ANNE OF DENMARK queen of James I. of England and VI. of Scotland, daughter of King Frederick II. of Denmark and Norway and of Sophia, daughter of Ulric III., duke of Mecklenburg, was born on Dec. 12 15 74. On Aug. 20 1589, in spite of Queen Elizabeth's opposition, she was married by proxy to King James, without dower, the alliance, however, set tling definitely the Scottish claims to the Orkney and Shetland islands. The birth of an heir to the throne (Prince Henry) in strengthened her position and influence ; but the young prince was immediately withdrawn from her care and entrusted to the keep ing of the Earl and Countess of Mar at Stirling Castle; in James gave a written command, forbidding them in case of his death to give up the prince to the queen till he reached the age of 18 years.
On the death of Queen Elizabeth, on March 24 1603, Anne took advantage of James's absence to demand possession of the prince, and, at the "flat refusal" of the Countess of Mar, fell into a passion, the violence of which occasioned a miscarriage and endangered her life. In June she followed the King to England with the prince and the coffin containing the body of her dead infant, and reached Windsor on July 2.
On July 24 Anne was crowned with the King, when her refusal to take the sacrament according to the Anglican use created some sensation. Notwithstanding religious differences she lived in great harmony and affection with the King, latterly, however, residing mostly apart. She helped to raise Buckingham to power in the place of Somerset, maintained friendly relations with him, and approved of his guidance and control of the King. In spite of her birth and family she was at first favourably inclined to Spain, disapproved of her daughter Elizabeth's marriage with the elector palatine, and supported the Spanish marriages for her sons, but subsequently veered around towards France.
She used all her influence in favour of the unfortunate Raleigh, answering his petition to her for protection with a personal letter of appeal to Buckingham to save his life. Her interest in State matters was only occasional, and secondary to the preoccupations of court festivities, dresses, jewels, which she much enjoyed; the court being, says Wilson—whose severity cannot entirely suppress his admiration—"a continued maskarado, where she and her ladies, like so many nymphs or Nereides, appeared . . . to the ravish ment of the beholders," and "made the night more glorious than the day." Her extravagant expenditure, returned by Chamberlain at her death at more than L84,000, was unfavourably contrasted with the economy of Queen Elizabeth; her debts in 1616 were reckoned at nearly f 1o,000, while her jewellery and her plate were valued at her death at nearly £ 500,000. Anne died after a long illness on March 2 1619, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. She was generally regretted. She was intelligent and tactful, a faithful wife, a devoted mother, and a staunch friend. Besides several children who died in infancy she had Henry, Prince of Wales, who died in 1612, Charles, afterwards King Charles I., and Elizabeth, electress palatine and queen of Bohemia.