The Story of Two Princesses Who Changed History #history

They were known as the “Sea Gulls.” Princesses Dagmar and Alexandra of Denmark grew up in a relatively modest and obscure court. But their beauty and charm, along with their father’s shrewd politics, led to the most brilliant marriages in Europe.

Alexandra, the elder, married the heir to the British throne, the future King Edward VII. Dagmar, the younger, after the tragic death of her first fiancé, married his brother, the future Tsar Alexander III of Russia, and became Empress Maria Feodorovna.

The Cinderellas from Denmark had become the rulers of two colossal empires. Throughout their lives, they remained not just sisters, but best friends. They wrote to each other almost daily, sharing secrets and supporting each other in the complex world of court life. Their annual family holidays in Denmark were legendary – a time when the powerful Empress and the future Queen became just “Minnie” and “Alix” again.
But their destinies, which began so similarly, turned out to be tragically different.
Alexandra became a beloved and respected Queen Consort of Great Britain. Her life had its own sorrows, but her throne and her family were secure. Her world was stable.
Maria Feodorovna, in contrast, ruled an empire that was hurtling toward an abyss. She lived through the assassination of her father-in-law, witnessed the rise of revolutionary terror, and watched in horror as her son, Tsar Nicholas II, led the country toward disaster.

And then, the revolution struck. And Alexandra, in London, could only watch in horror and helplessness as her sister’s world burned to the ground. She saw her beloved Minnie, her nephew Nicky, and his entire family first overthrown, and then taken prisoner.

Maria Feodorovna miraculously escaped from Crimea on a British warship sent by her nephew-in-law, King George V. She survived. But she had lost everything: her country, her fortune, and most devastatingly, her son and his entire family, who were brutally murdered.

She spent the rest of her life in exile, a living ghost of a murdered world. Until the end of her days, she refused to believe her family was dead, keeping an empty place set at her dinner table for her son.

#history #royalfamily