I am, again, grateful for Wikipedia for the information below.
"Anne was born at St. James's Palace, London, the second daughter of James, Duke of York (afterwards James II), and his first wife, Lady Anne Hyde. Her paternal uncle was King Charles II and her older sister was the future Mary II. Anne and Mary were the only children of the Duke and Duchess of York to survive into adulthood.
"Anne suffered as a child from an eye infection; for medical treatment, she was sent to France. She lived with her grandmother, Henrietta Maria of France, and with her aunt, Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orléans, following her grandmother's death. Anne returned to England in 1670.
"In about 1673, Anne made the acquaintance of Sarah Jennings, who became her close friend and one of her most influential advisors. Jennings later married John Churchill (the future Duke of Marlborough), who was to become Anne's most important general.
"In 1673, Anne's father's conversion to Roman Catholicism became public. On the instructions of Charles II, however, Anne and her sister Mary were raised as Protestants.
"On 28 July 1683, Anne married the Protestant Prince George of Denmark-Norway, brother of King Christian V of Denmark-Norway (and her second cousin once removed through Frederick II), an unpopular union but one of great domestic happiness. Sarah Churchill became Anne's Lady of the Bedchamber, and, by Anne's desire to mark their mutual intimacy and affection, all deference due to her rank was abandoned and the two ladies called each other Mrs. Morley and Mrs. Freeman."
Apparently, letter writing was a big thing in those days and women wrote letters to their best friends with amazing intimacy. I put this down to the fact that many were married for reasons of state and not love, so they had to have some kind of emotional outlet.
Sir Winston Churchill, apparently a big fan of Queen Anne, said of her relationship with Sarah Church (his ancestor, by the way) that it was "perfervid." I sure had to look that one up - "adjective - very fervent; extremely ardent; impassioned".
I've included a picture of my business card - I love it. It was designed by Jim Todd of TODD graphics at www.toddgraphic.ns.ca.
