2-641-060 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Queen Anne', c18th century. Anne (1665-1714) was the daughter of James II, deposed by William of Orange in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The last Stuart monarch, she came to the throne after the death of William in 1702, and became the first monarch of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the signing of the Act of Union in 1707. Her reign saw a decline of the power of the crown in favour of that of ministers as well as the development of a two party system of politics. Her inability to produce an heir precipitated a succession crisis, with parliament passing legislation to hand the crown to the House of Hanover in order to prevent the Catholic Old Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart, from claiming the throne.