Anne, Queen of Great Britain

Anne was born at 11:39 p.m. on February 6, 1665 at St James's Palace, London, the fourth child and second daughter of James, Duke of York (afterwards James II of England), and his first wife, Anne Hyde.

Anne, circa 1684, by Willem Wissing & Jan van der Vaardt

As a child, Anne suffered from an eye condition, which manifested as excessive watering known as "defluxion". For medical treatment, she was sent to France, where she lived with her paternal grandmother, Queen Henrietta Maria, at the Château de Colombes near Paris.

Although her father converted to Roman Catholicism in 1672, Anne remained Protestant and acquiesced in James’s overthrow by the anti–Roman Catholic Glorious Revolution of 1688, which brought her sister Mary and Mary’s husband, William of Orange, to the throne.

She succeeded William III to become the Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on March 8, 1702. 

Bad health dominated Queen Anne's life; she suffered from gout for many years and she had to be carried to her coronation in 1702.

Anne married Prince George of Denmark (1653–1708) on July 28, 1683 in the Chapel Royal. She bore him 17 children. Only six were born alive and only one survived infancy - William, Duke of Gloucester, who died in 1700 of smallpox at the age of 12. Anne suffered from a condition known as “sticky blood” the cause of her constant miscarriages.

Anne and Prince George of Denmark, painted by Charles Boit, 1706

Distraught with grief at her constant miscarriages, Anne agreed to the Act of Settlement, which passed the succession from the Stuart to the Hanoveran line.

Queen Anne’s chronic brandy addiction may have contributed to her chronic losses of children in pregnancy.

After becoming queen, Anne restored to favor John Churchill, who had been disgraced by William III, making him 1st Duke of Marlborough and captain-general of the army. Marlborough won a series of victories over the French in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14, known in America as Queen Anne’s War), and he and his wife, Sarah Churchill had great influence over the queen in the early years of her reign. 

Sarah and Queen Anne used to call each other Mrs Freeman and Mrs Morley; the strong-willed Sarah tended to be the dominated one in the friendship.

In later life Marlborough was undermined by political intrigue and he fell heavily from royal favor reputedly because his wife’s constant bad temper became too much for even the devoted Queen Anne.

In 1707, during Queen Anne's reign, the parliament of Scotland joined with the parliament of England to become the Parliament of Great Britain.

Queen Anne withheld Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill on March 11, 1708, on the advice of her ministers who feared that the proposed militia created would be disloyal. It was the last time a British monarch has vetoed legislation.

Portrait of Queen Anne in 1702,, from the school of John Closterman

Queen Anne was a horse racing enthusiast. She instituted the first Royal Ascot race meeting on August 7, 1711.

Anne introduced proper methods in the breeding of horses for horse racing. She also originated the first sweepstake in 1714 when she stipulated that the owners of each of the 11 starters put up a fee of 10 guineas, the winner to take all. Conveniently her own horse, Star, won the first cash prize ever awarded in a race.

The Royal carriages depart after The Queen's arrival at the races

Anne was rendered unable to speak by a stroke on July 30, 1714, the anniversary of Prince William's death. She died at around 7:30 a.m. on August 1, 1714 and was buried beside her husband and children in the Henry VII chapel on the South Aisle of Westminster Abbey on August 24th.

Having no surviving children, Anne was succeeded by her German cousin, George, elector of Hannover, as King George I of Great Britain. 

Olivia Colman's portrayal of Queen Anne in the 2018 movie The Favourite won her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Source Funk & Wagnells Encyclopedia