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Anne war das vierte Kind des englisch-schottischen Königs Jakob II. (VII.) Stuart (1633-1701) und seiner ersten Gattin Anne Hyde (1637-1671). Sie erblickte das Licht der Welt am 6. Februar 1665 und starb am 1. August 1714. Am 28. Juli 1683 heiratete sie Georg von Dänemark und Norwegen (1653-1708). Anne hatte keine sieben Fehl- und fünf Totgeburten. Diese Angaben sind vermutlich der Behauptung des Bischofs Burnet in seinem Buch "History of my own times" entnommen worden. Die Historikerin Marie Ruan Hopkinson konnte keine zeitgenössischen Quellen für diese angeblichen Fehl- und Totgeburten finden. Laut ihr hatte Anne außer zwei Fehlgeburten folgende Kinder (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, London 1934, p. 363): 1. eine Tochter, (Totgeburt) am 12. Mai 1684; 2. ihre Tochter Mary, geboren am 2. Juni 1685 und gestorben am 8. Februar 1686; 3. ihre Tochter Anne Sophia, geboren am 12. Mai 1686, gestorben am 6. Februar 1687; 4. ihren Sohn William, den Herzog von Gloucester, geboren am 24. Juli 1689, gestorben am 30. Juli 1700; 5. ihre Tochter Mary, geboren und gestorben am 14. Oktober 1690; und 6. ihren Sohn George, geboren am 17. April 1692, gestorben am 18. April 1692
"Fair-haired and grey-eyed, she [Anne Stuart] was the true daughter of her mother's family, that long line of English country squires ... It is said that she was her mother's favourite child, and that the Duchess fed her on cups of chocolate until 'she grew as round as a ball.' Anne had some trouble with her eyes, and when she was five years old they became so seriously affected that she was sent to her grandmother [der Königin Henriette Maria von Frankreich] at St. Germains, to see if the French physicians could cure her of her malady. She was a good little thing, amiable and loving, but slow compared with her excitable Orléans cousin [Marie Louise (1662-1689)], the daughter of Minette [Henriette Anna, der jüngsten Schwester von Annes Vater], who was her playmate while she was in France." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., pp. 42/49).
Nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter im Jahr 1671 wuchs Anne mit ihrer Schwester Mary bei ihrer Gouvernante Lady Frances Villiers und deren Familie, ihrem Gatten Edward Villiers und ihren sieben Kindern auf. Sie hatte hier drei Jahre eine glückliche Kindheit verbracht.
Im Jahr 1674 kehrte Anne mit ihrer Schwester Mary zum Vater in den St. James's Palace zurück, denn Letzterer hatte mittlerweile wieder geheiratet. Annes Stiefmutter war Maria von Modena (1658-1718). Zu ihren Unterrichtsfächern gehörte die Rhetorik, unterrichtet von einer berühmten Schauspielerin, Mrs. Betterton: "Endowed by nature with a beautiful clear voice, Anne only needed this training to give her the perfect diction and quality of tone which charmed everyone, and when she became Queen enabled her to render her speeches in Parliament in so perfect a manner as to amaze all her listeners." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., p. 67).
"Anne was taught most thoroughly everything relating to the Scriptures and the doctrines of the Church ... She certainly was taught French and dancing and to play the guitar well. The pastimes she most delighted in were riding and hunting - she was a remarkable horsewoman - dancing, acting and music, which she always passionately loved." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., p. 77).
Zu Beginn des Jahres 1680 kam Annes Cousin 2. Grades, Georg Ludwig (1660-1727), der zukünftige Kurfürst von Hannover und letztendlich ihr Nachfolger auf dem schottisch-englischen Thron, in England zu Besuch. "George kissed her before all the Court, and then returned to Hanover. Whether his father recalled him, or William of Orange did not approve of the match - or, what is more likely, Louis XIV snatched him back - is uncertain, but it was humiliating for Anne, and she had no great liking for the Hanoverian branch of the family from this time onward. She certainly had a merciful escape, for George was not only unprepossessing in appearance, but his unkindness and unfaithfulness to the woman he married soon after his return from England were notorious." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., p. 82).
Beschreibung von Anne Stuart um 1682: Anne "was at the height of her vigorous young womanhood - a fine rosy-cheeked girl with large eyes, and a beautiful mouth. Her profusion of auburn curls fluttered about her head as she danced country-dances, or joined in the royal buck-hunts, and they fell about her face as she bent over her guitar. With her lovely voice and extremely beautiful hands she did not need the added enticement of a possible crown to be attractive." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., p. 84). Im Juli 1683 erschien der nächste mögliche Heiratskandidat für Anne: Prinz Georg von Dänemark und Norwegen (1653-1708). "Anne thought ... that he was the finest man she had ever beheld. Although she had only seen him once before when she was a child of six and he as a young man of twenty had visited England ... No time was wasted by the King [Karl II. Stuart] in getting this marriage to a Protestant prince settled - although the father of the bride was indignant that another daughter should be married to a heretic." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., p. 86). Die Heirat von Anne und Georg fand am 28. Juli 1683 statt. Sie waren ein glückliches Paar. Anne "was gaining a husband whose goodness, tenderness and amiability never failed her during the twenty-five years of their married life together. ... George and Anne were simple in their tastes and always throughout their married life shared the same bedroom."
Anne Stuart liebte die Kartenspiele, auf die man hohe Wetten setzte, sehr. Da sie häufig verlor, hatte sie stets hohe Schulden. Zudem liebte sie die Jagd, Reitausflüge über das Land und Pferderennen mit großen Wetteinsätzen über alles. Eine sehr tiefe Freundschaft verband Anne schon als kleines Kind mit Sarah Jenyns (oder Jennings) (1660-1744), die keinen guten Einfluss auf sie hatte. Am 20. September 1684 schrieb sie ihrer Freundin Sarah: "Let me beg of you not to call me Highness at every word but be as free with me as one friend may be with another. And you can never give me any greater proof of your friendship than in telling me your mind freely in all things, which I beg of you to do." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., p. 92).
Annes Rede beim Antritt ihrer Regierung im Jahr 1702: "I am extremely sensible of the general misfortune of these Kingdoms [England, Schottland und Irland] in the unspeakable loss of the King [Wilhelm III. von Oranien] and of the weight and burden it brings in particular upon myself, which nothing could encourage me to undergo, but the great concern I have for the preservation of our religion and the laws and liberties of my country, all those being as dear to me, as they can be to any person whatsoever. You may depend upon it, that no pains or diligence shall ever be wanting on my part, to preserve and support them, to maintain the Succession in the Protestant line, and the Government in Church and State as it is by law established. I think it proper upon this occasion of my first speaking to you to declare my own opinion of the importance of carrying on all the preparations we are making to oppose the great power of France; and I shall lose no time in giving our Allies all assurances that nothing shall be wanting, on my part, to pursue the true interest of England, together with theirs for the support of the common cause. In order to these ends, I shall always be ready to ask the advice of my Council, and of both Houses of Parliament, and desirous to countenance and employ all those who shall heartily concur and join me in supporting and maintaining the present Establishment and Constitution against all enemies and opposers whatsoever. ... As I know my heart to be entirely English, I can very sincerely assure you that there is not one thing you can expect or desire of me which I shall not be ready to do for the happiness and prosperity of England." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., pp. 169-171).
Wer ebenfalls gehofft hatte, dass sich sein Leben mit der Thronbesteigung von Anne Stuart vollkommen zum Besten wenden würde, war Sarah Jenyns oder Churchill, die Herzogin von Marlborough. Ihre Freundin Anne hatte ihr doch immer gehorcht. Warum sollte sich das nun ändern? "At home he [der Herzog von Marlborough] found his lady wife [Sarah Jenyns/Churchill] in a fine rage because Anne had chosen her Ministers and high officials regardless of Sarah, or what promises she might have presumed to make. The latter's sudden interest in politics can only be explained on the supposition that the Whigs had paid their court to her more assiduously than had the triumphant Tories, and won her over to their cause by flattery ... Supreme egoism, the mainspring of Sarah Churchill's character, had always induced a desire for dominion over others. When met with opposition this desire became an obsession. Over and over again in her life we see this characteristic, growing stronger as she grew older, overpowering the brilliance and energy of her mind in wider matters and causing her to concentrate on one objective. Her husband, by his unfailing love and flattery, was the one person who could sometimes turn her from one of these moods of almost maniacal intensity. It is a remarkable proof of Anne's character that, although she dreaded the scenes that took place when [Sarah Jenyns/Churchill] ... indulged in a fit of the 'spleen', she went her own way without the slightest regard for her friend's passionate championship of the Whigs [die um die Gunst von Sarah geworben hatten, da jene doch so leichten Zugang zur Königin besaß]." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., pp. 182-183).
"Anne had shown a hundred times that although she was loving and amiable she would not allow herself to be dictated to in any way that was contrary to her own views." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., p. 264).
"On August 9th [1702] Anne prorogued Parliament for two months. These first six months of her reign [seit dem Tod von Wilhelm III. von Oranien im Februar 1702] had been extremely exhausting. Her gout was bad and during the summer Prince George had suffered from a severe attack of asthma. She had passed many bad nights supporting him in bed when he could hardly breathe. Their physicians prescribed the waters of Bath for both of them. The two stout, middle-aged invalids accordingly started on a journey which became transformed into a triumphal progress of the most fatiguing description, only made tolerable by Anne's powers of endurance and zest for enjoyment aided by George's good nature. This was Anne's first experience of the demonstrations of the country folk since she had become Queen and their exuberant rejoicing delighted her, making her feel that at last George was receiving the popularity which she had always desired for him." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., pp. 190-191).
Anne Stuarts wichtigstes politisches Ziel, das sie als Königin von England und von Schottland erreichen wollte, war die Vereinigung des englischen und des schottischen Königreiches als schließlich ein Königreich, nämlich Großbritannien, und das gelang ihr am 1. Mai 1707.
Im Juli und August 1711 lesen wir über die Freizeitbeschäftigung der Königin Folgendes: "The Queen was abroad today to hunt, but finding it disposed to rain she kept in her coach; she hunts in a chaise with one horse, which she drives herself, and drives furiously like Jehu, and is a mighty hunter like Nimrod. ... On August 7th [1711] he [Jonathan Swift] writes that the Queen hunted the stag until four in the afternoon, and that she drove in her chaise about forty miles." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., p. 332).
"After a visit to Kensington in June [1713] the Queen moved to Windsor. As she had become very heavy and could only be moved with difficulty, she was no longer carried up and down the stairs of the Castle in her chair, as in the past, but was lowered through a trapdoor in the floor into the room below, and hauled up again by means of a device fitted with ropes and pulleys. It is believed that this apparatus was the same as that which had been used to convey Henry VIII from one floor to another. Most of the time, however, her infirmities [die Gicht] restricted Anne to one or two rooms. The gout had now attacked her hands so that they had become red and swollen masses swathed in bandages, all their beauty gone for ever. It was only with the greatest difficulty that she could sign her name. ... Before the winter set in Anne became so ill that she could not leave Windsor. But we find her up and dressed - although it was cold and draughty in the Castle - hard at work, and signing documents of State until December 23rd. That day she caught a chill, which brought on a violent attack of suppressed gout. ... no one understood more clearly than Anne that upon her death the country would stand in imminent peril of civil upheaval, and that the supporters of both the Catholic Pretender and the Protestant Prince of Hanover would not hesitate to choose the soil of England for their battlefield. ... In Scotland ... there were many men overtly eager to lead their countrymen in the Stuart cause [sie wollten Annes katholischen Halbbruder James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766) als ihren Nachfolger sehen.]" (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., pp. 351-354). Anne Stuart starb letztendlich an einem Schlaganfall: "... and the Queen died before Bolingsbroke's plans for Jacobite ascendancy [die Anhänger ihres katholischen Halbbruders] had time to mature, the Protestant Succession [die Kurfürsten von Hannover] would be secure and England saved from civil war." (in: Marie Ruan Hopkinson: Anne of England – The Biography of a great Queen, id., pp. 358-359).
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