Editing Anne, Queen of Great Britain (section)

== Legacy ==
{{See also|List of things named after Queen Anne|Cultural depictions of Anne, Queen of Great Britain}}
[[File:Detail of Anne of Great Britain statue, St Paul's in spring 2013 (1).JPG|thumb|[[Statue of Queen Anne, St Paul's Churchyard|Statue of Anne]] in front of [[St Paul's Cathedral, London]]. A [[High Tory]] political opponent wrote that "it was fitting she was depicted with her rump to the church, gazing longingly into a wineshop".<ref>Somerset, p. 501</ref>]]

The Duchess of Marlborough "unduly disparaged" Anne in her memoirs,<ref name=yorke /> and her prejudiced recollections<!--also supported by Green, p. 11--> persuaded many early biographers that Anne was "a weak, irresolute woman beset by bedchamber quarrels and deciding high policy on the basis of personalities".<ref>Gregg, p. 401</ref> The Duchess wrote of Anne:
{{Blockquote|
She certainly meant well and was not a fool, but nobody can maintain that she was wise, nor entertaining in conversation. She was ignorant in everything but what the parsons had taught her when a child&nbsp;... Being very ignorant, very fearful, with very little judgement, it is easy to be seen she might mean well, being surrounded with so many artful people, who at last compassed their designs to her dishonour.<ref>Green, p. 330</ref>
}}
Historians have since viewed Anne more favourably. In his biography of 1980, Edward Gregg presents the Queen as a woman of invincible stubbornness, who was the central figure of her age. Gregg's argument depicts her reign as: 
{{Blockquote|
a period of significant progress for the country: Britain became a major military power on land, the union of England and Scotland created a united kingdom of Great Britain, and the economic and political base for the golden age of the 18th century was established. However, the Queen herself has received little credit for these achievements and has long been depicted as a weak and ineffectual monarch, dominated by her advisers.<ref>Hensbergen, Claudine; Bernard, Stephen (2014) "Introduction" ''Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies'', vol. 37, no. 2, p. 140</ref>}}
In the opinion of modern historians, traditional assessments of Anne as fat, constantly pregnant, under the influence of favourites, and lacking political astuteness or interest may derive from sexist prejudices against women.<ref>Waller, p. 313; see also Somerset, pp. 541–543 for a similar view.</ref> Author David Green noted, "Hers was not, as used to be supposed, petticoat government. She had considerable power; yet time and time again she had to capitulate."<ref>Green, p. 14</ref> Gregg concluded that Anne was often able to impose her will, even though, as a woman in an age of male dominance and preoccupied by her health, her reign was marked by an increase in the influence of ministers and a decrease in the influence of the Crown.<ref>Gregg, p. 404</ref> She attended more cabinet meetings than any of her predecessors or successors,<ref>Green, p. 97; Gregg, p. 141</ref> and presided over an age of artistic, literary, scientific, economic and political advancement that was made possible by the stability and prosperity of her reign.<ref>Curtis, p. 204</ref> In architecture, [[John Vanbrugh|Sir John Vanbrugh]] constructed [[Blenheim Palace]] and [[Castle Howard]].<ref>Curtis, pp. 124–131</ref> [[Queen Anne-style architecture]] and [[Queen Anne-style furniture]] were named after her.<ref name="Gregg, p. 132">Gregg, p. 132</ref> Writers such as [[Daniel Defoe]], [[Alexander Pope]], and [[Jonathan Swift]] flourished.<ref name="Gregg, p. 132" /> [[Henry Wise (gardener)|Henry Wise]] laid out new gardens at Blenheim, Kensington, Windsor and St James's.<ref>Curtis, pp. 131, 136–137</ref> The union of England and Scotland, which Anne had fervently supported,<ref>Gregg, p. 405</ref> created Europe's largest free trade area.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 January 2007 |title=Quick Guide: Act of Union |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6263977.stm |access-date=26 March 2013 |website=BBC News}}</ref> The political and diplomatic achievements of Anne's governments, and the absence of constitutional conflict between monarch and parliament during her reign, indicate that she chose ministers and exercised her prerogatives wisely.<ref>Waller, pp. 313, 317, 328</ref>