Reflections on the anniversary of the death of Queen Anne

Queen Anne, last of the Stuart monarchs - and arguably the most successful ruler from that house, she was certainly one of very few Stuart Kings and Queens of Scotland or Scotland and England who was not a total disaster - died three hundred and five years ago today.

There are links to pages which give information about Queen Anne here and here.

Because she died childless - having conceived eighteen children, none of whom survived her  - she was succeeded by the first Hanoverian King George the First, and in the style more associated with the Soviet Union on modern times her death was kept quiet for a time while the government made sure the succession would not result in a civil war. By the time her demise was finally officially announced lots of people knew about it, and the story goes that the official statement was greeted by jeers from the crowd saying

"Queen Anne's Dead - didn't you know?"

Hence the expression, still occasionally used today "And Queen Anne is dead!" often followed by comments about the religious affiliations of the pope and the toilet habits of bears, when someone retails old news or a statement of the obvious.

I've been meaning for some time to watch "The Favourite," the award winning film about Queen Anne and her inner circle, and this evening seems a good time to do so ...


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