Anne of Denmark

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Anna of Denmark (October 14, 1574 – March 4, 1619) was queen consort of King James I of England and VI of Scotland.

She was a daughter of Frederick II of Denmark and Norway and Sophia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was born in 1574 at Skanderborg Castle, Denmark. The dates of her birth and death are variously recorded, those above being the ones engraved on her coffin. In August 1589, she was married, by proxy, to James, the young king of Scotland, and their actual wedding ceremony took place in Oslo, Norway, on November 23 of that year. Anna was brought to Scotland and crowned queen on May 17, 1590, at Holyrood Abbey.

Although James and Anna were close friends at the beginning of their marriage, they gradually drifted apart. She had been brought up a Lutheran, she converted to Catholicism in the mid 1590s which was unpopular among the people of Presbyterian Scotland (and later of Anglican England).

Following her husband's accession to the English throne in 1603, she was crowned with him on July 25 at Westminster Abbey. By this time, she was the mother of three living children (Henry, Elizabeth and Charles), but also suffered several miscarriages and stillbirths, and had another four children who died in infancy. Anna's participation in life at court is well recorded. Their second son succeeded James as King Charles I. Her daughter Elizabeth is the grandmother of King George I of England.

Anna of Denmark died at Hampton Court Palace aged 44 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Preceded by: James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell	Queen Consort of Scotland 1589–1619	Succeeded by: Henrietta Maria of France
Preceded by: Philip II of Spain	Queen Consort of England 1603–1619	Succeeded by: Henrietta Maria of France