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DorotaBabilas
William,DukeofGloucester,succumbedtopneumoniainJuly1700,justafew
daysafterhiseleventhbirthday.
Concerningherintellectualability,QueenAnnewasnotaprodigylike
Elizabeth,butsharedquitealotwithQueenVictoria.Bothwerebroughtupin
ashelteredenvironmentawayfromthehustleandbustleoftheroyalcourt;
theyhadratherlimitededucationandexpressednoparticularinterestinthe
scholarlydisputesoftheirtimes.Annewasnotanavidreader,butneither
wasVictoria-theformer,asRobertO.Bucholzobserves,atleastcouldblame
herlackofinterestinliteratureandthevisualartsonpooreyesight.Both
3
AnneandVictorialikedmusicandlearnedtoplaymusicalinstruments.The
recentstudiesbyJamesAndersonWinnandCedricD.Reverandemphasise
theroleofQueenAnneaspatronessofartists,particularlycomposersand
poets.4Therewasabitofphysicalsimilaritybetweenthequeens,too.Both
AnneandVictoriasufferedfromobesityandpracticallybecameinvalidsin
laterlife.TheVictorianscouldbequitecruelintheirdescriptionsofthelast
Stuartqueen.JamesAndersonWinnquotestheclergymanWhitwellElwin
describingAnneas“ugly,corpulent,gouty,sluggish,agluttonandatippler”
inhiseditionoftheworksofAlexanderPope.Actually,mostoftheseepithets
5
were,atsomelaterpointinhistory,usedtodescribeQueenVictoriaaswell,
withtheexceptionthatAnne’sconditionwasexacerbatedbygout.
LikeQueenElizabethbeforethem,AnneandVictoriawereraisedtobe
staunchanddutifulProtestants.Thisfactprovedtobeofthegreatestpolitical
consequencetoAnnewho,whenforcedtotakesidesduringtheGlorious
Revolutionin1688,decidedtosupporthersisterMaryandherProtestant
husbandWilliamofOrangeratherthanherCatholicfather,JamesII.Shehad
aprofoundsenseofobligationandroyaldignity.Shewasthelastmonarchto
personallypresideoverthemajorityofcabinetmeetingsortodenytheroyal
assentonanactofParliament.ShewasalsothelastBritishmonarchto
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practicethemedievalcustomof“touchhealings”ofhersubjectsforscrofula;
oneofthechildrentouchedbyherin1712wasSamuelJohnson.7
3
RobertO.Bucholz.“QueenAnne:victimofhervirtues?”,inQueenshipinBritain,
1660-1837:RoyalPatronage,CourtCulture,andDynasticPolitics.Ed.Clarissa
CampbellOrr.Manchester2002,p.116.
4
JamesAndersonWinn.QueenAnne,PatronessofArts.Oxford2014.CedricD.Reverand,
ed.,QueenAnneandtheArts.Lanham,MD2015.
5
JamesAndersonWinn,op.cit.,p.xvii.
6
GuidaMyrlJackson-Laufer.WomenRulersThroughouttheAges.AnIllustrated
Guide.SantaBarbara,CA1999,p.30.
7
MaryWilsonCarpenter.Health,MedicineandSocietyinVictorianEngland.Santa
Barbara2010,p.58.
