Queen Anne
After the sudden death of William of Orange, in a riding accident in 1702, Anne, the second daughter of James II and younger sister of Queen Mary (of William and Mary fame), became Queen of England.
She died in 1714 of the blood disease porphyria and George, Elector of Hanover, became King of England. He didn't speak English, didn't care about English politics, and spent most of his time at "home" in Hanover. But amazingly enough, James Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, still wasn't able to seize power. The Stuarts were gone for good. George I's biggest contribution to England was the creation of the first prime minister, Robert Walpole, who was needed since the King seemed unlikely to play any role in the governing of the Kingdom. George I died of a stroke on a journey to his beloved Hanover on October 11, 1727.
© 2004 Kass McGann. All Rights Reserved. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
