Anne, queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland: Early Life

Reared as a Protestant and married (1683) to Prince George of Denmark (d. 1708), she was not close to her Catholic father and acquiesced in the Glorious Revolution (1688), which put William III and her sister, Mary II, on the throne. She was soon on bad terms with them, however, partly because they objected to her favorite, Sarah Jennings (later Sarah Churchill, duchess of Marlborough), who was to exercise great influence in Anne's private and public life.

Of Anne's many children the only one to live much beyond infancy—the duke of Gloucester—died at the age of 11 in 1700. Since neither she nor William had surviving children and support for her exiled Catholic half-brother rose and fell in Great Britain (see Stuart, James Francis Edward; Jacobites), the question of succession continued after the Act of Settlement (1701) and after Anne's accession.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Character and Period
• Reign
• Early Life
• Bibliography

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