The

Sisters Mary and Anne Stewart, daughters of King James II and Anne Hyde, were both Queen

of England, Ireland and Scotland. Mary ruled as Mary II with her husband William of Orange,

while Anne ruled alone as Anne I, assigning her husband the role of Lord High Admiral

of the Navy. Both women were not only highly competent but also courageous monarchs. They

were decision makers at a time of constitutional change, they oversaw an orchestrated political

and diplomatic achievement in reforms and both proved popular with their subjects. Today

we're going to explore a little bit of their time as monarchs, but we're also going

to learn something about both women's personal lives. The part of a monarch's life that

often remains hidden to us, their loves and their friendships.

If you've seen the film The Favorite, you'll know that Queen Anne had intimate relations

with women, but Anne's relationships with women predated her time as Queen and Mary II

in her youth had strong romantic friendships with women. With whom were these relationships?

What was their nature? What did contemporaries make of them? And how should we think and

write about these relationships today? What does it tell us about the culture and the

court of the time? To discuss Mary and Anne I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Dr. Hannah

Greeg, reader in early modern history at the University of York. Hannah is a historian of

17th and 18th century Britain with a particular interest in gender, material culture and the

cultural histories of politics and state craft. She's published widely on Georgian Britain.

I recommend her book The Bow Monde, Fashionable Society in Georgian London and she's also

a highly experienced consultant to film, theatre and television. Hannah is the historical

adviser to the sensation that is Bridgerton and was the historical consultant for The Favorite.

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