Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion

by Anne Somerset

  Anne’s much derided husband proved an invaluable support to her, but when death ‘tore from her this tenderly cherished spouse, this faithful and inseparable companion, the sole repository of the secrets of her heart, who carried conjugal virtue as far as possible’, no one could take his place.42 Prior to her accession, Anne had of course cherished hopes that her friendship with Sarah would afford her happiness of a kind generally denied to one of her calling. It was, therefore, another personal tragedy for the Queen when Sarah’s impossible behaviour caused the relationship to collapse in acrimony.

  In 1705 Queen Anne declared to Lord Godolphin, ‘Though those that come after me may be more capable of so great a trust as it has pleased God to put into my poor hands, I am sure they can never discharge it more faithfully’. Yet despite being made of unpromising material for a ruler, Anne acquitted herself well in a role for which her temperament, education and intellectual abilities left her seemingly unfitted. Towards the end of Anne’s reign, the Duchess of Marlborough referred to England’s being blessed in having ‘so good and so wise a Queen’.43 Sarah was of course being sarcastic, but though in her eyes her statement was an obvious absurdity, Anne was deserving of both epithets.

  Picture Section

  The Duke and Duchess of York pictured with their daughters, Mary (left) and Anne. The portraits of the two little girls were inserted into the painting some years after the death of their mother in 1671.

  The Lady Anne, as a child, with a spaniel, painted while she was in France having treatment for sore eyes.

  Anne, around the time of her marriage in 1683.

  Anne’s favourite, Sarah Churchill (later the Duchess of Marlborough) pictured on the right in 1691 with Lady Fitzharding, whose friendship with Sarah made Anne jealous.

  Prince George of Denmark, painted on horseback, 1704, with the fleet in the background.

  Anne with her son the Duke of Gloucester, c. 1694.

  Queen Mary II.

  King William III.

  The Duke of Gloucester with his friend Benjamin Bathurst junior. This mezzotint portrait gives some indication of Gloucester’s oversized head, caused by hydrocephalus.

  Queen Anne, by Edmund Lilly. As this portrait shows, by the time she came to the throne, Anne was alarmingly overweight.

  Anne’s first Lord Treasurer, Sidney Godolphin.

  The Duke of Marlborough.

  Double portrait of Queen Anne and her much-loved husband Prince George, 1706.

  Print of Kensington Palace, showing the gardens which gave Anne such pleasure.

  Tapestry showing the French Marshal Tallard surrendering his baton to the Duke of Marlborough after the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704.

  Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford.

  Anne’s distant cousin and heiress presumptive, Sophia of Hanover, with whom Anne’s relations were often tense.

  Portrait believed to be of Abigail Masham.

  Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke.

  Anne’s half-brother, James Francis Edward Stuart, known as the Pretender.

  Anne in the House of Lords. The Queen gave a speech from the throne at the opening of parliamentary sessions.

  The bloody battle of Malplaquet which, though an allied victory, increased war-weariness in England.

  Satirical 1713 print of Bolingbroke dictating business relating to the Treaty of Utrecht. A winged demon whispers advice in Bolingbroke’s ear. The picture on the wall behind depicts Bolingbroke writing letters using his mistress’s naked rump as a desk.

  Queen Anne and the Knights of the Garter. Ceremony held at Kensington Palace 4 August 1713.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Firstly I should like to thank her Majesty the Queen for gracious permission to work in the Royal Archives at Windsor. I am also grateful for the assistance of Miss Pamela Clark, Registrar of the Royal Archives, and Miss Allison Derrett, Assistant Registrar.

  I owe thanks to Dr Claudia Kauertz and Denia Kalinowsky of the Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv in Hanover, and for the grant of permission from the Staatsarchiv to use extracts from the correspondence of the Hanoverian Resident C. F. von Kreienberg, kept at the History of Parliament Trust in London. The History of Parliament Trust kindly permitted me, in addition, to consult their collection on microfilm of the despatches of Friedrich Bonet, Prussian Resident at the court of Queen Anne. Dr Paul Seaward, Director of the History of Parliament Trust, and Shirley MacQuire were very helpful while I was working at the Trust. Quotations from the Portland Papers at Longleat House are included by permission of the Marquess of Bath, and I am grateful to the Earl of Dartmouth for permission to quote from the Cabinet Minutes of Queen Anne’s Secretary of State Lord Dartmouth, stored in the Staffordshire County Record Office. Bettina Smith, of the photographic department of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C., ably assisted me to obtain copies of documents in their collection; I am also grateful to the Pierpoint Morgan Library, New York, for permitting me to work there while I was in New York, and for granting permission to quote from a letter of Queen Anne’s in their collection. In addition I would like to thank the staff of the British Library, Cambridge University Library, Dr Williams’s Library, the Institute of Historical Research, Lambeth Palace Library, the London Library and the National Archives for helping me in so many ways while I was researching this book.

  I am particularly thankful to Dr Robert Bucholz for generously agreeing to read the typescript of this book, and for offering valuable comments and corrections. If mistakes remain, it is of course entirely my own fault. I owe another great debt to John Jolliffe, who, many years ago, suggested that Queen Anne would be a good subject for a biography. Thanks too for the research assistance provided by Angelica von Hase, who translated works in German for me. Other individuals who helped me while I was working on this book include Simon Chaplin, Curator of the Hunterian Museum, Lady Antonia Fraser, Flora Fraser, Rebecca Fraser, Dr Christopher Gardner-Thorpe, Amber Guinness, Philip Mansel, the Duke of Marlborough, and Geoffrey Parton.

  My editor at HarperPress, Arabella Pike, has been wonderfully supportive throughout the project. Further editorial assistance was provided by Sophie Ezra and Katharine Reeve, for which I am likewise grateful. Ed Victor, my literary agent, has, as ever, been a source of unfailing encouragement. I count myself very fortunate that Douglas Matthews agreed to compile the index.

  ENDNOTES

  ABBREVIATIONS

  Add – Additional Manuscripts in the British Library

  BC – Bolingbroke Correspondence

  BL – British Library

  CB – Curtis Brown

  Cal Dom – Calendar of Domestic State Papers

  Cal Ven – Calendar of State Papers relating to English affairs … in the Archives … of Venice

  Corresp. – Correspondence

  DNB – Dictionary of National Biography

  DWL – Dr Williams’s Library, London

  EHR – English Historical Review

  HLQ – Huntington Library Quarterly

  HMC – Historical Manuscripts Commission

  HPT – History of Parliament Trust, London

  MGC – Marlborough–Godolphin Correspondence

  ODNB – Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

  PC – Private Correspondence of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough

  POAS – Poems on Affairs of State

  PRO – Public Record Office papers in the National Archives, Kew

  RA – Royal Archives, Windsor Castle

  Parlt Hist – Parliamentary History

  Swift JS – Journal to Stella

  Chapter 1: But a Daughter

  1 Hartmann, 144.

  2 Pepys I, 260–261.

  3 Gramont, 159, 103; Zee, 17; Burnet I, 302–303; BL Add 18740 f 1.

  4 Clarendon Life I, 374, 377; Clarke Life I, 387–388; BL Add 18740 ff 1–3.

  5 Clarendon Life I, 378–379.

  6 Ibid. 383; Pepys I, 315, IV, 138; Gramont, 161; PRO 31/3/108 f 40; PRO 31/3/107 f 200v.

/>   7 Clarendon Life I, 389; PRO 31/3/108 f 1.

  8 Cal Ven XXXII, 237; PRO 31/3/108 f 40; Clarendon Life I, 384.

  9 Cal Ven XXXII, 228; Clarendon Life I, 384; PRO 31/3/109 ff 30–31; Burnet I, 302–303.

  10 PRO 31/3/108 f 77; f 123; ff 120–121v; f 59.

  11 Evelyn III, 264; PRO 31/3/109 f 9; Clarendon Life I, 402; Cal Ven XXXII, 269.

  12 Bodemann Sophie … Bruder, 362; Spanheim, 761; Baxter William, 129, Zee, 94; Cal Ven XXXVI, 80.

  13 Burnet I, 307, 568; Magalotti, 37.

  14 PRO 31/3/109 f 22v; PRO 31/3/109 f 45; Pepys IX, 469; ibid. 48; Burnet I, 416.

  15 Gramont, 164, 170; Burnet I, 304; Pepys IV, 138; ibid. VIII, 8; ibid. IX, 154; Burnet I, 419.

  16 Gramont, 277; Magalotti, 37.

  17 Cal Ven XXXII, 393; Pepys II, 95; Clarendon State Papers V, 79–80.

  18 Pepys III, 75; Cal Ven XXXIII, 256.

  19 Notes and Queries, series XI, v (1912), 508; Chamberlayne, 1669 edn, 325; Clarendon State Papers V, 508.

  20 BL Add 61415 f 77; Bentinck, 61.

  21 Pepys V, 268; Clarke Life II, 159; Buckingham II, 69; Clarendon Corresp. II, 200–201.

  22 Burnet II, 3; Clarendon Corresp. II, 191, 199.

  23 Buckingham II, 49.

  24 Pepys VIII, 214; Cal Ven XXXV, 187.

  25 Pepys VIII, 431.

  26 Ailesbury I, 346; CB, 22; Clarendon Corresp. II, 238.

  27 Pepys VIII, 436; Cal Ven XXXVII, 63.

  28 Boyer Life and Reign 2; Oxford English Dictionary – defluxion; Emson, 1365; Montpensier IV, 154; Cal Ven XXXII, 237; Cal Dom Charles II, 1667–1668, 476; Boyer Life and Reign, 2.

  29 Montpensier IV, 154–155; Swift Prose Works VIII, 110–111; Sarah, 242, 240.

  30 Cal Dom Charles II, 1670, 301; ibid. 350; Cal Ven XXXVI, 244.

  31 Boyer, Life and Reign 2; Coke III, 117; Lane Furdell, 232–23; Bathurst, 178, 193; Dalrymple III, pt ii, 83, 85; Bentinck, 61.

  32 Sarah, 230; CB, 10.

  33 Cal Ven XXXVII, 34; Burnet I, 417–418.

  34 Clarke I, 440; Kennett III, 320; Clarke I, 452; PRO 31/3/172 f 155v.

  35 Burnet I, 565; Clarke I, 452; BL Egerton 1533 f 62v.

  36 Burnet I, 568; Godolphin Life, 12.

  37 Godolphin Life, 12; Clarke Life I, 452–453; Godolphin ibid. xvii, 12; F. Harris Transformations, 125.

  38 Clarke Life II, 631.

  39 Sarah, 18; CB, 6; CB, 10; Add 61414 f 127; Add 61414 f 45.

  40 BL Egerton 1533 f 62v; Burnet II, 6.

  41 T. Harris Revolution, 20; Miller Popery 133; ibid. 75; Schwoerer Rachel Russell, 87.

  42 Miller Popery, 150; Harris, Restoration, 153; Cal Ven XXXVIII, 316; Clarke Life I, 549.

  43 Cal Ven XXXVII, 79; ibid. XXXVI, 71.

  44 Robb II, 90; Macky Journey, 80; Sarah, 21.

  45 Fraser Weaker Vessel, 122; F. Harris Transformations, 66; Schwoerer Women and Revolution, 197; Faderman, 86; Add 61421 f 111.

  46 Makin, 22, 24.

  47 Reresby, 40; PRO 31/3/109 ff 12v, 22v; Fraser Weaker Vessel, 322.

  48 Add 61415 f 151; Add 61415 ff 89, 125.

  49 Coke II, 480; Add 38,863 ff 6–6v; Gramont, 171.

  50 Sarah Characters, 229–230; Spanheim, 765; Morrice (DWL) Q, 11; Luttrell II, 172; Add 30000 A f 243.

  51 Familiar Letters, 164; CB, 28; Bathurst, 29, 64; Lewis, 55.

  52 Morrice (DWL) Q, f 368; Familiar Letters, 161–162.

  53 E. Hamilton, 31; Bathurst, 111–112; Gerard Langbaine Account of English Dramatic Poets (1691), 324; Lee II, 15; ibid. 91.

  54 Sarah, 231.

  55 Coke III, 482; HMC Finch IV, 452; Evelyn IV, 499; Pepys II, 26; Evelyn IV, 364.

  56 Halifax II, 373.

  57 Add 61416 ff 195–195v.

  58 Burnet IV, 451–452; Sarah, 235.

  59 Clarke Life I, 502–503.

  60 Carpenter Compton 15; ibid. 30; Clarke Life I, 502–503.

  61 Morrice (DWL) P, 609; Carpenter, 69, 74; Morrice ibid. 602; Coke III, 117.

  62 Burnet II, 90–91; Carpenter, 54; Morrice (DWL) Q, 368; Bentinck, 57; CB, 32; Burnet III, 195.

  63 Chamberlayne (1700 edn), 108; Burnet III, 195; Add 61414 f 104.

  64 CB, 16.

  65 Cal Ven XXXVII, 38; ibid. XXXVIII, 117.

  66 Ibid. XXXVIII, 50; Strickland IV, 539–550.

  67 Burnet II, 43; Toynbee, 91; Cal Dom Charles II, Nov. 1673–Feb. 1675, 149; F. Harris Transformations, 195.

  68 Haile, 59; Haile, 72; ibid. 100; Strickland IV, 601.

  69 Cal Ven XXXVIII, 232.

  70 Zee, 99; Strickland IV, 557–558.

  71 Godolphin Life, 232; Sarah, 230; Burnet V, 2n.

  72 Walkling, 28–29; Evelyn IV, 50; Crowne I, 234–235.

  73 Crowne I, 268, 270.

  74 Pepys IV, 1; F. Harris Sarah, 17; Bathurst, 51; Add 61414 f 11; Bathurst, 38; HMC Rutland II, 49–50; Harris Sarah, 25.

  75 Bathurst, 135; ibid. 154–155; Add 61426 f 109.

  76 Add 61414 f 169; Sarah Conduct, 7; Bathurst, 64.

  77 Bathurst, 49; ibid. 44; 58; 60.

  78 Ibid. 51; 54–55.

  79 Ibid. 135.

  80 Ibid. 111–112; CB, 7; Bathurst, 137–139.

  81 Foxcroft Burnet Supplement, 194–195.

  82 E. Hamilton, 40.

  83 Lake, 5.

  84 Haile, 64; Lake, 6.

  85 Hatton Corresp. I, 154–155; Lake, 9–10; Grovestins III, 83.

  86 Lake, 7–8; Waller Daughters, 328.

  87 Lake, 9.

  88 Lake, 10; HMC Rutland II, 42.

  89 Lake, 6–7; HMC Rutland II, 42– 43; Lake, 14–15; Haile, 183; Lake, 14; HMC Rutland II, 43.

  90 Campana de Cavelli I, 376; Lake, 10; Lake, 13.

  91 Clarke Life I, 502–503; Lake, 29.

  92 Bathurst, 94–95; Haile, 72.

  93 HMC 3rd report, 123; Cal Dom Charles II March–Dec. 1678, 421–422; Robb II, 121; Cal Dom Charles ibid. 466; E. Hamilton, 77; Burnet IV, 268n.

  94 Dalrymple I, pt 1, 257; HMC Foljambe, 124.

  95 HMC Ormonde NS IV, 497–498; HMC Dartmouth, 31.

  96 Turner, 150–151.

  97 HMC Dartmouth, 37; Strickland IV, 572–573; Turner, 165; CB, 6.

  98 CB, 5–6.

  99 Clarke Life I, 628; T. Harris Restoration, 161.

  100 Hatton Corresp. I, 223; Add 37984 f 221.

  101 Hauck, 280–281; Bodemann Sophie … mit … Karl Ludwig, 414; Sidney II, 104; Strickland V, 442; Campana de Cavelli I, 271.

  102 Grovestins III, 355; ibid. IV, 227.

  103 Ibid. IV, 246.

  104 Ouston in Cruickshanks Stuart Courts, 270; Familiar Letters, 162; Strickland IV, 603; CB, 8; Familiar Letters, 161.

  105 Bathurst, 139; CB, 8.

  106 Grovestins IV, 337, 333.

  107 Dalrymple I, appendix to pt 1, 113.

  108 Hauck, 302–303; ibid. 303–304; Bodemann Sophie … mit … Karl Ludwig, 362, 391; Kroll Sophie, 156.

  109 Add 37984 ff 227–227v.

  110 Coke III, 118–119, see also Spanheim, 761; Hatton, 34; Bodemann Sophie … mit … Karl Ludwig, 362.

  111 Add 38091 f 242; Hatton, 61, 71.

  112 HMC 7th report I, 480; Greer, 178; Sidney Diary I, 141; Buckingham II, 238; Grew and Grew, 193; Greer, 177; PRO 31/3/153 f 72v; HMC 7th report I, 498; HMC Egmont II, 121; HMC Kenyon, 143; HMC 7th report I, 480.

  113 PRO 31/3/153 f 72v; Behn Works I, 182–184; Greer, 175; Grew and Grew, 193.

  114 Godolphin Life, 10; Gramont, 232–233; Halifax II, 409.

  115 Bathurst, 154–155.

  116 Burnet II, 90–91; PRO 31/3/153 f 72v; Add 61426 ff 172, 174; F. Harris Sarah, 32; Add 61426 ff 172–174.

  117 Bathurst, 158.

  118 Chamberlayne 19th edn. 107; Cal Ven XXXVI, 90; Bodemann Sophie … mit … Karl Ludwig, 237; ibid. 60.

  119 DNB George; HMC Ormonde NS VII, 22; Chamberlayne 19th edn, 108–109; Bodemann Sophie … mit … Karl Ludwig, 332.

  120 PRO 31/3/154 f 40; ibid. 31/3/155 f 5; ibid. 31/3/154 f 54.
/>
  121 Add 17017 ff 129–130; Cal Dom Jan.–June 1683, 244; PRO 31/3/155 f 13v; Halifax II, 393; Fraser Weaker Vessel, 273; Halifax II, 393; Robb II, 87–88; HMC Ormonde NS VII, 22.

  122 Calendar Treasury Books VII, pt 2, 1123; HMC Laing I, 434; Cal Treasury ibid. 1137.

  123 Campana de Cavelli I, 4110–4111; Evelyn IV, 331; Burnet II, 391; Lossky, 58.

  124 PRO 31/3/155 f 28v; ibid. f 32; Japikse II, ii, 552; PRO 31/3/160 f 100v.

  125 Morrice (DWL) Q, 134; HMC Ormonde NS VII, 22; Add 30000 E f 336.

  126 Familiar Letters, 178; HMC Ormonde NS VII, 83; Evelyn IV, 330–331; T. Harris Restoration, 200, 311–313; HMC Rutland II, 80.

  127 HMC 3rd report, 289; HMC Rutland II, 80; HMC 7th report I, 365; HMC 3rd report, 289; Evelyn IV, 332; PRO 31/3/155 f 90; Jusserand, 288.

  128 Cal Dom 1 July–30 Sept. 1683, 201; CB, 10; Bathurst, 174.

  129 PRO 31/3/155 f 95; Jusserand, 288; Familiar Letters, 179; Lake, 6.

  130 Familiar Letters, 179–180.

  131 Cox and Norman XIV, 49, 52–53; Cal Treasury Books VII, ii, 1137.

  132 Tribbeko, 15; Burnet V, 391–392; Tribbeko, 15; Spanheim, 761; Morrice (DWL) Q, 49.

  133 Tribbeko, 13; HMC 10th report pt iv, 49–50; HMC Laing I, 434; PRO 31/3/174 f 37; Doebner Mary, 96–97; Add 61426 ff 33–34.

  134 Lewis, 125; HMC 10th report, 49–50; Evelyn IV, 400; Morrice (DWL) Q, 113; Waller, 70.

  135 Macky Memoirs, 33; Add 61426 ff 33–34; Burnet III, 49n; Add 30000 E f 336.

  136 Cal Dom Jan.–June 1683, 244–245; HMC 9th report, 458; Burnet V, 391; Add 30000 E f 336; PRO 31/3/165 f 82.

  137 Tribbeko, 14; PRO 31/3/155 f 11v; ibid. f 107v.

  138 Add 61426 ff 33–34.

  139 CB, 10.

  140 Add 61426 f 9; 61421 f 111; 61423 f 160; 61421 f 111.