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In 1860 Queen Victoria (pictured) suddenly found herself on the look-out for a suitable princess for her eldest son, Edward (VII). It was no easy task.

Victoria was very favourably disposed towards the German dukedoms and kingdoms, and a princess from one of these would be ideal. But the few unmarried ones left were a touch too wretched.

Rumour had it that the Tsar was engaged in a similar hunt and had his eye on Christian IX's eldest daughter, Alexandra. This made Victoria order a photograph of her. Whether Alexandra was prepared to marry Edward, who had just embarked on yet another female acquaintanceship, was a sheer formality.

Edward (VII) bowed to his mother's will but the wedding was postponed for a couple of years when Victoria's beloved husband, Prince Albert, suddenly died. Alexandra was brought up in modest circumstances in Copenhagen, where she shared a bedroom with her younger sister, Dagmar. Both girls learned to sew their own clothes and they were used to helping round the house on the maid's day off.

When Alexandra – 19-years-old - arrived in Britain in 1863 as Edward's bride, she also entered a life of grandeur. The couple resided at Marlborough House in London and at Sandringham in the country. Their five children were brought up rather freely by Victoria's standards and the queen had to resort to her smelling salts when things got out of hand.

As a young girl Alexandra was inflicted by increasing deafness and as she grew less able to hear she cut herself off more and more with her children and her dogs. She devoted all her love to her sons, Eddie and George, while her daughters didn't interest her much.

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Alexandra rapidly achieved popularity. She was a beauty and she was the first to realize that royals are often only seen from afar and so extra make-up and small hats were important. She also devoted herself to charitable works and when she met the Elephant Man, John Merrick, she became his protector for the rest of his life.

Alexandra's eldest son and darling, Eddie, was a slow developer, and his time in the cadets was a fiasco. Edward could not stand his son's feminine attire, with garments that were far too tight, high collars and extra-length cuffs.

But in the bastions of Victorianism homosexuality was unmentionable. Eddie needed to get engaged without delay, and when he died of the 'flu just 28 years old in 1892 his fiancée and his claim to the throne were passed on to his younger brother, George (V).

Edward VII knew how to have a good time. He had a taste for the high life in London and the newspapers wallowed in his incessant female acquaintanceships and the scandals that resulted.
Alexandra accepted her husband's way of life and as he lay dying in 1901 she asked his latest mistress, Alice Keppel, to be by his bedside.

Alexandra died twenty five years later, in 1926. Among their descendants are Queen Elizabeth, King Harald of Norway, Prince Michael of Kent, and Lord Harewood.
A Royal Family - The Heirs to an Empire biography




A Royal Family - The Heirs to an Empire biography




A Royal Family - The Heirs to an Empire biography