Annabelle is the older sister of Elizabeth Cole and is sixteen years old as of Very Funny, Elizabeth. She has dark hair and dark eyes; this matches her sister's description until the 2005 changes that have Elizabeth become blonde and blue-eyed. She is described as very pretty.
Annabelle is very snobby, proud, arrogant, and proper to a fault. She feels that everything in England is better than it is in the colonies which are wild, provincial, and uncivilized. She constantly belittles both her younger sister Elizabeth and Felicity Merriman, both in public and at their classes held together at Miss Manderly's. Annabelle also initially refers to Elizabeth as "Bitsy," a name which her sister despises, and only when Elizabeth stands up to it does she stop, though Annabelle still uses the nickname on occasion. Elizabeth believes that Annabelle is smart, funny, and sensible under all of her airs, and she hopes she can tease her sister into being her true self.
Annabelle, being older, has already had more lessons that Felicity and Elizabeth. She has in England, by their governess, been taught many skills already such as penmanship, stitching, and tea service, which she seems to like showing off. Annabelle also takes singing lessons--something her sister and Felicity are not yet old enough for--but her voice is quite poor.
Annabelle is a fierce Loyalist and believes the Patriot cause is not only wrong, but foolishness. Despite this opinion, she develops a crush on Benjamin Davidson, and Felicity and Elizabeth exploit this to make fun of her. They also call her "Banannabelle" behind her back.
While initially eager to marry an English Lord and thus leave the colonies, Annabelle finds her future sister-in-law's standards to be overbearingly proper and controlling, which eventually prompts her to end the engagement. Annabelle instead decides to make a name for herself in the colonies and become more assertive and independent-minded.
