The dramatic fate of the mother of Nicholas IIO, from the bride of two crown princes to the “angry empress.” "I can't believe my son is dead"

Passed away 89 years ago Maria-Dagmar Romanova, who went down in history as the emperor's wife Alexandra III and mother of Nicholas II. She was the bride of Tsarevich Nicholas, and became the wife of his brother, was the mother of the Russian emperor, and became an exile, losing her son and grandchildren and ending her days alone. There were so many sharp turns and difficult trials in her destiny that it could have broken the will of even a strong-willed person, but she endured all the difficulties with steadfastness.

The fate of the Danish princess Maria Sophia Frederica Dagmar was predetermined from birth. Her parents were called father-in-law and mother-in-law throughout Europe - their daughters were enviable brides for many royal houses. They married their eldest daughter Alexandra to the English king Edward VII, and Dagmar was engaged to the heir to the Russian throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov. The young people treated each other with great tenderness, things were heading towards the wedding, but then Nikolai fell ill with meningitis and died suddenly. Last days the bride spent time in Nice next to him. Together with her, his younger brother Alexander also looked after the heir. Their common grief brought them closer, and after the death of Nicholas, Alexander took his place not only in inheriting the throne, but also next to Dagmar.

According to legend, the dying Nicholas himself blessed his brother and bride for this union. The political benefits of such a marriage were obvious, the family pushed Alexander to this decision, and he himself felt sympathy for the Danish princess. And a year later, after the end of mourning, Dagmar agreed to his proposal. In 1866, she went to Russia, where she was greeted with jubilation by several tens of thousands of people. Later, she will be able to justify people's love with sincere devotion to her new homeland and her deeds.

The wedding took place in October 1866. Dagmar accepted the Orthodox faith and began to be called Maria Fedorovna. Six children were born in this marriage, and the firstborn was named in honor of the deceased Tsarevich Nicholas. It was he who was destined to become the last Russian emperor. During the reign of Alexander III, Maria Dagmar (or Dagmara, Dagmaria, as her husband called her) did not interfere in state affairs, but was actively involved in social activities: she headed the Russian Red Cross Society and many educational and charitable institutions, opened shelters for children and the poor, took patronage over the Cavalry and Cuirassier regiments, and together with the emperor participated in the creation of the funds of the Russian Museum.

After the death of Alexander III in 1894, Maria Feodorovna bore the title of Dowager Empress. The illness and death of her husband were a heavy blow for her. She wrote: " I still can’t get used to this terrible reality that my dear and beloved is no longer on this earth. It's just a nightmare. Everywhere without him there is a killing emptiness. Wherever I go, I miss him terribly. I can't even think about my life without him. This is no longer life, but a constant test that we must try to endure without lamenting, surrendering to the mercy of God and asking him to help us bear this heavy cross!».

Maria Fedorovna did not approve of her son’s choice; the German princess seemed to her not a strong enough support for Nicholas, who was too soft and delicate for a sovereign. Their relationship with their son deteriorated, she often expressed her dissatisfaction, for which she earned the nickname “angry empress” in court circles. According to the memoirs of E. Svyatopolk-Mirskaya, Maria Feodorovna more than once complained that “ It’s terrible for her to see that her son is ruining everything, to understand this and not be able to do anything».

The revolution overtook her in Kyiv, and from there she later moved to Crimea, where she lived for about two years. For a long time, the Empress did not want to believe rumors about the death of her son and his entire family. After the White Guards and the English squadron came to Crimea, Maria Feodorovna succumbed to the persuasion of her relatives and agreed to leave Russia. Then it seemed to her that it was temporary, and after the revolutionary events subsided, she would be able to return. But she never saw her second home again.

At first, the Empress lived in England, and then returned to Denmark, where she spent last years their lives, who were very lonely and restless - the nephew, the Danish king, did not like his aunt. On October 13, 1928, Maria Dagmar Romanova died. Her last wish was to rest next to her husband, but her will was fulfilled only in 2006, when her ashes were transported to Russia. In St. Petersburg, she was solemnly buried next to Alexander III, in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the tomb of the Russian emperors.

The sister of Nicholas II also had to leave Russia forever: .

Maria Feodorovna - Russian Empress, Danish Princess Dagmara. Precious Maria for the husband of Alexander III.

Maria Feodorovna (Feodorovna) (born Maria Sofia Frederikke Dagmar (Dagmara), dated Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar; November 14 (26), 1847, Copenhagen, Denmark - October 13, 1928, Vidøre Castle near Klampenborg, Denmark) - Russian empress, wife Alexandra III (from October 28, 1866), mother of Emperor Nicholas II.
Daughter of Christian, Prince of Glücksburg, later Christian IX, King of Denmark. Her sister is Alexandra of Denmark, the wife of the British King Edward VII, whose son George V bore a portrait resemblance to Nicholas II.

Russian Empress, wife of Alexander III. Born Princess Louise - Sophia - Frederica - Dagmar of Denmark. Mother of the last Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II.

A woman with a striking appearance, bewitching charm, a subtle mind and innate qualities of a diplomat, she had a huge influence on her son, the emperor, especially at the beginning of his reign. She headed the “Department of Institutions of Empress Maria”, famous in Russia, which included charity homes, orphanages, gymnasiums and boarding schools, shelters and hospitals. She was a professional painter. A student of the famous Russian artist A.P. Bogolyubov. Survived the collapse of the Monarchy and the death of the Royal Family. In emigration, she remained for many a symbol not only of the “gone Russia” forever, but also of an unbending presence of spirit and willpower! She founded numerous charitable foundations to support needy emigrants. She died in 1928, in Denmark.

Poem personally presented to Her Majesty Empress Maria Feodorovna in the Anichkov Palace on April 6, 1901
At your feet, my Queen!

At Your feet, my Queen!
I bring my insignificant gift.
Let this humble page
Will fall in love before You;
And the lyres of the young chant
Let it sound, opening to you
Dreams of anxious admiration
And an ardent impulse of the heart.
On the day when in the Lyceum camps
Our holiday shone with you,
Not daring to approach You,
In the distance I stood trembling.
And I remembered how in the days of yore,
In the days of my early youth,
Two portraits dear to everyone
I kept it in my little room.
And on one of them, as now,
With a smile of sweet simplicity,
There was also You, my shrine,
Queen, Angel of Kindness!
And suddenly in front of me
I saw the same Image
And before an unearthly smile
I stood there enchanted.
Before me, as in a dream,
Wonderful features flashed.
And this is a bright vision
You were for us, Queen!
And the brilliance of a fiery lightning
I timidly drew your Face,
And the Image of the Mother Queen
He gave it to the Lyceum family...
Sergey Bekhteev

This essay written above can in no way claim to be a complete biography of a Woman who lived a life full of bright, dramatic events, sometimes having a thick, bloody purple hue, like the robe she wore - according to her belonging to the royal and royal houses , by birth - the daughter of a king and the consort of an emperor! - cast a protective (or ominous? - author.) shadow over the years she lived.
These are just small touches to her biography - with a tragic break at the end, with lonely old age, with the indomitable power of Memory over her tired heart, and with many, many more that made up her inexplicable charm, her insoluble mystery - all that went to the grave with her, the one who bore the Danish name “Dagmar”, which so strangely echoed what she was given in Russia when she was baptized into Orthodoxy: “Mary”.

The groom, and later husband, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, heir to the Russian throne, often playfully mixed the two names and affectionately called her “Dagmaria” or “precious Mary.” The rest called them simply - “Minnie”, “Marie”.
For her husband, she really was a “jewel”, and not just a simple one, but as if “bequeathed” by her early deceased and beloved brother Nikolai.

Mother, Queen Louise

Louise - Sophia - Frederica - Dagmar, a very young and charming Princess of Denmark, the daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise, was betrothed almost from infancy to Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, the eldest son of the Russian Emperor Alexander II - the Liberator.

Postcard in honor of the betrothal of Princess Dagmar and Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich

Heir Tsarevich and Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich

This was considered the greatest honor and a sign of God's will for the small and harsh kingdom of Denmark, surrounded on almost all sides by the hostility of water and foggy cold.
For tiny Denmark, peace and good neighborliness, a friendly hand and the protection of a powerful ally in the person of huge, unpredictable and brilliant Russia were so important!

From the age of 15, Dagmar was already diligently and selflessly learning Russian, which was difficult for her, comprehending the intricacies of the customs of the Orthodox Church, memorizing prayers and completely unpronounceable, but obligatory Russian patronymics - after all, everyone around them only said that she would soon be the wife of the Tsarevich.

True, Russian verbs were more often confused with French ones, because the Heir, due to ill health, spent more time on the Cote d'Azur of the Mediterranean, next to the royal (and also mortally ill!) mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, than in Russia.

This was strictly the order of the insidious hereditary disease - consumption.
Here in France, Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov, the eldest, died from transient pneumonia, which turned into an open process of tuberculosis, which was also complicated by inflammation of the brain. This happened on April 24, 1865.

Dagmar, caring for him day and night, accustomed to his warm and gentle attention, charming and witty conversations, to his presence, almost since childhood, was inconsolable! With great effort she managed to restrain herself from tears near the patient’s bedside, but, leaving him for a short rest, somewhere in a dark corner she gave vent to tears and despair. Dagmar did not regret the diamond tiara, which might not adorn her luxuriant, dark, very capriciously sweet head. She regretted the life dying away in her arms and the first love that death so mercilessly strangled in its arms.

She couldn’t believe that everything that seemed so warm, cordial and familiar from her youth, from childhood, was about to break off and sink into darkness. What does the notorious shine of the crown have to do with it when Nicky, his voice, his warm smile, his movements are gone?!: How can one submit to the inevitability of Death?! And who will be able to do this at less than 18 years of age?
A few days before his death, Nikolai called his brother Alexander (who had hastily arrived in Nice) to his bedside and talked to him for a long time and seriously about something. Soon Dagmar was called into the room.

And then she heard a request that stunned her: Nikolai insisted that Dagmar entrust her fate to his brother, Alexander, who would become emperor after his departure, and still become a Russian princess, as she was destined for a long time ago - either by star maps or Whether it is the highest political interests - it’s hard to tell now! (In the destinies of royalty, the latter, as is known, plays a very significant role!)

At first, Dagmar was so confused that she could only silently shake her head, completely denying everything that Nikolai offered her, burning with a dying consumptive blush. She burst into tears, breaking the silence prescribed by the doctors in the patient’s room, and she became frightened. She fell silent.
Choking on unshed tears, she began to assure her beloved that all this was unnecessary worry, a sick fantasy, that he would soon get better, and that she could have nothing for Alexander except the sincere and most tender, but, alas, friendly feelings!

Nikolai, in response, only silently stroked her hair with a feverish and already weakening hand, quietly whispering that he knew about the strength of her feelings for him and was grateful for everything, but he would like Dagmar to still be happy. If not with him, then at least with a person who is a little like him - still his brother!
Lost and not accustomed to such violent outbursts of feelings, Alexander awkwardly stomped around, trying to console, as best he could, both his excited brother and the depressed Dagmar.

Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich and the Danish princess Dagmar. June 1866

The painful scene in the dying man’s room ended with the fact that the Danish princess Louise - Sophia - Frederica - Dagmar and Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov were engaged, declared Niki himself as the bride and groom, and made a promise to name their future eldest son in honor of the betrothed - failed groom and brother .

And so it happened. They kept their word. The wedding took place in 1866. The son was born on May 6, 1867. The home name of the first-born was Niki. Nikolai Alexandrovich.

If there was a sentimental side to this story, it quickly faded before the strength of Dagmar’s despair after the death of Nicholas, and the patience with which the “royal Russian bear”, bending a poker with a knot, courted her for a whole year, trying to win her heart and soul. copper nickels, reserved and silent, Tsarevich Alexander.

He brought her his favorite violets in the morning, which miraculously did not crumple in his huge fingers, accompanied her every morning on horseback rides (Dagmar was an excellent rider and loved horses to a passion!), dutifully carried fans and shawls behind her, in which he wrapped her at the slightest cool breeze. At first she protested, but more and more every day she got used to her huge, benevolent guardian, listening in fascination to his stories about distant Russia.

She began to discover with surprise that warm, benevolent affection was gradually developing into a feeling that was still incomprehensible to her:
She found a definition for it much later, when on September 1, 1866 she moved to Russia and converted to Orthodoxy, becoming Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, the bride, and then the wife of the Heir to the Tsarevich:..

Postcard in honor of the betrothal of Princess Dagmar and Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich

She was a little scared to leave, and the Danes, who loved Dagmar and who came to the port to see her off, felt a feeling of enormous anxious tenderness and pity for the fragile and slightly confused princess. How will her fate work out there, in Russia? The great storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, who knew the princess personally, wrote in his diary the day after her departure: “: Yesterday on the pier, passing by me, she stopped and extended her hand to me. Tears welled up in my eyes. Poor child! God Almighty, be merciful and merciful to her! They say that in St. Petersburg there is a brilliant court and a wonderful royal family, but she is going to a foreign country, where there is a different people and religion, and with her there will be no one who surrounded her before: "(G.H. Andersen. Diary August 1866).

Bon voyage, beautiful Dagmar!
You are going to greatness and brilliance -
The bride's crown will turn into a royal one.
May God give you light in your new home,
And the tears shed at parting
They will turn into pearls...
(H. K. Andersen)

Arrival of Princess Dagmar on September 14, 1866 in Kronstadt on the ship "Schleswig". From the magazine "Illustreret Tidende"

The ship of the Royal Danish Navy "Schleswig" slowly sailed from the shore, accompanied by a ceremonial escort and the imperial yacht "Standard", and flowers brought by the Copegaginians continued to fall into the water and onto the deck as a sign of love, respect and farewell to little Dagmar, who had after all become a bride Russian Tsesarevich!

Portrait of Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich in a retinue frock coat (Zaryanko S.K., 1867).

The Danes' fears for the fate of their beloved princess were in vain. She was greeted with stunning solemnity and respect. The entire imperial family, headed by Sovereign Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna, members of the retinue, ministers of the Court, arrived in Kronstadt when the ships arrived.

Alexander II

Maria Alexandrovna

A military squadron of 20 ships lined up on the roadstead!
Did Russia in this way want to express its gratitude and respect to the one in whose arms the eldest son of the beloved Alexander II, the emperor who was revered for his wisdom, personal fearlessness and the abolition of centuries-old slavery, died? Probably so.
Or maybe the Russians simply wanted to win the heart of the wayward Danish beauty, whose tinyness and fragility was even more noticeable against the background of the huge, powerful figure of the groom - the Tsarevich, who carefully held the bride under his thin elbow? And this is certain. The vanity of the mighty Empire was also not alien. It just turned out the other way around. She conquered Russia for many years by marrying the heir to the throne.

K. Teichel. The ceremonial entry of Princess Dagmar into Tsarskoye Selo. September 1866. Fragment. Princess Dagmar and Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Fyodor Tyutchev, for the arrival of Maria Feodorovna in Russia (on September 26, 1866, Princess Dagmar first set foot on Russian soil).

"The hot sun shines
Along the Neva depth -
The south shines, the south blows,
And life is like in a dream...
Like a strict order of nature
Gave up his rights
Spirit of life and freedom,
Inspirations of love.
As if forever inviolable,
The eternal order was broken
And loved and beloved
The human soul.
In this gentle radiance,
In this blue sky
There is a smile, there is consciousness,
There is a sympathetic reception.,
Unprecedented before
Our prophetic people understood,
And Dagmarina's week
Will pass from generation to generation.

On October 28, 1866, the wedding of Alexander Alexandrovich and Princess Dagmar took place.

A sheet from the album "Illustrated description of the wedding celebrations of the Sovereign Heir Tsesarevich and Empress Tsesarevna." 1866

Arrival of the princess-bride in Peterhof on September 14, 1866. From the book “Illustrated description of the wedding celebrations of the sovereign, the heir to the crown prince and the empress, the crown prince.” 1867

Mihai Zichy Marriage of the heir to Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich and Princess Dagmar in 1866.

Menu for the gala dinner dedicated to the wedding of Princess Dagmar. November 22, 1866 Watercolor, ink, pen.

After a honeymoon spent in Crimea, she saw her husband in the huge Gatchina Palace, in a cozy dining room, by the fireplace, only in the evenings, and even then, most often, gloomily bent over some papers.
But in some amazing way all her wishes were fulfilled, sometimes she did not even have time to express them, and her frowning brow or cheeks glowing from the heat - she often caught a cold, getting used to the oddities of the Russian climate - upset her silent husband more than all the insoluble state secrets and problems. He didn’t let her even take a tiny step closer to them, no matter how hard she tried!
The world and kingdom for the energetic, active, always smiling, miniature, fragile (she was very small in stature, graceful build) “Dagmaria” became the Court, the light was brilliant, noisy, cheerful, talkative, sarcasticly witty, not forgiving of the slightest mistake, and - Children's room.

Maria Feodorovna shone at balls, studied court ethics, charmed courtiers, assented to gossip, letting all its harmful essence fall on deaf ears, took part in all charity events, bazaars, performances and concerts, patronized regiments and battalions of cavalry guards and cuirassiers (Krasnoselskys were her favorite - Blue! - author) chaired the trustee committees of a huge department of charitable institutions, the guardianship of which was transferred to her almost immediately upon arrival in her new homeland by her terminally ill mother-in-law Maria Alexandrovna. The energetic, young daughter-in-law immediately began to introduce innovations, inspections of institutions under her tutelage were carried out almost daily.

In 1882, on the initiative of Maria Feodorovna, the Mariinsky Women's Schools for poorly educated and low-income city girls arose. On November 14, the birthday of Her Highness Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, free morning performances were given annually for pupils of the capital's educational institutions. An honorary member of Kazan University (1902), she zealously patronized the university, providing scholarships to especially gifted students, and the Women's Patriotic Society, the Water Rescue Society. Animal Welfare Society, etc.
Head of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria (educational institutions, orphanages, shelters for disadvantaged and defenseless children, almshouses) and the Russian Red Cross Society, she could come - “swoop” into any hospital or boarding house suddenly, without warning, and trained all the staff of these departments to trouble-free and flawless operation - every time “as if on show”. They loved her and respectfully feared her at the same time.
She could always freely go to the kitchen and take a spoon from the cook in order to personally try the lunch prepared for the orphans of the Patriotic Institute, and at the review of the guards regiment, check with the officers whether their weapons were polished, whether their uniform was in order, whether the officers received good rations, and Are patients in the infirmary satisfied with the treatment? But for all her busyness, she found time for personal studies: she read, embroidered, painted a lot in oils and pencil (she was good at mixed media, which for an artist means enough high level- author),

Empress Maria Feodorovna. Portrait of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna as a child

Letter from Empress Maria Feodorovna with her own drawing (self-portrait) to her son Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich. October 30, 1890. Drawing - pencil, watercolor.

Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. Portrait of the coachman Gregory. 1870. Russian Museum

proudly rode around the new horses given to her by her loving father-in-law, the Emperor, and joyfully gave Russia new representatives of the ancient royal family of the Romanovs. There was enough for everyone and everything, although one after another, six children were soon born: Nikolai, Alexander, Georgy, Olga, Ksenia and Mikhail.

Tsesarevna and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna with children. From left to right: Georgy, Ksenia, Nikolay. 1879

with daughter Ksenia 1884

with daughter Ksenia 1894

All of them, despite their “blue blood”, were not particularly pampered, they were brought up almost in a Spartan way, luxury was alien to them, and, at times, incomprehensible. This is what Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, sister of Nicholas II, later recalled about her childhood:

“We were kept in strictness, the table was simple, no frills, often buckwheat or oatmeal, milk, black bread. We left the table half-starved, because we finished our food when my father got up from the table. He always ate quickly, and by the time he wiped his mouth with a napkin, we only had time to swallow a few spoons. One day, Nicky was so hungry that he swallowed a piece of church wax that lay in his medallion next to his pectoral cross. He then kept this childhood secret for a long time, seriously considering his prank a great sin and not telling anyone about it except me, even Mom, with whom he was extremely frank." (Olga Aleksandrovna Romanova - Kulikovskaya. Memoirs.)

Nicholas (1868-1918, future Emperor Nicholas II),

Nicky, the first-born, was his mother’s favorite, although she tried not to single out any of the children. Emotionally, she was brought even closer to her son by the death of one-year-old Alexander, her second child, in 1870.

Alexander (1869-1870), The only (posthumous) photograph of Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich

George (1871-1899)

Niki and her third son, George, who was born soon, brightened up for her the whole severity of her mother’s grief. But, of course, they could not lift the constant moral burden of responsibility and enormous nervous tension from her shoulders.

It would be very naive to think that in the life of Maria Feodorovna there was nothing more terrible than the thorns with which she could prick her fingers while cutting roses from the flower beds in the Gatchina Palace! The Romanov family lived as if on a powder keg during the last years of the reign of Emperor Alexander II. By that time, six attempts had already been made on the king’s life. (By the way, predicted by a fortune teller! - author.)

Makovsky Alexander II 1881

He miraculously survived! What was protecting him - the power of Providence or her own, legendary Fearlessness, Maria - Dagmar did not know, she only prayed with all her heart for the health of her father-in-law and for the peace of the State.. But peace was not destined to be achieved by any prayers.
On March 1, 1881, the Narodnaya Volya terrorists celebrated their victory: with a bomb they deprived the Tsar-Liberator of not only both legs, but also his life.
After a severe wound and enormous loss of blood, Emperor Alexander II lived only two hours.

Emperor Alexander II on his deathbed. Photo by S. Levitsky.

Makovsky (1839-1915) “Portrait of Alexander II on his deathbed”

The next ruler of Russia was his son, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich. At that time he was thirty-six years old, Maria Feodorovna was thirty-four. She became an empress suddenly, it stunned her, but she did not lose her head and, calling on all her charm to help, all the magnetism of her personality, which was truly enchanting, she began to actively help her husband with what she knew how and could!

Georges Becker, coronation

At diplomatic receptions, ambassadors did not leave her side; dignitaries and ministers of various ranks consulted with her, according to Count S.Yu. Witte, “her charming manners and sharp mind attracted everyone who had the good fortune to know her,” and many wise men eagerly listened to her quiet speeches, because she spoke not only intelligently, but also with interest, warmth and constant attention to to the interlocutor. She was able, willing and tried to please everyone who knew her. Both at the bottom and at the top.

She relentlessly accompanied her husband on his trips, taking her children with her. Contrary to the popular belief about the distance of crowned parents from their children, spread God knows why by flattering and deceitful courtiers and society ladies - rattlers, parents spent a lot of time with them! The evidence for this is clear and simple: the diary of Tsarevich Nicholas, the future emperor. Here are just a few lines: (Quoted from the book: Y. Buranov, V. Khrustalev. “The Romanovs: Destruction of the Dynasty.” M. Olma-Press Publishing House, 2000)
“We went for a walk with Papa and Mama in the “Menagerie” (an enclosure park in the Alexander Palace, where a few wild animals were kept - foxes, wolves, bears, wild boar and deer, so that the children had an idea of ​​​​the fauna - author.) We had lunch at the Arsenal, there was a small lecture by Miklouho-Maclay, he told us about his twelve-year stay in New Guinea and showed his drawings.

For the first time, Papa and Mr. Hiss (the teacher is an Englishman) went ice skating, worked a lot to clear the future skating rink from snow.." “When I was little, Emperor Nicholas later told his daughters, I was my mother’s favorite and only the birth of a little Misha kind of left me behind, but I remember following her everywhere in my early years. We had a wonderful time in Denmark with my cousins.

L.Tuxen. Royal families of Europe at Christianborg Palace. 1883. Christianborg Palace. Copenhagen. In the center stand: Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna with Grand Duke Mikhail. In the center in the background is Tsarevich Nicholas. Sitting in the center are King Christian IX of Denmark and his wife Queen Louise. Standing on the right: King George I of Greece and his wife Queen Olga Konstantinovna with their daughter Princess Alexandra. On the left sits Prince Edward of Wales, the future King of England Edward VII. Standing next to him is his wife, Princess Alexandra of Wales.

We swam in the sea. I remember how my mother swam far into the Sound (bay) with me, I sat on her shoulders. There were small waves and I grabbed her curly short hair with both hands so hard that she screamed in pain. Our goal was a small rock - a reef in the sea. We were both delighted when we achieved it!”

The greatest entertainment for children was, while playing, rolling head over heels on their father’s broad back or triumphantly sliding along the mirrored parquet floors of palace halls, sitting on the luxurious brocade (or satin) train of their adored Mother’s dress. She patiently, with a cheerful laugh, rode everyone in turn, especially for a long time those who distinguished themselves in their studies and good behavior.

Princess Olga Alexandrovna Romanova-Kulikovskaya recalled that when she grew up, her mother, the Empress, began to be especially meticulous about her manners and dress. An art teacher was invited, and a workshop was set up in one of the rooms in the children's half, where Olga and her mother practiced painting.

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. Portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna

Ksenia, the youngest, soon joined them. The boys came under the “supervision” of their father, worked a lot and diligently in gymnastics, horse riding, geography, military history and other disciplines necessary for young gentlemen, but the ritual of “morning tea or coffee at Mom’s” remained unchanged for everyone.
The children grew up, the life of the imperial family seemed to be brilliantly measured and calm. Outings, receptions, balls, parades, trips.

Maria Feodorovna by Kramskoj.

To the Empress Maria Feodorovna.

On the balcony, blooming in spring,
How the nightingales sang in the gardens,
I silently admired you,
Looking into your gentle eyes.

Everything that is joyful, pure, beautiful,
What lives in heartfelt dreams,
Everything was so simple and clear
To me in these enchanting eyes.

Could they secret meaning
No words can overcome...
It's like night is hanging over me,
Bright, spring night!
K.R. Krasnoe Selo June 15, 1888

Everything is as always, everything is as it should be, but only at first glance. Over the fate of the family of Alexander III, who in society - even high society, and not just democratic, "republican"! - they called him a reactionary - a Slavophile, the “sword of Damocles” was constantly hanging, threatening to break and strike at any moment. The mighty king took one of these blows on his shoulders literally. On October 17, 1888, the family of Emperor Alexander III miraculously escaped death.

This number - 17 - will then become truly fatal for her, the Family, and for Nikolai Alexandrovich, the Last Sovereign! This is how he describes the terrible crash of the tsar’s train near Kharkov at the Borovka station (the train was heading to Kiev): “Fatal day for everyone. We all could have been killed, but by the will of God, this did not happen. During breakfast, our train got off from the rails. The dining room and the carriage were smashed, and we came out of it unharmed. However, there were 20 people killed and 16 wounded.. There was a prayer service and a memorial service at the Lozovaya station." “They came out unharmed” - Nikolai, out of modesty, did not write, at what cost!
So that the children and wife could crawl out, Alexander held the broken roof of the carriage on his shoulders for a whole half hour. This “feat of Hercules” cost him his life a few years later - during the most difficult physical activity and stress, the emperor seriously damaged his kidneys and heart. Having barely recovered from horror and making sure that the children were safe, Maria Feodorovna ran to the wounded. Olga Alexandrovna later recalled that “Mom bandaged the wounds of the victims, making bandages from her scarf and petticoats.” She received only a few scratches from broken glass. We can only guess about the moral state. History has not preserved evidence of Her Majesty's tears or hysterics, alas!

Maria Feodorovna was a deeply religious person. She believed: if there were trials in her life, then Providence wanted it so. This is how God judged. And she didn’t complain, although she had clarity of mind and willpower worthy of a man! It turned out that the main grief and the main tears awaited her ahead. It was the death of her husband.

Last family photo. From left to right: Tsarevich Nicholas, Grand Duke George, Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duchess Olga, Grand Duke Michael, Grand Duchess Xenia and Emperor Alexander III. Livadia, Crimea. May1893

The Emperor died on October 20, 1894 as a result of a long illness - pyelonephritis of the kidneys and dropsy that arose as a result. He was ill, seriously, but he accepted his torment stoically. I was dying in Livadia, in the midst of the splendor of the beautiful Crimean autumn, its golden exquisite colors, listening to the sound of the sea coming from the open terrace.

Zichy, Mihai - Empress Maria Feodorovna with the body of Alexander III

Maria Feodorovna looked after him without leaving for a minute, feeding him with a spoon, for almost a month and a half. Dying, he said to his wife, gratefully stroking her small hands: “I am completely calm. And you, be calm.” She hugged his head, and he died, as if falling asleep in a chair, in her arms.
The death of his father, who seemed such a mighty giant, invulnerable and eternal, shocked Nikolai. After all, Alexander the Third was only 49 years old, he died in the prime of his life.

Zichy M. Memorial Service for Emperor. Alexander III in his bedroom in the Small Palace in Livadia. 1895.

Funeral

There is now a lot of debate among historians about whether Nicholas II was prepared for the role of monarch, whether Maria Feodorovna was in secret opposition to the emperor - her son, whether she favored her daughter-in-law - Empress Alix, whether she loved her, whether there was secret or obvious rivalry between them for the heart of the Young Emperor.. I don’t want to discuss all these questions now, and there is no place for them in the strokes of the biography of a very remarkable woman, all of whose heartfelt feelings were locked in a special secret box. The key to it was her endurance and her wisdom of a true Woman.

Judge for yourself. It was she who persuaded her stern and unyielding husband, the emperor, to consent to Nicholas’s marriage with his long-loved Alix, Princess of Hesse. Alexander, in the name of the highest political interests of the state, dreamed of marrying his son to the daughter of the Count of Paris. Maria Feodorovna undoubtedly knew, as a very educated woman, what danger hemophilia, the carrier of the gene for which was Alexandra Feodorovna, poses for Russia and the heirs to the throne, but the empress also knew the true power and price of true Love. And, of course, debt.

It was she who gave her consent to her son’s wedding on her birthday, November 14, 1894, a week after her husband’s funeral, since she knew that fasting would follow in Russia and later it would no longer be possible to marry young people.

She, naturally, gave advice to her son, but she always left the last word with him; his voice was decisive. And Nikolai Alexandrovich, for all his soft tactics of “attentive listening” and respect for elders, had enough strong-willed character and stubbornness to make a decision himself. Another thing is that Maria Fedorovna’s disposition and energy sometimes inclined her to the decision to demand that her son act more firmly than he himself found possible. The consequences of the Khodynka tragedy horrified her so much that she demanded from Nicholas the immediate resignation of the Governor General of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, uncle and brother-in-law. And he felt sorry for Alix, sorry for her sister Ella, sorry for Ella’s husband, the brave general, who for the first time in his life looked so killed and lost. He did not consider it necessary to expose the governor to the mercy of the crowd and the court camarilla. Police officials who failed to ensure proper security and order measures, alcohol dealers, and the Moscow chief of police were dismissed. The emperor and his wife considered it more effective to help the survivors of the tragedy and the seriously wounded. Maria Feodorovna had to calm down the harshness of her temper and speech, and help her son and daughter-in-law as best she could. Which she did with success, for she has always been a true diplomat!

In her long life there were many such moments when she did not agree with her son, but she always had the courage to state this directly, and her son had enough courage and the height of filial love to respect his mother no matter what. Maria Feodorovna treated Alix wisely, because she saw how deeply her son loved her. This was most important to her, and she also left aside her ambitions as a jealous mother, if she had any.

She adored her grandchildren as only a loving grandmother can, and carefully preserved their letters, gifts, and drawings. She was worried about the fate of Alexei and often, precisely at her request, luminaries of European medicine came to St. Petersburg to make disappointing verdicts.

She gave balls in Anichkovo (for children) for beautiful granddaughters. It was she who came up with the touching nickname “Little” for Anastasia, under which she remained in historical novels and legends.

With undisguised courage, Maria Feodorovna also met the doctors’ verdict pronounced on her middle son Georgy Alexandrovich in the prime of his youth - “weakness of the lungs, a hidden process of tuberculosis, only constant stay in warm regions can preserve and prolong life!”

All hopes for the young man’s military career, for the life that the antiquity of the family and his high origin seemed to require, were buried at once.

George flatly refused to go to Italy and settled in the Caucasus, where the imperial family had extensive estates. Every spring, the Empress, despite her health, worries, busyness, need and duty to be close to her family, came to her sick son for several weeks, spending time with him in intimate conversations and walks.

In general, the family really loved the cheerful, witty George, they tried to pamper him, protect him from worries, and surrounded him with warmth and attention. But he was not pampered; he even tried to play sports as best he could. He was interested in history, studied the basics of agronomy and viticulture. He was one of the first in his family to master driving a motorcycle. I really liked driving fast.
She became the indirect cause of his death, in the early spring of 1899 at the age of twenty-eight.

On one of the narrow mountain paths, the young man could not control the controls and fell straight onto the rocks. He was not seriously injured, and a healthy person could have been on his feet the very next evening after such an incident, but from the blow, Georgy suffered severe pulmonary and throat bleeding. The doctors were unable to stop the bleeding from his throat for several hours. As a result, Georgy Alexandrovich died. They did not immediately inform St. Petersburg, and when the news reached the empress, her despair was not very noticeable, but that made it even more terrible. The doctors feared for Her Majesty's mind and heart, fearing that she would not endure silent grief!
A few weeks after the funeral, a woman, a thrush, was called to the capital, who witnessed the incident and was the first to help the unfortunate Georgy Alexandrovich. The Empress locked herself in the office with her and talked for about two hours. About what - no one knows. Olga Alexandrovna, who entered the office after she left, found her mother crying bitterly.

These were her first tears since receiving the terrible news. But from then on she spoke little about George. She only ordered that a small smooth stone be placed at the site of his fall, to which she often came to sit in silence, perhaps to pray. She always prayed, reading psalms from the ancient Bible in Danish. She inherited it from her grandfather. The Bible was confiscated in Crimea during a search of the Ai-Todor estate by the Bolsheviks. The Empress begged them to leave her the book, to which they sharply objected that “an old woman at such a respectable age is ashamed to read such nonsense.

She exploded, flared up, the cheeky sailors began to threaten her that they would kill her on the spot, and showered her with obscene language! Olga Alexandrovna, who was present during the search, began making pleading signs to her mother. Then Maria Feodorovna fell silent and for the entire time of the “shameless robbery” - this search could not be called otherwise - she did not utter a single word during the three hours that this nightmare lasted. She sat on the bed with her back straight, as if petrified.
In general, it is inhumanly difficult to talk about those years that preceded the revolution and what happened after it. This is the most difficult time in Maria Fedorovna's life. The empire that her husband protected and strengthened, which was created by his grandfathers and great-grandfathers, the entire Romanov family, whose surname she proudly bore for 52 years of her life in Russia, was collapsing and dying before her eyes! It is unlikely that she has come to terms with this in her heart. She took Nicholas’s abdication of the throne very painfully, tragically, but we don’t know what she told her son during their meeting in Mogilev, when she saw him alive for the last time. Maria Fedorovna came from Petrograd, surrounded by the Germans, to Kyiv, and for some time lived there with her daughters Olga and Ksenia in the Kavalergadsky barracks.

Then, as we know, she left for Crimea. There she corresponded with her relatives and, of course, with her son, who was in exile in Tobolsk. Here are some excerpts from the letters. Sparing lines, behind which there is a whole storm of feelings, emotions, broken hopes and memories dear to my heart: “You know that in all my thoughts and prayers you are always with me, day and night I only think about you, and from time to time My heart hurts so much that it becomes unbearable. But God is merciful, - He gives us strength for this difficult test. It’s good that you are all healthy and live together with comforts. A year has already passed since the day when you and Alexei came to see me to Kiev. Who would have thought then what fate had in store for us and what we would have to endure?! I live only with memories of a happy past and try, as far as possible, to forget the present nightmare."
But it was hard to forget. There was not enough food, Maria Feodorovna's family - two daughters and their small children - began to be malnourished. In order to buy milk and bread, they sold a new pair of boots of Tikhon Kulikovsky, Olga Alexandrovna’s husband, and his overcoat. It was impossible to exchange jewelry for anything valuable from products.

For many, these were just pieces of glass. With a change of authorities, bloody massacres, and the threat of famine, everyone thought only about how to survive. Maria Feodorovna morally tried to support her son’s family and humorously described the ordeal of selling and exchanging personal items, a search during which everything precious to her heart was taken from her, dear letters from Alix and her grandchildren, drawings, albums, three diaries: She drops in one letter: “We are always hungry,” but immediately, having come to his senses, he cheerfully talks about how happy Olga, Nikolai Alexandrovich’s sister, is with the birth of her first-born son, whom she had dreamed of for a long time. I especially miss white bread and butter, Maria Feodorovna jokes bitterly. But I think that’s not all that was missing. She became so weak from the trials she had endured and from malnutrition that she did not get out of bed for a long time. On May 25, 1918, the Romanov family submitted a request to the Council of People's Commissars for permission for the former Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna to travel abroad to Denmark for treatment and permanent residence due to her advanced age. Permission was denied. The food allowance was also not increased; our funds were melting away before our eyes.

Nadezhda Kochergina. Premonition. Maria Fedorovna Romanova (Dagmar).

For a long time, Maria Feodorovna knew nothing about the fate of her beloved son and family. I was content with the rumors. She did not cease to believe in the salvation of her Son even when the investigator of Admiral Kolchak came from Siberia abroad to Copenhagen, with evidence of the death of the entire Family and asked for an audience with Her Majesty to present it.
She categorically refused to accept the colonel, however, she allocated him a significant amount of gold ducats from her capital. She forbade her relatives and people around her from serving a memorial service for her Son’s family and talking about him as if he were dead.

But everyone understood that in the depths of her heart the old gray-haired empress was aware of the terrible truth of Death, and that only She, this Truth, forced her on April 11, 1919 on board the English cruiser Marlborough (sent by her sister, Queen Alexandra of England) at the age of more than seventy years , leave the country and become a voluntary exile.

At Your feet, Suffering Queen
I dare to humbly put
Scattered first pages
Your longing and string of thoughts,
And pray for the forgiveness of the Motherland
And I believe that the Comforter Angel
Collecting the tears of the Royal eyes
They will be taken to the Sacred Abode,
And Christ Himself, the Great Redeemer
Will comfort the sorrow and pain of Your soul
Pavel Bulygin 1920

She spent her last years in Denmark, in Copenhagen, lived in the social palace assigned to her by her nephew, the king, had her own Court, ladies-in-waiting, retinue, crew, patronized many foundations and committees, but felt immensely lonely.. However, no one shed tears on her face did not see.

Empress Maria Feodorovna near the Russian Church of St. Alexander Nevsky. On the left is Life Cossack T.K.Yashchik. Copenhagen. 1924

From time to time she was tormented by swindlers of all kinds, posing as her supposedly saved grandchildren: Olga, Maria, Anastasia, Alexei, demanding recognition of personality and inheritance rights. During a personal meeting with one of the false Anastasies (historians are not entirely sure where and when it took place), Maria Fedorovna allegedly firmly said: Honey, I don’t know who you are and what goal you are pursuing. Leave me alone. If you need money, I will give it to you. But money is nothing! You are happier than me, you are young, you have your whole life ahead of you. I, unlike you, have lost everything: Husband, Family, position, Motherland. All I have left are memories.
And they belong only to me. You have no right to them!!":
Maria Feodorovna Romanova, née Princess Louise - Sophia - Dagmar of Denmark died in Copenhagen on October 19, 1928 at the age of 82.

Maria Fedorovna died on October 13, 1928; After the funeral service on October 19 in the Orthodox Church, her ashes were placed in a sarcophagus in the Royal Burial Vault of the Cathedral in the Danish city of Roskilde next to the ashes of her parents. Members of the Danish royal family are also buried there.

Funeral of Empress Maria Feodorovna. Copenhagen. October 19, 1928. Honor guard of the Danish Royal Life Guards near the Russian Church of St. Alexander Nevsky. In the foreground is King Christian X of Denmark (first from right).

Funeral procession with the ashes of Empress Maria Feodorovna on the streets of Copenhagen. October 19, 1928.

Roskilde Cathedral. Denmark.

On her face, at the moment of death, a light smile shone - a shadow of the one that once enchanted the harsh Petersburg of a fragile and strong woman - the wife of the Emperor and the mother of the Emperor. Danish Princess. Precious Mary. She took her mystery, the shadow of her memories, the taste of her silent tears with her, without revealing the secret to anyone: how do they become Precious?

In 2004-2005 An agreement was reached between the Russian and Danish governments to transfer the remains of Maria Feodorovna from Roskilde to the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, where Maria Feodorovna bequeathed to be buried next to her husband.

The Testament of Empress Maria Feodorovna (films did not fit)

Death of the groom, difficult relationship with his daughter-in-law and evacuation from the Russian Empire in 1919. How the mother of the last Russian emperor lived in exile. The mother of the last Russian emperor did not believe in the death of Nicholas II until the very end. To a telegram of condolences received from her nephew, the Danish King Christian X, the ruler replied that all this was nothing more than rumors.

She outlived her son by 10 years and kept waiting for Niki to arrive. On October 13, 1928, Maria Feodorovna passed away. Who was this woman, how did she get to Russia and how was she able to escape from it after 50 years.

Andersen's tales:
Princess Minnie - that was the name of the future Empress Maria Feodorovna in her childhood - was born in 1847 in Copenhagen in the family of the future king Christian IX. In total, the family had six children - three sons and three daughters. Father loved to characterize each princess in one word. So, he called his daughters “the most beautiful”, “the smartest” and “the kindest” (Alexandra, Maria and Tira).
Dagmar and her sisters and brothers received their education at home. The main subject that all children had to know was foreign languages, primarily French and English. In addition, boys were taught military affairs, and girls were explained how to conduct household. For example, the future Russian empress knew how to sew at the age of 13.
She spent her childhood and youth in the “yellow castle”, where the famous writer Hans Christian Andersen was a member. The fact that we have his fairy tales is partly due to Minnie.

Marry in Russia:
Initially, Maria was supposed to marry another son of Alexander II - Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich.
At the insistence of his own father, the 20-year-old young man came to Denmark to meet his potential bride in the summer of 1864. The 17-year-old girl made such a strong impression on the young man that he almost immediately wrote to his mother.
- If you knew how happy I am: I fell in love with Dagmar. Don’t be afraid that it’s so soon, I remember your advice and can’t decide soon. But how can I not be happy when my heart tells me that I love her, I love her dearly. She is so pretty, simple, smart, cheerful and shy at the same time,” Nikolai wrote.
The heir to the Russian throne went to Darmstadt, where his parents were by that time. They decided to transport the bride to Russia in the near future, and to celebrate the wedding as soon as she turns 18 years old.
After this, he again went to Denmark. Historians point out that young people went horseback riding, boating and socialized a lot. The Danish court exhaled, and the Russian one too: there was a need to unite countries in this way, and it’s nice when children marry for love. The young people announced their engagement. By the way, residents of St. Petersburg learned that the heir was going to get married by 101 salvos of fireworks.
As it turned out, it was too early to rejoice. From the bride's house, the young man set off on a trip to Nice in the fall of 1864. Here the heir to the Russian throne began to have back pain, but he did not attach any importance to them, attributing everything to fatigue.
- God willing, I’ll rest and strengthen myself in the winter in Italy (where I was planning to go), then the wedding, and then new life“family hearth, service and work,” he said.
However, the prince's plans were not destined to come true. In the spring of 1865, the Danish court received an alarming message from Nice. The prince became worse. By the time the bride arrived, the young man’s condition was so bad that the doctors said it was time to say goodbye.
On April 24, 1865, the Tsarevich died. His body was sent to St. Petersburg on the frigate "Alexander Nevsky". The most common reason why an heir dies is considered to be an incorrect diagnosis. He had cerebrospinal tuberculous meningitis, and was treated either for a common cold or for rheumatism.

"Sasha":
Soon after this, the princess began a correspondence with Alexander II. The Emperor insists on her coming to Russia and marrying her other son, the future sovereign Alexander III.
- I am very pleased to hear that you repeat about your desire to leave me near you. But my loss is so recent that now I’m simply afraid to show my lack of devotion to her. On the other hand, I would like to hear from Sasha himself whether he really wants to be with me,” she writes in response.
As it turned out, Alexander had long been in love with Maria.
“I wanted to propose to Dagmar, but I didn’t dare, although we were together,” he later wrote in his diary.
In the spring of 1866, he proposed marriage to the princess, and the engagement took place in June. Already in October she moves to Russia. On October 13 she was baptized under the name of Maria Feodorovna, and on October 28 the wedding took place. On the occasion of the celebration, all defaulting debtors had their debts written off, and a number of prisoners were given an amnesty.
Despite the fact that noisy St. Petersburg was radically different from the quiet and calm Copenhagen, Maria quickly understood how to act. She actively learned dances that were popular at court, studied all the turns of the Russian language that many foreigners would not understand. Historians point out that she knew how to charm people and quickly won over most of the courtiers. And at receptions she devoted a few minutes to almost every guest.

Nicholas II and other children:
The birth of the heir to the throne was not only joy for Maria Feodorovna, but also a completely logical way to strengthen her position on the throne. About a year of agonizing waiting - and in 1867, doctors announced that she was expecting a child.
The boy was born on May 6, 1868. They named him Nikolai. According to one version, the name was given in honor of his great-grandfather, Nicholas I. The more common one says that the child was named in honor of his deceased uncle. Rumors immediately spread among the people that an unhappy fate awaited the boy: it was believed that calling him the same name as a suddenly deceased relative was a bad omen.
Subsequently, five more children were born into the family. The second son, named Alexander after his grandfather, did not live even two years. The third son, Georges (George), born in 1871, fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 19. By that time, the world did not know how to fully cope with this terrible disease. Doctors advised sending the boy away from bustling St. Petersburg, to special climatic conditions. The royal couple ordered a castle to be built for him in the mountains near the village of Abastumani (now Georgia), where he lived until his death in 1899.
In 1875, the royal couple had their first daughter, Ksenia. The princess migrated with her mother in 1919, and after the death of Maria Feodorovna she left for Great Britain. Ksenia lived to be 85 years old. The youngest daughter of the royal couple, Olga, also migrated from Russia. But unlike her older sister, after her mother’s death she chose to stay in Denmark. She was forced to flee to Canada only in 1948, fearing persecution by the Soviet Union, where she was considered an enemy of the people.

Naughty Empress:
Maria Feodorovna was able to maintain good relations with her father-in-law (Alexander II) and not quarrel with her husband when a huge scandal broke out between the emperor and his son. The fact is that several years before his death, the Tsar-Liberator finally stopped hiding his relationship with his mistress Ekaterina Dolgorukova. The son repeatedly argued with his father about this, but this did not change anything.
After the death of his wife in 1880, Alexander II got married. The couple had four children. True, this marriage lasted only a year: in 1881, the Tsar-Liberator was killed.
Alexander III inherits the throne, Maria becomes empress. As historians point out, she was the wife of the sovereign in the same “canonical” concept: she was engaged in charity work and devoted a lot of time to her family. Not to any political affairs her husband didn’t allow her, and she didn’t even want to.
About once a year they went to the empress’s homeland - Denmark. As General Nikolai Epanchin wrote, the emperor liked the modest (relative to St. Petersburg) life of the Danes, and especially the royal family. Alexander III walked a lot, went to shops, and examined the surrounding area.
In October 1888, a terrible accident occurred: a royal train coming from the south crashed at Borki station, 50 kilometers from Kharkov. No one from the imperial family was harmed. The roof of the carriage where Alexander III, his wife and children were located, collapsed, and the emperor was forced to hold it on his shoulders for several hours until help arrived.
After this, he began to complain of lower back pain. As it turned out, during the crash the emperor fell and was hit hard, but was able to quickly get up. However, according to doctors, this was enough for kidney disease to begin to develop.
The Emperor felt increasingly unwell. His complexion became sallow, his appetite disappeared, and his heart began to ache. After the hunt in 1894, his condition worsened even more. As it turned out, the king had nephritis - an acute kidney disease. It was decided to transport him to Livadia (Crimea). The emperor lost a lot of weight in a month, became haggard and practically could not speak. From terrible pain he hardly slept. On October 20, 1894, he died while sitting in a chair. Maria Fedorovna, who had been nearby all this time, fainted.
Nicholas II became Russian Emperor. As it turned out a few years later, the last.

Niki the Tsar and the scandal with his daughter-in-law:
Contemporaries wrote about Maria Feodorovna as a loving mother, always ready to support her children in almost any endeavor. However, the relationship with the daughter-in-law - the wife of Tsar Nicholas II - somehow did not work out right away. You can read more about how the relationship between Alix and Nika developed here.
Contemporaries of the empress point out that the mother of Nicholas II disliked her daughter-in-law because she thought for too long about whether to agree to marry Nika. The fact is that it was almost the only one in the entire Russian history a royal marriage not based on mutually beneficial relations between two countries. Nikolai really married for love. But Alix was afraid of converting to another faith, which was mandatory.
A very trusting relationship developed between Nicholas II and his mother, so the son told what was bothering him. But the reaction was unexpected.
“In the end, this is the most idiotic story one could imagine,” the ruler wrote to her son George about what she thought about the relationship between Alix and Nika.
Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt was baptized the day after the death of Alexander III under the name of Alexandra Feodorovna. The lovers wanted to get married on the day when Nicholas II ascended the throne. The fact is that this date was the next day after the death of his father. As a result, relatives and courtiers dissuaded the young people from “getting married when there is a coffin nearby”, postponing the wedding for three weeks.
The strained relationship between the dowager mother-empress and her daughter-in-law was noticed at court in the first days of Alexandra Feodorovna in Russia. Soon after the funeral of Alexander III, another reception took place in the palace. According to tradition, Maria Fedorovna approached many people and talked for 2-3 minutes. She exchanged a few phrases with her daughter-in-law.
In addition, in the palace the Empress demanded that the daily routine that was under Alexander III be left. But the new emperor did not dare to argue with his mother, which infuriated his wife.
The empress simply hated Grigory Rasputin, of whose “healing gift” Alice was confident. She was sure that the “hypnotist” would destroy Nikolai. Historians are still arguing whether Maria Fedorovna was aware of the preparations for the murder of Rasputin, because one of those who dealt with him is her relative.

Execution of the royal family:
Maria Fedorovna spent the last months before the February Revolution in Kyiv, supervised the renovation of the hospital and was involved in charity work. It was whispered at court that she deliberately “escaped” from St. Petersburg, since in the dispute for Nicholas’s attention and influence on him she began to finally lose to her daughter-in-law after the murder of Rasputin.
Here, on March 2, 1917, she was surprised by the news of her son’s abdication of the throne. She rushes to Mogilev, where the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief is located. Here the woman sees her eldest son for the last time.
Ksenia and Olga Romanov later recalled that their mother blamed Alix for everything.
Maria Feodorovna, together with her daughters Ksenia and Olga and their husbands, then moved to Crimea. Until the spring of 1918, she indicates in her diary that she sent letters to her son and daughter-in-law and even received replies. However, by March there were no more such records.
Staying in Crimea was actually an arrest for her. Denmark, Britain and Germany discussed with St. Petersburg the possibility of saving that part of the Romanov family that remained alive.
Then, in the spring, the situation in Crimea sharply worsened. The Yalta council demanded the immediate execution of all the Romanovs, and the Sevastopol council was waiting for an order from Petrograd, since the hostages could be taken there for public execution. On behalf of the Sevastopol Council, the Romanovs were moved to a safer palace so that they would not become victims of the “Yalta people.”
The fate of everyone who was in Crimea hung in the balance. By the beginning of summer, Yalta was occupied by the Germans, who began the occupation of Crimea. For Maria Fedorovna this turned out to be a salvation. Meanwhile, she begins to receive conflicting information from relatives abroad. Some claim that Nicholas was killed with his entire family, others talk about their salvation, others report that only the former emperor was killed.
- Terrible rumors are spreading about the fate of our beloved Nika. I can’t and don’t want to believe them, but I just can’t imagine how I can bear such tension,” Maria Feodorovna wrote in her diary at the end of July 1918 (Nicholas II and members of the royal family were shot on the night of July 18-19).
Since the Dowager Empress was sure that her son was alive, she did not flee to Denmark in September 1918, when a ship was sent for her, on which there was a nurse, “especially to examine the Empress.” She also did not believe Princess Lydia Vasilchikova, who managed to escape from Petrograd.
When Russian Imperial Army officer Pavel Bulygin arrived in Crimea at the end of September 1918 and reported that Nicholas was indeed no longer alive, Maria Fedorovna hesitated. Bulygin became the head of the security of the surviving members of the royal family. In January 1919, Maria Fedorovna came to terms with the idea that her beloved Niki could have been killed.

Evacuation:
The Danish king Christian X appeals to England several times on the issue of evacuating royal prisoners from Crimea. On April 7, 1919, the family was visited by the commander of the British naval forces in Sevastopol, Admiral Kalsorp. He conveys information that the English King George V, Maria Feodorovna’s nephew, is putting the Marlborough ship at her disposal for departure, but she must leave immediately.
The Empress asked the British to evacuate everyone whose lives were in danger due to the new government. Already on April 11, British ships entered the Yalta port to pick up refugees.
Through Constantinople and Malta, Maria Feodorovna arrived in England, where she stayed all summer. In August, she boards the ship Fionia and, together with her daughters, leaves for Denmark, Copenhagen.
Maria Feodorovna was financially supported by the English royal house. At the direction of George V, the Dowager Empress received an annual pension of ten thousand pounds sterling.
And his own nephew, the king of Denmark, did not treat his relatives very hospitably. For example, one day a servant from Christian X came to the Romanovs and asked them to turn off some of the lamps in order to save money. In addition, the nephew repeatedly offered Maria Feodorovna to sell or pawn the jewelry brought from Russia. But she kept them in a box under her bed until her death.
She still forbade serving a memorial service for Nicholas. When I saw the ships passing by, I was sure that Niki was on each of them. Well, at worst Alix.
Maria Fedorovna died on October 13, 1928 in Vidør near Copenhagen. Hundreds of Russian emigrants from Paris, London, Stockholm, and Brussels saw her off on her last journey.
“Most newspapers wrote about the funeral, shedding tears of emotion, that this was the funeral of old Russia,” wrote the plenipotentiary representative of the Country of Soviets in Denmark, Milail Kobetsky.
@ Alena Shapovalova

The biography of this amazing woman - the most influential empress of the Russian Empire - is filled with joyful events and sad experiences. Maria Sophia Frederica Dagmar outlived two lovers: Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich and the emperor, and also learned about the execution of her own son and the entire royal family.

Childhood and youth

On November 26, 1847, in the Bergum mansion, located in Copenhagen, a girl, Maria Sophia, was born to the Danish king Christian IX and his wife Louise of Hesse-Kassel, the second of three daughters (there were six children in the family). Unfortunately, there is not much information about Dagmar’s childhood and youth. It is known that the girl was a favorite in the house, although she was not distinguished by a brilliant mind or exceptional beauty, but due to her innate charm she could please almost everyone.

Young Dagmar loved to play the piano and read classical literature. The princess's favorite writer was a French novelist who wrote philosophical stories about the severity of women's fate. From an early age, Maria Sophia knew that, according to tradition, she was destined to marry not for love, but for convenience: it is no secret that representatives of different royal dynasties tied their blood ties to support both foreign and domestic policies.

In addition, South Scandinavian beauties were especially popular among European grooms at the “bride fair,” since an alliance with a Danish woman guaranteed that the future owner of the throne would not interfere in royal affairs. But it is worth noting that the 16-year-old lady was sincerely happy for her sister Alix, who in 1863 accepted a marriage proposal from the heir to the British crown, Prince of Wales Albert Edward.

Empress

Young Maria Sofia was famous for her temperament both in her native country and abroad - they had heard a lot about the girl’s character in Russia. At that time, the All-Russian Emperor, together with his wife, was just looking for a future chosen one for Tsarevich Nicholas. By the way, Nix (that was the name of the heir in the family circle) was the beloved eldest son in the Romanov family: he personified integrity, honesty, and also had an extraordinary mind and good appearance.

It is known that the Danish-Russian alliance was mutually beneficial. It gave Russia the opportunity to establish family ties with European countries, including Great Britain, with which relations, to put it mildly, did not work out. According to rumors, she did not like Russia because she was rejected by the young Alexander II. For Denmark, unity with Russia would also be beneficial: the Scandinavian country did not dominate foreign policy, so it needed a strong ally.

The last word remained with Nix: when the young crown prince was shown a photograph of Dagmar, the girl made an indelible impression on him, but to his brother, Alexander Alexandrovich, the Danish princess seemed like an unremarkable young lady. In 1864, the heir to the Russian crown went abroad, where on his birthday (September 20) he was engaged to Maria Sofia. However, the union of lovers did not last long.

While traveling in Italy, the Tsarevich unexpectedly fell ill. Soon the doctors announced a terrible sentence to the heir - tuberculous meningitis. Since the autumn of 1864, Nix has been treated in Nice, but a year later the young man’s health begins to deteriorate sharply. On the night of April 12, after four hours of agony, the successor of Alexander II died. It is noteworthy that Dagmar and the heir’s brother looked after Nikolai Alexandrovich together: according to legend, the three of them held hands on their deathbed. The last words of the dying man were: “Stop the car!”

Thus, after the death of Nix, Alexander Alexandrovich became crown prince. But the Russian family did not forget about the modest Danish woman: Alexander II demanded that his son marry the princess. However, the successor referred to the fact that he was not ready to be the heir to the throne. In addition, Alexander Alexandrovich’s heart was occupied by Maria Meshcherskaya, his mother’s maid of honor.

Alexander told his parents about his love, but they insisted that their son visit Copenhagen in order to win Dagmar’s favor. The Tsarevich was determined, but after a serious conversation with his father he finally gave in: Alexander left for Denmark, and his beloved princess was exiled to Paris and married off.

Alexander did not know what feelings Minnie had for him (as Maria Sofia was called in the Romanov family), so for a long time he did not dare to talk to the Danish woman, although they were often alone and looking at photographic albums. On one of these days, the beauty threw herself on the young man’s neck and began to cry: her soul was tormented by memories of Nyx. The common grief brought the princess and the future emperor closer together, so Dagmar and Alexander soon fell in love with each other. In the summer of 1866, the lovers got engaged in the capital of Denmark, and in the fall Dagmar converted to Orthodoxy, becoming Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna.

By the way, Maria Fedorovna was initially stunned by the decoration and luxury of the Russian court. It is noteworthy that the life of royal families in some European countries was fundamentally different from the life inherent in those close to the throne of the Russian Empire. For example, the obligatory publicity that royal families needed to maintain traditions was often perceived by monarchs as a heavy burden. Therefore, Dagmar had difficulty adapting to the new environment and new environment. Some rules were strange for the princess: for example, she did not know that she could not choose a dress for the evening on her own, and also did not realize that starting a conversation with the emperor first was a strict prohibition.

Family relationships

The cheerful and modest princess was warmly received in the court and capital societies. Although the relationship between Maria Feodorovna and Alexander did not begin on a happy note, subsequently the husband and wife had the strongest affection for each other. The future emperor tried to spend all his time with his wife: they went hunting and fishing, and also traveled around the city and saw the sights, for example, they visited the Peter and Paul Cathedral, where Nix was buried.

The main place of residence of the lovers was Gatchina. Sometimes they lived in Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo, and when coming to St. Petersburg, they stayed in the Anichkov Palace. Dagmar bore the emperor six children, among whom was the future heir to the throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich (Nicholas II).

Reign of Alexander III

During the reign of Alexander III, Maria Fedorovna patronized the arts: the politician was a frugal person (for example, balls were held no more than four times a year), but a significant share of the budget was spent on paintings. Dagmar spent most of her time on family obligations, since the emperor suppressed any attempts by the princess to interfere in state and official affairs. Rumor has it that Alexandra's beloved disliked Germany because, in her opinion, this country influenced the emperor's foreign policy.

In the fall of 1894, the Grand Duke died in the Livadia Palace due to progressive kidney disease, which began to develop after a train crash near Borki station. The royal family remained alive thanks to Alexander, who managed to hold the collapsed roof of the carriage on his shoulders. But this feat had a dramatic impact on the leader’s health.

Alexander III died painfully and for a long time, and Maria Feodorovna (who was with her husband all this time) experienced the same feelings as back in 1864, when she watched Nix fade away. It is known that when the emperor’s heart stopped, Dagmar lost consciousness.

Reign of Nicholas II

Two hours after the death of Alexander III, Russia meets the new emperor - Nikolai Alexandrovich. Unlike his father, the new ruler was not so decisive in state affairs.

During the reign of Nicholas II, his mother also tried not to interfere with Dawesization, but the woman was upset by the surrounding reality: the unsuccessful Russo-Japanese War, the difficult situation of industry and agriculture, etc.; Moreover, under Nicholas, the first shoots of the October Revolution were emerging in the country, popular unrest was growing, and the general political situation was becoming more complicated.

According to rumors, the widow patronized the Minister of Finance Sergei Yulievich Witte and did not like her daughter-in-law - according to Dagmar, this secretive girl could not be a strong support for her husband. Among other things, Maria Fedorovna was a supporter of the women's patriotic society, was involved in charity work, and also personally helped wounded soldiers during the First World War.

Revolution

The cause of the February Revolution was the domestic and foreign policies of Nicholas II. The popular movement grew like a tsunami: workers went on strike at factories, riots broke out in the streets, and demonstrative marches and clashes with the police only added fuel to the fire. According to society, only one thing could save the Russian Empire and dynasty: the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne.

Therefore, on the afternoon of March 15, the emperor renounces the Russian crown in favor of Tsarevich Alexei under the regency of Mikhail Alexandrovich. Maria Feodorovna learns about this fateful event in Kyiv and leaves for Mogilev to see her son. Then the widow goes to Crimea, later to Great Britain and finally stops in her native Denmark, where she settles in Vider.

However, in Copenhagen, the Empress did not find the reverence of her relatives: Danish politicians believed that Dagmar was a hindrance that could cause problems with Moscow. Also, despite requests from white emigration, the widow refuses to participate in political affairs.

Death

In the fall of 1928, a lonely woman, the former empress and mother of Nicholas II, died. Her death was often called the end of an era of great upheaval. Maria Feodorovna was buried in the Orthodox Church of Copenhagen named after.

In 2004–2005, Dagmar’s remains were transferred from Denmark to Russia: Maria Feodorovna was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral next to her husband Alexander III. The Danish woman left behind an inheritance - a single jewelry box and diaries in which her memories were stored.

Princess Dagmar.
Photo from 1864

Maria Feodorovna was the only crowned person who managed to survive after the October Revolution, and remains also the only Russian empress whose ashes rest outside of Russia. In 2001, the head of the imperial house of the Romanovs, Prince Nicholas, turned to the authorities of Russia and Denmark with a request: to rebury the remains of the Russian empress and mother of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II, Maria Feodorovna, from the Cathedral of the Danish city of Roskilde to the Romanov family tomb in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II responded positively to the idea. The Danish royal house also did not object to the wishes of the family and the Russian authorities. However, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark had the last word on this matter. The Queen of Denmark wrote a letter to the President of Russia, in which she agreed to send the remains of a native of Denmark, Maria Feodorovna, to St. Petersburg.

At first, the reburial of the empress’s ashes was planned for September this year. However, as the head of the State Protocol Department of Smolny and the representative of the Romanov House in the Northern capital, Ivan Artsishevsky, told an NG correspondent, it takes a lot of time to prepare the ceremony, so it was decided to schedule the reburial for September 26, 2006. This day will also mark the 140th anniversary of the arrival from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg of Princess Dagmar, who became Maria Feodorovna in Russia, to marry Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Alexander III. In the near future, a commission will be created to organize the reburial of the empress’s ashes. The chief master of ceremonies will most likely be Georgy Vilinbakhov (Russia's chief herald master), and Ivan Artsishevsky will be appointed project manager for organizing the ceremony.

┘Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna and Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich were the crown couple for 15 years. In 1881, Alexander II was assassinated, and in 1883, Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna were crowned in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. Alexander III was a loving husband, a good father, and had no mistresses or connections on the side. The emperor was distinguished by his enormous height. One of the features of the reign of Alexander III was the absence of wars. For his foreign policy he was nicknamed the “peacemaker.” The emperor did not allow himself to be drawn into any of the military conflicts, firmly following the idea of ​​peace. During his reign, Russia's international authority increased. Alexander’s response to the valet is widely known when he informed the emperor, who was sitting with a fishing rod, about the visit of the English ambassador. “When the Russian Tsar fishes, England can wait,” said Alexander III.

In 1888, an imperial train crashed near Kharkov. At this moment, the family of Alexander III was in the dining car. During the crash, the roof of the carriage collapsed. But Alexander, with incredible effort, held her on his shoulders and held her until his wife and children got out. However, soon after this feat, the emperor began to complain of lower back pain. In 1894, during a hunt in Belovezhye, nephritis occurred - acute inflammation kidney The disease progressed, the situation became hopeless, and the emperor died.

“Despite her small stature,” Felix Yusupov wrote about Maria Feodorovna, “there was so much greatness in her manners that where she entered, no one was visible except her... In her intelligence and political sense, she played a noticeable role in the affairs of the empire " Maria Fedorovna was actively involved in social and charitable activities. On her initiative, the Mariinsky Women's Schools for poorly educated and low-income girls arose. The Empress was the trustee of the Women's Patriotic Society, the Water Rescue Society, the Society for the Protection of Animals, etc. The department of institutions of Empress Maria, headed by Maria Feodorovna, exercised supervision and trusteeship over educational institutions, educational homes, shelters for disadvantaged and defenseless children, almshouses, etc. .d.

In 1914, Maria Feodorovna said with sadness to one of those close to her: “┘I see that we are taking sure steps towards some kind of catastrophe and that the Emperor... does not see that something is growing under his feet that he has not yet suspects, but I myself rather feel it by instinct...” In March 1917, she last saw her son after his abdication. After meeting her son, she writes: “We both cried, he opened his bleeding heart to me...” Maria Feodorovna, along with her daughters Ksenia and Olga and their husbands, moved to Crimea. Staying here turned out to be practically house arrest for her. The Danish royal house and the government constantly made attempts to save the life of Maria Feodorovna and her immediate circle. In April 1919, her nephew, the English King George V, sent the cruiser Marlborough to the Crimea. She was 72 years old, she lived in Russia for more than half a century, was empress for 11 years and widowed for 34 years, survived the death of her beloved husband, her four sons and five grandchildren. The Empress was hardly convinced of the need to leave. Entering the deck, she turned around to look at the land that had become her home. The shore became smaller and smaller, and she closed her eyes. From London, Maria Feodorovna went to Copenhagen, where she settled with the king’s nephew Christian H. Maria Feodorovna never fully believed the Soviet official report, which described the burning of the bodies of the royal family. She forbade her loved ones from serving memorial services for her son and his family, firmly believing that Niki would one day enter her house. Maria Fedorovna died in 1928. Before her death, the Empress expressed her wish that her remains be buried in the tomb of the Russian Tsars next to the remains of her husband, when circumstances permitted.

It is expected that Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II will take part in the reburial of Maria Feodorovna’s ashes. The ceremony will be accompanied only by a solemn requiem service, since the funeral service for Maria Feodorovna has already been performed.