Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion (18 page)

To do Anne justice, she was far from alone in harbouring such opinions. The Imperial ambassador estimated that two thirds of the country did not think the baby was legitimate. In later years, however, many people who, in the febrile climate of 1688, had been ready to believe that the Prince of Wales was supposititious, would privately concede that the evidence for this was flawed to say the least. Anne, in contrast, clung to the views formed then with great tenacity. In 1702 Bishop Lloyd recalled having heard Anne ‘express her dissatisfaction of the truth of the Prince of Wales birth and give such reasons for it as would convince any man he was an imposter, except such as were obstinate’.
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Since there is no evidence to show that she modified her outlook in later years, it can be argued that she did indeed remain ‘of the number of unbelievers’ to the end of her life.

On 15 June the seven bishops had been freed on bail, but much depended on the outcome of their trial, set for 29 June. ‘One cannot help having a thousand fears and melancholy thoughts’, Anne told her sister, but when the hearing took place in Westminster Hall the bishops were acquitted. The verdict was greeted with ‘wild huzzas and acclamations’ and that evening many more celebratory bonfires blazed than had been lit to mark the Prince of Wales’s birth.
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The King appeared undaunted: soon afterwards he ordered the Ecclesiastical Commission to compile lists of all clergymen who had failed to read out the Declaration of Indulgence, with a view to penalising them.

In fact, however, the regime was now under threat. On the day that the bishops had been acquitted, seven prominent individuals, including Anne’s former mentor, Bishop Compton, had invited William of Orange
to come to England with an army in order to salvage the country’s ‘religion, liberty and properties, all of which had been greatly invaded’. They assured him that if he did so he would be welcomed by large numbers of the nobility and gentry, and that most of James’s army would desert him.
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For some time now William of Orange had been contemplating taking military action against his father-in-law. Since late 1687 he had been building up Holland’s navy and army, and though these forces could have been intended to defend his country against a French attack, intervention in England was henceforward a feasible option. Understandably James was reluctant to think that his son-in-law’s military preparations were directed against him. Still less did he imagine that Anne and George would support such a venture.

The announcement of Mary Beatrice’s pregnancy on New Year’s Day 1688 had helped convince William that action was necessary. In April the Prince had informed Edward Russell, who was visiting Holland, that if ‘some men of the best interest’ in England invited him ‘to come and rescue the nation and the religion he believed he could be ready by the end of September’ to sail there with an army.
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On his return Russell had sounded out leading politicians, but it was not until the end of June that enough men of distinction pledged their support, and the desired invitation was despatched. William now felt justified in pressing forward with his plans.

As yet Anne remained unaware of all this. On 9 July, she wrote to Mary complaining that ‘the Papists are all so very insolent that it is insupportable living with them’, but concluded resignedly ‘there is no remedy but patience’. She told Mary that she now found it almost unbearable living in close proximity to her father and stepmother, and she therefore welcomed the fact that her doctors had pronounced that another visit to the spa at Tunbridge Wells would be the best way of guarding against another miscarriage. ‘I confess I am very glad’ she confided to her sister, ‘for it is very uneasy to me to be with people that every moment of one’s life one must be dissembling with and put on a face of joy when one’s heart has more cause to ache … You may easily imagine as the world goes now, to a sincere mind the court must be very disagreeable’.
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Mary, however, had work for Anne to carry out prior to leaving for Tunbridge. She was deeply vexed that her sister had not been present when their stepmother gave birth, noting irritably in her journal that Anne had ‘committed an irreparable error by being far away’. She also
considered that Anne had been remiss about collecting reliable information since her return. She had written to her sister upbraiding her for not being ‘more particular’ and making it plain that she considered she had been ‘negligent’ about keeping her informed. Mary then drew up a long questionnaire, demanding answers to twenty-three queries. She wanted to know precise details about all aspects of the Queen’s labour and the circumstances of the child’s birth, stressing that on every point ‘a critical answer, as near to a minute as it is possible, is desired’. Among other things she wanted to know whether Mary Beatrice had taken measures to stop the flow of milk, as was usual when mothers did not breastfeed; whether it was true, as reported, that the Queen’s bed curtains had been drawn during her labour so witnesses could see nothing; and exactly who had been present in the bedchamber.
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Anne was understandably hurt, and while conceding ‘I am generally lazy’, she protested ‘I have never missed any opportunity of giving you all the intelligence I am able’. She decided the best way of proceeding was to approach the Queen’s dresser Mrs Dawson, a faithful old retainer who had been present at Anne’s birth and those of all her siblings. Anne calculated that the discreet Mrs Dawson was unlikely to mention their conversation, although she also took the precaution of asking questions ‘in such a manner that … in case she should betray me … the King and Queen might not be angry with me’.
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Having waited until the King and Queen had left London for Windsor and the baby prince had been installed in his nursery at Richmond, Anne asked Mrs Dawson to come and see her at the Cockpit. When they were alone together the Princess explained she had ‘heard strange reports concerning the birth of her brother the Prince of Wales’, and asked her what happened on that day. Mrs Dawson asked sharply if Anne herself entertained any doubts about the child’s legitimacy, at which Anne, ‘putting her hands together and lifting them up’, disingenuously assured her, ‘No, not in the least’.
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Mrs Dawson then told her everything she could recall about the Prince’s arrival.

Nothing that Mrs Dawson said supported the theory that a fraud had taken place. Anne reported to Mary that the Queen had not been screened from view, as her bed curtains had been open at the side. Twenty ladies had been present, as well as all the Privy Council, who ‘stood close at the bed’s feet’. Mrs Dawson not only remembered seeing milk run from the Queen’s breast but had also watched ‘the midwife cut the navel string’. Yet although Anne’s research had yielded such disappointing results, she would not modify her views on that account.
‘All that she says seems very clear, but one does not know what to think’ she told Mary, adding doggedly, ‘methinks it is wonderful if it is no cheat, that they never took no pains to convince me of it’.
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There appeared to be quite a good chance that the baby Prince would resolve the crisis by dying. At birth he had been observed to be ‘a brave lusty boy and like to live’, but since then the doctors had nearly succeeded in killing him. They had decreed that he should not take milk from a wet nurse, and instead fed him ‘a sort of paste’ composed of ‘barley, flour, water and sugar, to which a few currants are sometimes added’. Hardly surprisingly, the baby was soon seriously ill, but the doctors insisted ‘they would not give him half an hour to live if he were suckled’. Instead they administered ‘violent remedies’ such as canary wine and Dr Goddard’s drops – ‘nothing less than liquid fire’ according to one despairing observer. With the child reduced to ‘a seeming dying condition’ they dosed him with an emetic. On 9 July Anne had reported hopefully, ‘the Prince of Wales has been ill these three or four days; and if he has been as bad as some people say, I believe it will not be long before he is an angel in heaven’.
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At times Anne inclined to the view that the King and Queen were merely pretending the child was ill in order to keep him out of sight, but the few glimpses she had of the baby confirmed that he was truly very sickly. In her questionnaire Mary had wanted to know, ‘Is the Queen fond of it?’ and Anne did not scruple to imply that Mary Beatrice displayed a suspicious lack of maternal feeling. She noted that at one point when the child had been reported to be ‘very ill of a looseness, and it really looked so’, the Queen had appeared oddly unconcerned. ‘When she came from prayers she went to dinner without seeing it, and after that played at comet [a card game] and did not go to it till she was put out of the pool’. However, the Imperial ambassador reported that the Queen visited her ailing infant every day at Richmond, and only returned at one in the morning, ‘crying abundantly’.
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When Anne left London for Tunbridge on 27 July the Prince was still clinging precariously to life. About a week later she received an urgent message there that the child was undergoing another crisis, and it was thought inevitable that he would die. However, once again the baby confounded all predictions. On next seeing him the doctors found him ‘strangely revived’, and some of them allegedly told Bishop Lloyd of St Asaph they could not believe it was the same child. This gave rise to new suspicions. Some people now propounded the idea that the child who had been smuggled into St James’s Palace on 10 June had died, and that
another one had been substituted in its place. It was even suggested that this process had occurred more than once, and ‘a third imposter’ was currently masquerading as the Prince of Wales. Bishop Compton reportedly subscribed to the belief that several babies had been kept in readiness to be produced as needed, and he told Bishop Lloyd that he understood ‘a busy intriguing Papist woman’ had tried to buy the child of a London bricklayer for this purpose. A Jacobite sympathiser would later comment ‘To palm one child upon a nation is certainly a thing very difficult; but to palm three … next to impossible’. Nevertheless, when Bishop Lloyd subsequently discussed these stories with Anne, he received the impression that she gave them some credence.
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In truth, the explanation for the baby’s sudden recovery was perfectly straightforward. The doctors had finally relented and agreed that a wet nurse could feed the baby. ‘Upon sucking, he visibly mended’.
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Once it appeared that the succession issue would not be conveniently resolved by the baby’s death, it became clear that only drastic action could prevent James from implementing his plans. It was at this point that Churchill alerted Anne and George that William was planning to invade, and they gave the project their blessing.

Churchill had not been one of the seven men who signed the invitation to William, but during July the conspirators had approached him and two other leading army officers. Not only did all three give assurances that in the event of invasion the army would not stand by the King, but ‘Churchill did … undertake for Prince George and Princess Anne’, indicating that he could prevail on them to align themselves with William.
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On 28 July Edward Russell wrote William a letter in rudimentary code, referring to Churchill as ‘Mr Roberts’. He explained that the latter had now proffered ‘his utmost service’ to William, and that he was ready to use his influence to good effect. Russell went on, ‘When your Highness thinks the time proper for Mr Roberts’s mistress [the Princess] to know your thoughts, be pleased to let him tell it her; it will be better in my humble opinion than by letter’. Churchill himself wrote to William on 4 August, declaring his intention to conduct himself in accordance with ‘what I owe God and my country’. It cannot have been long after this that Churchill let Anne and George into the secret of what was contemplated. There is no way of knowing whether the couple proved eager or reluctant to pledge support for William, but certainly they now committed themselves to the venture. Presumably Churchill enlisted the aid of his wife in this delicate matter, although she drew a veil over what happened at this time. King James, however, would later contend that Churchill
bore sole responsibility for persuading Anne to withdraw her allegiance from him, commenting bitterly, ‘He and he alone has done this. He has corrupted my army. He has corrupted my child’.
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Over the next few weeks all those privy to the conspiracy worked stealthily to bring in more adherents. Churchill and Bishop Compton, possibly assisted by Anne and George themselves, were able to attract the support of people in the Princess’s circle who were naturally of a conservative disposition, but whose patience with James was now exhausted. They included the Duke of Ormonde, Lord Scarsdale, and Anne’s Master of the Horse, Colonel John Berkeley. Clarendon’s son Lord Cornbury was also enlisted, as was another first cousin of the Princess, the Duke of Grafton. Anne and George’s involvement in the plot was reassuring to these individuals, who were instinctive supporters of monarchy. In September Bishop Compton travelled through England to Yorkshire, coordinating arrangements. Although all seven men who had invited William to England had promised to join him when he landed, it was agreed that Compton should be in London so that he could be on hand to take care of the Princess.
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On 17 September Anne returned to London, nursing the secret that the Prince of Orange would soon be invading. To justify leading a retired life she untruthfully gave out that she was pregnant, but she could not avoid all contact with her father and stepmother. After spending the day with them at Windsor on 18 September she travelled back to London that evening with James in his coach, managing not to arouse any suspicions regarding her loyalty.