Queen Anne Timeline

When Charles II died in 1685, Anne's father became King James II of England and VII of Scotland.

Image source: Glorious Revolution

When Mary died of smallpox in 1694, William continued to reign alone until his own death in 1702, when Anne succeeded him.

Image source: Mary II of England

Anne became queen upon the death of King William III on 8 March 1702, and was immediately popular. She adopted the motto semper eadem ('always the same').

Anne was crowned on St George's Day, 23 April 1702.

Image source: Anne, Queen of Great Britain

After the Great Storm of 1703, one of the most severe natural disasters ever recorded in southern Britain, Anne declared a general fast to implore God 'to pardon the crying sins of this nation'.

Image source: Great storm of 1703

Anne appointed the moderate Earl of Pembroke on 29 November 1708.

Image source: Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke

She was rendered unable to speak by a stroke on 30 July 1714, the anniversary of Gloucester's death, and on the advice of the Privy Council handed the treasurer's staff of office to Whig grandee Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury.

Image source: Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury

Anne died around 7:30 am on 1 August 1714, aged 49.

In early 1687, within a matter of days, Anne miscarried, her husband caught smallpox, and their two young daughters died of the same infection.

Anne had another miscarriage in April 1688, and left London to recuperate in the spa town of Bath.

On 24 July 1689, Anne gave birth to a son, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, who, though ill, survived infancy.

Image source: Prince William, Duke of Gloucester

Later that year, Anne moved to Berkeley House in Piccadilly, London, where she had a stillborn daughter in March 1693.

Anne's final pregnancy ended on 25 January 1700 with a stillbirth. She had experienced bouts of 'gout' from at least 1698.

Anne's sole surviving child, the Duke of Gloucester, died at age 11 on 30 July 1700, leaving Anne the only person remaining in the line of succession established by the Bill of Rights 1689.

In July 1708, a bawdy poem written by a Whig propagandist, probably Arthur Maynwaring, came to court implying a lesbian relationship between Anne and Abigail Hill.

Image source: Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham

Anne was devastated by Prince George's death in October 1708, and it proved a turning point in her relationship with the Duchess of Marlborough.

Sarah continued to berate Anne for her friendship with Abigail and, in October 1709, Anne wrote to the Duke of Marlborough asking that his wife 'leave off teasing & tormenting me & behave herself with the decency she ought both to her friend and Queen'.

On Maundy Thursday, 6 April 1710, Anne and Sarah saw each other for the last time.

In January 1711, Anne forced Sarah to resign her court offices, and Abigail took over as Keeper of the Privy Purse.

Anne was unable to walk between January and July 1713. She recovered, but was seriously ill again in March 1714.

Anne's stepmother gave birth to a son, James Francis Edward Stuart, on 10 June 1688, making a Catholic succession more likely.

Image source: James Francis Edward Stuart

William of Orange invaded England on 5 November 1688 in the Glorious Revolution, which ultimately deposed King James. Anne was aware of the plans to invade through correspondence with her sister Mary.

In January 1689, a Convention Parliament assembled in England and declared that James had effectively abdicated when he fled, and that the thrones of England and Ireland were therefore vacant.

Image source: Convention Parliament (1689)

The Bill of Rights 1689 and Claim of Right Act 1689 settled the succession, establishing William and Mary as joint monarchs with Anne next in line.

Image source: Bill of Rights 1689

In January 1692, suspecting that Marlborough was secretly conspiring with James's followers, the Jacobites, William and Mary dismissed him from all his offices.

Image source: John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

To address the succession crisis and preclude a Catholic restoration, Parliament enacted the Act of Settlement 1701, providing that the Crown would go to Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant descendants, excluding all Catholics.

Image source: Act of Settlement 1701

Anne's father, James II, died in exile in September 1701.

Anne had declared it 'very necessary' to conclude a union of England and Scotland in her first speech to the English Parliament. A joint commission met at the Cockpit from October 1702, breaking up in early February 1703 having failed to reach agreement.

Image source: Acts of Union 1707

The Duke of Marlborough won a great victory at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The Whigs vigorously supported the war and became even more influential afterwards.

Image source: Battle of Blenheim

In 1706, Godolphin and the Marlboroughs forced Anne to accept Lord Sunderland, a Junto Whig and the Marlboroughs' son-in-law, as Secretary of State for the Southern Department.

Image source: Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer

After England's Alien Act 1705 threatened economic sanctions, Scotland chose union. New commissioners were appointed by Queen Anne in early 1706, and the articles of union were presented to her on 23 July 1706.

The articles of union were ratified by the Scottish Parliament on 16 January 1707 and by the English Parliament on 6 March 1707.

Under the Acts of Union, England and Scotland were united into a single kingdom called Great Britain, with one parliament, on 1 May 1707. The union was heraldically expressed by placing the arms of England and Scotland side by side.

Image source: Kingdom of Great Britain

Anne withheld royal assent from the Scottish Militia Bill 1708 in case the militia raised in Scotland was disloyal and sided with the Jacobites.

Image source: Scottish Militia Bill

As a result of the Jacobite invasion scare, support for the Tories fell and the Whigs were able to secure a majority in the 1708 British general election.

Image source: 1708 British general election

The division within the ministry came to a head on 8 February 1708, when Godolphin and the Marlboroughs insisted that the Queen had to either dismiss Harley or do without their services.

Image source: Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin

Another month of arguments followed before the Queen finally consented to put Orford in control of the Admiralty as First Lord in November 1709.

Image source: Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford

The Queen, increasingly disdainful of the Marlboroughs and her ministry, finally took the opportunity to dismiss Sunderland in June 1710.

Image source: Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland

The elder brother of Archduke Charles, Emperor Joseph I, died in April 1711 and Charles succeeded him in Austria, Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire, altering the balance of the War of the Spanish Succession.

Image source: Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor

Godolphin's death from natural causes in September 1712 reduced Anne to tears; she blamed their estrangement on the Marlboroughs.

Harley and the Tory Secretary of State Lord Bolingbroke were in separate and secret discussions with Anne's half-brother about a possible Stuart restoration until early 1714, fuelled by Anne's refusals to permit any Hanoverians to visit England.

Image source: Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke

By July 1714, Anne had lost confidence in Harley, complaining he neglected business, could not be understood, often came drunk, and behaved disrespectfully. On 27 July 1714 she dismissed him as Lord Treasurer.

Electress Sophia of Hanover had died on 28 May 1714, so Sophia's son, George, Elector of Hanover, succeeded pursuant to the Act of Settlement 1701. His accession was relatively stable: a Jacobite rising in 1715 failed.