Anne's dearest wish in her last months was to make her brother her heir. The reason why her intentions didn't come to a good end is unknown to me.

So, Anne supported Mary to be nearer to the throne, but once she saw she herself would die without issue, she would probably prefer her half-brother on the throne rather than a hated second cousin. Furthermore, she second in line to the throne until James's birth, and Mary had been married for 11 years and still didn't have any progeny. she was just selfish and betrayed her father because having her sister at the throne would bring more benefits for her. I don't think she ever thought James Edward wasn't her half-brother. maybe because he had rejected her as a bride years before?) and because she probably felt that what belonged to the Stuarts should remain in Stuart hands. I think she did it because she hated George of Hanover (for some reason unknown to me. I imagine that would be a few years after the Duke of Gloucester died in 1700. I read somewhere that Anne tried to make James her heir once she became aware that she would be unable to bear a healthy child herself. I guess that even if she had wanted to do so, the government would never have allowed it.

I don't remember anything about Anne intending to make James her heir but it is a while since I read the book. If I remember rightly, she was one of the first to jump on the rumour that her stepmother Mary of Modena (who had always been very kind to her) had tried to pass an imposter baby off as her newborn son James. In the book, Anne came across as a rather spiteful and two faced individual. I read an excellent book called 'Ungrateful Daughters' by Maureen Waller which described the lives of Anne and her sister Mary. Anne was a vengeful type easily manipulated by others. She had every intention of making James her heir, and it was only the circumstances of her early death which made this impossible.Īnne was dead by this time and her actions towards her family showed that she didn't have much love or respect for them. Quote from: Modena1 on October 28, 2007, 06:46:59 PM -[Īnne would have 'hated' the fact that Peter the Great went to France 20 years later and went to see Madame de Maintenon and Queen Mary of Modena.Īlthough this was not the main purpose of Peter's visit to France, I don't see why Anne would have 'hated' the respect paid to her brother and step mother( in 1717). Discussions about the Imperial Family and European Royalty > The Stuarts of Scotland

Ungrateful Daughters by Maureen Waller