Anne circa 1684 Williem Wissing and Jan van der Vaardt
Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland did not have the longest reign, nor was she a dynamic ruler full of personality and dazzle, but she was better than that. She quietly had a long and loving marriage, suffered the emotional toll of 17 pregnancies and the deaths of the only three children that survived infancy, and instituted changes that are still relevant today. She was a popular and thoughtful monarch who brought stability to a country that had seen more than its share of chaos, and she did that despite England’s involvement in a war that lasted nearly the entirety of her reign.
Queen Anne was born with a far simpler name, Anne Stuart, Lady Ann of York, on February 6, 1665. She was the second of two surviving children of James, Duke of York, and his wife, Anne Hyde, Duchess of York. Anne’s father was the younger son of King Charles I, a king of England who had been removed from power (and life) in the wake of the English Civil War. By the time Anne was born, her family was back in England, her uncle was King Charles II, and her father was the heir presumptive who took the throne in 1685.
The Duke and Duchess of York with their two daughter, Mary and Anne circa 1670 by Peter Lely
Obviously, we go into much more detail in the podcast, but while Anne was second in the line of succession, her sister Mary was ahead of her, neither of the princesses were raised in the manner a male heir would have been. Their education was mostly social and trained them to be wives to kings, not rulers in their own right. Which is a shame, because Mary co-ruled with her husband William beginning in 1689.
Mary only lived for five years of that reign before she died, but her husband sat on the throne until 1702, when he also passed away.
Queen Anne and Prince George, circa 1706 by Charles Boit
Of course, all of Anne’s life had a soundtrack of court intrigue, politics,and men behaving badly, but the worst source of conflict in the kingdom was religion. There’s a short time period called the “Glorious Revolution,” and another king who was forced/ abdicated (it depends on how you look at it) into exile. Also, during this time, Anne was married at 18 to Prince George of Denmark- an arranged marriage for political alliances (weren’t they all?) but in this case they were a unicorn of a couple who got along very well from the start. They had a loving, caring, and committed marriage, but they also had tragedy at every corner in 17 pregnancies that ended in miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant or childhood death.
Anne (not yet Queen) and her only son to survive infancy, William, Duke of Gloucester who lived until age 11. Circa 1694 from the studio of Gidfrey Kneller
And the biggie: she became Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1702. That added another element of complexity to their household, as did Anne’s very close relationship with Sarah Churchill who was, technically, a lady-in-waiting (and a laundry list of other titles) but more importantly, a long-time, very close friend of Anne’s. Sarah was the source of not only drama during Anne’s lifetime, but also mostly responsible for the false legacy Anne was burdened with for many years after she had passed.
Queen Anne, circa 1702 by John Closterman
If all you know about Queen Anne was that relationship with Sarah, you missed a lot of accomplishments from the quiet, reflective, attentive, and very popular queen. We cover a lot of them, but joining Scotland and England into Great Britain is just the start. You should probably listen to this podcast.
Queen Anne died on August 1st, 1714, at the age of 49.
Queen Anne’s statue in the library of Blenheim Palace. OH boy, is there a story with this (and it’s in the podcast.)
Time Travel with The History Chicks
Books!
By Anne SomersetBy Edward GreggBy James Anderson WinnBy Maureen WallerBy John Van der KisteBy Steven Pincus
The City of London, a very small section of the greater London area, is still a separate entity, and what the heck is “The Great Refusal?” Learn more from the Independent Labour Publications website.
Here is the motherlode of intel on six UK palaces, including ones where Anne lived (Hampton Court and Kensington.) There is information about them, about visiting them, lots of articles, and many photos. If you’re interested in the ceiling she commissioned in Hampton Court, you can find more here on Google Arts and Culture. Here is more information about the building she had a major financial hand in building (and one of our favorites), Blenheim Palace (it was Blenheim Castle in Anne’s day.) If you find yourself in the UK and are anything like us–you should visit at least a couple of them.
Queen Anne architecture, however, may still have been a thing but it would just have had a different name that would confuse people less, since she had nothing to do with it. Here’s more about that on a Queen Anne site called, Queen Anne Historical Society about a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington.
Moving Pictures!
We did talk about the movie The Favourite a lot (and we edited out even more, we were feeling chatty that day.) We can’t tell you what to think about it, but we can tell you what we thought about it.
In the podcast, of course.
That 2018 movie with an amazing cast and a lot of building on rumors.
Join us! We have just a few spots left for our Field Trips to the Loire Valley in August, and to Italy in October! For more information and to register, please visit Like Minds Travel!
We finish up our do-over coverage of the (very long) life of Laura Ingalls Wilder! This episode covers the years when she was writing her iconic Little House series- from conception within the pages of a memoir, to the business of writing the books, to the many years it took her to write the series. And we talk about the involvement of her daughter, the prolific writer Rose Wilder Lane, in the creation of the books.
In this episode, we cover Laura’s life outside her Little House series, from her early and traumatic years of marriage, to her, Almanzo, and daughter Rose’s life in Mansfield, Missouri. After the family’s tough years of settling in the Ozarks and establishing their farm, Rocky Ridge, Laura began a work as both a newspaper columnist, a Farm Loan officer, and manager of their family farm. While Almanzo worked farming and building a cozy house for the family, Laura worked her tushie off taking in boarders, cooking for railroad travelers, selling eggs and butter…anything that would create an income.
In Part One we talked about her childhood. In this, Part Two, we cover the years as she established herself as a writer and developed a writing partnership with her world traveling, freelance writer daughter, Rose. In Part Three, we will get to the writing of the books that would engrave Laura’s name in history, and their own story that lived long after Laura’s ended.
All media recommendations and sources will be listed on the final shownotes in two weeks.
Laura, circa 1885 at the time of her marriage to Almanzo. via Wikicommons
Fifteen years ago, in only our second episode, we covered beloved author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Since the 1930s, her Little House book series brought life on the American prairie to millions…and that was before the TV show! Rolling prairies! Gingham bonnets! Half Pint! The books were based on the real life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, but “based on” is carrying a lot of weight here. What was the true story?
When we talked about her in 2011, we were newbie podcasters, and we used the materials and skills we had available at the time. While we have learned a few things over the years, that’s not the biggest difference in Laura’s story. Over those years, there have been A LOT of new studies and biographies about her that shine a light on the darker edges of her story. We decided to cover her again with the materials available to us now in 2026. The basic story is the same, but the details of it? The stories behind the well-known ones? Well, give a listen and find out for yourself.
Part One will cover Laura’s life beginning in Colonial America, through her parents’ story, and all the way to the beginning of her marriage to Almanzo Wilder. We hit all the times and places where her books were set, and the story is far darker than Laura shared in her beloved children’s book series.
TIME TRAVEL WITH THE HISTORY CHICKS
Here are a couple of media recommendations to tide you over until the next episode:
Beckett has a new fascination with whatever this historical fiction genre is. By Sarah MillerAn expert on Laura talks with other experts on Laura. Susan binged the series. Find this show on your favorite podcatcher
All the rest of our media recommendations will be listed in the second part of this series
“Boadicea and her daughters” statue in Westminster, facing Big Ben. Bronze statue created by Thomas Thornycroft, finished in 1883, installed in 1902
Boudica (formerly known as Boadicea ) was a first‑century Celtic queen of the Iceni tribe in what’s now eastern England. After the Roman Empire seized her late husband’s kingdom and brutalized her family, she rallied a massive coalition of tribes and led one of the most famous uprisings in Roman Britain. Her forces burned several Roman towns, including Londinium, and for a brief moment in history, she shook the empire’s confidence. Boudicca’s fame endures as a symbol of resistance, leadership, and fierce defiance against oppression.
We wanted to celebrate both International Women’s History Day on March 8th, and Women’s History Month covering all of March, but how could we possibly pick one or even 31 women to honor? Then we remembered that every month is Women’s History Month here at The History Chicks, so we put together a mini-episode that will lead you from our podcast history to all of women’s history in our catalog and beyond.
We hope that you honor the women who came before us all, and teach the women of the future, however you think is best. Have a listening party, share a woman’s story with people you know, or learn and act on lessons from women’s history in your own life and trust that the ripples will reach far beyond it. xo Beckett & Susan
End song clip: Daughters of History by Morning Sky used with permission
