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4.0 out of 5 stars
The Victorian Princess Diana, January 4, 2011
This review is from: Alexandra: Princess and Queen (Hardcover)
Long before Diana won the hearts of the British, another princess captured those same hearts but unlike Diana, this princess went on to become Queen as well. She was Alexandra of Denmark, oldest daughter of Prince Christian and Princess Louise, who later became King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark. Alexandra, known as Alix in her family, won the competition to marry Queen Victoria's wayward eldest son, Albert Victor, Prince of Wales. From the moment she set foot on British soil, she was acclaimed by the masses and returned their affection through her kindness, simplicity and genuine feeling for people of all classes. And like Princess Diana, Alexandra became a fashion setter and was known for her exquisite taste in clothing and jewelry.
Alexandra was not without her faults. It appears that while she became a fond daughter-in-law to Queen Victoria, Alexandra's relationship with her own daughter-in-law, May, later Queen Mary, was not so warm. As a mother, Alexandra was warm and loving but she may have been smothering in her approach and caused Princess Victoria, her middle daughter, to be her life-long attendant which led to Victoria's spinsterhood. Alexandra liked being Queen and it appears that she did not willingly vacate Buckingham Palace or Sandringham (although in truth she was given a life estate there) although those residences were more suitable for the reigning couple as opposed to the dowager queen. However, in Alexandra's defense, she was sentimental and treasured Sandringham as her favorite home in England. It was there that she died after living in England for over sixty years.
Alexandra gave to charities benefiting hospitals and the poor and had the common touch with the English, a trait which has been found and admired in her successors, such as Elizabeth the Queen Mother and Princess Diana. Alexandra befriended the famous Elephant Man and showed no discomfort in sitting and chatting with him on her visits. As the author puts it, Alexandra preferred as guests men and women who "did" something as opposed to the upper crust who were there by fortune of birth. And unlike many of the aristocrats of her day, Alexandra disliked killing and blood sports, although she was an excellent horsewoman.
Alexandra was connected by blood and marriage to most of the royal families in Europe. Fond of most of them, Alexandra could not move herself to be warm towards her German relatives because Germany caused the loss of two valuable provinces belonging to Denmark, Schleswig and Holstein. Alexandra made exceptions for her sister-in-law, Empress Frederick ("Vicky, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria") and Prince Louis of Battenberg, but she genuinely despised Kaiser Wilhelm. Alexandra never forgave Germany for the Shleswig-Holstein outrage and never wavered from her support of Denmark, even when members of the British royal family thought otherwise. History in the end rewarded Alexandra's view and shows that she lived by the simple motto of supporting family and friends and remaining loyal to both.
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