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114-646: At the end of the Great Northern War King Frederick IV asked architect Johan Cornelius Krieger , royal gardener to the court at Rosenborg Castle , to build him a small pleasure palace on the site of a farmyard named Østrup. Krieger built the French-inspired baroque palace 1720–1726, and the King himself took an active part in the planning of the building and grounds, and followed construction closely. The man responsible for

228-691: A Baltic empire centred on the Gulf of Finland and comprising the provinces of Karelia , Ingria , Estonia , and Livonia . During the Thirty Years' War Sweden gained tracts in Germany as well, including Western Pomerania , Wismar , the Duchy of Bremen , and Verden . During the same period, Sweden conquered Danish and Norwegian provinces north of the Sound (1645; 1658). These victories may be ascribed to

342-712: A Norwegian front but was killed in the Siege of Fredriksten in 1718. The war ended with the defeat of Sweden, leaving Russia as the new dominant power in the Baltic region and as a new major force in European politics. The Western powers, Great Britain and France , became caught up in the separate War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), which broke out over the Bourbon Philip of Anjou 's succession to

456-517: A Russian galley fleet made a lightning raid on Borgå and managed to return to Kronslot just one day before the Swedish battle fleet returned to the blockade, after being delayed by unfavourable winds. In August 1708, a Swedish army of 12,000 men under General Georg Henrik Lybecker attacked Ingria , crossing the Neva from the north. They met stubborn resistance, ran out of supplies and, after reaching

570-457: A Swedish ally, though this proved hard to achieve. After years of marches and fighting around Poland he finally had to invade Augustus' hereditary Saxony to take him out of the war. In the treaty of Altranstädt (1706) , Augustus was finally forced to step down from the Polish throne, but Charles had already lost the valuable advantage of time over his main enemy in the east, Peter I, who then had

684-577: A concept shared by most major powers of the period. The cost of the warfare proved to be much higher than the occupied countries could fund, and Sweden's coffers and resources in manpower were eventually drained in the course of long conflicts. The foreign interventions in Russia during the Time of Troubles resulted in Swedish gains in the Treaty of Stolbovo (1617). The treaty deprived Russia of direct access to

798-521: A decision over the Parliament Bill. Despite her personal views, Alexandra supported her son's reluctant agreement to Prime Minister H. H. Asquith 's request to create sufficient Liberal peers after a general election if the Lords continued to block the legislation. From Edward's death, Alexandra was queen mother , being a dowager queen and the mother of the reigning monarch. She did not attend

912-711: A few days before the scheduled coronation in June 1902, the King became seriously ill with appendicitis . Alexandra deputised for him at a military parade and attended the Royal Ascot races without him, in an attempt to prevent public alarm. Eventually, the coronation had to be postponed and Edward had an operation performed by Frederick Treves of the London Hospital to drain the infected appendix. After his recovery, Alexandra and Edward were crowned together in August:

1026-405: A game hunting reserve. During a hunt it was permissible to shoot freely straight down the long paths, which radiated out from the centre. The dome hall measured 15 x 15 m (49 ft), and had a height of 27 m (89 ft). The sumptuous room featured stucco by C.E. Brenno and a plafond by Hendrick Krock . In front of the main building was placed an octagonal courtyard encircled by

1140-544: A memorandum, distributed to senior British ministers and military personnel, warning against the planned exchange of the British North Sea island of Heligoland for the German colony of Zanzibar , pointing out Heligoland's strategic significance and that it could be used either by Germany to launch an attack, or by Britain to contain German aggression. Despite this, the exchange went ahead. The Germans fortified

1254-752: A positive light, describing the crowds as "enthusiastic". As part of the same visit, she received a Doctorate in Music from Trinity College Dublin . Alexandra was deeply saddened by the death of her eldest son, Prince Albert Victor, in 1892. His room and possessions were kept exactly as he had left them, much as those of his grandfather Prince Albert were left after his death in 1861. Alexandra said, "I have buried my angel and with him my happiness." Surviving letters between Alexandra and her children indicate that they were mutually devoted. In 1894, her brother-in-law Alexander III of Russia died and her nephew Nicholas II of Russia became Tsar . Alexandra's widowed sister,

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1368-555: A previous lover. Alexandra shared a draughty attic bedroom with her sister, Dagmar , made her own clothes, and waited at table along with her sisters. Alexandra and Dagmar were given swimming lessons by the Swedish pioneer of women's swimming, Nancy Edberg . At Bernstorff, Alexandra grew into a young woman; she was taught English by the English chaplain at Copenhagen and was confirmed in Christiansborg Palace . She

1482-615: A prolonged struggle with Augustus II the Strong ; he had already inflicted defeat on him at Riga in June 1701 and took Warsaw the following year, but trying to force a decisive defeat proved elusive. Russia left Poland in the spring of 1706, abandoning artillery but escaping from the pursuing Swedes, who stopped at Pinsk . Charles wanted not just to defeat the Commonwealth army but to depose Augustus, whom he regarded as especially treasonous, and have him replaced with someone who would be

1596-759: A stiff leg. This came to be known as the "Alexandra limp". She used predominantly the London fashion houses; her favourite was Redfern's , but she shopped occasionally at Doucet and Fromont of Paris. Alexandra has been portrayed on television by Deborah Grant and Helen Ryan in Edward the Seventh , Ann Firbank in Lillie , Maggie Smith in All the King's Men , and Bibi Andersson in The Lost Prince . She

1710-403: A wave of a hand or by claiming that she had not heard. Alexandra hid a small scar on her neck, which was probably the result of a childhood operation, by wearing choker necklaces and high necklines, setting fashions which were adopted for fifty years. Alexandra's effect on fashion was so profound that society ladies even copied her limping gait, after her serious illness in 1867 left her with

1824-535: A well-trained army, which despite its comparatively small size, was far more professional than most continental armies, and also to a modernization of administration (both civilian and military) in the course of the 17th century, which enabled the monarchy to harness the resources of the country and its empire effectively. Fighting in the field, the Swedish army (which during the Thirty Years' War contained more German and Scottish mercenaries than ethnic Swedes, but

1938-748: A year later on 9 September 1862 (after his affair with Nellie Clifden and the death of his father Prince Albert), Albert Edward proposed to Alexandra at the Royal Castle of Laeken , the home of his great-uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium . A few months later, Alexandra travelled from Denmark to Britain aboard the royal yacht Victoria and Albert and arrived in Gravesend, Kent , on 7 March 1863. Sir Arthur Sullivan composed music for her arrival and Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson , wrote an ode in Alexandra's honour: Sea King's daughter from over

2052-473: Is now the summer residence of Frederik X and Queen Mary . The palace gardens are among Denmark's largest historical gardens, and are Denmark's finest example of a Baroque garden . These too were designed by Krieger, and were extended and altered during the 18th century. The long, straight avenues which extend from the castle in a star-shaped pattern were recreated in the 1970s to 1990s. Between these avenues lies large wooded areas with winding paths. Most of

2166-530: Is often unclear as Swedish cavalry was used as heavy shock cavalry yet was unarmoured. ** The Saxon army and corresponding militia does not have full details available. Frederik IV of Denmark–Norway directed his first attack against Sweden's ally Holstein-Gottorp . In March 1700, a Danish army laid siege to Tönning . Simultaneously, Augustus II 's forces advanced through Swedish Livonia , captured Dünamünde and laid siege to Riga . Charles XII of Sweden first focused on attacking Denmark. The Swedish navy

2280-626: The Baltic Sea . Russian fortunes began to reverse in the final years of the 17th century, notably with the rise to power of Peter the Great , who looked to address the earlier losses and re-establish a Baltic presence. In the late 1690s, the adventurer Johann Patkul managed to ally Russia with Denmark and Saxony by the secret Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye , and in 1700 the three powers attacked. Charles XII of Sweden succeeded Charles XI of Sweden in 1697, aged 14. From his predecessor, he took over

2394-547: The Boer War . During the Boer War, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, later renamed Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps , was founded under Royal Warrant. Alexandra had little understanding of money. The management of her finances was left in the hands of her loyal comptroller , Sir Dighton Probyn VC , who undertook a similar role for her husband. In the words of her grandson, Edward VIII (later

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2508-823: The First Battle of Narva where the Russians suffered a crushing defeat. After the dissolution of the first coalition through the peace of Travendal and with the victory at Narva, the Swedish chancellor, Benedict Oxenstjerna , attempted to use the bidding for the favour of Sweden by France and the Maritime Powers (then on the eve of the War of the Spanish Succession ) to end the war and make Charles an arbiter of Europe. Charles XII then turned south to meet Augustus II , Elector of Saxony , King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania . The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

2622-682: The First World War the custom of hanging the banners of foreign princes invested with Britain's highest order of knighthood, the Order of the Garter , in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle , came under criticism, as the German members of the Order were fighting against Britain. Alexandra joined calls to "have down those hateful German banners". Driven by public opinion, but against his own wishes,

2736-643: The Salic law prevented inheritance through the female line, whereas no such restrictions applied in Denmark. Holstein, being predominantly German, proclaimed independence and called in the aid of Prussia . In 1852, the major European powers called a conference in London to discuss the Danish succession. An uneasy peace was agreed, which included the provision that Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg would be Frederick's heir in all his dominions and

2850-793: The Spanish throne and a possible joining of France and Spain. The formal conclusion of the Great Northern War came with the Swedish-Hanoverian and Swedish-Prussian Treaties of Stockholm (1719), the Dano-Swedish Treaty of Frederiksborg (1720), and the Russo-Swedish Treaty of Nystad (1721). By these treaties Sweden ceded its exemption from the Sound Dues and lost the Baltic provinces and

2964-773: The UNESCO World Heritage List under Par force hunting landscape in North Zealand . Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern , Central and Eastern Europe . The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I of Russia, Frederick IV of Denmark–Norway and Augustus II

3078-535: The 19th century, King Christian IX and Queen Louise (who counted Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, King George I of Greece and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia amongst their children) used Fredensborg to host annual family reunions. There, their grandchildren, including the future Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Kings George V of the United Kingdom , Haakon VII of Norway , Constantine I of Greece , and Queen Maud of Norway , would play games in

3192-606: The Baltic Sea were evicted, with the last city, Tallinn , falling in the autumn of 1710. The coalition members partitioned most of the Swedish dominions among themselves, destroying the Swedish dominium maris baltici . Sweden proper was invaded from the west by Denmark–Norway and from the east by Russia, which had occupied Finland by 1714. Sweden defeated the Danish invaders at the Battle of Helsingborg . Charles XII opened up

3306-677: The Baltics, and eventually he built up a powerful navy. In 1710 the Russian forces captured Riga , at the time the most populated city in the Swedish realm, and Tallinn , evicting the Swedes from the Baltic provinces, now integrated in the Russian Tsardom by the capitulation of Estonia and Livonia . Alexandra of Denmark Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925)

3420-540: The Dowager Empress of Russia, leant heavily on her for support; Alexandra, who had gone to Russia accompanied by her husband, the Prince of Wales, slept, prayed, and stayed beside her sister for the next two weeks until Alexander's burial. Alexandra and her husband stayed on for the wedding of Nicholas to their niece Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine , who had taken the Russian name Alexandra Feodorovna and became

3534-465: The Dowager Empress of Russia, purchased a villa north of Copenhagen, Hvidøre , as a private getaway. Alexandra was denied access to the King's briefing papers and excluded from some of his foreign tours to prevent her meddling in diplomatic matters. She was deeply distrustful of Germans, particularly her nephew German Emperor Wilhelm II , and she invariably opposed anything that favoured German expansion or interests. For example, in 1890 Alexandra wrote

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3648-524: The Duke of Windsor), "Her generosity was a source of embarrassment to her financial advisers. Whenever she received a letter soliciting money, a cheque would be sent by the next post, regardless of the authenticity of the mendicant and without having the case investigated." Though she was not always extravagant (she had her old stockings darned for re-use and her old dresses were recycled as furniture covers), she would dismiss protests about her heavy spending with

3762-467: The Garden was an "exemplary redesign (...) and the combination of public and private funding for a public garden is a positive example for other similar heritage gardens". Two of the forests in the surrounding area, Gribskov and Store Dyrehave , were developed in the 1680s under King Christian V for par force hunting with a mathematically designed system of access roads. They have now been included in

3876-410: The Great Northern War. To commemorate the signing of the peace accord the palace was named Fredens Borg ( lit. "Peace's Castle"). The palace complex consisted of a small, almost square, 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 -storey-high main palace with dome and lanterns. It is positioned exactly at the centre of what is known as a "hunting star" ( Danish , jagtstjerne ), a number of straight intersecting paths in

3990-557: The Great in Rawa Ruska in September 1698, where the plans to attack Sweden were made, became legendary for its decadence. Frederick IV of Denmark -Norway, another cousin of Charles XII, succeeded Christian V in 1699 and continued his anti-Swedish policies. After the setbacks of 1700, he focused on transforming his state, an absolute monarchy, in a manner similar to Charles XI of Sweden. He did not achieve his main goal: to regain

4104-599: The Greeks. Alexandra spent the next three years largely parted from her two sons as the boys were sent on a worldwide cruise as part of their naval and general education. The farewell was very tearful and, as shown by her regular letters, she missed them terribly. In 1881, Alexandra and Albert Edward travelled to Saint Petersburg after the assassination of Alexander II of Russia , both to represent Britain and so that Alexandra could provide comfort to her sister, who had become tsarina . Alexandra undertook many public duties; in

4218-510: The Gulf of Finland west of Kronstadt, had to be evacuated by sea between 10 and 17 October. Over 11,000 men were evacuated but more than 5000 horses were slaughtered, which crippled the mobility and offensive capability of the Swedish army in Finland for several years. Peter I took advantage of this by redeploying a large number of men from Ingria to Ukraine . Charles spent the years 1702–06 in

4332-666: The King by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Frederick Temple , and the Queen by the Archbishop of York , William Dalrymple Maclagan . Despite being queen, Alexandra's duties changed little, and she kept many of the same retainers. Alexandra's Woman of the Bedchamber , Charlotte Knollys , the daughter of Sir William Knollys, served Alexandra loyally for many years. On 10 December 1903, Knollys woke to find her bedroom full of smoke. She roused Alexandra and shepherded her to safety. In

4446-433: The King had the banners removed; but to Alexandra's dismay, he had taken down not only "those vile Prussian banners" but also those of her Hessian relations who were, in her opinion, "simply soldiers or vassals under that brutal German Emperor's orders". On 17 September 1916, she was at Sandringham during a Zeppelin air raid, but far worse was to befall other members of her family. In Russia, her nephew Tsar Nicholas II

4560-415: The King's 51st birthday. Krieger completed his work on the palace with the erection of the “new Court Chancery building” in 1731. The black-glazed tile, half-hipped roof building is now known as The Chancellery House. It butted up to the riding-ring on the southern edge. A major alteration of Krieger's original building was made in 1741–1744 when Lauritz de Thurah , the King's favorite architect, elevated

4674-400: The Neva with 4,000 troops and defeated an opposing Russian force, but made no move on Saint Petersburg. Later in the autumn Peter I led an army of 20,000 men in an attempt to take the Swedish town and fortress of Viborg . However, bad roads proved impassable to his heavy siege guns. The troops, who arrived on 12 October, therefore had to abandon the siege after only a few days. On 12 May 1708,

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4788-537: The Polish sejm to replace him with Stanislaus Leszczyński in 1704. August II resisted, still possessing control of his native Saxony, but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Fraustadt in 1706, a battle sometimes compared to the Ancient Battle of Cannae due to the Swedish forces' use of double envelopment , with a deadly result for the Saxon army. In 1706, after a Swedish invasion of Saxony , August II

4902-597: The Prince of Wales refused to speak to or see him. Alexandra spent the spring of 1877 in Greece recuperating from a period of ill health and visiting her brother King George of Greece. During the Russo-Turkish War , Alexandra was clearly partial against Turkey and towards Russia, where her sister was married to the Tsarevitch, and she lobbied for a revision of the border between Greece and Turkey in favour of

5016-446: The Queen to be present at their births. During the birth of her third child in 1867, the added complication of a bout of rheumatic fever threatened Alexandra's life and left her with a permanent limp. In public, Alexandra was dignified and charming; in private, affectionate and jolly. She enjoyed many social activities, including dancing and ice-skating, and was an expert horsewoman and tandem driver . She also enjoyed hunting , to

5130-457: The Russian fortifications held. In 1705, repeated Swedish attacks were made against Russian fortifications in the area, to little effect. A major attack on 15 July 1705 ended in the deaths of more than 500 Swedish men, or a third of its forces. In view of continued failure to check Russian consolidation, and with declining manpower, Sweden opted to blockade Saint Petersburg in 1705. In the summer of 1706, Swedish General Georg Johan Maidel crossed

5244-536: The Strong of Saxony – Poland–Lithuania . Frederick IV and Augustus II were defeated by Sweden, under Charles XII , and forced out of the alliance in 1700 and 1706 respectively, but rejoined it in 1709 after the defeat of Charles XII at the Battle of Poltava . George I of Great Britain and the Electorate of Hanover joined the coalition in 1714 for Hanover and in 1717 for Britain, and Frederick William I of Brandenburg-Prussia joined it in 1715. Charles XII led

5358-472: The Strong , elector of Saxony and another cousin of Charles XII, gained the Polish crown after the death of King John III Sobieski in 1696. His ambitions to transform the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into an absolute monarchy were not realized due to the zealous nature of the Polish nobility and the previously initiated laws that decreased the power of the monarch. His meeting with Peter

5472-529: The Swedish Empire as an absolute monarch. Charles XI had tried to keep the empire out of wars, and concentrated on inner reforms such as reduction and allotment , which had strengthened the monarch's status and the empire's military abilities. Charles XII refrained from all kinds of luxury and alcohol and usage of the French language, since he considered these things decadent and superfluous. He preferred

5586-487: The Swedish army. Swedish allies included Holstein-Gottorp , several Polish magnates under Stanislaus I Leszczyński (1704–1710) and Cossacks under the Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa (1708–1710). The Ottoman Empire temporarily hosted Charles XII of Sweden and intervened against Peter I. The war began when an alliance of Denmark–Norway , Saxony and Russia , sensing an opportunity as Sweden

5700-466: The Swedish fortress of Nyen , guarding the mouth of the River Neva . Thanks to General Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt , whose outnumbered forces fended the Russians off in the battles of Gemäuerthof and Jakobstadt , Sweden was able to maintain control of most of its Baltic provinces. Before going to war, Peter had made preparations for a navy and a modern-style army, based primarily on infantry drilled in

5814-452: The Swedish heir since 1702. He claimed the throne upon Charles XII's death in 1718, but was supplanted by Ulrike Eleonora . Charles Frederick was married to a daughter of Peter I, Anna Petrovna . Ivan Mazepa was a Ukrainian Cossack hetman who fought for Russia but defected to Charles XII in 1708. Mazepa died in 1709 in Ottoman exile. Peter the Great became Tsar in 1682 upon the death of his elder brother Feodor but did not become

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5928-465: The actual construction was General Building Master Johan Conrad Ernst , who was also responsible for the construction of Frederiksberg Palace . While the building was still under construction Denmark–Norway and Sweden negotiated a peace treaty, which was signed on 3 July 1720, on the site of the unfinished palace. The treaty determined the fate of Skåne , which since that time has been a part of Sweden, and ended Denmark’s eleven-year participation in

6042-426: The actual ruler until 1689. He commenced reforming the country, turning the Russian tsardom into a modernized empire relying on trade and on a strong, professional army and navy. He greatly expanded the size of Russia during his reign while providing access to the Baltic, Black, and Caspian seas. Beside Peter, the principal Russian commanders were Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov and Boris Sheremetev . Augustus II

6156-621: The age of sixteen, Alexandra was chosen as the future wife of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the son and heir apparent of Queen Victoria . The couple married eighteen months later in 1863, the year in which her father became king of Denmark as Christian IX and her brother William was appointed king of Greece as George I . Alexandra was Princess of Wales from 1863 to 1901, the longest anyone has ever held that title, and became generally popular; her style of dress and bearing were copied by fashion-conscious women. Largely excluded from wielding any political power, she unsuccessfully attempted to sway

6270-572: The aid of two walking sticks, and was already pregnant with her fourth child. The royal couple undertook a six-month tour taking in Austria , Egypt and Greece over 1868 and 1869, which included visits to her brother George I of Greece , to the Crimean battlefields and, for her only, to the harem of the Khedive Ismail . In Turkey she became the first woman to sit down to dinner with the Sultan ( Abdulaziz ). The Waleses made Sandringham House their preferred residence, with Marlborough House their London base. Biographers agree that their marriage

6384-476: The area of Denmark by two-fifths. To the great irritation of Queen Victoria and the Crown Princess of Prussia, Alexandra and Albert Edward supported the Danish side in the war. The Prussian conquest of former Danish lands heightened Alexandra's profound dislike of the Germans, a feeling which stayed with her for the rest of her life. Alexandra's first child, Albert Victor , was born two months premature in early 1864. Alexandra showed devotion to her children: "She

6498-441: The birth of a son in April 1871, but the infant died the next day. Despite Alexandra's pleas for privacy, Queen Victoria insisted on announcing a period of court mourning, which led unsympathetic elements of the press to describe the birth as "a wretched abortion" and the funeral arrangements as "sickening mummery", even though the infant was not buried in state with other members of the royal family at Windsor, but in strict privacy in

6612-532: The campaign ended in 1709 with the destruction of the main Swedish army at the decisive Battle of Poltava (in present-day Ukraine ) and Charles' exile in the Ottoman town of Bender . The Ottoman Empire defeated the Russian-Moldavian army in the Pruth River Campaign , but that peace treaty was in the end without great consequence to Russia's position. After Poltava, the anti-Swedish coalition revived and subsequently Hanover and Prussia joined it. The remaining Swedish forces in plague-stricken areas south and east of

6726-406: The churchyard at Sandringham, where he had lived out his brief life. For eight months over 1875–76, the Prince of Wales was absent from Britain on a tour of India, but to her dismay Alexandra was left behind. The prince had planned an all-male group and intended to spend much of the time hunting and shooting. During the prince's tour, one of his friends who was travelling with him, Lord Aylesford ,

6840-402: The coronation of her son and daughter-in-law in 1911 since it was not customary for a crowned queen to attend the coronation of another king or queen, but otherwise continued the public side of her life, devoting time to her charitable causes. One such cause was Alexandra Rose Day , where artificial roses made by people with disabilities were sold in aid of hospitals by women volunteers. During

6954-460: The dismay of Queen Victoria, who asked her to stop, but without success. Even after the birth of her first child, she continued to socialise much as before, which led to some friction between the Queen and the young couple, exacerbated by Alexandra's loathing of Prussians and the Queen's partiality towards them. Albert Edward and Alexandra visited Ireland in April 1868. After her illness the previous year, she had only just begun to walk again without

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7068-449: The divorce was to proceed they would subpoena her husband as a witness and implicate him in the scandal. Distressed at their threats, and following the advice of Sir William Knollys and the Duchess of Teck , Alexandra informed the Queen, who then wrote to the Prince of Wales. The prince was incensed. Eventually, the Blandfords and the Aylesfords both separated privately. Although Lord Randolph Churchill later apologised, for years afterwards

7182-438: The end of the following year, Alexandra's father had acceded to the throne of Denmark, her brother William had become King George I of Greece , her sister Dagmar was engaged to Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia , and Alexandra had given birth to her first child. Her father's accession gave rise to further conflict over the fate of Schleswig-Holstein . The German Confederation successfully invaded Denmark, reducing

7296-819: The existence of any serious rift. Nevertheless, the prince was severely criticised from many quarters of society for his apparent lack of interest in her very serious illness with rheumatic fever . Throughout their marriage Albert Edward continued to keep company with other women, including the actress Lillie Langtry , Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick , humanitarian Agnes Keyser , and society matron Alice Keppel . Alexandra knew about most of these relationships and later permitted Alice Keppel to visit her husband as he lay dying. Alexandra herself remained faithful throughout her marriage. An increasing degree of deafness, caused by hereditary otosclerosis , led to Alexandra's social isolation; she spent more time at home with her children and pets. Her sixth and final pregnancy ended with

7410-463: The first queen consort to visit the British House of Commons during a debate. In a remarkable departure from precedent, for two hours she sat in the Ladies' Gallery overlooking the chamber while the Parliament Bill , to remove the right of the House of Lords to veto legislation, was debated. Privately, Alexandra disagreed with the bill. Shortly afterwards, she left to visit her brother George in Corfu . While there, she received news that King Edward

7524-487: The former eastern Danish provinces lost to Sweden in the course of the 17th century. He was not able to keep northern Swedish Pomerania, Danish from 1712 to 1715. He did put an end to the Swedish threat south of Denmark. He ended Sweden's exemption from the Sound Dues (transit taxes/tariffs on cargo moved between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea). Frederick William I entered the war as elector of Brandenburg and king in Prussia —the royal title had been secured in 1701. He

7638-490: The island and, in the words of Robert Ensor and as Alexandra had predicted, it "became the keystone of Germany's maritime position for offence as well as for defence". The Frankfurter Zeitung was outspoken in its condemnation of Alexandra and her sister, the Dowager Empress, saying that the pair were "the centre of the international anti-German conspiracy". Alexandra despised and distrusted Emperor Wilhelm, calling him "inwardly our enemy" in 1900. In 1910, Alexandra became

7752-612: The life of an ordinary soldier on horseback, not that of contemporary baroque courts. He determinedly pursued his goal of dethroning his adversaries, whom he considered unworthy of their thrones due to broken promises, thereby refusing to take several chances to make peace. During the war, the most important Swedish commanders besides Charles XII were his close friend Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld , also Magnus Stenbock and Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt . Charles Frederick , son of Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (a cousin of Charles XII) and Hedvig Sophia , daughter of Charles XI of Sweden, had been

7866-487: The new tsarina. With the death of her mother-in-law , Queen Victoria, in 1901, Alexandra became queen-empress with her husband's accession as Edward VII. Just two months later, her son George and daughter-in-law Mary left on an extensive tour of the empire, leaving their young children in the care of Alexandra and Edward, who doted on their grandchildren. On George's return, preparations for Edward and Alexandra's coronation in Westminster Abbey were well in hand, but just

7980-427: The opinion of British ministers and her husband's family to favour Greek and Danish interests. Her public duties were restricted to uncontroversial involvement in charitable work. On the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, Albert Edward became King-Emperor as Edward VII, with Alexandra as queen-empress. She became queen mother on Edward VII's death in 1910, at which point their son George V acceded to

8094-432: The other side of the church was the Courtiers Wing (" Kavalerfløj "), residences for the court's clerks and members of the royal household . This section of the palace was built from 1724 to 1726, and introduces elements of the Dutch Baroque style and Rococo. The palace was extended throughout the early 18th century; however, the main structure of the palace has remained unchanged since its inauguration on 11 October 1722,

8208-580: The park. Queen Margrethe uses Fredensborg as a spring and autumn residence, and it is the usual venue for her birthday celebrations every April. The Queen's younger sister, Princess Benedikte, married HH Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg at the Chapel of Fredensborg Palace on 3 February 1968. Until her death, the late Queen Mother, Queen Ingrid used the Chancellery House at Fredensborg as her private residence. The Chancellery House

8322-527: The prior claims of others (who included Christian's own mother-in-law , brother-in-law and wife) were surrendered. Prince Christian was given the title Prince of Denmark and his family moved into a new official residence, Bernstorff Palace . Although the family's status had risen, there was little or no increase in their income; and they did not participate in court life at Copenhagen, for they refused to meet Frederick's third wife and former mistress, Louise Rasmussen , because she had an illegitimate child by

8436-546: The public in July. Here are the kitchen gardens, which supply fresh vegetables for the household, and a modern orangery , which was opened in 1995. In 2021, after extensive restorations and redesign of the gardens, the Fredensborg Palace Garden was awarded the prestigious European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage by the international cultural heritage association, Europa Nostra Award . The jury noted that

8550-474: The roof of the palace's main building. The slanted roof was replaced by a flat one, and a characteristically de Thurah sandstone balustrade was erected. In 1751 he also transformed the Orangery into a residential building for the ladies-in-waiting. In 1753 Nicolai Eigtved extended the palace by adding four symmetrically positioned corner pavilions with copper pyramid-shaped roofs to the main building. In

8664-467: The sea, Alexandra! Saxon and Norman and Dane are we, But all of us Danes in our welcome of thee, Alexandra! Thomas Longley , the Archbishop of Canterbury , married the couple on 10 March 1863 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle . The choice of venue was criticised. As the ceremony took place outside London, the press complained that large public crowds would not be able to view the spectacle. Prospective guests thought it awkward to get to and, as

8778-417: The single- storey servants' wings, called Red Wing. It is the only red building at Fredensborg Palace, and it has open half-timbers under a red tile roof. East of the octagon were the riding ring and the long stables building. Further to the east and adjacent to the main palace was an Orangery and the one-storey building called Margrave House. The Orangery, which was equipped with huge glasshouse windows,

8892-718: The southern part of Swedish Pomerania . The peace treaties also ended its alliance with Holstein-Gottorp. Hanover gained Bremen-Verden , Brandenburg-Prussia incorporated the Oder estuary ( Stettin Lagoons ), Russia secured the Baltic Provinces , and Denmark strengthened its position in Schleswig-Holstein . In Sweden, the absolute monarchy had come to an end with the death of Charles XII, and Sweden's Age of Liberty began. Between 1560 and 1658, Sweden created

9006-466: The statues in the gardens were sculptured by Johannes Wiedewelt . Of special interest is the "Valley of the Norsemen" ( Danish : Nordmandsdalen ) with approximately 70 sculptures of Norwegian and Faroese farmers and fishermen, originally carved by J.G. Grund. The garden is open all year round. The area of the gardens closest to the palace is reserved for the royal family, but is usually open to

9120-782: The throne. Alexandra died aged 80 in 1925. Princess Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia, or "Alix", as her immediate family knew her, was born at the Yellow Palace , an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade , immediately adjacent to the Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen . Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel . She had five siblings: Frederick , William (later George I of Greece), Dagmar (later Empress of Russia), Thyra and Valdemar . Her father's family

9234-403: The time to recover and build up an army that was both new and better. At this point, in 1707, Peter offered to return everything he had so far occupied (essentially Ingria) except Saint Petersburg and the line of the Neva, to avoid a full-scale war, but Charles XII refused. Instead he initiated a march from Saxony to invade Russia . Though his primary goal was Moscow, the strength of his forces

9348-417: The use of firearms. The Nyen fortress was soon abandoned and demolished by Peter, who built nearby a superior fortress as a beginning to the city of Saint Petersburg . By 1704, other fortresses were situated on the island of Kotlin and the sand flats to its south. These became known as Kronstadt and Kronslot. The Swedes attempted a raid on the Neva fort on 13 July 1704 with ships and landing armies, but

9462-532: The venue was small, some people who had expected invitations were disappointed. The Danes were dismayed because only Alexandra's closest relations were invited. The British court was still in mourning for Prince Albert, so ladies were restricted to wearing grey, lilac, or mauve. As the couple left Windsor for their honeymoon at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight , they were cheered by the schoolboys of neighbouring Eton College , including Lord Randolph Churchill . By

9576-489: The war against the only hostile power remaining, Tsar Peter's Russia. The Battle of Narva dealt a severe setback to Peter the Great , but the shift of Charles XII's army to the Polish-Saxon threat soon afterward provided him with an opportunity to regroup and regain territory in the Baltic provinces. Russian victories at Erastfer and Nöteborg (Shlisselburg) provided access to Ingria in 1703, where Peter captured

9690-641: The war in August 1700 according to the terms of the Peace of Travendal . Charles XII was now able to speedily deploy his army to the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea and face his remaining enemies: besides the army of Augustus II in Livonia, an army of Russian tsar Peter I was already on its way to invade Swedish Ingria , where it laid siege to Narva in October. In November, the Russian and Swedish armies met at

9804-572: The way (September 1706) and forcing him to acknowledge defeat in the Treaty of Altranstädt (October 1706). The treaty also secured the extradition and execution of Johann Reinhold Patkul , architect of the alliance seven years earlier. Meanwhile, the forces of Peter I had recovered from defeat at Narva and gained ground in Sweden's Baltic provinces, where they cemented Russian access to the Baltic Sea by founding Saint Petersburg in 1703. Charles XII moved from Saxony into Russia to confront Peter, but

9918-454: The words of Grand Duchess Augusta of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , "We must give credit to old Charlotte for really saving [Alexandra's] life." Alexandra again looked after her grandchildren when George and Mary went on a second tour, this time to British India , over the winter of 1905–06. Her father, Christian IX of Denmark, died that January. Eager to retain their family links, both to each other and to Denmark, in 1907 Alexandra and her sister,

10032-400: The words of Queen Victoria, "to spare me the strain and fatigue of functions. She opens bazaars, attends concerts, visits hospitals in my place ... she not only never complains, but endeavours to prove that she has enjoyed what to another would be a tiresome duty." She took a particular interest in the London Hospital , visiting it regularly. Joseph Merrick , the so-called "Elephant Man",

10146-553: Was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions , and Empress of India , from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of Edward VII . Alexandra's family had been relatively obscure until 1852, when her father, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg , was chosen with the consent of the major European powers to succeed his second cousin Frederick VII as King of Denmark . At

10260-406: Was a distant cadet branch of the Danish royal House of Oldenburg , which was descended from King Christian III . Although they were of royal blood, the family lived a comparatively modest life. They did not possess great wealth; her father's income from an army commission was about £ 800 per year, and their house was a rent-free grace and favour property. Occasionally, Hans Christian Andersen

10374-1141: Was able to mobilize a larger army but could not put all of it into action simultaneously. The Russian mobilization system was ineffective and the expanding nation needed to be defended in many locations. A grand mobilization covering Russia's vast territories would have been unrealistic. Peter I tried to raise his army's morale to Swedish levels. Denmark contributed 20,000 men in their invasion of Holstein-Gottorp and more on other fronts. Poland and Saxony together could mobilize at least 100,000 men. 33,456 musketeers 19,584 pikemen 6,528 grenadiers 8,400 militia 1,200 naval infantry 1,540 grenadiers 9,600 militia (768 grenadiers) 150 halberdiers 1,500 grenadiers cavalry 100 Horse drabants 15,000 heavy cavalry 1,800 noble cavalry 402 horse guards 57 drabant guard 4,556 line cavalry 2,800 pancerni 2,200 heavy cavalry 1,800 cuirassiers 4,000 baltic militia dragoons 20,000 Ukrainian cossacks 15,000 Zaporozhian cossacks 15,000 Don Cossacks 804 militia dragoons 1,710 light cavalry 32,400 cavalry 63,351 cavalry 13,723 cavalry 12,810 cavalry * The difference between heavy and other cavalry

10488-546: Was able to outmaneuver the Danish Sound blockade and deploy an army near the Danish capital, Copenhagen . At the same time, a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet had also set course towards Denmark. Together with the Swedish fleet, they carried out a bombardment of Copenhagen from 20 to 26 July. This surprise move and pressure by the Maritime Powers ( England and the Dutch Republic ) forced Denmark–Norway to withdraw from

10602-540: Was administered by the Swedish Crown ) was able, in particular, to make quick, sustained marches across large tracts of land and to maintain a high rate of small arms fire due to proficient military drill . However, the Swedish state ultimately proved unable to support and maintain its army in a prolonged war. Campaigns on the continent had been proposed on the basis that the army would be financially self-supporting through plunder and taxation of newly gained land,

10716-419: Was connected to the main building by a small secret passage, so that the royal family and the courtiers could walk to the chapel without getting their feet wet. The palace chapel stood in the middle of the two buildings, and has an exaggerated copper spire, a pilaster -decorated façade facing the riding ring, and a heavily carved gable featuring a bust of Frederik IV in relief carved by Didrick Gercken . On

10830-492: Was crushingly defeated by a larger Russian force under Peter in the Battle of Poltava and fled to the Ottoman Empire while the remains of his army surrendered at Perevolochna . This shattering defeat in 1709 did not end the war, although it decided it. Denmark and Saxony joined the war again and Augustus the Strong, through the politics of Boris Kurakin , regained the Polish throne. Peter continued his campaigns in

10944-402: Was described by gossips as having her face "enamelled". She made no more trips abroad, and her health worsened. In 1920, a blood vessel in her eye burst, leaving her with temporary partial blindness. Towards the end of her life, her memory and speech became impaired. She died on 20 November 1925 at Sandringham House from a heart attack. Queen Alexandra lay in state at Westminster Abbey and

11058-697: Was determined to gain the Oder estuary with its access to the Baltic Sea for the Brandenburgian core areas, which had been a state goal for centuries . George I of the House of Hanover , elector of Hanover and, since 1714, king of Great Britain and of Ireland, took the opportunity to connect his landlocked German electorate to the North Sea . In 1700, Charles XII had a standing army of 77,000 men (based on annual training). By 1707 this number had swollen to at least 120,000 despite casualties. Russia

11172-533: Was devout throughout her life, and followed high church practice. Given that Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales , would reach the age of twenty in November 1861, his parents Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert , were taking steps to find a bride for him. They enlisted the aid of their eldest (and already-married) daughter, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia , in seeking a suitable candidate. Alexandra

11286-414: Was forced to sign the Treaty of Altranstädt in which he made peace with the Swedish Empire, renounced his claims to the Polish crown, accepted Stanislaus Leszczyński as king, and ended his alliance with Russia. Patkul was also extradited and executed by breaking on the wheel in 1707, an incident which, given his diplomatic immunity, infuriated opinion against the Swedish king, who was then expected to win

11400-469: Was formally neutral at this point, as Augustus started the war as an Elector of Saxony. Disregarding Polish negotiation proposals supported by the Swedish parliament, Charles crossed into the Commonwealth and decisively defeated the Saxe-Polish forces in the Battle of Klissow in 1702 and in the Battle of Pultusk in 1703. This successful invasion enabled Charles XII to dethrone Augustus II and coerce

11514-470: Was in her glory when she could run up to the nursery, put on a flannel apron, wash the children herself and see them asleep in their little beds." Albert Edward and Alexandra had six children in total: Albert Victor, George, Louise , Victoria , Maud , and Alexander . All of Alexandra's children were apparently born prematurely; biographer Richard Hough thought Alexandra deliberately misled Queen Victoria as to her probable delivery dates, as she did not want

11628-453: Was in many ways a happy one; however, some have asserted that Albert Edward did not give his wife as much attention as she would have liked and that they gradually became estranged, until his attack of typhoid fever (the disease which was believed to have killed his father) in late 1871 brought about a reconciliation. This is disputed by others, who point out Alexandra's frequent pregnancies throughout this period and use family letters to deny

11742-489: Was interred on 28 November next to her husband in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle . The Queen Alexandra Memorial by Alfred Gilbert was unveiled on Alexandra Rose Day 8 June 1932 at Marlborough Gate, London. An ode in her memory, "So many true princesses who have gone" , composed by the then Master of the King's Musick Sir Edward Elgar to words by the Poet Laureate John Masefield ,

11856-425: Was invited to call and tell the children stories before bedtime. In 1848, Christian VIII of Denmark died and his only son Frederick acceded to the throne. Frederick was childless, had been through two unsuccessful marriages, and was assumed to be infertile. A succession crisis arose because Frederick ruled in both Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein , and the succession rules of each territory differed. In Holstein ,

11970-435: Was named after her, after a patent letter was granted by the King, her husband Edward VII. British She was the first woman since 1488 to be made a Lady of the Garter . Foreign Queen Alexandra's arms upon the accession of her husband in 1901 were the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom impaled with the arms of her father, the King of Denmark. The shield is surmounted by the imperial crown, and supported by

12084-650: Was not their first choice because the Danes were at loggerheads with the Prussians over the Schleswig-Holstein Question , and most of the British royal family 's relations were German. Eventually, after rejecting other possibilities, they settled on her as "the only one to be chosen". On 24 September 1861, Crown Princess Victoria introduced her brother Albert Edward to Alexandra at Speyer . Almost

12198-535: Was one of the patients whom she met. Crowds usually cheered Alexandra rapturously, but during a visit to Ireland in 1885, she suffered a rare moment of public hostility when visiting the City of Cork , a hotbed of Irish nationalism . She and her husband were booed by a crowd of two to three thousand people brandishing sticks and black flags. She smiled her way through the ordeal, which the British press still portrayed in

12312-431: Was overthrown and he, his wife and their children were killed by revolutionaries . Alexandra's sister, the Dowager Empress, was rescued from Russia in 1919 by HMS  Marlborough and brought to England, where she lived for some time with Alexandra. Alexandra retained a youthful appearance into her senior years, but during the war her age caught up with her. She took to wearing elaborate veils and heavy makeup, which

12426-556: Was portrayed in film by Helen Ryan again in the 1980 film The Elephant Man , Sara Stewart in the 1997 film Mrs Brown , and Julia Blake in the 1999 film Passion . In a 1980 stage play by Royce Ryton , Motherdear , she was portrayed by Margaret Lockwood in her last acting role. Also, in 1907, the Royal Alexandra Theatre was built in Toronto , Canada , as North America's first royal theatre. The venue

12540-423: Was ruled by the young Charles XII, declared war on the Swedish Empire and launched a threefold attack on Swedish Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish Livonia , and Swedish Ingria . Sweden parried the Danish and Russian attacks at Travendal (August 1700) and Narva (November 1700) respectively, and in a counter-offensive pushed Augustus II's forces through the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to Saxony, dethroning Augustus on

12654-510: Was sapped by the cold weather (the winter of 1708/09 being one of the most severe in modern European history) and Peter's use of scorched earth tactics. When the main army turned south to recover in Ukraine , the second army with supplies and reinforcements was intercepted and routed at Lesnaya —and so were the supplies and reinforcements of Swedish ally Ivan Mazepa in Baturyn . Charles

12768-502: Was seriously ill. Alexandra returned at once and arrived only the day before her husband died . In his last hours, she personally administered oxygen from a gas cylinder to help him breathe. She told Frederick Ponsonby , "I feel as if I had been turned into stone, unable to cry, unable to grasp the meaning of it all." Later that year she moved out of Buckingham Palace to Marlborough House , but she retained possession of Sandringham. The new king, Alexandra's son George V, soon faced

12882-474: Was sung at the unveiling and conducted by the composer. Alexandra was highly popular with the British public. Unlike her husband and mother-in-law, Alexandra was not castigated by the press. Funds that she helped to collect were used to buy a river launch, called Alexandra , to ferry the wounded during the Sudan campaign , and to fit out a hospital ship, named The Princess of Wales , to bring back wounded from

12996-585: Was told by his wife that she was going to leave him for another man, Lord Blandford , who was himself married. Aylesford was appalled and decided to seek a divorce. Meanwhile, Lord Blandford's brother, Lord Randolph Churchill , persuaded the lovers against an elopement. Now concerned by the threat of divorce, Lady Aylesford sought to dissuade her husband from proceeding, but Lord Aylesford was adamant and refused to reconsider. In an attempt to pressure Lord Aylesford to drop his divorce suit, Lady Aylesford and Lord Randolph Churchill called on Alexandra and told her that if

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