43. Her Sister Went Too Far
Anne's pregnancy struggles hadn't stopped just because of all the political intrigue going on. Soon after she left the palace, she gave birth to another son. However, Anne's joy quickly turned to heartbreak—the boy passed minutes after birth. As Anne mourned, her sister finally came to visit. But if Anne thought the queen was there to offer her condolences, she was in for a rude awakening.
44. Her Sister Thought She Knew What Was Best
Mary didn't show up at Anne's door to mourn a lost nephew. No, she took the opportunity to scold her over her friendship with Sarah. For Anne, laying there, weeping for a lost son, hearing her sister scream at her about her best friend, that was the breaking point. After Mary left that day, the two sisters never saw each other again. Mary might have thought she was on top of the world then—but things could change in an instant.
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45. Mary Kicked The Bucket
In 17th-century England, it didn't matter who you were:
Smallpox could come for anyone. Soon after her final blowup with Anne, Queen Mary caught the disease, and after a brief and violent battle, she passed in 1694. Losing a sister is tragic, sure, but I can't help but think Anne had to celebrate. She and her sister had been on terrible terms at the time, and Mary's passing all but guaranteed she'd inherit the throne.
For the time being, William remained the King of England, but now Anne just had to sit and wait.
..
46. Things Got A Little Better
Anne's problems were with Mary, not William. Once her sister left this world, William let her come back to the royal palace and gave her all of Mary's jewels. If Anne was the heir apparent, she might as well look the part. But Anne's fortunes hadn't completely shifted. William paraded her around, but he refused to give her any real power. Thus started a tense standoff that would last years.
..
47. She Was Living On A Razor's Edge
Anne was the heir apparent, but she knew that her father was biding his time over in France just waiting for an opportunity to come and take back his throne. To this end, Anne wrote to William and point-blank asked if she could succeed him when he was gone. William's answer left her stunned: He didn't say anything. He didn't say she wouldn't succeed him, but he didn't confirm it either.
For now, Anne just had to wait and pray that the dice fell in her favor.
48. She Could Barely Walk
Anne found herself in a shaky political position—but she had even bigger problems to worry about. She'd never been exactly healthy, but her gout was getting worse and worse. By this point, it got so bad that she could barely walk. She either had servants push her around in a wheelchair or carry her in a lavish sedan chair. While outside, she got around in what was basically a small, one-horse chariot.
Apparently, she ripped around the grounds of her estates like an insane person. Anyone unlucky enough to be in her way had to look out.
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49. She Looked Rough
As Anne's health worsened, her appearance suffered as well. She was in near-constant pain, and she stopped caring about her clothes. Her dresses were often dirty and tattered, her feet were almost always bound up in gruesome bandages, and her face grew ruddy and spotted.
Anne was hardly some extravagant monarch out of a fairy tale...
In fact, her so-called "best friend," Sarah Churchill, put it bluntly: "She grew exceedingly gross and corpulent".
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50. She'd Seen A Lot Of Loss—But Nothing Like This
So far, Anne had had an utterly horrific time when it came to motherhood—but the worst pain was yet to come. In July 1700, mere months after her twelfth stillbirth, her only surviving son was ripped away from her at just 11 years old. She'd spent nearly 20 years trying to have children, and now she lost her final one.
Historians wrote that the boy's passing left Anne and her husband "overwhelmed with grief," as you can imagine.
Anne had suffered a lot of losses, but this one hit her particularly hard. For the rest of her life, Anne made her entire household observe a day of mourning on the anniversary of that tragic day.
51. Her Father Passed—She Was Fine With It
At least the next loss wasn't quite so depressing. A year later, Anne's father, the ex-King James, passed.
He was older, disgraced, and Anne had never liked him. This one was probably a little easier to get over. Soon after his demise, Anne's hated stepmother, Mary of Modena, sent Anne a letter. In it, she pleaded Anne to restore her father's line and make her son the king upon William's end. Yeah, about that...
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52. She Got Her Crown
Anne had absolutely no plans of restoring her hated father's line. In 1702, King William finally kicked the bucket, and after so many years of mistreatment and struggle, Anne was finally queen.
And, for once in her life, people rejoiced! The English liked William better than they had the Catholic James, but Willy was still a Dutchman. With Anne, they finally had a proper English, Anglican monarch.
Everyone's troubles were finally at an end, right? Of course not. Now that Anne was queen, the real drama could begin.
53. Servants Carried Her To Her Coronation
Anne's coronation wasn't exactly the most inspiring sight. Crippled with agonizing gout, Anne couldn't make the walk to Westminster Abbey.
She had to have servants carry her to the great church in a sedan chair. But if you think that her physical disabilities were the only thing making her life difficult, you'd have another thing coming.
54. She Wasn't The Best Speaker
Remember how Sarah Churchill claimed that Anne was a little, well, dumb? She wasn't entirely exaggerating on that fact. Anne really did have a hard time holding a conversation, and she had her advisors script out everything she would need to say to any foreign ambassadors.
Unfortunately, you can't exactly script out one side of a conversation, and this led to some truly humiliating moments...
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55. Seriously, It Was Really Bad
Surely, Anne's conversational difficulties couldn't have been that bad, could they? Oh yes, they could. She'd often find herself completely out of her depth while talking to people. What she did in those moments is even more humiliating than we ever imagined: She would literally stand there and move her lips as if she was talking, but without saying any words.
..Did she actually think that would work?
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56. She Unified Great Britain
Ok, so Anne had her difficulties, but it's not like her reign was a disaster. She actually oversaw one of the most important moments in British history: The Acts of Union. Under Anne, England and Scotland joined as a single country, Great Britain, with a single parliament. That's after literally centuries of conflict and war between the two countries. That made Anne the first-ever Queen of Great Britain.
That's something no one can ever take away from her, but let's not pretend that her entire reign was smooth sailing. In fact, at times, it was quite literally the exact opposite.
57. She Lived Through A British Hurricane
When you think of Britain, you think of one thing: Hurricanes. Ok, not really, so how unlucky did Anne have to be to rule over one of the worst storms in British history? The Great Storm of 1703 wrecked hundreds of ships, destroyed thousands of buildings in London, and ripped up 4,000 trees in the New Forest.
It got so bad that even in the formidable St. James's Palace, Anne and her servants had to cower in the cellar until the storm finally passed.
I don't know about you, but if a hurricane raged through London in the first years of my reign, I'd maybe take that as a bad sign...
58. Sarah Started Going Too Far
Queen Anne's coronation must have felt like a vindication for Sarah Churchill. She'd hitched her wagon to this unlikely royal a lifetime ago, and now it was finally time to earn dividends.
By this point, Churchill had become used to having Anne listen to everything she said. Now that Anne had become queen, I'm sure Churchill thought that meant that Great Britain was hers to control.
She started pushing Anne around even more, trying to force her to shape the government in the way Churchill wanted. But Anne was no longer the put-upon princess she'd once been. Sooner or later, she'd start pushing back.
..
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59. Anne Found A New Friend
At this point in our story, a new character enters the scene: A lowborn woman named Abigail Hill. She appeared out of the blue into Anne's life, but she would prove the wedge that would finally drive Anne and Sarah apart forever.
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60. Abigail And Sarah Were Blood
Ironically, Abigail Hill was actually Sarah Churchill's cousin—though from a lowborn side of the family. While Churchill enjoyed the comforts of nobility, the Hill family fell on hard times, and Abigail knew all too well what it felt like to go hungry.
Though her father was once a well-to-do merchant, he lost everything, and Abigail was forced to take up work as a servant.
It was at this point that her cousin took an interest in her. Sarah Churchill took Abigail under her wing—something she would eventually sorely regret.
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61. Sarah Helped Abigail For Selfish Reasons
Sarah Churchill helped pull Abigail up out of the gutter, but let's not sit here and think that she did it out of the goodness of her heart.
Most likely, Churchill thought it a terrible embarrassment to have such a close relative of hers demeaning herself as a servant. It seems really unlikely she actually cared about Abigail at all. Either way, Churchill took Abigail into her own household—and essentially sealed her own fate.
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62. Anne Liked Abigail Immediately
Thanks to her connection to Sarah, Abigail managed to get a job in Queen Anne's palace in 1704. Just a few short years earlier, she'd been a servant for a lowly lord, now she had a position right next to the freaking queen.
Now that's moving up in the world. Anne quickly came to know her young maid Abigail—and found her to be everything Sarah Churchill wasn't.
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63. Abigail Was Sarah's Opposite
Sarah Churchill was Anne's best friend for years, but I wouldn't say she was friendly. She was intense, domineering, and ambitious. Meanwhile, Abigail Hill was kind, gentle, and sympathetic. Pretty much everyone in Anne's life had mistreated her since day one, so Abigail's compassion was a very welcome change.
The two started becoming very close—and Churchill didn't realize what was happening until it was too late.
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64. Sarah Missed What Was Going On Under Her Nose
Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough had become a pretty important person. That meant she was busy, so she spent almost no time at the royal palaces anymore. Because of that, it took her years to learn that Anne and Abigail had become close. Extremely close. She finally discovered Anne's secret in 1707, a full three years after Abigail arrived.
But even still, when she arrived and saw what Anne had done, it left her utterly stunned.
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65. Anne Showered Abigail With Gifts
Not only had Anne married Abigail to a gentleman from her household, but she'd actually given Abigail a massive dowry from the privy purse. The privy purse is the monarch's sizeable private income, which you'd think would mean it was Anne's to do with as she would. However, Sarah was the Keeper of the Privy Purse.
She took Anne's gift as a personal betrayal.
Anne wanted to send Churchill a message—and she had more in store than just that.
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66. Anne Gave Up Sarah's Rooms
One day, Sarah Churchill returned to Anne's palace to learn that Abigail had actually moved into her rooms. Sure, Sarah basically never used them anymore, but it was a symbolic thing. Anne had made it clear: Abigail was taking Sarah's place. Now, if you think someone as shrewd and conniving as Sarah would take that kind of thing sitting down, you haven't really been paying attention.
..
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67. Sarah Made Scandalous Allegations
I'm sure Anne suspected Sarah might be angry at her—but I bet she never expected Sarah to go as far as she did. She commissioned a writer to craft an utterly scandalous poem that implied Anne and Abigail were in a lesbian relationship. As you can imagine, the poem exploded into a swirl of rumors and gossip, but Sarah didn't stop there.
68. She Made Sure Anne Got It
Sarah didn't just release a poem as a veiled threat to Anne.
She made far more literal threats too. She wrote Anne a letter containing excerpts from the poem, along with the line, "Such things are in my power that if known...might lose a crown". For most people, threatening a monarch that blatantly would be fatal, but Sarah Churchill clearly thought pretty highly of herself.
Still, she had to assume there'd be consequences for her actions...
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69. Her Friend Yelled At Her In Public
It's one thing for Mrs.
Morley and Mrs. Freeman to squabble in private, but Anne and Sarah Churchill's tiff was starting to get extremely public. At a thanksgiving service, Anne tried to stick it to Sarah by refusing to wear the jewels she'd picked out. This led to an argument where Sarah snapped and told the queen to be quiet in front of a crowd of people.
I don't have to tell you that it's a bad look for any monarch to have someone push you around in public.
Anne was starting to get fed up—but soon, Sarah Churchill would be the last thing on her mind.
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70. Anne Lost Her Husband
Anne had long since given up on having children, but that doesn't mean there were no more tragedies left for her. In 1708, her beloved husband passed, leaving her completely and utterly alone. As you can imagine, Anne was completely distraught. She needed support now more than ever—but Sarah Churchill was never the supportive type.
Churchill's cruel behavior after Prince George's passing was the final nail in the coffin.
71. Her "Friend" Wasn't Much Help
Sarah went to be with Anne just before her husband passed, but if you thought she'd be a shoulder to cry on, you've got another thing coming. As soon as Prince George gave his last breath, Sarah started bossing Anne around. She immediately took down George's portrait from Anne's bedchamber and refused to give it back. Then, she demanded the Queen move to a different palace.
Anne just wanted to mourn and Churchill started bossing her around worse than ever—but when the topic of Abigail came up, that's when things got really heated.
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72. Sarah Really Laid It On Thick
Anne was sitting there, mourning her lost husband, and in comes Sarah, telling her how stupid she was for spending time with Abigail—pretty much the only person who'd ever been nice to her. Sarah's derision got so bad that Anne actually wrote to Sarah's husband, telling him to make his wife, "leave off teasing & tormenting me & behave herself with the decency she ought both to her friend and Queen".
So, do you think Sarah stopped?
Three guesses...
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73. Sarah Finally Went Too Far
Sarah's ridiculously callous behavior after the loss of Anne's husband was finally the breaking point. Anne just snapped and decided she wasn't going to put up with her onetime friend's torment anymore. At their final meeting, Anne simply said the same two phrases over and over: "Whatever you have to say you may put in writing," and "You said you desired no answer, and I shall give you none".
When that unbelievably awkward encounter finally ended, Anne and Sarah parted ways, never to see one another again.
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74. She Twisted The Knife
Anne made Sarah officially resign from her offices. As a final parting shot, she made Abigail the Keeper of the Privy Purse. Sarah Churchill had flown close to the sun for decades, and she'd finally gotten burnt.
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75. Sarah Did OK For Herself
Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, had finally overplayed her hand. She'd spent her entire life using her friendship with Anne to gain power for herself, but that had come to an end.
Don't feel too bad for her though: She might've blown it with Anne, but she'd done alright for herself. She was a Duchess for crying out loud! By the time she passed at the ripe old age of 84, she was one of the richest women in Europe.
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76. Anne Made A Lady Of Her Friend
Anne just kept on heaping rewards on her beloved Abigail. Though Abigail had risen far, she was still lowborn and severely limited in any actual power she could possess.
That all changed when Anne created 12 new peers in the House of Lords, an unprecedented move. And who did she choose to be one of those 12 new lords? Abigail's husband of course! That made Abigail an official noble. Not a bad birthday present!
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77. She Had Good Timing
Anne couldn't have planned it any better: The same day she made Abigail a baroness, she also officially dismissed the Duke of Marlborough, Sarah's husband, as the commander of the army.
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78. Her Health Started Deteriorating
Anne had been terribly unhealthy for pretty much her entire life, but soon after her falling out with Sarah Churchill, things really took a turn for the worse. For the first half of 1713, she couldn't walk at all. She got a bit better, but then came down with a horrible fever around Christmas. Quicky, rumors swirled that the queen's end was imminent—but she shocked everyone by getting better.
Queen Anne as not going down without a fight.
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79. She Tried To Work Through It
Anne's recovery didn't last too long. By the following March, she appeared to be on death's door once again. However, despite her failing health, she still managed to drag herself to two late-night cabinet meetings to tend to matters of state. However, when the third meeting came around, Anne was finally too ill to make it. She'd fought off illness since the moment she was born, but she was finally losing.
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80. She Had A Stroke
After months in a sickbed, Anne suffered a stroke on July 30, 1714, and this time, there was no recovering. She passed on August 1, 1714. Her doctor, John Arbuthnot, could not help but see her end as a mercy. Anne had lived in agony for years, and Arbuthnot eventually wrote, "I believe sleep was never more welcome to a weary traveler than death was to her".
81. She Was In Bad Shape At The End
Anne had spent her final years almost completely sedentary, and she'd grown severely obese by the end.
Reportedly, her coffin was so massive that it took 14 men to carry it. But that wasn't nearly the worst indignity that Anne suffered in death—her old "friend" Sarah Churchill saw to that.
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82. Her "Friend" Spat On her Grave
After Anne passed, the Duchess of Marlborough took the time to thoroughly drag her in her memoirs. She basically called Anne a complete idiot of a queen who never would have gotten anywhere without her.
And I'm not just talking about some stern words here: Sarah Churchill really went for it when it came time to drag Anne's name through the mud.
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83. Sarah Didn't Pull Any Punches
This is an excerpt from Sarah's memoirs: "...Nobody can maintain that she was wise, nor entertaining in conversation. She was ignorant in everything but what the parsons had taught her when a child... Being very ignorant, very fearful, with very little judgement.
.". Yeesh. Thanks to this memoir, for centuries, pretty much every historian pinned Anne as one of the dumbest people ever to hold the crown.
But was that the full story? Modern scholars have different ideas—maybe there was more to Queen Anne than met the eye.
84. Anne Was Actually A Great Queen
Ok, so nobody's out here claiming Anne was some kind of genius, but if you look at her legacy, it's...pretty amazing?
Here's a woman, the second daughter of the king's brother, and she managed to outlive everyone ahead her to become Queen at a time of amazing prosperity. She took a more active role in Parliament than any monarch before her, and her reign saw unbelievable progress in the arts, economy, science, and politics.
Turns out, Queen Anne was something of a boss. Sarah Churchill looked down on pretty much everyone, not just Anne.
Meanwhile, Anne got out there and got stuff done. And considering all the tragedy she suffered, her work is even more remarkable.
85. The Final Miscarriage
Anne became pregnant for the final time in 1699, but this one ended like so many of the others. In January 1700, she suffered one last stillbirth. She had been trying to have children for nearly 20 years, and in that time, she'd had twelve stillborn children. Only five of her kids survived birth, and four of them passed before the age of two.
She had an unbelievably horrific time when it came to childbirth—but now, centuries later, scientists believe they know why.
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86. The Tragic Reason
Queen Anne undoubtedly suffered from a physical condition that went undetected in her time. Based on her experiences, autoimmune diseases like lupus or Hughes syndrome seem likely. These would not only explain Anne's many traumatic pregnancies, but also the other painful symptoms she experienced throughout her entire life.
