to feel sorry for Queen Anne?

[64BooLane]

I’m reading something that mentions her in passing quite a bit.

Didn’t know a lot about her but apparently she had 17 - SEVENTEEN - pregnancies, and none of the children lived to grow up. And then she was widowed and became alcoholic, gouty and obese, for which she was widely mocked. Added to all of this, it sounds as if she really didn’t enjoy being Queen and felt a lot of guilt about the end of the Stuarts. Then she died at forty-nine.

I mean, that really just sucks so much that I can’t get it out of my head. I’m not well versed in English history though, so I’m not very clear on her other qualities, such as whether she was astute/intelligent/thoughtful etc.

Should I read more about her? Any MN historians around? Any recommendations for books about that period?

Griddlebone in 1987? 😂

This thread has really freaked me out. I walked past KP yesterday and read this very fact only this morning

What made you post about this OP?

"I dont think it was syphalis because.
I got to meat Princess Anne a few times as i worked for one of her charites. Couldnt believe how petite she is."

I didn't know Doctor Who was on Mumsnet.

This thread is really making me laugh, Princess Anne, 1987, Dr Who, and who is KP.
Are you all drunk?

I have gleaned a lot of history of the royals by reading Jean Plaidy and Phillipa Gregory books. They are novels but the basic facts are historically accurate.

I'd put the bong down, if I were actually smoking one. The fact that I'm not is what's worrying me most.

This is the weirdest thread ever.

@IHaveBrilloHair and me 😂

She had the poisonous, manipulative, ambitious Sarah Marlborough as her best and only friend too. Poor woman.

KP- Kensington Palace?

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks Yes, she really threw herself into the '80s scene after that. You can see her dancing her cares away in video footage of Live Aid. Fact.

I took kp to be Kensington palace? BrilloHair.

@IHaveBrilloHair KP is Kevin Pietersen, obviously. Are you not a cricket fan??

I've recently read the politics of passion book. It's good but you have to be interested in 17th century politics as it is a bit dry.

I'm now really sad that my aunt couldn't get me a ticket to Live Aid. 😭

She had 17 pregnancies of 18 conceptions (one was twins). Most miscarried, a few stillbirths and a handful of live births. Her longest-lived child died at 11.

She ascended the throne knowing that she would be the last Stuart (she had not been pregnant for several years by this point) and that the throne would end up going to George of Hanover, her distant cousin whom she detested.

There are a number of theories about why Anne's obstetric record was so disastrous.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1882031/pdf/bmj00074-0047.pdf

The best thing about Queen Anne's life was that her reignalthough personally very sad for herwas a very vigorous time in terms of politics, art and culture. It saw the start of Great Britain as a country, the Duke of Marlborough's victories in Europe*, and some important cultural and artistic developments.

*Some historians reckon that women monarchs have an advantage in terms of military success, because instead of trying to run military campaigns themselves, they either devolved to skilled generals (as Anne did) or left military matters to their male consorts, thus allowing an effective division of labor. There was an interesting article in the Economist about this.
www.economist.com/news/europe/21722877-european-history-answer-queens-especially-married-ones-who-gets-more-wars-kings

"she really threw herself into the '80s scene"

I feel the need for clarification as to whether that refers to the 1680s, the 1980s, or another century altogether. Just to avoid further confusion. TIA.

Half of Stirling Castle was built by Queen Anne. But as per usual English history forgets the later Stewarts were of Scottish descent (as are the Windsors).

Oh Kensington Palace, I was picturing Katie Price and couldn't work out where she was involved

"KP is Kevin Pietersen, obviously"

Could be Katherine Parr?

I kept thinking about Queen Anne when I was going through pregnancies. It was bad enough three times with two miscarriages, I couldn't imagine going through that 17 times and also having to deal with stillbirths and the deaths of your children.

Oh, OP--you could try "Ungrateful Daughters" which is a nice readable book about Anne and her sister Mary, delving into the history of the period.

www.amazon.com/Ungrateful-Daughters-Stuart-Princesses-Fathers/dp/0312307128?tag=mumsnetforum-21

1080s. Obvs.

It was a project by William the Conqueror to bring the differing social strata of the country together by raising money for the future England football team.

Princess Anne came to my work once and we had to have (we’ll, don’t know if we had to but we did) a special portaloo constructed for her exclusive use.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Loads of her babies are buried with Mary Queen of Scots at Westminster Abbey. It’s really sad. All those little children with their beheaded great-great-Grandmother.