Movie: Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot (2004), Mary & George (2024).
Anne of Denmark’s marriage to King James VI of Scotland (later King James I of England) began with a dramatic courtship and concluded with a long period of marital estrangement prior to her death.
The union was formalized by proxy on August 20, 1589, when Anne was just 14 years old. Her initial attempts to sail to Scotland were repeatedly thwarted by fierce North Sea storms, which contemporary superstitions blamed on witchcraft. Impatient and romantic, King James sailed to Norway to rescue his bride, and the couple married in person at the Old Bishop’s Palace in Oslo on November 23, 1589.
Though early years of the marriage showed mutual affection, severe strains emerged over the custody of their eldest son, Prince Henry, and Anne’s quiet conversion to Roman Catholicism. By the time James ascended the English throne in 1603, the couple’s personal relationship had largely dissolved. They established completely separate households, and by 1609, they no longer lived together.
Confined entirely to Hampton Court Palace after 1618, Anne spent her final months in isolation. Her husband, deeply superstitious and averse to the realities of sickness and death, visited her only three times during her decline.
Anne of Denmark passed away at the age of 44 on March 2, 1619, with her youngest son, the future King Charles I, holding vigil at her bedside. Following her death, she lay in state at Somerset House before receiving a grand royal funeral and interment in Westminster Abbey on May 13, 1619.
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