Tsar Alexander III (1845-1894) and Empress Marie Feodorovna (Dagmar) (1847-1928)

[NGalitzine]

Her nephew the King of Denmark was very cost conscious.....the famous story about Marie turning on all the lights in Amalienborg after her nephew complained about having to pay very high electrical bills. George V at least provided her with a pension.

[Vasillisos Markos]

Originally Posted by NGalitzine

Her nephew the King of Denmark was very cost conscious.....the famous story about Marie turning on all the lights in Amalienborg after her nephew complained about having to pay very high electrical bills. George V at least provided her with a pension.

My dear NGalitzine,

Was it the King of Denmark who also complained about Marie's use of electricity? I thought Massie wrote in the epilogue to Nicholas and Alexandra that George V sent an equerry or secretary to request that Marie reduce costs by using less electric light at the grace and favour house she occupied by the King's command. According to Massie, Marie stared at the unfortunate bearer of the bad news, then rang for her footman and ordered him to light the house from basement to attic! What a woman!

[Artemisia]

I definitely wouldn't want to be in that poor equerry's place!
Marie Feodorovna was certainly a formidable woman.

[NGalitzine]

It was the King of Denmark who sent the footman to tell the Dowager Empress to turn off the lights in her wing of the Amalienborg Palace where she was then living. The king wanted her to sell what jewels she had to cover her expenses. Marie retaliated by having all the lights turned on. It was George V who provided her with an allowance.

[Vasillisos Markos]

My dear NGalitzine,

Thank you for the response. Could it be possible that both Kings had a similar encounter with Marie? I cannot locate my rather worn copy of Nicholas and Alexandra but I could swear that Massie writes it was George V who complained of the electricity costs. Even though he did provide her with houses to live in and granted her an allowance, I am not surprised that he would also complain (like the King of Denmark) if he believed that Marie was being extravagant. Most of the monarchs watched their bottom line carefully.

[MAfan]

I recall to have read somewhere (possibly in Greg King's "The last Empress", but I'm not totally sure) of the electricity costs episode, and I'm pretty sure that the the King in question was Christian X of Denmark.

[lucien]

Finally and looking forward too a book that will be published this fall,the new and massively researched "Alexander III" by Margarita Nelipa,author of "Rasputin".

A fresh breeze of wellwrought,well rersearched liturature as oppposed to " press your syllables out once a year" fla fla by demand of publishers and by lack of knowledge to their "victims'.... ....

[Vasillisos Markos]

Originally Posted by MAfan

I recall to have read somewhere (possibly in Greg King's "The last Empress", but I'm not totally sure) of the electricity costs episode, and I'm pretty sure that the the King in question was Christian X of Denmark.

Thank you to all who corrected me. It was the Danish King who was upset with the electricity bill and tried to get his aunt, the Dowager Empress Marie, to turn off as many lights as possible. I ran across a copy of Nicholas and Alexandra in my local library and there it was. I became confused because in the same paragraph Massie mentions the pension given to "Aunt Minnie" by George V and after the passage of years I confused my kings.

All in all, what a character Marie must have been and how humiliating to be told to economize on electricity after having lived in the most opulent court of its time. But she responded like a true queen. Brava!

[Al_bina]

Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna's dresses (photos 1-7) from the State Hermitage collection http://fashionblog.com.ua/?p=39036

[Artemisia]

Thanks a lot for the link, Al_bina!
Just love those dresses, especially the pale pink chiffon one.
The black and red beaded dress looks like something from vampire films, but it's absolutely gorgeous too.

Women had tiny waists back then, didn't they?

[Daria_S]

I think the corsets helped accentuate that. I always thought that wearing one was a torture, but a friend of mine that models women's period clothing told me that if one is laced correctly, it doesn't provide any discomfort.

[Tuna]

Does anyone know about Alexander's family life? I'm amazed how much of a family man Nicholas II was, and how much he loved his wife and children. Was this the same with Alexander?

[Vasillisos Markos]

My dear Tuna,

I think Alexander's children (wth the exception of Michael and Olga, the two youngest) were scared of their father's bluster but from all accounts, I think he very much enjoyed his family life. The royal family lived in fear of assassination at all times, but enjoyed their visits to Denmark when they visited Marie's family. The Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, found these family visits to be very boring, but I think Alexander III loved his time spent with his family in Denmark.

[CyrilVladisla]

Marie Feodorovna and Alexandra, consort of England's Edward VII, were sisters. After each sister married her respective husband, did Alexandra travel more to Russia to visit her sister or did Marie Feodorovna travel more to England to visit Alexandra?

[Warren]

The main and, for a period, regular extended family get-togethers took place in Hesse.

[CyrilVladisla]

How did Princess Dagmar of Denmark select the name of Marie when she became a Grand Duchess?

[LauraS3514]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

How did Princess Dagmar of Denmark select the name of Marie when she became a Grand Duchess?

Her baptismal names were Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar. She was known to her family as "Minnie."

[crown]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

Marie Feodorovna and Alexandra, consort of England's Edward VII, were sisters. After each sister married her respective husband, did Alexandra travel more to Russia to visit her sister or did Marie Feodorovna travel more to England to visit Alexandra?

In the years berfor WWI the family would get together and spend part of their Summer at Fredensborg Palace in Denmark. These get-togethers are knows as the Fredensborgdagene - the Fredensborg Days. Maria and her brothers and sisters enjoyed each others company. The Tzar enjoyed the informal atmosphere and the fact that he was free walk the park unaccompanied by guards. The Prince of Wales was quite bored but I suppose he went to indulge his wife. Most of the Europe's royals were gathered in Fredensborg; The Russian Tzar, The Prince of Wales, The King of Norway, The king of Greece, the king of Sweden and of course the king of Denmark. Alledgedly the German kaiser was not happy about this because he imagined they were plotting against him.


In this painting by Lauritz Tuxen you see Christian IX with his family at Fredensborg.

I also managed to find this video of OMII showing the interiors of Fredenborg Palace (unfortunately it is in Danish). Dronningen tager imod - dr.dk/Bonanza
@ 29.00 the queen shows the above mentioned painting
@ 34.33 original footage of the young royals on bicycles

It is a tradition at Fredensborg Palace that visitors sign the glass of the windows with a diamon pen. Towards the end of the video QMII shows an inscribtion made on a marble door frame. The inscribtion commemorates the engagement of Princess Dagmar. @ 47.20
This was Dagmar's second engagement; in 1864 she was engaged to the Russian heir Nikolai Alexandrovitj. In the Spring of 1865 he died of tuberculosis. Alledgedly his last wish was that Dagmar should marry his brother Alexander III.

[cmbruno]

Fascinating to watch athough I could only understand a word here and there. Thank you for posting it!

[crown]

You are welcome Cmbruno

I managed to find an episode of series of 6 about 'The father in law of Europe' - this episode is about Dagmar and Alexander. The Commentary is in Danish but the members of the royal families speak english. The series sports private footage never shown before. I thought you might enjoy it
En kongelig familie - dr.dk/Bonanza