By W. & D. Downey, c. 1905 — Royal Collection Trust
If you are a fan of the Royal Family of the UK, or at least have some knowledge about them, then you certainly have an opinion about their relationship with the former Diana, Princess of Wales.
But before her, there was another heiress apparent in British history, one who, according to the public, could do no wrong. And unlike the tragic Diana, she actually managed to live long enough to become Queen Consort. I am, of course, talking about the protagonist of this story, Queen Alexandra.
She was born on the 1st of December 1844 at the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a relative of the then-King of Denmark, Christian VIII. Her mother, Louise of Hesse-Kassel, on the other hand, was the niece of the King, giving her a pretty good claim to the throne—something that would become important later.
Besides Alexandra, Christian and Louise also had an older son, Frederik, and four younger children: Dagmar, Vilhelm, Thyra, and Valdemar. In the future, their children would marry members of other royal families, giving Christian the nickname "the Father-in-Law of Europe."
But despite their royal ancestry, the family lived very modestly, and their residence had been given to them by the monarch personally. This was just fine for Christian and Louise, as they wanted to give their children a relatively normal upbringing.
In 1848, King Christian VIII died and was succeeded by his only child, King Frederik VII. His time on the throne began with the adoption of a new constitution that granted new rights to the Danes, as well as victory in a war against the German states. But much of his reign would be clouded by the question of his successor. Despite marrying three times, the King would have no children, meaning that the main royal line would die with him.
There were two people who could succeed him. The first was, of course, Christian, as his wife was the King's cousin. The other was Friedrich, Duke of Augustenburg. His claim was stronger than Christian's in certain respects because his branch of the family was senior.
What made the succession crisis particularly troubling for the nation's integrity was that the succession laws of Denmark conflicted with those of Schleswig and Holstein. Denmark used a semi-Salic law, meaning that inheritance could pass through the closest female member should there be no eligible male relatives. The two duchies, meanwhile, used full Salic Law, meaning that inheritance could only pass to the closest eligible male-line relative.
So, in theory, if Christian were to become King, Friedrich could claim the duchies instead. And the latter, despite being Danish, became a rallying figure for much of the German-speaking population in Schleswig-Holstein, who desired to break away from Denmark and join a united Germany.
In 1852, tensions temporarily eased when, at a conference in London, Christian was designated heir to the Danish throne. But despite his new status, his family's living conditions did not change, as Christian and Louise did not get along with the King's new morganatic wife. Because of this, Alexandra's family did not experience a significant change in income despite their increased relevance to the dynasty.
Still, as Alexandra grew older, she began to appear like an ideal princess. By the time she was 19, she had received an education fitting for someone of her status. She became accomplished in music and drawing and demonstrated devotion to her Lutheran faith. Not only that, but contemporary accounts described Alexandra as exceptionally beautiful, with a slender and graceful appearance. So it is no surprise that there were already possibilities for Alexandra to marry.
And she did indeed marry someone of great status: Prince Albert Edward of Wales, eldest son and heir of Queen Victoria. Nicknamed Bertie by his loved ones, he had been pressured by his parents to find someone to marry, for he had already shown signs of promiscuity as he entered adulthood. In fact, his father, Prince Albert, had travelled through one fateful cold night to confront his son about his recent escapade.
Not long afterwards, Albert suffered from typhoid fever, which ultimately caused his death.
This event caused a permanent rift between Bertie and his mother, who blamed him, at least in part, for the death of her beloved husband. But talks of a possible marriage continued, and, as it happened, Alexandra remained a strong possible match for the Prince of Wales. Thanks to the relatively new invention of photography, Bertie was able to examine the princess's appearance—and liked what he saw.
The two first met in September 1861, and almost a year later, Bertie proposed to her in Belgium. And so, in March 1863, Bertie and Alexandra married. For the occasion, an ode called "A Welcome to Alexandra" was composed by a certain Sir Arthur Sullivan, who in later years would become famous for his comic operas created in collaboration with dramatist W. S. Gilbert.
The 18-year-old princess immediately captured the public's attention with her youthful and regal appearance. Yet because the royal court—and especially the Queen—was still in mourning following the death of Prince Albert, the wedding was more subdued than the lavish festivities surrounding the Queen's own wedding 23 years earlier.
After the wedding, the newlyweds settled at Marlborough House in London, where they developed their own circle of intellectuals, aristocrats, and political figures, serving as an alternative to the rather grey and melancholic court that the Queen's grief had created.
In the same year that Alexandra married, her family's status also increased dramatically. A few weeks later, on the 30th of March, her younger brother Vilhelm became the new King of Greece following his selection for the Greek throne. He would take the name Geórgios I. Then, in November, King Frederik VII died and was succeeded by Alexandra's father as Christian IX. By the end of the year, Alexandra's sister Dagmar—with whom she was very close—had also become engaged to Nikolai, heir to the Russian Empire. After his sudden death, she would eventually marry his younger brother, the future Tsar Aleksandr III.
The next year started off quite well, for in January Alexandra gave birth to a son named Albert Victor, known within the family as Eddy. And so the succession to the British Crown was secure for another generation. However, the year also marked a terrible period for the Princess of Wales because her native country, Denmark, was invaded by a coalition of German states over the dispute concerning Schleswig and Holstein.
The Second Schleswig War caused a split within the royal family as well. Queen Victoria was sympathetic to the German cause, as was her daughter Princess Vicky, who had married into the Prussian Royal Family. Alexandra and Bertie, on the other hand, sided with the Danes, which angered the Queen. Denmark's defeat in the war greatly affected Alexandra's worldview, and she would remain staunchly anti-Prussian and later anti-German for much of the rest of her life.
Except for this troubling event, the rest of the 1860s were relatively quiet and peaceful for the Princess. She continued to give birth to more children: George in 1865, Louise in 1867, Victoria in 1868, and Maud in 1869.
But despite her frequent pregnancies, Alexandra maintained a public life and continued to socialise with various figures.
She also enjoyed various activities such as ice skating, horse riding, and hunting. The last of these caused resentment from Queen Victoria, as she believed such activities were not fitting for a lady, but Alexandra simply ignored her. The Princess also accompanied her husband on several foreign diplomatic tours across Europe, with destinations including Vienna, Athens, and Constantinople.
Speaking of Bertie, his relationship with Alexandra was quite interesting. You see, even after he became a married man, Bertie continued to have numerous mistresses, even later in life. And the thing is, Alexandra was aware of her husband's liaisons, but she largely chose to tolerate them.
Perhaps she was aware that, for a lustful man like Bertie, moderation was simply not something he possessed. Or perhaps, as Alexandra reportedly stated later in her life, "Despite all the others, he loved me the best." That is to say, despite his infidelities, she believed that she remained his favourite and his true companion.
Bertie himself apparently once made the rather crude comparison that his wife was like a "brood mare" while his mistresses were more like "hacks." This was apparently supposed to be a compliment to his wife, but it still sounds rather rude, in my opinion.
Still, it does show that, even though Bertie was an unfaithful spouse, it would be inaccurate to describe their marriage as simply an unhappy one.
As for Alexandra's relationship with Queen Victoria, it was initially marked by disagreements between the two women. For example, the fact that several of Alexandra's children were born prematurely led some people to believe that she deliberately misrepresented their expected delivery dates so as to make sure the Queen would not attend the births. Perhaps she wished for her children not to live under their grandmother's influence in the same way that her husband and his siblings had.
Another moment of sorrow came in 1871, when Alexandra gave birth to another son named Alexander John. Tragically, the infant died the very next day. The Princess of Wales wished to mourn his death privately, only for the Queen to announce an official period of mourning for the court. The press also reported on the infant's death in language that would be considered extraordinarily insensitive today, which certainly did not make it any easier for the Princess to cope with the loss of her youngest child.
However, as time went on and Alexandra began to take over more public duties from the ageing Queen, she received praise from her mother-in-law, who said that Alexandra was relieving her of "the strain and fatigue of functions."
Her reputation among the British public also remained overwhelmingly positive.
Soon, Alexandra became a fashion icon, with her dresses and hairstyles dazzling the public. She helped popularise choker necklaces and high-necked dresses, which were also useful for concealing a scar on her neck. Besides this, she remained remarkably slender despite numerous pregnancies.
This stood in contrast to Bertie, whose overindulgence in food and excessive smoking caused him to gain noticeable weight, changing the robust physique he had possessed as a young man.
Yet besides her radiant appearance, Alexandra also demonstrated a compassionate attitude towards those around her. She became associated with hospitals and charitable causes and showed particular interest in the sick and vulnerable.
As the 1880s came to a close and the 1890s dawned, Alexandra's attention increasingly turned towards the futures of her children as they entered adulthood. She was especially excited for her eldest, Prince Eddy, who was preparing to marry Princess Mary of Teck, Bertie's second cousin.
But in a tragic turn of events, Eddy died on the 14th of January 1892, when he was just 28 years old.
Alexandra was devastated by the death of her firstborn, writing in her diary: "Today I have buried my angel and with him my happiness". His room was preserved much as it had been after his death, reflecting the same Victorian culture of mourning that had surrounded the death of Prince Albert decades earlier.
As for Mary of Teck, she would go on to marry Eddy's younger brother George, who had now moved closer to the throne.
In the case of her daughters, Alexandra was very protective of them, sometimes wishing that they would remain by her side rather than marry other royals. This would ultimately be the fate of her middle daughter Victoria, known simply as Toria by her family. Despite several potential marriage prospects, she remained unmarried and stayed close to her mother for the remainder of Alexandra's life.
This was not the fate her eldest daughter, Princess Louise, desired. She wanted to marry and have a life of her own. However, like her aunt and namesake, the princess did not wish to marry a foreign royal and leave Britain.
So, in 1889, she married Alexander Duff, Earl Fife. The marriage was unusual by royal standards because Duff was a British aristocrat rather than a foreign prince. Nevertheless, the match was approved by Queen Victoria, and Duff was subsequently elevated to the rank of Duke of Fife.
As for Alexandra's youngest daughter, Maud, she married relatively late in life—at least by the standards of her time. In 1896, when Maud was 26, she married her cousin Prince Carl of Denmark, thus further strengthening the relations between the British and Danish royal families.
In January 1901, Queen Victoria passed away at the age of 81, leaving the path clear for Bertie to become the new monarch of Britain.
Surprisingly, rather than taking the regnal name Albert I, he chose Edward VII. He explained that he did not wish to diminish the unique association of the name Albert with his father.
His coronation was scheduled for the following year, but shortly before the ceremony the new King became dangerously ill with appendicitis and required surgery. The coronation consequently had to be postponed.
Eventually, on the 9th of August 1902, the coronation was held at Westminster Abbey. Thus, Edward VII was crowned King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, while Alexandra was crowned beside him as the first British Queen Consort in more than 60 years.
Despite what many people at the time may have expected—that Edward would become a failure as King—he actually proved many of his critics wrong. The new King-Emperor took his constitutional responsibilities seriously and developed an important diplomatic role, particularly in Britain's relations with the other European powers.
For Alexandra, her new position did not fundamentally change her roles and objectives. But if she had been popular as the consort of the heir, that popularity continued into her queenship.
As Queen, she remained heavily involved in charitable activities and nursing causes. She was particularly associated with military nursing, and the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service was named in her honour.
When it came to spending, Alexandra gave generously to charitable causes. She was also known for reusing possessions rather than constantly replacing them, although her generosity itself could occasionally concern members of the royal household.
Additionally, she and her husband continued to maintain relationships with their numerous royal relatives. Edward was related either by blood or marriage to much of European royalty, from the Iberian Peninsula to Scandinavia and the Balkans. He was careful to maintain positive relations with continental European nations and became closely associated with Britain's diplomatic rapprochement with France.
And in 1905, Alexandra's son-in-law Carl was elected King of Norway, taking the name Haakon VII.
Alexandra, for her part, continued to visit her home country, where she maintained close contact with her relatives, including her widowed sister, Empress Dowager Dagmar, and her nephew Tsar Nikolai II.
Yet for the Queen there was one notable exception to these warm dynastic relationships: the German Empire, which was led by her nephew by marriage, Kaiser Wilhelm II.
She distrusted Wilhelm and regarded German ambitions with considerable suspicion. She was especially opposed to the agreement under which Britain transferred the North Sea island of Heligoland to Germany while settling colonial disputes with Germany in Africa, including Britain's position in Zanzibar. Despite objections, the agreement went ahead, and Germany subsequently developed Heligoland into an important naval base.
During Edward's reign, relations between the UK and Germany continued to deteriorate as the two nations entered into a naval arms race centred on the construction of increasingly powerful battleships. At the same time, Britain entered into the Entente Cordiale with France—a development that would have seemed extraordinary only a few decades earlier.
But Edward would not have to worry about European tensions for much longer. By the spring of 1910, his health was rapidly deteriorating. Alexandra was abroad when she heard the news and rushed back to be at her husband's side.
During his final illness, he was also visited by Alice Keppel, his long-time mistress, who was permitted to see him with Alexandra's knowledge—a remarkable gesture given the circumstances.
Then, on the 6th of May 1910, at the age of 68, King Edward VII died. One of his final moments reportedly involved learning that his horse had won a race, news that greatly pleased the dying King.
Alexandra was deeply devastated by the loss. Despite the numerous affairs her husband had conducted over the years, he remained very dear to her. His funeral was attended by Alexandra; his son, now King George V; numerous relatives and monarchs from across Europe; and even his beloved dog, Caesar.
Much like her mother-in-law before her, Queen Dowager Alexandra entered a prolonged period of mourning after the death of her husband. Despite this, she remained active during the first years of her widowhood.
One particularly notable example was Alexandra Rose Day. Established around the 50th anniversary of her arrival in Britain, the charitable initiative involved selling artificial roses, with the proceeds going towards hospitals and other charitable causes.
Then, in 1914, the First World War began, and within a few weeks Britain entered the conflict against Germany.
This created an uncomfortable situation for the Royal Family. Because of their German ancestry and titles, anti-German sentiment placed the dynasty in a politically sensitive position.
Thus, in 1917, King George V changed the name of the royal house from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor, the name still used by the Royal House today. German titles held by members of the extended British royal family were also abandoned or replaced.
Furthermore, the banners of enemy members of the Order of the Garter were removed from St George's Chapel. Alexandra supported Britain's war effort and remained deeply hostile towards Germany, although her feelings towards individual German relatives could be more complicated, especially towards Hessians, whom she said they were "simply soldiers or vassals under that brutal German Emperor's orders".
More tragic news came from Russia in 1917, when her nephew Tsar Nikolai II was forced to abdicate in the wake of the Russian Revolution.
A year later, he, his wife, and their children were executed by the Bolsheviks. His mother—Alexandra's beloved sister Dagmar—survived the Revolution and eventually escaped Russia.
The destruction of the Russian monarchy must have been especially painful for Alexandra. The European dynastic world in which she had grown up was rapidly disappearing.
By the early 1920s, Alexandra's health had begun to deteriorate. Her eyesight worsened, her already severe deafness increasingly isolated her, and her general health declined.
On the 20th of November 1925, Queen Alexandra died at Sandringham House, only a few days before what would have been her 81st birthday. he was eventually laid to rest beside her husband in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, where their tomb commemorates the royal couple together.
And only five months after Alexandra's death, her great-granddaughter was born: the future Queen Elizabeth II.
She was christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, with the name Alexandra honouring her recently deceased great-grandmother.
Thus ends the tale of Alexandra of Denmark, one of the original darlings of the British monarchy.
Throughout her long public life—first as Princess of Wales, then as Queen Consort, and finally as Queen Dowager—Alexandra remained extraordinarily popular with the British public. And it is not difficult to understand why. Alexandra consistently demonstrated an eagerness to improve the lives of people in her adopted country while maintaining an approachable and glamorous public image.
Her story and Edward's inevitably invite comparisons with that of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. Diana, like Alexandra, achieved enormous public popularity, and both women had to deal with their husbands' infidelities. But their lives developed in dramatically different ways. Diana's marriage ended in divorce and her life was tragically cut short, whereas Alexandra remained married to Edward and lived into old age, eventually becoming Queen beside him.
And as a final piece of historical irony, remember Alice Keppel, Edward VII's long-time mistress?
Her great-granddaughter is none other than Charles's second wife, Queen Camilla.
I guess you could say that some royal connections are so persistent that they manage to reappear several generations later.
Haseki Gülnuş Sultan was in her thirties and the most senior woman of Mehmed IV, when she decided to build a hospital and a soup kitchen in Mecca, the holiest city of Islam. At the time, the empire was relatively stable, Ottomans were at a far better place than what the Empire’s future would look like after the freefall from onwards 1683: with the conquest of Crete in 1669, and of Kamianets-Podilskyi (Kamanice) in 1672, there was stability under the Grand Vizier Köprülü Fazil Ahmed Pasha.
Gülnuş had been given the income generating villages in Egypt that financially secured her pious foundations in Mecca.
Securing the Haremeyn (Mecca and Medina, the holiest cities of Islam) was a source of prestige; helping the poor people of these cities and meeting the needs of pilgrims undertaking the Hajj would be the most memorable pious act.
Indeed, building charitable foundations in the holy lands of Islam was not that common for Sultanas. The only other female patron to endow waqf buildings in Mecca, as well as in Medina and Jerusalem, was Haseki Hürrem Sultan. Haseki Gülnus Sultan and Haseki Hürrem Sultan would be the two “Haseki”s from Sultanate of Women to achieve this goal.
Around 1678, Haseki Gülnuş Sultan picked Mecca, to built her soup kitchen to feed the poor and a hospital to cure the ill.
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Ironically, there is some Venetian tea ☕️ provided by the ambassadors around this time.
Giovanni Morosini reported in 1680, that Gülnus started to attract the jealousy of Valide Turhan Sultan, who is “now 60 years old, and having governed the empire with absolute power during her son's youth, bitterly resents seeing the [Haseki Sultan] being favored”. Morosini described Haseki Gülnus Sultan as someone who appears “completely adverse to any [political] affair on surface but in reality with her arts, deceptions, she bends [Sultan Mehmed IV’s] will.
Pietro Civano, reported in 1682:
"With great pride, [Haseki Gülnuş Sultan] shows respect, deference and devotion to the [Valide Turhan Sultan] and pretends to be adverse to any [political] affair. At the same time, she employs all manners of arts, intellect and flatteries, not only to have a share in deliberations but to keep herself alone in command with [Sultan Mehmed IV]."
Pietro Civano continues to describe the “fierce jealousy” between Valide Turhan Sultan and Haseki Gülnus Sultan because both of them wanted to control Mehmed IV: “Until now the mother has always had her son's respect, however for the past two years [Haseki Gülnus Sultan’s] arts have prevailed”.
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During the move from Istanbul to Edirne in 1681, Valide Turhan Sultan received 4000 gold coins and 68 keses of akçe, Haseki Gülnus Sultan received 4000 gold coins and 67 keses of akçe. Same amount was given to both sultanas a couple of years prior. Haseki Sultan’s and Valide Sultan’s “harcirah” or travel expenses are almost the same with a symbolic 1 kese different for the Valide Sultan. It seems while Mehmed IV respected and honored his mother’s Valide Sultan status by allowing her to symbolically surpass his Haseki on paper, the ambassador reports show us Valide Turhan Sultan was getting uncomfortable with the rise of Gülnuş.—reinforced with Gülnus’s charitable foundations in the holy lands.
Small edit: Venetian bailo Giovanbattista Donado (1680-1684) reported that Haseki Gülnus Sultan was wishing to strengthen her daughter Hatice Sultan’s position, and she had asked her son in law Musahip Mustafa Pasha a total of three times to accept the Grand Vizierate position, but Musahip Mustafa Pasha had rejected this offer. Musahip apologized by presenting gifts, and by this gesture he had kept his mother in law’s favor, thereby continuing to be loved and respected for some time longer. So Gulnus was politically active during this time.
Source:
The Women Who Built the Ottoman World: Female Patronage and the Architectural Legacy of Gülnuş Sultan