History UsefulNotes / TheHouseOfStuart

The Bill of Rights passed in 1689 had stipulated that Mary's sister Anne would succeed William and Mary to the throne should Mary die childless. After she did in 1694, Anne became the first (and, to date, the only) female heir apparent in British history.[[note]]Had William remarried, his children with his new wife would have come after Anne and her issue in the line of succession, because Anne had a stronger claim to the throne than William as the only eligible child of James II. [[/note]]All other undisputed English and British queens regnant had been heir presumptive. The heir apparent ''will'' be the next monarch assuming they don't predecease the reigning monarch, while the heir presumptive is next in line but can be supplanted by the birth of an heir with a better claim, such as a baby brother. In fairness, in the case of the future Elizabeth II, there was little to no functional difference. When George VI died, his wife Queen Elizabeth was 51 and past childbearing age, and virtually the entire country expected that Princess Elizabeth would become queen for some years before that. Even her grandfather, George V, was rooting for her.[[/note]]

The Bill of Rights passed in 1689 had stipulated that Mary's sister Anne would succeed William and Mary to the throne should Mary die childless. After she did in 1694, Anne became the first (and, to date, the only) female Heir Apparent in British history.[[note]]Had William remarried, his children with his new wife would have come after Anne and her issue in the line of succession.[[/note]] All other undisputed English and British Queens Regnant have been Heir Presumptive. The Heir Apparent WILL be the next monarch, while the Heir Presumptive is next in line but can be usurped by the appearance of an heir with a better claim, such as a baby brother. In fairness, in the case of the future Elizabeth II, there was little to no functional difference. Even before George VI death and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons approached the end of her childbearing years, virtually the entire country expected that she would be Queen. Even her grandfather, George V, was rooting for her.[[/note]]

It was during her predecessor's reign that the Act of Settlement 1701 passed the English Parliament, ensuring that only Protestants could inherit the throne, thus officially de-legitimising Anne's younger half-brother (from her father's second marriage) James. This Act survives to this day and provoked controversy both in England and Scotland.[[note]]It continues to be discussed to this day. Constitutional experts have opined that it would not survive a court challenge in many of the Commonwealth realms, notably Canada where discrimination on the basis of religion is legally forbidden, but the courts in those countries have consistently ruled that ordinary citizens have no standing to sue over the issue, meaning it's not going to get reviewed that way. Technically, in Canada, the Government can refer a legal issue to the Supreme Court, but no Government in its right mind would do so; other Commonwealth Realms do not allow advisory opinions and therefore the standing-to-sue issue bars any action on the issue whatsoever. Finally, as a practical matter, anyone with the remotest chance of succeeding to the British throne will almost certainly be non-Catholic in the first place, and if they aren't, they'll probably convert, and if they don't convert, they'll probably disclaim any potential Canadian succession, meaning that the integrity of the line of succession would be unchanged in any case. Probably.[[/note]] More worrying, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darien_scheme failed Scottish scheme to set up a colony in Panama]] raised the possibility that the Scots nobility might ally with France and bring back King James if they weren't compensated for their losses. This convinced England and Scotland to finally unite as a single country with a single Crown and Parliament pursuant to the Acts of Union, enacted in 1707. Anne is often said to be the last Queen of England, the last Queen of Scotland, and the first Queen of Great Britain.[[note]](See also: UsefulNotes/BritainVersusTheUK)[[/note]]

She's mainly remembered for having been pregnant at least 18 times. Two of her children survived infancy, but neither reached adulthood; most of her pregnancies ended in stillbirths. As with Mary nobody's sure exactly why this happened, but the consensus as of 2013 is either an infection (listeria and herpes being leading candidates, the latter quite likely transmitted to her via her husband), lupus, or a gynecological disorder. No matter the reason, she died childless at the age of 49, and was succeeded by her second cousin George I of UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover. She only barely survived his mother Sophia, the Electress of Hanover, the originally-designated heiress in the Act of Settlement 1701 (from whom all heirs to the British throne today descend) by several weeks -- the much older Sophia, unlike Anne, had enjoyed rude good health (and fecundity, obviously) for her entire life and died at the age of ''83'' after getting caught in a downpour. Sophia remains the oldest heir to the British throne in history.

The other memorable thing about Queen Anne is that she was the last ever British monarch to veto a law. [[note]]The Scottish Militia Bill. Nobody is quite sure what was in the law that she objected to; the main theories are that the proposed militia was unpopular, or else that she was worried about creating a rival power base.[[/note]] At one point she was primarily famous for being dead; "Dead as Queen Anne" is a common expression in novels from [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain the Victorian era]] and TheEdwardianEra, and ''Literature/TenSixtySixAndAllThat'' introduces her under the heading "A Dead Queen." Nowadays, she isn't even famous for that.

William and Mary were childless. Nobody's sure quite why they had no live-born children; one hypothesis is that the miscarriage Mary suffered shortly after their marriage led to an infection, while another supposes that their close relationship as first cousins was to blame. At any rate, Mary died in 1694 of smallpox, and William never remarried. The fact that he never remarried and [[ValuesDissonance only had one mistress]] led to rather dubious accusations of homosexuality, though very few historians take that idea seriously. William's own account in his private journal of being extremely distraught at Mary's death lends credence to the view that, while their marriage was political, [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage William and Mary were simply a good match personally]].

The Bill of Rights passed in 1689 had stipulated that Mary's sister Anne would succeed William and Mary to the throne should Mary die childless. After she did in 1694, Anne became the first (and, to date, the only) female Heir Apparent in British history.[[note]]Had William remarried, his children with his new wife would have come after Anne and her issue in the line of succession.[[/note]]

She's mainly remembered for having been pregnant at least 18 times. Two of her children survived infancy, but neither reached adulthood; most of her pregnancies ended in stillbirths. As with Mary nobody's sure exactly why this happened, but the consensus as of 2013 is either that she suffered from some kind of infection (listeria and herpes being leading candidates, the latter quite likely transmitted to her via her husband) or that she had some kind of gynecological defect. No matter the reason, she died childless at the age of 49, and was succeeded by her second cousin George I of UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover. She only barely survived his mother Sophia, the Electress of Hanover, the originally-designated heiress in the Act of Settlement 1701 (from whom all heirs to the British throne today descend) by several weeks -- the much older Sophia, unlike Anne, had enjoyed rude good health (and fecundity, obviously) for her entire life and died at the age of ''83'' after getting caught in a downpour. Sophia remains the oldest heir to the British throne in history.

A few things are named for her, including styles of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Anne_style_furniture furniture]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Anne_style_architecture architecture]]. Annapolis, the capital of Maryland and location of the [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks United States Naval Academy]], may have been named for her while she was still a princess (or it may have been named for Lord Baltimore's wife Anne Arundel like the county in which it sits); so was the plant Queen Anne's lace (unless it was named for her grandmother Anne of Denmark) and Blackbeard's {{pirate}} ship, the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' (nobody's really sure why. Waybe Blackbeard liked her as a monarch, perhaps?)

James died of the side effects of what is believed to have been a nervous collapse after receiving word of his army's [[CurbstompBattle crushing defeat]] to the English at the Battle of Solway Moss in 1542.

She's mainly remembered for having been pregnant at least 18 times. Two of her children survived infancy, but neither reached adulthood; most of her pregnancies ended in stillbirths. As with Mary nobody's sure exactly why this happened, but the consensus as of 2013 is either that she suffered from some kind of infection (listeria and herpes being leading candidates) or that she had some kind of gynecological defect. No matter the reason, she died childless at the age of 49, and was succeeded by her second cousin George I of UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover. She only barely survived his mother Sophia, the Electress of Hanover, the originally-designated heiress in the Act of Settlement 1701 (from whom all heirs to the British throne today descend) by several weeks -- the much older Sophia, unlike Anne, had enjoyed rude good health (and fecundity, obviously) for her entire life and died at the age of ''83'' after getting caught in a downpour. Sophia remains the oldest heir to the British throne in history.

The Bill of Rights passed in 1689 had stipulated that Mary's sister Anne would succeed William and Mary to the throne should Mary die childless. After she did in 1694, Anne became the first (and, to date, the only) female Heir Apparent in British history.[[note]]Had William remarried, his children with his new wife would have come after Anne and her issue in the line of succession.[[/note]] William died of complications from a fall in 1702, and Anne was crowned shortly thereafter.

After becoming King of England he hardly ever returned to Scotland, enjoying a far more extravagant lifestyle at the wealthier English court. Angry Catholics, fearful of greater repression from the new king, tried to blow him up in 1605 in the Gunpowder Plot, which did not go well for them to say the least. James was liberal with money, running up massive debts, and was almost certainly involved in numerous homosexual relationships, which didn't help his popularity. (It also didn't help that he had virtually no relationships with women other than his wife Anne of Denmark, with whom he apparently was infatuated for a while, but of whom he soon tired.) Traditional interpretations were harsh, seeing him as irresponsible and doing little more than storing up trouble for his successor, but more [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation recent analysis]] highlights his commitment to European peace, studious nature and successful reign in Scotland. Culture flourished round about this time, especially with some chap named Creator/WilliamShakespeare being around. And he commissioned a particular translation of Literature/TheBible which today bears his name. Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement what is now the United States, was founded during his reign and named in his honor.

While clever, Mary proved to be too impulsive and naive to deal with the factional politics in Scotland, was forced to abdicate in favor of her baby son (seeing a pattern here?) and eventually, as a perennial focus for Catholic conspiracies, was duly if reluctantly executed by her cousin, [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Elizabeth I.]]

She's mainly remembered for having been pregnant at least 18 times. Two of her children survived infancy, but neither reached adulthood; most of her pregnancies ended in stillbirths. As with Mary nobody's sure exactly why this happened, but the consensus as of 2013 is either that she suffered from some kind of infection (listeria and herpes being leading candidates) or that she had some kind of gynecological defect. No matter the reason, she died childless at the age of fifty, and was succeeded by her distant Protestant cousin George I of UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover.

* ''Film/TheFavourite'' is a very loose, darkly comic adaptation of Queen Anne's reign. The film focuses on the relationships that Anne had with two of her ladies-in-waiting, Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, played by Creator/RachelWeisz, and Abigail Masham, who is portrayed by Creator/EmmaStone, as well as Anne’s obsession with bunnies.

A few things are named for her, including styles of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Anne_style_furniture furniture]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Anne_style_architecture architecture]]. Annapolis, the capital of Maryland and location of the [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks United States Naval Academy]], may have been named for her while she was still a princess (or it may have been named for Lord Baltimore's wife Anne Arundel like the county in which it sits); so was the plant Queen Anne's lace (unless it was named for her grandmother Anne of Denmark) and Blackbeard's {{pirate}} ship, the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' (nobody's really sure why).

Royal genetics are fun.

After James II fled England for safety at the court of King Louis of France, Parliament declared William and his wife Mary as '''co-monarchs'''. The reason for this unique co-monarchy lies in their tangled relationship as husband and wife, first cousins, and descendants of Charles I: Mary was James II's elder daughter, while William was his nephew by his sister, the Princess Royal. Strictly speaking, had current succession laws been in place at the time Mary would have been the sole monarch with Anne as her heiress presumptive and William heir after that, but as James had fled in part because William had brought over his army it was thought best that he co-reign with his wife and cousin. It also helped immensely that William was Dutch, because (1) the English had been fighting the Dutch off and on for dominance of the ocean trade routes for several decades and both sides could use a rest; (2) William brought with him experience with the latest Dutch financial innovations, like cheques, central banking, publicly-traded limited-liability joint-stock companies, and easy credit, which the English moneyed classes were all about adopting; and (3) because the Netherlands was formally a vaguely confederal ''republic'' in which each of the constituent members almost always "happened" to elect the head of the House of Orange their chief magistrate (and which Holland "happened" to dominate), William had experience dealing with the kind of constitutional government that Parliament wanted.

Mary instead married into the French royal family, the House of Valois, and spent a brief time as Queen-Consort of France. After her husband died, she returned to her own kingdom of Scotland. She remarried, this time to her cousin, Lord Darnley, a nobleman from Yorkshire who had a reasonably strong claim to the English throne[[note]]The same as Mary herself: Darnley and Mary were both grandchildren of Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII's sister. However, Darnley's claim to the English throne was considered stronger than Mary's by virtue of the fact that he and his mother had been born and raised in England, while Mary was an alien. Under English law, aliens could not inherit property.[[/note]] and a more distant one to the Scottish (he was a member of the House of Stuart in the male line, descending from the second cousin of the first Stuart king Robert II). Lord Darnley later died under suspicious circumstances, and Mary married his suspected killer (whether she consented to the marriage or [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe he'd kidnapped and raped her]] [[QuestionableConsent is still open to debate]]).

Mary instead married into the French royal family, the House of Valois, and spent a brief time as Queen-Consort of France. After her husband died, she returned to her own kingdom of Scotland. She remarried, this time to her cousin, Lord Darnley, a nobleman from Yorkshire who had a reasonably strong claim to the English throne[[note]]The same as Mary herself: Darnley and Mary were both grandchildren of Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII's sister. However, Darnley's claim to the English throne was considered stronger than Mary's by virtue of the fact that he and his mother had been born and raised in England, while Mary was an alien. Under English law, aliens could not inherit property.[[/note]] and a more distant one to the Scottish (he was a member of the House of Stuart in the male line, descending from the second cousin of the first Stuart king Robert II). Lord Darnley later died under suspicious circumstances, and Mary married his suspected killer (likely because [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe he'd also kidnapped and raped her, rendering her "soiled" if she didn't under the mores of the time]]).

Fed up with their presumption of power, Charles marched into a sitting session of the House of Commons with his guards and assumed the Speaker's chair. This was an extraordinary act -- English monarchs had the legal power to do all this but they were expected, partly by custom and partly by their supposed understanding of the need to respect Parliament, to never do so. He attempted to arrest the ringleaders of the opposition cause, but they had escaped and he looked foolish, running away from London (which given BritainIsOnlyLondon was a mistake) raising his standard at Nottingham in 1642 -- so beginning the UsefulNotes/{{English Civil War}}s. Parliament, and the country, was split in half between his supporters and opponents.

Had what might charitably be described as a difficult reign.

All three kingdoms under his rule had different Christian denominations as the majority: England was by this time identifiably Anglican (with many internal disputes among Church members about what that should mean), while Scotland was solidly Presbyterian and Ireland was Catholic. Charles' attempt to impose uniformity on the Scottish church caused them to rebel in what are called the Bishops' Wars. Needing additional funds he called Parliament, who after 11 years were inclined to be a bit sour. His having a Catholic wife (whom he faithfully loved) at a time when there were rumors of massacres of Protestants in Ireland (in truth around 2-3000 were likely killed in the Irish revolt but this was widely inflated) didn't help matters. They demanded their authority be confirmed and increased, sentenced the King's chief minister to death and generally both sides riled each other up, until...

->'''Parents''': ''King'' James II / VII and Anne Hyde

->'''Consort''': ''Prince'' George of Denmark-Norway

->'''Parents''': ''King'' James II & VII and Anne Hyde

->'''Consort''': ''Prince'' George of Denmark and Norway

->'''Consorts''': (1) ''King'' Francis II of France (1558--1560);(2) Henry Stuart, ''Lord Darnley/1st Duke of Albany'' (1565-–1567); (3) James Hepburn, ''4th Earl of Bothwell'' (1567-–1578)

->'''Consort''': ''Prince'' George of Denmark