Queen of Scotland, Queen of England

Anne of Denmark is where the title of Queen of England meets a changeover. For Anne was Queen of England but she was already Queen of Scotland and her tenure marks the start of the period of unification. So, by rights, this first consort of the English House of Stuart should be really rather well known. Instead, like many of the royal wives of her time, she has fallen into something of an historical shadow. She is a pretty much forgotten queen, dismissed by some as frivolous and passed over in the history books. But Anne's story holds plenty of intrigue.

Plenty of that curiosity comes from the state of her relationship with her royal spouse. James VI had been King of Scotland since the age of 1 and, twenty years into his reign, decided he needed a wife. Denmark appealed to him for political, religious and economic reasons and also had a handy stash of princesses of marriageable age.  So far, so very royal. Anne was the daughter of King Frederik II of Denmark and his wife, Sophie of Mecklenberg-Gustow, and grew up in a happy family. She was apparently thrilled by the prospect of marrying James when the wedding was proposed in 1589.  That was despite the rumours that James had male lovers - something the then fourteen year old Anne was not aware of.  She is said to have embroidered shirts for her future husband as a token of love.  On her marriage she became Queen of Scotland and fifteen years later, Queen of England, when the childless Elizabeth I named James as her successor.

 

As a queen Anne was a great patron of the arts and commissioned plays as well as expanding the royal art collection.  She also liked to throw her weight about at home, once refusing to get out of bed for two days after her husband dismissed some favourite ladies in waiting and writing to a French envoy that the king was a bit too partial to a drink or three for her liking. For although James had been a paragon of romance in the early years of their marriage, his attentions had waned.

 

Her legacy is largely over shadowed by the sad story of the House of Stuart and the execution of her son, Charles I, in 1649.  By then, Anne was dead.  But through her daughter, Elizabeth, she secured the British throne once more when a lack of heirs threatened it.  Elizabeth's descendants were the Hanoverian kings of England.