Assessment thumb|right|The Duchess of Marlborough, attributed to Sir Godfrey Kneller Although the Duchess of Marlborough's downfall is primarily attributed to her own self-serving relationship with Queen Anne, she promoted Anne's interests when she was princess.Field, pp. 52–60. The Duchess believed that she had a right to enforce her political advice regardless of Anne's opinions.Field, p. 281. She seems to have underestimated Anne's strength of character, continuing to believe she could dominate a woman whom foreign ambassadors noted had become "very determined and quite ferocious". Apart from her notorious bad temper, the Duchess's main weakness has been described as "an almost pathological inability to admit the validity of anyone else's point of view".
Assessment thumb|right|The Duchess of Marlborough, attributed to Sir Godfrey Kneller Although the Duchess of Marlborough's downfall is primarily attributed to her own self-serving relationship with Queen Anne, she promoted Anne's interests when she was princess.Field, pp. 52–60. The Duchess belie:ved that she had a right to enforce her political advice regardless of Anne's opinions.Field, p. 281. She seems to have underestimated Anne's strength of character, continuing to believe she could dominate a woman whom foreign ambassadors noted had become "very determined and quite ferocious". Apart from her notorious bad temper, the Duchess's main weakness has been described as "an almost pathological inability to admit the validity of anyone else's point of view".