A Treasury of Royal Scandals by Michael Farquhar

Author:Michael Farquhar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

4

Shattered Sorority

Although the feud between Mary II and her sister, the future Queen Anne, lacked the potential deadliness of the one between Mary I and Elizabeth I, it was every bit as bitter. Oddly enough, Mary and Anne got along famously as they sought to overthrow their father James II. In what became known as The Glorious Revolution, King James was forced to abandon his kingdom and flee to France in 1688. Neither his subjects nor his Protestant daughters would tolerate his autocratic Catholic tendencies. With the throne still warm, Mary and her invading Dutch husband William settled right in as coregents. This was fine with Anne, who even gave up her right to succeed immediately if Mary died before William.

But then things started to get nasty. Mary began bossing her sister around, acting like she was, well, queen of England. Anne was having none of it. The first fight of many was over Anne’s allowance. Mary was annoyed that her sister’s friends, led by Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, had brought the matter of Anne’s finances to the attention of Parliament without ever telling the king and queen. When Mary approached her sister about it, Anne replied nonchalantly that she believed some of her friends simply wanted her to have a decent settlement. “Pray, what friends have you but the king and me?” the queen demanded imperiously.

With that, the claws emerged and a feud was born. Mary started by arbitrarily denying Anne her choice of residence, and at one point took away her guards. Anne ended up getting mugged. King William III joined in, too. Next to his lovely and complacent wife, the king found his hefty sister-in-law willful and obnoxious, and he treated her lazy husband, Prince George of Denmark, little better than a piss boy. In retaliation, and urged on by Sarah Churchill, Anne deliberately snubbed William and Mary. Among her friends she referred to the king as “the Dutch abortion” and slighted her sister at every available opportunity. It was all petty and ridiculous, but it would get much worse.

At the center of the growing breach was Anne’s friend Sarah, the Duchess of Marlborough. While Sarah had already made a habit of stirring things up between the royal sisters, as in the finance matter, her presence in Anne’s inner circle became intolerable to Queen Mary for another reason. Sarah’s husband, the Duke of Marlborough, (the couple were Winston Churchill’s ancestors) had been a leader in the Glorious Revolution that drove James II from the throne. There were indications, however, that the duke’s loyalty was turning back to the deposed king. Certainly he had corresponded with James in exile. For this reason, Marlborough was a threat to William and Mary, and the queen viewed Anne’s friendship with the wife of such a man as insulting, if not treasonous. She demanded her sister send Sarah away, but Anne, stubborn as always, refused.

“This year began with family troubles of mine,” wrote Mary at the beginning of 1692. “Where they will end God only knows.

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