The Tragedy Of Queen Anne’s 17 Pregnancies
A life of heartbreak
Queen Anne was a monarch who ruled over two separate kingdoms at the start of the 18th century. She ruled from March 1702 until May 1707 as the queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. May of 1707 saw the Acts of Union go into effect, which united England and Scotland into Great Britain. From that point, she ruled as the Queen of Great Britain for another seven years until her death in 1714.
Queen Anne oversaw a tumultuous period in British history which included the War of Spanish succession and religious tension. Her personal life was also fraught with numerous familial deaths and poor health. The result was that her reign ended the rule of the House of Stuart and ushered in the lineage of the House of Hanover to the throne.
One of the saddest and most formative parts of Queen Anne’s person was her numerous pregnancies. Despite being pregnant a stunning 17 times, she produced no heirs, and none of her children lived to adulthood. Her failed pregnancies haunted her and the House of Stuart for years.
By The Numbers
In an example of tragic foreshadowing, Anne’s first child was a stillborn baby girl who was delivered in 1684. The stillborn girl would go on to serve as the first of many tragedies that would stalk Anne during her…
