Assassination: The Royal Family's 1000-Year Curse (38 page)

Two weeks later, Anne declared war on France. The issue was the inheritance of King Carlos II of Spain. He was a Habsburg, and like all the Habsburgs he suffered from generations of inbreeding. Carlos’s father had married his niece, so Carlos’s mother was also his cousin and his grandmother was his aunt. He had the Habsburg large lower lip, which with an oversized tongue made him drool, and he also had the Habsburg jaw. In fact, Carlos’s jaw was so large that his upper and lower teeth could not meet. As a result, he was unable to chew food, and this led to intestinal problems. Carlos was also lame, epileptic, impotent and mentally deficient. Obviously, he had not produced an heir.

The problem was that a united Spain and France under one monarch was unacceptable to the Alliance (England, Austria, the Dutch Republic, Savoy, Prussia and Portugal). That seemed to be a distinct possibility on Carlos’s death, and it had to be prevented.

The next in line after Carlos had been his half-sister, MariaTheresa. She had married King Louis XIV of France. But MariaTheresa had died in 1700, so the heir to the Spanish crown was her son, and he was also the Dauphin, the heir to the French crown. Looking to the next in line was no help, as the Dauphin’s elder son, Louis, was also likely to become King of France in the future. France and the Alliance agreed a compromise; the Dauphin’s second son, Philip of Anjou would share Carlos’s titles and lands with Archduke Charles of Austria, Carlos’s cousin.

However, when Carlos died, angered to have seen others dividing his lands while he still reigned, he left everything by will to Philip. Despite the agreement with the Alliance, Louis XIV immediately sent his forces to the Spanish Netherlands to support Philip in securing the entire Spanish inheritance.

The War of the Spanish Succession began, the Alliance being opposed by France, Spain, Bavaria and Hungary. In the Earl of Marlborough, the Alliance had a commander who started as he would continue, capturing Venlo, Stevensweert, Roermond and Liege. Anne rewarded Churchill by elevating him to Duke of Marlborough, the highest rank she could bestow. Sarah was unimpressed; the title brought no extra revenue. So Anne offered Sarah £2,000 a year out of the Privy Purse (the sovereign’s private income). Sarah was disappointed with the amount, and rejected the offer. Nine years later, Sarah changed her mind and claimed the annual payment and all the arrears.

The year 1703 brought a setback for the Marlboroughs when their only surviving son died of smallpox at the age of seventeen. Sarah was overcome with grief; Marlborough’s solace was his military campaigning.

In 1704, Marlborough realised that it was not the Netherlands but the Emperor who needed support, as the French were threatening to take Vienna. Marlborough told no one of his new plan of action, pretending to the French and to his allies that the defence of the Netherlands was England’s main concern. He marched his troops to the west as if he was about to attack Lorraine or Alsace. Then he suddenly moved to the south-east. Now Marlborough informed his allies of his intentions, and he was joined by the Emperor’s army led by Prince Eugene of Savoy. On 13th August, the two most gifted commanders of their day led the attack against the French and Bavarian armies near the Bavarian village of Blindheim (called ‘Blenheim’ by the English), securing a brilliant victory and the destruction of the French Army. Belief in the invincibility of Louis’ forces was ended. Louis even issued an edict making it a crime to speak of Blenheim.

All England rejoiced in the country’s greatest victory for almost 300 years. Marlborough was the national hero. The navy’s equally important capture of Gibraltar went almost unnoticed.

The Emperor created Marlborough the Prince of Mindelheim, a prince of the Holy Roman Empire; the title giving Marlborough royal status on a par with most of the other commanders. Anne had nothing more to grant him; ‘duke’ had been as much as was available. However, Sarah was dissatisfied with being Princess of Mindelheim. It brought little money (£1,500 per year and Marlborough’s investiture ceremony cost him £4,500) and she said that she could not even find Mindelheim on a map. Sarah had a better idea; she complained to Anne that the Marlboroughs’ mansion in St Albans was inadequate for their elevated status. They needed something grander. So Anne gave the Duke and his heirs the Manor of Woodstock in return for the annual presentation to the monarch of a replica of the French colours – still being delivered to this day. On the land, at huge expense to Anne, the State and Marlborough, the massive Blenheim Palace was built over a period of 17 years.
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Next there was a problem with Scotland. Ever since James I, the monarch had not been King or Queen of England and Scotland, but King or Queen of England and King or Queen of Scotland. The countries were not united, because neither parliament had wanted union. As a result, although the Act of Settlement promised the crown of England to the House of Hanover, that promise did not bind Scotland.

North of the border there was no rush to deal with the succession. The Scottish Parliament decided that they would leave the selection of the next monarch of Scotland until after Anne had died. They agreed that it would be a Protestant in the Scottish royal line, but said it would not be the same person as the new English sovereign unless the English granted freedom of trade to Scottish merchants. The English were worried; there was a real danger that when Anne died, the Scots might choose James Francis Edward Stuart (son of James II) if he converted from Catholicism. That would enable his ally, Louis XIV, to use Scotland as a base from which to attack England.

In retaliation, the English threatened economic sanctions. It was an opportune time, as Scotland was virtually bankrupt following the failure of the Darien Scheme to establish a colony in Panama. Hundreds of Scottish colonists died, hundreds of Scots were ruined. Negotiations began.

On the Continent, despite Blenheim, the war in Europe continued. It soon produced another victory for Marlborough, this time at Ramillies in Flanders. The new French army was destroyed, and the Spanish Netherlands was freed from French control.

There had to be a new reward, but there were no honours left to bestow on Marlborough. However there was something that could be done for him. The Marlboroughs now had two daughters but no son; on Marlborough’s death, the dukedom would become extinct. So a special Act of Parliament was passed allowing the dukedom to descend through the female line.

The year 1707 saw the parliaments of England and Scotland agree to the union of the two nations, and Anne became the first monarch of Great Britain. Naturally, the union was hated by the Jacobite Scots, and Louis saw his chance. In 1708, he sent James II’s son, James Stuart, to Scotland with French troops to claim the throne. The invasion was a disaster. James contracted measles, and when his fleet reached the Firth of Forth on the east coast of Scotland, it was chased away by the British Navy. Without having set foot on Scottish soil, James returned to France.

More success as Marlborough (supported by Prince Eugene and Count Overkirk) won a famous victory against the French at Oudenarde. The Alliance cavalry led by Danish General Rantzau included a Hanoverian unit commanded by George, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, the oldest son of Sophia of Hanover. As the French vanguard advanced, they were attacked by Rantzau’s horsemen who charged, destroying much of the vanguard and forcing the survivors to retreat. Rantzau’s cavalry pursued them, but then found themselves confronted by the French cavalry. Now heavily outnumbered, Rantzau ordered his men to withdraw. Taking the last opportunity, the French aimed their guns, each man selecting a target, and fired. The shot aimed at the officer alongside George found its target, the officer was killed outright; the shot aimed at George was less accurate, it narrowly missed him and killed his horse. Falling to the ground, George managed to mount a riderless horse, and he withdrew with the rest of his squadron. The attempt to kill him had failed. By the end of the day, the Alliance had gained a decisive victory, later forcing their way into France and capturing Lille, the strongest fortress in Europe, then taking Bruges and then Ghent. Arrangements were made for a victory celebration at St Paul’s Cathedral.

St Paul’s was being prepared for the ceremony, and workmen were clambering around, completing their tasks and checking that all was in order. Suddenly, one workman looked at the beams directly over the area where Anne would be sitting. Then he looked closer. The screw-bolts holding the beams were loose, very loose. What had happened? Had they not been screwed in properly or had someone unscrewed them? Either way, something was seriously wrong. The screw-bolts were immediately tightened so as to secure the beams and the chandelier attached to them.

What was it all about? The point was that the Whigs were the ‘war party’, and Whig supporters were making a fortune out of the conflict. Marlborough alone was receiving a 2.5% commission from providers to the army, including £64,000 from the suppliers of bread and £230,000 from the payment for foreign troops. Peace would end their income. According to the Tories, the so-called ‘Screw Plot’ was a Whig attempt to assassinate Tory-supporting Anne, with the beams and chandelier crashing down on her, so that she would be replaced by a Whig-supporting pro-war monarch. According to the Whigs, the loose screws were no more than negligence by some workmen, and it was being used by the Tories to turn Anne even further against the Whigs and to lower the Whigs in public esteem. Anyway, with the screws tightened, the ceremony took place without incident. The attempt to kill Queen Anne, if that is what it was, failed.

The ceremony led to a rift between Anne and Sarah when Sarah publicly chastised Anne on the steps of the cathedral for not wearing the jewels Sarah had laid out for her. When Anne tried to explain what had happened, Sarah told her to keep quiet. Sarah was now falling out of favour, although Marlborough was still needed. His next victory was at Malplaquet, but it was at the cost of 20,000 lives.

The French rejoiced briefly in the mistaken belief that Marlborough had been killed. A song was quickly written, mockingly telling of how news of Marlborough’s death was brought to his wife: “Your beautiful eyes will weep at the news I bring; Monsieur Marbroug is dead.” An English wit took the tune and wrote new words congratulating Marlborough: “For he’s a jolly good fellow”, and in time it became the second most popular song in the English language.

In late 1708, Anne’s husband, Prince George, died. Anne was heartbroken. Sarah was no help at all, only complaining of her own mistreatment. Further rows between the two women led to Anne finally dismissing Sarah from all her positions.

Like William before her, Anne relieved her loneliness by horse riding. One day, when riding out from Windsor Castle, she came upon an area of open heath that she said was suitable for “horses to gallop at full stretch”. It was near the village of ‘Eastcote’, at times called by the similar-sounding name of ‘Ascot’; and shortly afterwards, Ascot Racecourse was opened.

Suddenly, peace became more desirable, even to the Whigs, when Archduke Charles succeeded to the crown of Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire on the death of his brother. The Alliance had been opposing a French King of Spain who might join Spain with France. Their preference had been Archduke Charles, a man with only minor territories. Now that had changed; if Charles became King of Spain it would join Spain with his newly inherited central European territories. The Austrian Habsburgs with Spain would be as great a threat as the French Bourbons with Spain.

Terms were agreed for the division of King Carlos’s inheritance. After the deaths of 400,000 soldiers, it was very much on the lines of what had been agreed before Carlos died. Philip could have Spain provided he abandoned his succession rights to the French throne, and Charles was given most of the Spanish territories in Italy as well as the Spanish Netherlands (what is now Belgium).

The treaty also confirmed various conquests, and the British took the opportunity to secure territories and rights around the world. Britain was granted a thirty-year monopoly of the Spanish-American slave trade, ownership of Gibraltar, Nova Scotia, St Kitts, Minorca, Hudson Bay territories and Acadia (French north-east America, Canada and Newfoundland). However, Mindelheim was returned to Bavaria, and Orange was confirmed as part of France. In addition, Savoy took Sicily and part of Milan, and Portugal’s sovereignty over Brazil was agreed. Finally, Louis undertook to recognise the Protestant succession in Britain, and he promised not to give further aid to the Jacobites. The terms of the peace were contained in the Treaty of Utrecht.

With peace agreed, there was no need for Marlborough, so Anne relieved him of his command. He thanked her for the great honour of being dismissed by her own hand, and then threw the dismissal letter into the fire.

By now, Anne’s physical condition was deteriorating. She became very ill, and although she recovered, the shape of her face had changed and it had become discoloured. Her death was expected at any moment. The succession of Sophia of Hanover was considered a foregone conclusion, even though she was 34 years older than Anne. On 8th June 1714, Sophia was taking a walk in her gardens, when it suddenly began to rain heavily. Sophia ran for shelter, but at the age of 83, the strain was too much. She collapsed and died. Now her son, George, was the heir. Unfortunately he could not visit England to facilitate a smooth succession, because after the insult when George rejected marriage, Anne had ordered that no member of the House of Hanover could set foot in England while she was alive.

In late July, Anne collapsed, trembling, feverish and bleeding from the nose. If she was ill now, her doctors would ensure that it got worse. She was bled again and again in line with the belief that fever was caused by having too much blood rushing round the body. Hot irons were placed all over her so that she would blister, they gave her drugs to make her vomit, they covered her legs with garlic, and then they shaved all her hair off. She must have regretted the discovery of the loose screwbolts. If anyone killed Anne, it was her seven doctors, and on 1st August 1714, Queen Anne died. It was probably a relief.