Most people know her as the sharp-tongued lady-in-waiting who got kicked out of court for being too mean to a queen. Or maybe they know the Hollywood version—the one with the corset-ripping schemes and the poisoned tea. Honestly? Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, was a lot more than just a historical "mean girl." She was essentially the shadow Prime Minister of England at a time when women weren't even allowed to vote, let alone run the country's finances.
She wasn't born into greatness. Sarah Jennings started as the daughter of a minor landowner whose bank account was looking pretty thin. But she had something better than a huge inheritance: she was terrifyingly smart. And she was beautiful. By the time she was twelve, she was hanging around the royal court, and by fifteen, she had snagged the attention of John Churchill. Her parents hated the match because he was poor, and his parents hated it because she was poor. Naturally, they got married in secret. It turned out to be one of the most successful power-couples in British history.
Why the Sarah Churchill Duchess of Marlborough Myth is Mostly Wrong
If you’ve watched The Favourite, you’ve seen the rivalry between Sarah and her cousin Abigail Masham. In the movie, Abigail drugs Sarah and sends her off to a brothel. That never happened. In reality, Sarah’s downfall was way less cinematic and way more exhausting. It was a slow-motion car crash of political bickering and personal burnout.
Sarah was a die-hard Whig. Queen Anne? A staunch Tory. Imagine trying to stay best friends with someone when you’re constantly screaming at them about tax policy and the war in Spain. Sarah didn't just suggest things; she bullied. She told the Queen what to wear, who to hire, and how to talk to Parliament. For twenty years, Anne took it because she was deeply, maybe even obsessively, in love with Sarah. They even had nicknames for each other to pretend they were equals: "Mrs. Morley" (the Queen) and "Mrs. Freeman" (Sarah).
But you can only shush a monarch so many times before they snap. The breaking point wasn't a secret lesbian affair or a poisoning. It was a carriage ride. On the way to a Thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, they got into a massive fight. When they arrived, Sarah told the Queen to "be quiet" so the crowds wouldn't hear them arguing. You don't tell a Queen to shut up in public. That was the beginning of the end.
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The Real Power Behind the Throne
While her husband John was out winning battles like Blenheim and Ramillies, Sarah was the one keeping the money moving. She wasn't just a "lady-in-waiting." She was the Keeper of the Privy Purse. That meant she controlled the Queen’s personal spending money. If Anne wanted to buy a new jewel or give a donation to a local church, it went through Sarah.
- She managed the building of Blenheim Palace, which was basically the 1700s version of a government-funded mega-mansion.
- She fired architects (like John Vanbrugh) when they got too expensive or didn't listen to her.
- She amassed a fortune that made her the wealthiest woman in Europe by the time she died.
People at the time called her "King Sarah." It wasn't a compliment. But it was accurate. She understood that in the 18th century, if you weren't a King, you needed to control the person who was. She did that better than any man in the cabinet.
The Bitter Legacy of Blenheim
After she was finally banished from court in 1711, Sarah didn't just go away quietly. She took the brass locks off the doors of her royal apartments on the way out. She was petty like that. She spent the rest of her life finishing Blenheim Palace and fighting with everyone she knew. Seriously, everyone. She sued her own children. She wrote scathing memoirs to make sure history remembered Queen Anne as a weak, "dull" woman and herself as the hero.
It worked, too. For centuries, historians took Sarah's word for it. It’s only recently that people have started looking at Queen Anne as a capable ruler who simply got tired of a toxic friendship.
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Actionable Insights for the Modern "Favorite"
Looking at the life of Sarah Churchill Duchess of Marlborough gives us a pretty clear roadmap of how to win—and how to lose—power in high-stakes environments.
Don't mistake intimacy for immunity. Sarah thought her childhood bond with Anne meant she could say anything. She forgot that at the end of the day, her "friend" was her boss. If you’re in a position of influence, never forget the hierarchy, even if you’re using nicknames.
Control the narrative early. Sarah lived to be 84. She used those extra decades to write her own version of history. If you don't tell your story, someone else (like a rival cousin or a disgruntled architect) will tell it for you.
Financial independence is the ultimate shield. Sarah was one of the few women of her era who managed her own money. When the Queen fired her, she didn't go broke. She was richer than the people who replaced her. That gave her the freedom to be as difficult as she wanted for the next thirty years.
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If you want to understand the real Sarah, stop looking for the "secret diaries" and start looking at the balance sheets of the Churchill estate. She was a businesswoman who happened to have a Queen for a best friend.
Next time you’re visiting a historical site or reading about the Stuart era, look for the name Sarah Churchill. You'll find it tucked into the corners of every major political decision of the early 1700s. She wasn't just a favorite; she was a force of nature.
To get a better feel for her actual voice, you should look up the letters she wrote to Anne during their final fallout—they are some of the most brutally honest (and risky) documents ever sent to a sitting monarch. You can find many of these primary sources archived through the British Library or in the published collections of her correspondence.