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.
The Favourite (2018), Fox Searchlight Pictures
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.
The Favourite (2018), Fox Searchlight Pictures
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.
The Favourite (2018), Fox Searchlight Pictures
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.
The Favourite (2018), Fox Searchlight Pictures
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.
