The baby born yesterday to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is born in the Chinese year of the snake. Politicians take note. The last British monarch born in the year of the snake was Queen Anne. Born a year before the Plague and the Great Fire of London, she was pregnant 17 times but no heir was born. She suffered ill health for much of her life and could scarcely have come to the throne at a more challenging time.
Although her father James was a Catholic, she was raised a Protestant and was our Queen at the time of the Act of Union in1707. Her reign coincided with the advent of the two party politics which has plagued our country for so long.
As I write, the existing Union comes under scrutiny next year when the Scots are given the opportunity to go it alone and revert back to their pre-1707 status. That said, they didn't have oil in 1707! A staunch Tory, she fell out with her best friend and confidante who was a Whig. Sarah Churchill was the Duchess of Marlborough and the victory of the Duke at the Battle of Blenheim gave great impetus to the Whig cause. Strange to consider that their most famous forebear winston was about as prominent a Tory as there has ever been.
The passing of Anne ushered in the German monarchy which has prevailed ever since. Although the current Royals diplomatically changed their name from the Germanic Saxe-Coburg-Gotha at the time of the Great War, they are still German by lineage. Anne reigned for just 12 years, her support of the Union created the largest Free Trade area in Europe at that time. Collectively, the British internal Free Trade is of course just a fraction of their European counterparts for now at any rate.
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