Anne, Queen of Great Britain

Anne of Great Britain (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) was the Queen of England (which included Wales), Scotland and Ireland. During her reign, the kingdoms of England and Scotland came together to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain (the first form of the United Kingdom). For this reason, she is the first monarch to rule over the UK.

 Becoming Queen 
Anne was born during the reign of her uncle, King Charles II. After Charles' death, Anne's father James II became King of England. James was unpopular because he was Catholic. James was replaced by Anne's older sister, Mary II and her husband William III. Mary and William had no children. Anne became Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland on 8 March 1702 after the death of William. 

 Kingdom of Great Britain 
In her first speech to the Parliament of England, Anne said it was important to unite England and Scotland. In 1707, they both formed to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.

 Personal life 
Anne was married to Prince George of Denmark, who died in 1708. Anne was pregnant 17 times but none of her children survived to adulthood. In her 30s, she became very ill and obese.

 Death 
Queen Anne died on 1 August 1714. Doctors say she died because of stress and overall poor health as well as being overweight. Because of the Act of Settlement and the fact that Anne had no surviving children, the next King of Britain was George I, her cousin.

References

Category:1665 births
Category:1714 deaths
Category:House of Stuart
Category:Kings and Queens of Scotland
Category:Kings and Queens of Great Britain
Category:17th century in Scotland