We know that Anne Hathaway was 26 when they got married.
And we also know that William Shakespeare, at the time of their marriage, was only 18. Their first child was born a mere six months later — rather scandalously for the era, young Will placed a bun in Anne’s oven before wedlock.
Anne was a farmer’s daughter, and not particularly well-off. The house of her parents was somewhat close to the childhood home of William Shakespeare — the two knew each other from an early age and, despite the significant and somewhat unusual age gap between them (women were almost always a fair bit younger than their husbands at the time of marriage in their era) they grew fond of one another. Fond enough for their union to necessitate a “shotgun wedding”…
There is one theory that young William Shakespeare was a bit of a rake and romanced several ladies at once, and that Anne Hathaway hadn’t been his intended bride. Some friends later claimed Shakespeare confided in them he was rather miserable for not having married the bride of his choice. The couple had two daughters who lived to adulthood and a son, Hamlet, who died young. Despite being eight years older, Anne survived her husband by five years.