King Edward VII (1841-1910) and Queen Alexandra (1844-1925)

[Zonk]

Alexandra definitely was too hands on. She totally spoiled her daughters and if she had her wish (at least IMO) would have seen that NONE of them married. I wonder if her distress in her marriage (Edward's constant cheating) played a role in how she clung to her children.

Its interesting to see how parenting was so different from George V. She appeared to be close to her children and he appeared to be somewhat standoffish.

 

[Royal Fan]

What was E VII like as a parent??

 

[Roderick]

By most accounts he was not a very involved father but he did love his children. He became very close to Prince George in his later years, after the death of the Duke of Clarence and in particular after he become king himself.

 

[Vasillisos Markos]

Alexandra definitely was too hands on. She totally spoiled her daughters and if she had her wish (at least IMO) would have seen that NONE of them married. I wonder if her distress in her marriage (Edward's constant cheating) played a role in how she clung to her children.

Its interesting to see how parenting was so different from George V. She appeared to be close to her children and he appeared to be somewhat standoffish.

Queen Victoria often thought the children of Bertie and Alexandra to be too unruly. This unruliness was simply their love of merriment, which Alexandra encouraged. But the Queen acknowledged that Alexandra instilled good qualities, such as an absence of pride, which the Queen fully supported.

It is true, however, that Alexandra, perhaps in reaction to her husband's extra-marital affairs, developed and encouraged a close dependency with her children and the ultimate sufferer was Toria, who never married and escaped from her mother's orbit. It was very common for Victorian widows to designate a daughter as the companion to the mother and perhaps Alexandra deemed herself "widowed" by Bertie's unfaithfulness and thus poor Toria had to be the designated companion.

 

[jonnydep]

but this was the custom amongst the members of the house of glucksburg. likwise her own parents king christian IX and queen louise of denmark and most of her siblings, smothered their offspring with happiness, love, and often treating them as children well into their adulthood. it can be said that this treatment fostered the freshness and fun of youth, it also conserved the love of the family which was so lacking in some of the royal houses of europe of the period.

alexandra was supported 100% by her husband bertie (albert edward, prince of wales) , whom wanted to be regarded as being a elder sibling to his own sons. not surpising given his owm harsh upbringing. it is said he regarded his own father as a hectoring bully who caused him nothing but misery and suffering in his childhood !!

as for the treatment of toria, in alexandra's own family there was another similar situation between her sister, the dowager empress of russia and her youngest daughter grand duchess olga. it is said that the empress in a streak of selfishness, had married olga off to the most unsuitable prince ever (peter of oldenburg), who lived in russia, to ensure that the grand duchess would remain at her beck and call at all times.........

the same can be said in regards alexandra's mother in law queen victoria, for instance princesses helena and beatrice, the queen only allowed the princesses to marry if they remained in england, to be forever at her side ........

 

[CarolinaLandgrave]

Wasnt Peter of Oldenburg a homosexual?

 

[silverstar]

yes, Princess Alexandra was a stunning lady,
she wowed the Victorians and became the leader of fashion.
Yet Ive read that as an adult she was very childlike
and loved fairytales and childrens stories etc.
In fact Hans Christian Anderson used to call at her
home in Denmark and read to the children.

Ive also read about Oliver Montagu... youngest son of Lord Sandwich... who was her constant companion for 25 years..... "but of course, their relationship was purely platonic...." say the books..... yes of course.. I believe that !!
But while her husband was swanning around Europe with a string of lovers and mistresses... are we expecting poor Alexandra to live the life of a nun ?

Again, drawing the parallel with Diana... it looks like
Oliver was Alexandra's .....James Hewitt !
( I ll have to try and find a pic of Oliver... better still
a pic of Oliver and Alexandra together ! )

 

[Roderick]

Oliver Montague was no James Hewitt. Ladies of Alexandra's day who possessed deep religious convictions and lived by them did not stray to affairs simply because their husbands chose to.

I do not know of one writer who claims the relationship was anything more than it should have been. Alexandra was a Lady, Montague the deeply admiring but consummate Gentleman.

 

[Tilla]

Aaahhh, those impressing, never seen photos of Queen Alexandra and her family ! Thank you !

 

[Furienna]

I have to agree with Roderick. Just because Edward had affairs, it doesn't mean, that Alexandra had one too. It was so much easier for men than for women to have affairs back then. And while it's maybe not impossible, that she had an affair, I've never heard anything about it before.

 

[Wisteria]

Oliver Montague was no James Hewitt. Ladies of Alexandra's day who possessed deep religious convictions and lived by them did not stray to affairs simply because their husbands chose to.

I do not know of one writer who claims the relationship was anything more than it should have been. Alexandra was a Lady, Montague the deeply admiring but consummate Gentleman.

Well said. I would just like to add that Queen Alexandra was certainly no Diana either. She was of the old school, a royal lady through and through and Montague was her very loyal friend who adored her - but from behind the social barrier that existed in those days between a Queen and a courtier.

 

[Russophile]

Wasnt Peter of Oldenburg a homosexual?

Wiki says yes, though I would prefer a more reliable source. Nothing I have read so far has come right out and said it.

 

[CarolinaLandgrave]

Wiki says yes, though I would prefer a more reliable source. Nothing I have read so far has come right out and said it.

Thank you, Russo. I read it somewhere also - I think in something on the Romanov family. Have to just remember where.
But it was on the subject of how Marie Feodorovna wanted to keep her daughters close.
Like Alexandra....

 

[Grace Angel]

I really doubt she ever had a lover too. I read the biograohy of her a few years ago ( can't remember the author, it's an older biography) and it never gave me the impression she did, actually that biography gave me the impression she had a rather sad life in some ways since, since like Diana she was the beautiful ignored wife of a Prince of Wales, but she was also a foreigner and deaf. It's really not surprising she kept her children close.

 

[Furienna]

She was deaf? I didn't know that.

 

[Dierna23]

She was deaf? I didn't know that.

Yes, she was. She had osteosclerosis and also rheumatism, which disabled one of her legs.

 

[Furienna]

Wow... Was she deaf already as a child, or did she lose her hearing as a grown-up?

 

[Roderick]

She was not deaf as a child but began to lose her hearing in early adulthood particularly after her serious bout of rheumatic fever [which also caused the permanent stiffening of one knee] in 1867 when she was aged only 22 years old and was also pregnant with her first daughter Louise. Queen Victoria recorded that from this time onwards it was noticeably difficult to make her hear conversation.

As has already been said she suffered from otosclerosis, an hereditary condition passed on by her mother which can today be surgically corrected. It was noted to become worse after illness or stress.

 

[Russophile]

It's a pity she didn't use sign language, it had been around since 1620 (see Juan Pablo Bonet). Though it may have not been widely used?

 

[Furienna]

I don't think it was widely used in the 19th century.

 

[Tilla]

Perhaps, she did not want to force her family to learn the sign language, too ?

 

[magnik]

Or maybe she just used paper and pencil to communicate with the others?

 

[Dierna23]

Or maybe she read from the lips? The Duke of Edinburghs mother, Princess Alice, was also deaf and she handled it that way.

 

[Roderick]

She did learn to lipread quite well. She was sensitive about her disability and it is doubtful that sign language would have been an acceptable option for her if it was used at that time.

She managed quite well within the family circle as she could relax and simply tell people to speak up if she wasn't making out what they were saying. Her right hand lady Charlotte Knollys and one or two other staff members who were always with her were very helpful also.

The deafness was mostly a problem at large gatherings as a great deal of background noise would make it more difficult for her to hear and also to ask people to speak louder. For these reasons she gradually withdrew from these events almost entirely.

 

[jonnydep]

Or maybe she read from the lips? The Duke of Edinburghs mother, Princess Alice, was also deaf and she handled it that way.

yes, have you heared the story that princess alice often recounted concerning a silent movie she once saw ...
well during a tender love scene the actors was supposely talking sweet nothings to each other, when in fact the male actor was discussing his eviction due to non payments of rent. the princess found this very amusing !!!

 

[Dierna23]

Yes, I've heard that story. She surely had a special pleasure being in a movie theatre

 

[jonnydep]

Wasnt Peter of Oldenburg a homosexual?

yes i get that impression........ it is said that ogla once remarked that the marriage was never consummated...... she later divorced prince peter and remarried a commoner to the digust of the imperial family / court !!!

 

[silverstar]

Princess Alexandra of Denmark

Princess Alexandra was born in 1844.

Alexandra was selected as a suitable bride for the Prince of Wales and vetted by Queen Victoria.
She arrived in London in March 1863. Prince Albert had died prematurely,
a few months before, so her arrival and the rapturous welcome she received from the British public,
went some way to lift the "Royal Gloom " that hung over Windsor Castle.
She married the Prince of Wales in St Georges Chapel Windsor on the 10th of March 1863.
Princess Alexandra was feted and cheered wherever she went and
almost effortlessly became a leader of fashion and society.

The Danish Princess was far more popular and cheered more loudly than her
husband the Prince of Wales..... a pattern that was to reoccur decades later when
Diana married another Prince of Wales in another era.

 

[Lumutqueen]

Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Carolina Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress of India from 1901 to 1910 as the consort of Edward VII.

"Alix", as she was known within the family, was born at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade, right next 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-Cassel.

On 24 September 1861, Crown Princess Victoria introduced her brother Albert Edward to Alexandra at Speyer, but it was not until almost a year later on 9 September 1862 (after his affair with Nellie Clifden and the death of his father) that Albert Edward proposed to Alexandra at the Royal Castle of Laeken, the home of his uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium.

The couple were married on 10 March 1863 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle by Thomas Longley, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...with_Queen_Louise_and_the_Duchess_of_Fife.jpg

Queen Louise, Queen Alexandra & Duchess of Fife.

They had 6 children.

• Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale = 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892.
• George V of the United Kingdom = 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936
• Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife = 20 February 1867 – 4 January 1931
• Princess Victoria Alexandra = 6 July 1868 – 3 December 1935),
• Maud, Queen of Norway = 26 November 1869 – 20 November 1938
• Prince Alexander John = 6 April 1871 – 7 April 1871

 

[Iluvbertie]

She is my all time favourite Princess of Wales and Queen Consort as she was just so perfect and regal in a way that those before or since weren't or aren't.

She had a lot to put up with, husband's infidelities, deafness, foreign country etc, but did it wonderfully and without public complaint. If she complained at all it was within the privacy of her family and there alone.