Anna Charlotte
Anna Sophie Charlotte was born at 2:04 on the third of April in 2028, two minutes after her older twin sister, Aubrey. From birth she was first in line to the throne of Derita-India and the second to the throne of the Royally United Provinces. Anna Charlotte was married to Henry Percy when she was just seventeen years old. In 2059, after the assassination of the her sister she ascended the throne of the Royally United Provinces, but ruled for only a month before abdicating and divorcing Percy. After living in Monaco for several months after her abdication, she was elected by the Dutch States-General to serve as Queen of the Netherlands, later declaring herself Empress. In 2061 she married the love of her life, Henrique II of Espana and later became his Queen Consort of Espana.
Early Life
Born Princess Anna Sophie Charlotte Beauva Wessex-Volonté in Winston, Royally United Provinces; she was the second child of Étienne Stephan I and his wife Queen Caroline. Étienne Stephan was the Prince Consort of his wife, the Queen of R.U.P. Anna Sophie Charlotte was also the younger twin sister of Crown Princess Aubrey. Known by her family and close friends affectionately as simply Anna, she grew up with both her parents for her majority of her childhood.
Childhood
Winston
As soon as the twins were born, a choice had to be made. Since both their parents were rulers of different sovereign nations, both being monarchies, there was some concern over who would succeed them. Queen Caroline, as the more powerful monarch in their marriage naturally decided that the eldest daughter and eldest child should be her heir. This was Anna Charlotte's older twin sister Aubrey, future Queen of the Royally United Provinces. This would also make Aubrey he heir to the throne of East Derita-India, over which their father ruled over(Etienne Stephan actually spends the vast majority of his reign not in the country he rules, with his mother severing as Regent)
The fact was however, that upon the ascension of Aubrey on both the thrones of her parents, this would bring the nations together in a personal union, a case that the East Deritains did not desire. It would put the East Deritains under the control of the Provite Government. Knowing that this would cause outrage, Etienne had his eldest daughter and any of her future descendents excluded from the throne in East Derita-India. Anna Charlotte would instead be given the throne as her father's heir.
In Winston Anna Charlotte was raised by her father closely with her sister. Whilst she showed great similarities to her twin sister, they were not actually identical. Anna Charlotte, as later released in her memories in 2061, Princess of Winston, grew further and further away from her mother as a child. Her mother, the Queen, loved both of her children and then her son once he was born some years after Anna Charlotte. However even at a young age, she could tell that her mother was doing more with Aubrey as to groom her for her position as future Queen of the Royally United Provinces.
Her father was a different matter. Etienne took on an Albertain Method of caring for his daughters and then later his daughters. Just as Queen Caroline had a preference for Aubrey, Etienne was the same with his second oldest daughter of Anna Charlotte. The two girls followed their father without question and without complaining. This earned them their father's undying love. However, this early on education of the girls following and obeying their father lead many to believe that Etienne was attempting to make his daughters puppets of his own design, much like how Queen Adela was heavely influenced by her father.
Anna Charlotte's education was laid out in front over her and directed by her father personally from the young and tender age of 3 years old.
Education
The education of Anna Charlotte was closely supervised by her parents. She was precocious and intelligent, unlike her brother Leo. She was taught to read and write before the age of five by her governess Lady Lynonette and to speak French by her French nursery maid. The Princess learned French and German from various governesses, and science, literature, Latin, and history from Lord Abetten. Etienne Stephan tutored her in politics and philosophy.
Dresden
As Anna Charlotte grew older, she was sent with her twin sister to attend a private school in Dresden. She entered her first classes at age 6 and continued to stay at Dresden for the next twelve years, getting her entire primary and secondary education from her various teachers. Whilst Anna Charlotte was deemed to be of above average intelligence, her sister was deemed smarter. However Anna Charlotte was soon quickly preferred by teachers over her sister as she was far more obedient and focused more on studies. Anna Charlotte was able to become a popular mini-socialite in Dresden and private school, but refrained from the various activities of her sister that she found morally wrong, such as drinking and skipping class and partying.
It was in Dresden where Anna Charlotte grew to have come religious conflicts over what she was. Her father was Muslim by birth and her mother was Protestant. Anna Charlotte eventually decided that she wanted to become Catholic and with encouragement from her family was baptized and joined the Catholic Church at age 7.
Tour of 2044
In 2044, at age 17, Princess Anna Charlotte was with the permission of her father, sent to go out and visit various countries of various importance. The goal, as stated by Étienne Stephan, was to give Anna Charlotte an experience with the other cultures and societies of the world. With her older sister, Crown Princess Aubrey already learning more and more about governance, Étienne Stephan did not want to see his other daughter neglected. The younger twin Princess found the idea of leaving home at first daunting and was in fact against it. She once stated to her mother that
"I have not a single desire to leave my home! Please mother, as thr Queen you should pleased have it so that Father can not order me away."
But Queen Caroline was not one to argue with her husband. Anna Charlotte said later on in her life that she was often confused with the power structure of her parents. Her mother was the regnant Queen and her father the consort King, but he was also the sovereign of another nation, meanwhile they were equal in political power, let held the illusion that Queen Caroline was in charge. But the truth was that at least domestically, Étienne Stephan was defiantly in charge. This was a relation Anna Charlotte would ironically use later in her life. Unfortunately her father was committed and Princess Anna Charlotte embarked on a 8 month long tour of Europe.
Espana
Hanover
Derita
Polonge
First Marriage
In 2045, Princess Anna Charlotte, having just returned to the Royally United Provinces after her Grand Tour of the previous year, was quickly married to a member of parliament, Henry Percy. The two were quickly married in a cathedral at Anna Charlotte's request in a lavish ceremony. Seven month later, Anna Charlotte gave birth to twins, Jacques and Jean. Only several years later was it discovered that these two were not of Henry Percy but rather, Anna Charlotte's true love, Prince Henri of Espana.
With Henry Percy however, Princess Anna Charlotte succeeded in producing three children, Alfred, Elizabeth and then Henry Jr, named after his father. While Percy and the Princess enjoyed a good and healthy marriage, for Anna Charlotte did in fact grow to love her first husband, the guilt of her affair with the Spanish a Prince caused her to be one to hold secrets from her husband and predict doom for their marriage
Queen of the United Provinces
On 3 February 2059, Anna Charlotte was in Monaco, embarking on her second World Tour, this time deciding to go to more exotic places, South America and Asia, as well as the southern reaches of Africa, as she was only familiar with the Northern parts of the continent. As the young Princess Anna Charlotte was toured around Monaco, very different events were going on in Winston.
Queen, Aubrey I was shot while exiting the FDC building in Dredge this afternoon. At 2:23 PM, the Imperial visit to the building ended. As the Queen exited the building heading for her vehicle, one gunshot rang out splitting the air striking the thirty year old leader in the chest. She was rushed to surgery at Dredge Grace Hospital immediately following.
The assailant fled the scene of the crime only to be raided while packing his things to leave the nation by a Detatchment 7 team. The still unnamed man was taken to Winston for further questioning. His motives remain a mystery along with the question of 'was he associated with any group'. It is believed that the man was in league with the infamous and murderous Red Family.
Assassination Attempt
Anna Charlotte reigned as Queen of the Royaly United Provinces for only a month, making her the shortest reigning monarch in the country's history. The end of her reign came shortly after an assassination attempt was done on her life. Despite the safety concerns of her father, Anna Charlotte was convinced to speak before the Provite Senate, and while this moved to end well, she shortly afterwards meet with them in a more personal meeting were a member of the Red family attacked the Queen and slut her throat. The attacker was shot and killed by Anna Charlotte's brother and she was rushed to the hospital. Fortunately for the Queen, the doctors were able to repair her wounds and she survived, though she spent the next 11 months as a mute, unable to speak.
Abdication
Due to the assassination attempt on her that rendered her temporarily mute, the Provite Senate began to think that perhaps Anna Charlotte was no longer able to remain on the throne. They, against the strong orders of the King Dowager, started to move and work independently of the Monarchy and eventually started to press for her forced removal from the throne. Anna Charlotte, when faced with this decided that she would rather leave the throne gracefully and popularly than being forced off of it. A month after having become Queen, Anna Charlotte announced her abdication to the Royally United Provinces and the world. Though she originally wished to abdicate in favour for her son Prince Jacques, that was decided against as well at the last moment and instead the throne went to her younger brother, who became Emperor Leo III.
Exile
Empress of Dutch Empire
In the aftermath of a terrorist attack and attempted coup and the dethroning of Queen Marie, the States-General of the Dutch-Empire found themselves suddenly without a monarch with no clear heirs to the throne. Marie was pregnant and the Queen Dowager as well, but that would result in infants being crowned the next King or Queen of the Netherlands, something no one wanted. They needed a strong, peaceful, wise leader who could unify the people and still be a good constitutional monarch. And Prime Minister Claude Roudophe found, what he called, the perfect candidate in Monaco.
While there were some ideas of the King Consort of Scots becoming king, Roudophe and his Parliament decided very quickly that Anna Charlotte was the perfect person for the job. Anna Charlotte was newly divorced, so she wouldn't bring with her an ambitious husband, she had five children of her own, meaning that heirs were already in place and she was a member of the powerful Volonté Dynasty, with strong connections to several countries, especially her father, the .
Another rumored important aspect of Anna Charlotte was the fact that she was a mute at the time, rendered unable to talk at all after nearly dying when her throats had been badly damaged during an assassination attempt when she had been Queen of the Royally United Provinces. She was also considered by most to be extremely beautiful, and so she was chosen for being a former housewife with royal blood who was silent and pretty.
Coronation
Upon ascending the throne of the Netherlands, she became Queen of the Netherlands, but Anna Charlotte was not happy or satisfied with merely being a queen. Anna Charlotte, communicating through her second eldest son, Prince Jean, she argued for being named an empress. Prime Minister Roudophe was against the idea, wanting to keep Anna Charlotte quiet and domesticated. Roudophe refused her request, but Anna Charlotte refused to be silenced and ignored, despite literally being silent. Just two days after arriving in Amsterdam, Anna Charlotte and Prince Jean released news to the public that Anna Charlotte would be both Queen of the Netherlands and Empress. This sent a wave of radical increase in nationalism in the nation as people were excited to be seen as an empire, not to mention it distanced the idea of Queen that had been cemented by Marie of Wied.
Roudophe and Anna Charlotte agreed that she would be styled as Empress of the Dutch instead of Empress of the Netherlands, symbolizing that she was tied to the people,not the nation itself, and not to sound repeated since she was already Queen of the Netherlands.
After this being decided, Anna Charlotte quickly began working on her coronation. Because she had already put much time and effort for her Provite Coronation, which due to the fact that she hadn't reigned long enough to reach it, never happen, Anna Charlotte decided to simply use those preparations and plans and edit it for the Dutch. The coronation was planned for early January of 2060, which gave her five months to plan and prepare for the event. This time period became later known as the Empress's 100 Days (this is actually an incorrect name as the period lasted 132 days, not 100). Anna Charlotte and Roudophe together worked on a massive propoganda project to bloaster up the new royal regime. In September Anna Charlotte ceremonially gave her son the title of Prince of Orange as heir to the throne.
In December, only weeks away from her coronation, Anna Charlotte held the first annual Imperial Christmas Party in Amsterdam, which was attended by the prime minister and the Prince of Orange as well as Queen Caroline and King Charles II.
The coronation of Anna Charlotte took place on 2 January 2060, attended by several world leaders, including her future husband, the Prince of Asturias. There were two ceremonies, the first as her being inaugurated as the Queen of the Netherlands, when she swore to uphold the nation's constitution. The second ceremony was as Empress of the Dutch, in which she was anointed and physically crowned. The crown was created specifically designed by Anna Charlotte and constructed by Deritain jewelers in Rotterdam.
Domestic Policy
As a foreign born monarch, Anna Charlotte at first had to rely heavily on her Prime Minister Claude Roudophe. Roudophe had at the time of Anna Charlotte’s ascension already governed the nation for seventeen years and seeing the potential in the thirty year old empress quickly took her under his wing and meet with her daily throughout the first year of her reign. Anna Charlotte however proved to be uninterested in affairs of state, instead wishing to plan her lavish Coronation. It was only after 2060 that Anna Charlotte opened the States-General in Batavia.
Anna Charlotte found Roudophe’s policy and government very agreeable to her own conservative and royalist views. Unlike previous and various other monarchs, Anna Charlotte found it ridiculous to as monarch remained politically unaligned and instead took an active position in supporting Roudophe’s Cabinet. However in 2062, after governing for nearly twenty years, Roudophe, against the empress’ wishes retired. Roudophe was replaced by Wieste Rutte, a favorite and friend of the royal family.
Like Roudophe, Rutte was an avid supporter of the royal family. However, Rutte’s Cabinet brought up the issue of the Empress’ religion. Before ascending the throne, Anna Charlotte had been a devot Catholic princess. Even during her ascension of the Provite Throne Anna Charlotte had kept her faith of Catholicism. When she had moved to Monaco, she had gone to Mass, silently praying daily. When she had arrived in Amsterdam, Anna Charlotte chose to pray in private. This had left many to ponder what religion it was that she practiced. Roudophe had not bothered to question the practice of the empress, but Rutte and his administration felt that this information was needed if she were to be a true ruler of the nation. Anna Charlotte protested this invasion of privacy, but following a meeting with the prime minister and the Prince of Orange, she announced officially declared that she was Dutch Protestant.
Under Rutte’s Administration Anna Charlotte was able to establish a title for her new husband, Henri IV, King of Navarre whom she had married in 2061. While she had become Queen Consort of Navarre, there was questioning of what his title would be in the Dutch-Empire. Anna Charlotte orginially wanted him titled as King Consort of the Netherlands, but Roudophe had refused. When Rutte entered office, Anna Charlotte again proposed that Henri be made her King Consort. Rutte, like his predecessor refused to grant this title as he suspected correctly that this would cause outrage in the Dutch Public over being ruled by an foreign Empress and King. Anna Charlotte relented and instead proposed the title of Prince Consort, which was quickly granted.
Wieringa’s Rebellion
In spring of 2066 after reigning for almost seven years, Anna Charlotte faced large scale rebellion from the Dutch East Indies. The rebellion, meant to overthrow the government and establish a new republic, was lead by Jorge Wieringa Sr., a wealthy businessman turned politician who captivated the nation with his persuasive personality. Wieringa was able to make an alliance with generals and seize much of the nation. Anna Charlotte’s own forces however were able to turn the tide by winter and capture Wieringa outside of Utrecht and execute him. His ideas for a republic would die with him and his cause splinter.
Asbury Administraion
Between 2066 and 2076, Anna Charlotte had a “revolving door” of prime ministers, each less pleasing to the empress than the one before. Displeased with the Hadel Party, who the empress distrusted for their “Radical Republican” ideals and the fact that they had supported the failed Wieringa rebellion, she had been horrified by the elective victory of Frederick Noorden in 2073. Anna Charlotte had never shied away from her views of favoritism in certain parties, and she shocked the nation in her open opposition of the prime minister and throwing her support wholly behind her favorite, George Asbury.