‘A brilliant, bawdy triumph.’
‘Scheming for power in a kinky palace triangle.’
‘Bracingly cynical Royal comedy of manners.’
‘A punk Restoration romp.’
‘A farce with teeth, a costume drama with sharp political instincts and an aggressive sense of the absurd.’
There are rave reviews for The Favourite, an unlikely drama about Queen Anne, who reigned for 12 years at the start of the 18th century, between William of Orange and the first of the Hanoverian Georges. She had 17 pregnancies and no live children, was plagued with gout, myriad other ailments and depression. The film is focussed on her relationship with the powerful and manipulative Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, who ran her business affairs and a young female relative, who both sought the Queen’s pleasure in and out of bed.
Anne, born 6 February 1665 JC 11.39 pm London, had a 4th house Aquarius Sun trine an 8th house Pluto – home-oriented, adept at wielding behind-the-scenes power, though also trapped by circumstances. She had Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter in the 3rd house pointing to her complicated relationship with her sister Mary, her only other surviving sibling. Her Pisces Moon in the 5th hints at fertility but square the 8th house Pluto she would constantly feel out of control of her emotional situation.
Her marriage to Prince George of Denmark was by all accounts happy and loyal. He was a Sun Aries with a Libra Moon, and like her, had Jupiter in Aquarius and Venus in Aries, so as Royal matches go very compatible.
Sarah Churchill, 5 June 1660 JC, had a strong-minded, controlling Sun Pluto in Gemini which fell in Anne’s 8th and trined Anne’s Sun, so a close, possessive and transformational connection. Sarah’s Jupiter was in Anne’s 10th so she’d benefit socially and career-wise from the connection. Sarah’s Saturn in Scorpio was conjunct Anne’s Ascendant which would allow her to manage Anne’s affairs up to a point but would prove less useful when the split came. And in the way of Plutonic relationships it was bitter and vengeful when it did part.
Their relationship chart had a fated composite Yod onto an focal point Jupiter inconjunct Pluto sextile Mercury – a definite struggle for the upper hand in a relationship that was destined to change both irrevocably. Plus a composite Mars opposition Jupiter, tending to push them into unwise or over confident decisions.
Who’d have thought such an unlikely and downbeat heroine would have produced such a sparkling tragicomedy.
A very sad life but Queen Anne presided over a country that was growing in wealth and becoming a United Kingdom… was there any genuine proof that her two favourites Sarah Churchill and Abigail Masham were her lovers? I will see it although it does leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth…
Sarah Churchill herself was asserting Queen’s affection to Abigail were of sexual nature, maybe not fully understanding (or simply caring, being filthy rich and having survived her husband’s banishment from the court) how it made her own previous involvement to Queen seem. And there are letters, while not at King James I / Duke of Buckingham level in open, erotic content (brushed off as “typical affectionate language of the time”), based on letters they had at least what would be called an emotional affair nowadays going beyond mere friendship. Queen seemed to be easily infatuated, over all, her “happy” marriage to Prince George of Denmark had odd dynamics to it, too.
I get the impression, Marjorie, that you like me feel a sense of unease at such an unhappy life as Queen Anne’s described in those salacious terms. I shudder with horror at what she went through – 17 dead children, mostly stillborn or miscarried, and the single survivor dying aged 11 – and find this hard to reconcile with a film about saucy sexual romps. It is probably a very good film, given the cast and direction, but let’s not become callous about the realities of the poor woman’s life.
As tragic as her life is to a modern observer, it was not out of ordinary tragic for the time. In fact, she was still incredibly priviledged, with the best medical care – otherwise she’d probably died as a result of her numerous miscarriages or stillbirths – anywhere and potential for control over her own life not many women had. She did not take that, and was an ineffective ruler over other people’s lives, concentrating, as in the movie, on petty affairs.