Princess Alexandra of Denmark

This article is written by Andrea B. Course "British Monarchies" in SS 2010. Deadline: 01/06/2010.

Princess Alexandra of Denmark, Queen Alexandra.

1.Childhood/Adolescence

Princess Alexandra (of Denmark) was born on 01 December 1844 in Copenhagen, Denmark. (http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk)

Her parents were Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg’s and Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. Despite not being very wealthy, her family gave Princess Alexandra all their love and affection. They taught her English, French and religion. Princess Alexandra was a very pretty and slim woman with an athletic body. The latter applies to her sisters too. Princess Alexandra was very keen on riding and she was an open-minded person. Encouraged by her family to do practical jokes, she adopted a tomboyishness. (Bradford, p. 11)

2. Marriage

In 1863 Princess Alexandra moved to England to get married to Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VII. She was 18 and he was 21 on the day of their marriage. (http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk)

The two had a lot of characteristics in common, which made them seem to suit very well to each other. Princess Alexandra and Prince Albert, who became Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII in 1901 after his mother had died, were both “restless, gregarious” (Bradford, p. 11) and above all none of them could be considered having a brilliant intellect. (Bradford, p. 11) Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls. The boys Albert Victor, George and Alexander died shortly after their births and the girls Louise, Victoria and Maud were called ‘the hags’. (Bradford, p. 12) Even though she was a very maternal and affectionate woman, she was also very bossy to only her children. (Bradford, pp. 18/19)

3. Life

Queen Alexandra transmitted otosclerosis from her mother and as a result of that gradually became deaf. She met another very sad destiny after the birth of her third child in 1867. She got rheumatic fever with the effect that she had to limp and even worse she got more and more deaf. (Bradford, p. 11) Due to her illness, she withdrew from social life and furthermore had to accept her husband’s affairs. She was bound to the house and focused on caring for the children and her horses. (Bradford, p. 12)

4. Death

Queen Alexandra died of a sudden heart attack on 20 November 1925 Sandringham. (Bradford, pp. 152/153)