English monarch Queen Anne of Great Britain was BOTD in 1665. Born in London, her father was James the Duke of York, the younger brother of King Charles II and the heir presumptive to the throne. James’ Catholicism made him unpopular in Protestant England, and with a view to the future, Charles instructed that Anne was raised an Anglican. James became king in 1685, but was deposed in the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, in which James’ daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange, both Protestants, became joint monarchs. Following their deaths, Anne became Queen in 1702. Under her reign, Scotland joined the kingdom of England, Wales and Ireland, making Anne the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Traditionally viewed as a weak and indecisive ruler, much of her policy decisions were influenced by her childhood friend (and probable lover) Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, who became the de facto ruler of Britain during Anne’s numerous illnesses. Their falling-out resulted in Anne banishing Sarah from court, with Sarah’s cousin Abigail Masham replacing her as court favourite. Anne married Prince George of Denmark in 1683, with whom she had 17 children, none of whom survived childhood. She died in 1714, aged 49. Her legacy as monarch has been rehabilitated in recent years, noting her patronage of the arts and the expansion of the British Empire and trade routes during her reign. She was played as a despairing gout-ridden lesbian by Olivia Colman in the 2018 film The Favourite, a tragic-comic portrait of her shifting affections for Sarah and Abigail.