Editing Anne, Queen of Great Britain (section)

==Early life==
[[File:The Duke and Duchess of York with their two daughters..jpg|thumb|left|Anne (centre) and her sister Mary (left) with their parents, the Duke and Duchess of York, painted by [[Peter Lely]] and [[Benedetto Gennari II]]]]
Anne was born at 11:39&nbsp;p.m. on 6 February 1665 at [[St James's Palace]], London, the fourth child and second daughter of the Duke of York (later [[James II and VII|King James II and VII]]), and his first wife, [[Anne Hyde]].<ref>Curtis, pp. 12–17; Gregg, p. 4</ref> Her father was the younger brother of [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]], who ruled the three kingdoms of [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]], and her mother was the daughter of Lord Chancellor [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon]]. At her [[Anglican]] baptism in the [[Chapel Royal]] at St James's, her older sister, [[Mary II of England|Mary]], was one of her godparents, along with the [[Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch|Duchess of Monmouth]] and the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Gilbert Sheldon]].<ref>Gregg, p. 4</ref> Anne's parents had eight children, but Anne and Mary were the only ones to survive into adulthood.<ref>Green, p. 17; Gregg, p. 6; Waller, pp. 293–295</ref>

As a child, Anne had an eye condition, which manifested as excessive watering known as "defluxion". For medical treatment, she was sent to France, where she lived with her paternal grandmother, [[Henrietta Maria of France]], at the Château de Colombes near Paris.<ref>Curtis, pp. 19–21; Green, p. 20; Gregg, p. 6</ref> Following her grandmother's death in 1669, Anne lived with an aunt, [[Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orléans]]. On the sudden death of her aunt in 1670, Anne returned to England. Her mother died the following year.<ref>Curtis, pp. 21–23; Gregg, p. 8; Somerset, pp. 11–13; Waller, p. 295</ref>

As was traditional in the royal family, Anne and her sister were brought up separated from their father in their own establishment at [[Richmond, London|Richmond]] in Surrey.<ref>Gregg, p. 5</ref> On the instructions of Charles II, they were raised as Protestants, despite their father being a Catholic.<ref>Curtis, pp. 23–24; Gregg, p. 13; Somerset, p. 20</ref> Placed in the care of Colonel [[Edward Villiers (1620–1689)|Edward]] and [[Lady Frances Villiers]],<ref>Green, p. 21; Gregg, p. 5</ref> their education was focused on the teachings of the Anglican church.<ref>Curtis, p. 28; Gregg, p. 13; Waller, p. 296</ref> [[Henry Compton (bishop)|Henry Compton]], [[Bishop of London]], was appointed as Anne's [[preceptor]].<ref>Somerset, p. 20</ref>

Around 1671, Anne first made the acquaintance of [[Sarah Jennings]], who later became her close friend and one of her most influential advisors.<ref>Curtis, p. 27; Green, p. 21; Gregg, p. 28</ref> Jennings married [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|John Churchill (the future Duke of Marlborough)]] in about 1678. His sister, [[Arabella Churchill (royal mistress)|Arabella]], was the Duke of York's mistress, and he was to be Anne's most important general.<ref>Curtis, p. 34; Green, p. 29; Gregg, p. 28</ref>

In 1673, James's conversion to Catholicism became public, and he married a Catholic princess, [[Mary of Modena]], who was only six and a half years older than Anne. Charles II had no legitimate children, and so James was next in the line of succession, followed by his two surviving daughters from his first marriage, Mary and Anne—as long as he had no son. Over the next ten years, Mary of Modena had ten children, but all were either stillborn or died in infancy, leaving Mary and Anne second and third in the line of succession after their father.<ref>Weir, pp. 260–261</ref> There is every indication that, throughout Anne's early life, she and her stepmother got on well together,<ref>Somerset, pp. 22–23</ref> and James was a conscientious and loving father.<ref>Somerset, pp. 8–9</ref>