The dramatic fate of the mother of Nicholas II
the fate of the Danish Princess Mary-Софии-Фредерики-Дагмар was predetermined from birth. Her parents called my in-laws all over Europe – their daughters were marriageable for many Royal houses. The eldest daughter of Alexander they were given to king Edward VII, and Dagmar was betrothed to the heir to the Russian throne Nikolay Aleksandrovich Romanov. Young treated each other with great tenderness, the case went to the wedding, but then Nicholas got sick with meningitis and died. The last days the bride is held in nice next to him. Together with her heir nursed his younger brother Alexander. Common grief brought them closer together, and after the death of Nicholas Alexander took his place not only in succession to the throne, but near Dagmar.
According to legend, the dying Nicholas himself will bless brother and the bride in this Union. The political benefits of such a marriage was obvious, the family pushed Alexander to that decision, and he himself felt for the Danish Princess sympathy. And a year after the end of mourning, Dagmar said Yes to his proposal. In 1866 she went to Russia, where it was greeted with jubilation tens of thousands of people. Later she will be able to justify people"s love sincere devotion to their new homeland and their actions.
the Wedding took place in October 1866, Dagmar adopted the Orthodox faith and became known as Maria Feodorovna. To this marriage six children were born, and their first son was named in honor of the deceased crown Prince Nicholas. That he was destined to become the last Russian Emperor. During the reign of Alexander III Maria-Дагмар (or Dagmar, Dagmara as it was called by her husband) did not interfere in state Affairs, but was actively engaged in public activities: head of the Russian red cross society and a number of educational and charitable institutions, opened asylums for children and the poor, took patronage over the Cavalry and Cuirassier regiments, together with the Emperor participated in the creation of the Russian Museum.
After the death of Alexander III in 1894 Maria Fedorovna was given the title of Dowager Empress. The illness and death of the wife became for her a heavy blow. She wrote:" I can"t get used to this terrible reality that a dear and loved one is no longer on this earth. It"s just a nightmare. Everywhere without it –-killing emptiness. Wherever I went, everywhere I it terribly lacks. I can"t even think about my life without him. It"s no longer life, but a constant challenge that we must try to make, not moaning, surrendering to the mercy of God and asking him to help us carry this heavy cross!".
Maria Feodorovna did not approve of his son"s choice, the German Princess seemed to her not enough solid support for Nicholas, too soft and delicate for the Emperor. Their relationship with his son deteriorated, she often expressed their dissatisfaction, for which he earned the court the nickname" гневной Empress". According to the memoirs of E. Svyatopolk-Мирской, Maria Feodorovna repeatedly complained that" for her it"s shocking to see that the son is destroying everything, to understand it and not be able to do сделать".
a Revolution has overtaken it in Kiev, and from there she later moved to the Crimea, where he lived for about two years. The Empress did not want to believe the rumors about the death of his son and his entire family. After Crimea came the whites and the British squadron, Maria Fedorovna gave in on arrangements of relatives and agreed to leave Russia. Then it seemed to her that this is temporary, and after it subsides, the revolutionary events, she will be able to return. But his second home more so she never saw.
the First time the Empress lived in England, and then returned to Denmark, where he spent the last years of his life that was very lonely and restless – nephew, the Danish king, disliked his aunt. 13 Oct 1928 Mary-Дагмар Romanov died. Her last wish was to rest next to her husband, but her will was executed only in 2006, when her ashes were transported to Russia. In St. Petersburg it was ceremonially buried beside Alexander III in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the burial vault of Russian emperors.
Sister of Nicholas II also had to permanently leave Russia: as was the fate of Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna in exile.
Source: http://www.kulturologia.EN/blogs/131017/36313/
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