Queen Consort Alexandra | Her TURBULENT Life

alexandra of denmark the long-suffering queen consort of britain alexandra of denmark went from ranks to riches she became a royal as well as the most unlikeliest fashion icon of all time please continue to support my channel by subscribing she lived a turbulent life of tragedy alongside immense privilege and it is thought that she even caused a limping pandemic in london throughout the years her fortunes and her outfits changed but tragedy was never far away with compounding drama and scandal filling her life i will explore the life of alexandra and how she rose from a dismal life sleeping in a dusty old attic to becoming the queen consort of britain and living in a palace alexandra of denmark or alex as her family called her was born in 1844 in denmark she grew up alongside her five siblings of whom were of no importance to anyone worth being known to they were part of a small and insignificant cadet branch of the house of oldham berg the royal house in denmark up until the age of 18 she lived a comfortable life in total obscurity before things took a full 360 and she ended up living a life of riches and privilege alexandra was able to live a charmed childhood and she grew up in copenhagen's famous yellow palace rent free as well as receiving some other perks she was read to at night by the famous danish author hans christian anderson he would visit the palace and read her bedtime stories to her and her siblings this is the famous author of many traditional children's stories such as the little mermaid the ugly ducklin and thumbelina despite enjoying some creature comforts alexandra's childhood life lacked other luxuries excluding her family home at the palace and a very famous storyteller however her family were really quite impoverished having a world famous writer as a bedtime storyteller might have been more of a necessity than a luxury because she wasn't sleeping in luxury alexandra's bedroom was a drafty old attic that she shared with her sister dagmar very few royals have either had to humiliate themselves with an honest day's work but alexandra did she was so poor that she had to stoop low enough to do the unimaginable for a princess she had to wait on tables as a waitress despite having a job she could still not afford the fashion and clothing that a royal needed to solve this problem she turned to making her own clothes and it didn't take long before she was the one setting the trends after years of her family living in poverty her luck was about to change when a political turmoil of succession in denmark made her father next in line for the throne their luck had taken a 360 degree flip straight from the bottom to the tops suddenly her sisters became some of the most eligible princesses on the european marriage market although the family was still not full of riches the girls did attract some of the most wealthiest and prestigious men in europe but unfortunately for alexandra not all of that attention was for the best one of the most eligible bachelors of europe was about to be matched to her through his mother the queen of england queen victoria was trying to find her wayward son edward a wife in the hoops of curbing his rebellious behavior he was the heir to the throne and future king edward vii this sister of edward was good friends with alexandra of denmark and it was time for the pair to meet each other edward was taken to meet alexandra under the guise that he would be taking part in military training but he got more than he bargained for in the small town of germany when he gained a fiancee from the trip this turn of events was surreal for alexandra who had only recently been propelled into this new life of privilege she had dreamt of her prince charming aka dirty bertie but was he really that she wasn't the queen of england's first choice of a bride for her son but after exhausting a long list of potential matches the british royal family called alexandra the only one to be chosen that's a british way of saying i guess you'll do poor alexandra if only she knew what she was getting herself into the engagement was agreed and edward proposed less than a year after meeting her despite putting it about with other women at the same time alexandra would finally have the money she needed to live as a real royal woman but she was oblivious to the traumas of her marriage and future with edward the pair had a fairytale wedding as would be expected of the future king of england but their marriage was full of tragedy and scandal alexandra arrived in england on a royal yacht for the ultimate welcome from the people of britain with the sweet sound of especially composed music playing in the background alexandra became an overnight sensation in her new home and her sense of style would cause shockwaves throughout the fashion world in due time alexandra wasn't used to or ever expected to be living a life of such privilege and wealth only a short few years earlier she was waiting tables and sleeping in an attic it was this shock that drove their decision to have a reserved and small wedding with edward which disappointed the crowds of the people of england although small the wedding was still a fairy tale and extremely impressive with shows of opulent wealth at every angle it was her sense of style that went viral alexandra's days of darning her own shabby dresses were all behind her she posed for photos in her royal wedding dress alongside a pal necklace and three diamond bracelets alexandra was an avid seamstress but there was no way she could have sewn her own wedding dress the train for alexandra's silk satin dress was so long that it required eight ladies to carry it down the aisle if only she had this much support throughout her turbulent marriage to the scandalous but much-loved prince edward it was as if her whole family had made a deal with the devil when all of their fates changed for the better in just two years her father had ascended to the danish throne her brother had become killer of helena's and her sister dagmar was married to the russians cervic alexandra was not in favor with the queen of england her mother-in-law had not taken a liking to her which was not uncommon for queen victoria who it is argued didn't like anyone having a nightmare mother-in-law is hard enough but alexandra had it hard because her mother-in-law was the most powerful woman in europe while the kingdom might have been singing alexandra's praises queen victoria saw right through her couture clothing the queen resented alexandra's danish loyalties but it wasn't her loyalties that the queen should have been concerned about the details of her marriage to edward are shrouded in doubt some claim they had a happy one but others believe that victoria played the third wheel in their relationship one thing is for certain her husband was a huge womanizer which must have been a difficult reality to live with the vows that the couple made alexandra took very seriously as a devout christian all throughout her life however her husband completely ignored their vows from the very beginning and on hundreds or thousands of occasions it was an open secret at the time that edward vii carried on multiple affairs throughout his marriage it is rumored that he had at least 55 different mistresses not including the ladies of the night that he also frequented with alexandra kept tabs on every single last one of them alexandra enjoyed a lot of physical activities she was an expert horse woman and often ice skated and danced it was her love for hunting though that disgruntled the queen the most and despite her husband having his way with whomever he pleased he was affectionate with his wife and they were able to produce a healthy brewed of six children who were all born premature alexandra had little control in her life either her husband or mother-in-law pulled all of the strings however she took back her control with concealing her pregnancies it was rumored that her babies were premature but it may have been that she actually kept it a secret from the queen on purpose so that the queen victoria would miss the birth of her grandchildren in retaliation to missing out on the birth of her grandchildren the queen victoria attempted to tell alexandra what to name them it wouldn't be the last time that alexandra had to put the queen in her place it is a fun idea that alexandra lied to the queen to dupe her out of her pregnancies but alexandra had more to worry about she had a hard time with childbirth and her third pregnancy nearly ended her life it was during her third pregnancy that alexander started to suffer from terrible bouts of rheumatic fevers her deteriorating health was not approached with much sympathy from her husband who remained uninterested in her alexandra had come from nothing living in poverty and so she wasn't going to let her fever ruin her morale after delivery she made a full recovery from the fevers but during the traumatic birth she suffered a permanent disfiguration the fevers left the famously fashionable princess who loved nothing more than showcasing her dresses with an awful limp however she took this problem in her stride and used it to her advantage she was yet again different to others in her hobby as a fashionista you would imagine such a disailment would gather laughs from the people but due to alexandra's charm quite the opposite occurred she became the envy of every woman in the kingdom her limp even became a fashion trend known as the alexandra limp attracting the attention of high society ladies all over london who adopted the lymph for years alexandra's limp was a hard one to pull off and this needed the help of the expats so that her influence on fashion high society and culture could gain even more traction the shoemakers of london helped the women of society copy by making mismatched shoes that made it easier for the limp to be achieved by ordinary people alexandra wasn't just the one trick pony of making limps fashionable she also introduced many trends and fads such as chokers and dresses with high necklines these trends were bred completely by accident again her attempt to conceal medical conditions led to more and more trends forming this time she wanted to hide a hideous and embarrassing scar on her neck with high neck tops alexandra's every increasing pregnancies took their toll on her body alongside hereditary illnesses which led to her health taking a downturn she stopped socializing as much and spent more time isolated with her children and pets but her days of suffering had only just started alexandra suffered throughout her pregnancies with her health but she did manage to produce a healthy brood of five children however during her sixth and final pregnancy her baby would tragically die after only a single day alive he was a little baby boy and alexandra was understandably devastated she wished to mourn in private and she asked queen victoria if she could do so but the queen disagreed with her morning approach which resulted in the two royals bickering bitterly despite alexandra wanting her privacy to mourn the loss of her son she was wickedly expected to mourn very publicly despite it being victoria's idea the people looked upon the spectacoin distaste alex had fallen out of favor with the people and the press bashed her horrifically blaming her for the loss of her son with headlines such as a wretched abortion and the funeral arrangements as sickening mummery it was the lowest point in alexandra's life so far and her trials weren't over yet she was in deep mourning for her child but the royal duties did not stop she was still expected to attend a trip to iceland where she was booed by thousands of angry nationalists as they waved alexandra found the strength to smile through the whole ordeal while finally gaining the respect from queen victoria it shouldn't have taken such poor behaviors for mothers and grit and determination to gain this respect but nonetheless the queen said of tireless efforts 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 had been making her life miserable for years and so such high praise was appreciated just as alexandra was moving forward with her life she was hit with another grief bomb she was about to lose her favorite child in the prime of his life and there was nothing that could ever make that pain go away her favorite son was soon to be wed to marry mary of tech at the prime of his life but just before his 28th birthday the strapping young prince surrendered to his illness she was devastated yet again and she could not hide it from her face so much so that her eldest son's future bride mary of tech wrote to queen victoria about alexandra she said the despairing look on her face was the most heart-rendering thing i have ever seen and off the back of his death she made him a shrine to remember him alexandra said of her son's passing i have buried my angel and with him my happiness she was totally grief-stricken and couldn't bring herself to say goodbye to him so she made his room into a shine to his memory and left it totally untouched it would only be a short few years later before the devastating death would rip through her family her brother-in-law emperor alexandra iii of russia suddenly passed away alexandra knew the feeling of grief all too well and went to her sister's side she spent two weeks with dagmar in russia even sleeping by her side it was just like the old days in the drafty attic the next loss was that of her mother-in-law queen victoria who died in 1901 they had a long-standing love-hate relationship but the loss of the monarch catapulted her and her husband straight into the spotlight as a new head of states with her mother-in-law gone her husband ascended to the throne and alexandra became queen consort she was still using the skills she had learned from her thrifty days in the attic to influence the style in her home she was no longer making her own clothes but she did reuse her old stockings and had her old dresses turned into furniture at covers heart of alexandra she was a kind and generous person she had gained many riches through her accessibility to the crown but she was not frivolous with herself she was more interested in helping others she would open the checkbook for just about any sub-story she had her grandson even went so far as to say her generosity was a source of embarrassment just nine days after her 59th birthday alexandra had a close call that nearly ended her reign and her life prematurely while the new queen consort slept peacefully in her bed her room quietly filled with smoke thankfully one of the attendants charlotte nollies rushed in and whisked her away to the safety at the last second the grief bombs didn't stop coming and next up was her own husband alexandra was visiting her brother in greece when her husband edward felt ill unlike when he had ignored her when she had rheumatic fever alexandra rushed to her husband's side she made it back to england without a moment to spare and the very day she returned he had passed away she wrote i feel as if i have been turned into stone unable to cry unable to grasp the meaning of it all he might have been a compulsive womanizer and a scandalous man but alexandra still cared deeply for her husband and now he was gone over the years alexandra had a remarkably civil relationship with many of her husband's mistresses but when edward was on his deathbed one of them took it too far alice keppel edward's longtime mistress heard that he was ill and rushed to his bedside completely unable to control herself keppel made such a scene that even the infinitely patient alexandra had had enough the queen consort muttered get that woman away and had her guards escort couple out due to the many matchmakings of her mother-in-law victoria alexandra had relatives all over europe through blood and marriage alexandra's family fought bitterly only when her family had a falling out entire nations got involved alexandra despised her nephew the german emperor wolham ii and called him inwardly our enemy during world war one he would become outwardly her enemy and during world war one no one was safe from the fighting not even the queen mother if alexander thought that being the aunt of the german emperor would make him look upon her with mercy she was sorely mistaken the german forces launched a zeppelin air raid on sandringham house when she was still inside luckily alexandra survived the attack but other members of their family did not make it out of world war one alive after all of those years of hardship alexandra's age finally caught up with her she was no longer the youthful fashion icon that she had once been and aging gracefully just didn't sound like fun alexandra tried to cover up all of her ill graces to preserve her looks by covering her face with heavy makeup but her days of setting odd fashion trends were long gone the same people who used to copy her every move including her limp started calling her appearance enameled in her last few years alexandra's health the mental state had deteriorated significantly she'd endured poverty scandals and fortune but it was finally time to throw in the towel alexandra passed from a heart attack less than a month shy of her 81st birthday and she was laid to rest next to her husband please continue to support my channel by subscribing please comment like and subscribe if you wish for more stories and leave your suggestions below and i will endeavor to cover them

Channel: Past People

Views: 14,605

Keywords: royal family, queen alexandra, queen alexandra of england, queen alexandra of denmark, alexandra of denmark, edward vii, edward vii wife, king edward vii, victorian era, queen victorias children, queen victoria, edwardian era, edwardian, royal scandals, queen alexandra stakes, limping pandemic, queen victoria son, sandringham, queen consort

Id: DrnE9tgdDas

Length: 23min 44sec (1424 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 15 2022