here is an engagement photo with her whole family and a painting of hers
When she became Queen she was very young and many times she would react in a sort of childish way that often scandalized the Russian ladies in waiting that came with her in Greece as well as the older Greek ladies in waiting who still held memories of Queen Amalia ( always regal and behaving with must pomp). For example , when the Prince and the Princess of Wales made their first official visit in Greece , Olga was very nervous because she wanted Alexandra to have a good time and to like her ( they didn't really know each other then ). But she was bored of all these preparations and the protocoll and the ambassandors etc. The day they would arrive in Athens, she was sitting in the Throne room in Athens Palace and was supposed to recieve her guests there. She sat there and kept waiting and waiting with her ladies and she was so bored she was playing with a pearl necklase. The Russian lady in waiting came in , bowed and said " Your Majesty, Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales have arrived" . She exclaimed " At last!" , stood up , and rushed off the room while everyone was looking startled. She started going down the stairs panting and shouting for her hunband to hear " Villy! Come, come, Alix is here!" She even got out of the palace and she greeted them out of her breath when they got out of the carriage. Bertie was astonished at first, but Alexandra was charmed by the unceremonial way she greeted her....
Was Queen Alexandra close to Queen Olga? Alix was very close to her sibling, for sure, and I know she was close to Alexander III.....
I believe they were very close although not as close as Olga and Dagmar. But that seems logical considering the many annual visits the Greek Royals would pay to Russia ( In fact , Olga and Dagmar along with Elisaveta Mavrikievna were sort of the united force against Marie Pavlova and her court ) Alexandra liked a lot Olga's simple and childish manners which very often compatible to her own, and all of George's sisters prefered much more her than Lovisa of Sweden ( Frederick's wife). Alexandra also gave the name Olga to Toria to honour he sister in law.
By the way, here is a nice picture of Olga , Alexandra and Dagmar/ Minnie ( found on gettyimages)
The photograph of the three women, Alexandra, Olga, and Dagmar/Minnie, shows each in a dress made from the same material! Although each dress appears to differ in style about the bosom, it appears these three royals were not adverse to being same in the same dress.
I believe it was done on purpose , sort of a joke. I ve seen many photographs with royals wearing the same clothes which were made exactly for the photograph. The picture was taken during a visit at Denmark and I really feel sorry for the seamstress who had to make three same dresses and make sure they would look flattering for each lady. I mean, while Alexandra is gorgeous, Olga appears sort of matronly. Anyway, if I was Olga ( who was a little plump) I don't if I would have the courage to pose dressed the same with my two thin and perfectly silhouetted sisters in law .
I have to agree, Snowflower, I don't think I would have the confidence to pose next to Alix and Minnie - but there again, it shows Queen Olga's great character!!!
You are right her character was unique in may way . I ve came across many descriptions of her in many Greek books , fictional and non fictional and she is always prsented the same way: calm and serene, with a kind voice and and eyes that look at one with sweetnes, most of the time dressed in white or cream colours and always wearing a black velvet ribbon in her fair hair. Queen Victoria though quite higly of her and wrote once to her daughter Vicky :"The Greek Queen is a very amiable woman, whose character is marked by true and sincere kindness. She is quite bautiful, with nice blond hair and the angelic face of a madonna and although she is a true Romanov, she has none of the pride that is a common trait of the rest of her family, our dear Marie included".
She was indeed quite a woman if she could get a compliment, being a Romanov, out of Queen Victoria.
Queen Victoria didn't have much liking for the Imperial Family.
She was quite the woman and that is seen on the way she would handle her husband occasional infidelities( I thought that they were faithfull to each but after researching the husband it turns out he was infidel to her , although not to a regural basis - I didn't like that when I found it). Anyway, when Goerge first arrived at Greece he was quite the ladies' man , handsome, young , tall ,blonde etc. After his marriage, he was devoted to his wife but after a few years he would develop relationships with other women. Olga, who was quite young then and trully loved him was reacting by going for visits to Russia or dedicating herself entirely to her children and her numberous charities. George would see that she was neglecting him and understood the reason, He would feel very sorry for the pain he was causing her because he did love her tenderly, he would end up his affair apologise and everything would be fine. As years passed, he would be more careful and he would never develop a long term affair because he loved his wife and he didn't wish to hurt her. If that's what he wished , he could have been faithful to her in the first place...
She was indeed quite a woman if she could get a compliment, being a Romanov, out of Queen Victoria.
Queen Victoria didn't have much liking for the Imperial Family.
Queen Victoria disliked the Russian Royals and butted heads with her Russian daughter-in-law, Marie of Edinburgh. QV speaking highly of Olga is high praise indeed!
The ever haughty Marie..... I have read, as she is one of my favorite & intriguing royals, the many rounds she had with QV and her daughters over precedence and over her jewels, etc.....
So, agreed, Queen Olgas high praise is indeed "High Praise"
I think that the key was Queen Olga's simple manners and the fact that she was not as "obnoxious" as the majority of her relatives. In fact, I thInk the reason that King George chose her as a bride was the fact that, among others, she was the most suitable to Become Queen of Greece. I mean, could any of her cousins have held the same position with her success?
Nicely put, Snowflower. I should hasten to add that Victoria was not an unkind person and although she was not fond of Russia, this did not necessarily mean that she lumped all Russians together. For example, QV liked Nicholas II and gave her blessing to his marriage to her granddaughter. If Marie had behaved better, QV probably would have liked her as well. I believe she heartily disliked Nicholas' grandfather.
Olga certainly was a person who was gentle and sweet in her dealings with others. This was shown by the respect afforded her after the monarchy in Greece fell on hard times. In the end, people like who they like and Olga was very well liked by the Greeks.
The Russian ( now Naval) Hospital at Piraeus was one of Queen Olga's major achievements. It is known that she felt very nostalgic about her homeland and when a Russian ship would arrive at Piraeus port, she would visit it numerous times. At some point, she was presented a document by a delegation. That document was a sort of petition from the Russian sailors and naval officers who had often scheduled trips to the mediterranean. They were asking the Queen to seek if she could make sure that a place was found in Piraeus, to take medical care there of Russian sailors. The queen then decided something even better. She would built a whole Russian Hospital!
In 1902, she bought with her own personal money an estate in Piraeus from the Meletopoulos family and turn the existing villas into a fully equipped Hospital. The Hospital was dedicated to the welfare of Russians sea mens who travelled across the Meiterranean sea. Of course, all people living in Piraeus could go there and be treated for free. The staff was exclusively Russian , from the director to the cleaning ladies although later some Greeks also started working there, but never in the administration. The Hospital would also take care of those Russians who wished to live in Greece, helping them with their papers and finding work for them.
The opening was done during february 1902, at the presence of the Greek Royal Family and all The Russian oficcials of tha Athens' Embassy and the Priraeus's Consulate. A destroyer of the Russian Royal Navy was also there, to honour with gun firing the occasion. A Serbian priest did the blessings ( it was impossible to find either a Russian or a Greek who knew enough Russian) . The next year a church was built there, dedicated to Saint Olga and appartments for a russian priest and a man to do the chantings who were ordered by the Queen to officiate at every Russian ship that wished a liturgie. Around the Hospital, a thriving Russian community was established , from merchands and servants to wifes of officers who were positioned in the Mediterranean sea and next to the Hospital each Imperial ship used to stop for a while before continuing its journey......
My favourite story about Queen Olga, and apparently George V's favourite too:
Queen Olga had very bad eyesight and once when at Windsor passed a statue of 'Lady Godiva'...
She stopped and looked the statue up & down and then exclaimed to King George V & Queen Mary:
"Ah, dear Queen Victoria!!"...
George V told this story many times at his dinner parties...
What a wonderful piece of information.... an excellent way to be kind and show charity in her new home; as well as bring a little bit of Russia to Greece!!!
How funny, Larry. Thanks for sharing. I can just see the expression on Queen Mary's face....
Me too. By the way, did you know that Olga put her best efforts to convice George to marry Mary, because he was hesitating after his brother's death, and was wondering how proper it would be? Mary of Teck and King George, Olga's husband were second cousins ( through the Hesse Kassel family) and Olga had met quite a few times May when she used to be at family gatherings at Rumpenheim. She always appreciated Mary and she told George about what a good girls she was and how compatible they both were and that she believed that they would make a great match. She seems to have been corect in the end....
) Alexandra liked a lot Olga's simple and childish manners which very often compatible to her own, and all of George's sisters prefered much more her than Lovisa of Sweden ( Frederick's wife). Alexandra also gave the name Olga to Toria to honour he sister in law.
.
You are right her character was unique in may way . I ve came across many descriptions of her in many Greek books , fictional and non fictional and she is always prsented the same way: calm and serene, with a kind voice and and eyes that look at one with sweetnes, most of the time dressed in white or cream colours and always wearing a black velvet ribbon in her fair hair. Queen Victoria though quite higly of her and wrote once to her daughter Vicky :"The Greek Queen is a very amiable woman, whose character is marked by true and sincere kindness. She is quite bautiful, with nice blond hair and the angelic face of a madonna and although she is a true Romanov, she has none of the pride that is a common trait of the rest of her family, our dear Marie included".
). Anyway, when Goerge first arrived at Greece he was quite the ladies' man , handsome, young , tall ,blonde etc. After his marriage, he was devoted to his wife but after a few years he would develop relationships with other women. Olga, who was quite young then and trully loved him was reacting by going for visits to Russia or dedicating herself entirely to her children and her numberous charities. George would see that she was neglecting him and understood the reason, He would feel very sorry for the pain he was causing her because he did love her tenderly, he would end up his affair apologise and everything would be fine. As years passed, he would be more careful and he would never develop a long term affair because he loved his wife and he didn't wish to hurt her. If that's what he wished , he could have been faithful to her in the first place
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