Sophie of Hanover (1630–1714)

Sophie of the Palatinate (1630–1714) became Elector of Hanover through marriage. In 1701, the British parliament declared her the successor of Queen Anne (1665–1714) in the Act of Settlement, as she was a granddaughter of Anne's great-grandfather James I of England (1566–1625). However, as Sophie died in the same year as Anne, her son Georg Ludwig (1660–1727) was crowned the first king to rule over Hanover and Great Britain in a personal union, or union of crowns.

Statue of Elector Sophie of Hanover in the Herrenhäuser gardens, colour photograph, 2007, unknown sculptor, photographer: Doktor boris kater; image source: Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sophie1696-1714.jpg?, Creative Commons License Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany (CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Deed), http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.