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FromBritain’sMostUnlovedQueentotheFavourite?
13
Lastly,AnnefollowedtheexampleofElizabethastheQueeninwhose
namesignificantmilitaryvictorieswerewon.Eventhoughsheneverralliedher
troopsthewayElizabethfamouslyhaddone,themilitarytriumphsofAnne’s
chiefcommander,theDukeofMarlborough,againsttheFrench,foughtduring
theWaroftheSpanishSuccessionatBlenheim(1704),Ramillies(1706),
Oudenarde(1708),andMalplaquet(1709)were-atleastintheopinionofthe
Victorians-comparableonlytotheheroicdeedsofHenryVatAgincourt,
Crécy,andPoitiers.8
However,asfarastheVictorianperceptionofthepersonalityofQueen
Anneisconcerned,itwaslargelyinfluencedbythepublicationofthememoirs
ofSarah,DuchessofMarlboroughincludinglongfragmentsofletters,which
shehadreceivedfromtheQueen.SarahwasthewifeofJohnChurchill,the
firstDukeofMarlborough-Anne’sgreatmilitarycommander.Formanyyears
shewasalsotheclosestcompanionandattendanttotheQueen,buttheir
friendshipendedinbitterseparationin1710,afterwhichSarahwasdetermined
todestroyAnne’sreputation.Thescandalousrecollectionsoftheformer
MistressoftheRobeswerefirstpublishedin1742asAnAccountofthe
ConductoftheDowagerDuchessofMarlboroughfromherFirstComingto
CourttotheYear1710,editedbyNathanielHooke.Inasense,Sarahpaved
thewayforlatervengefulsocialiteslikeHarrietteWilson,KarolineBaueror
Daisy,CountessofWarwick,whopublishedthememoirsoftheirroyalaffairs.
TheprintingofSarah’sstorysolidifiedAnne’spopularimageasanemotionally
dependentwomanwithastrongsuggestionoflesbianismabouther,completely
dominatedbyherfemalefavourites.In1839,aneweditionofTheMemoirsof
Sarah,DuchessofMarlboroughwaspreparedbyMrsA.T.Thomson.
ThedeepeningconflictbetweentheQueenandtheDuchesswaspolitical,
asSarahsupportedtheWhigsandtriedtopersuadeAnnetograntmorefavours
tothemratherthantheTories.Thefinalboneofcontention,however,was
personaljealousyoftheDuchessoverAbigailHill(laterLadyMasham),her
distantToryrelationwhoreplacedherasconfidanteoftheQueenandKeeper
ofthePrivyPurse.Eventually,theQueenhadenoughofSarah’sbadgering
anddismissedherfromthecourt.9
QueenAnne’sposthumousreputationgetsevenmoreinterestinginthe
twentiethandtwenty-firstcenturies.AfewnewbiographiesofboththeQueen
andtheDuchesswerepublished,oneofthemostinfluentialbeingOphelia
8
PhilipHenryStanhope.HistoryofEnglandComprisingtheReignofQueenAnneUntil
thePeaceofUtrecht.Leipzig1870,p.81.
9
RachelWeil.“RoyalFlesh,GenderandtheConstructionofMonarchy”inTheBody
oftheQueen.GenderandRuleintheCourtlyWorld1500-2000.Ed.ReginaSchulte.
OxfordandNewYork2006,pp.93-94.