Oct 3, 2012
Eminent biographer Anne Somerset regaled us with the life and times of her historical namesake, Queen Anne. One of our less well known monarchs, Queen Anne actually had a very colourful reign: despite illness, several miscarriages and the death of her beloved only son and heir, she achieved a number of political triumphs including union between England and Scotland. We discovered some thought-provoking details about Queen Anne, from the fact she was the monarch who attended the most ever cabinet meetings, to the reason she dogged by rumours of lesbian affairs, to why she was criticised for being a leader over-reliant on special advisers (plus ça change I thought…).