought up in the Protestant Faith of the Church of England, which seems strange today, as their father converted to Catholicism in 1670. When James became King in 1685, her older sister Mary and Anne were the next in line, as long as James wouldn´t have a son with his second wife Mary of Modena. After King James II had to escape in late 1688 and her sister Mary (up to 1694) and her brother-in-law William (up to 1702) reigned together, it was Anne´s turn from March 1702 on. She had a happy marriage with her husband, Prince George of Denmark, but none of their children survived for long. As there was no other remaining Stuart in England, it had been decided in 1701 already that the Hanoverians would succeed her. In her reign, she relied very much on the advice of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough (John and Sarah Churchill). In 1707, the "Act of Union" between England and Scotland was passed and Great Britain officially came into being. Never of good health, Queen Anne died on 30 July 1714 at St. James´s Palace, aged 49.

Her fluent signature early in her reign (left), and another one on a document, 12 January 1711 (right).