Book excerpt: The eldest daughter of George II, and Handel's most knowledgeable patron, Anne is the only English princess since the fifteenth century to rule alone in a foreign country. In the Netherlands she is the least known of the energetic and able women from Amalia van Solms to Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont who have married into the House of Orange, but she is unique in holding real political power. This book uses hitherto unpublished private papers which give a vivid picture of eighteenth century social life in London, Friesland and The Hague. But, more importantly, they show her influence on Dutch politics at a time of constitutional change, while letters to her father, her brother 'Butcher' Cumberland and her cousin Frederick the Great show her playing a significant role on the European diplomatic stage.