Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna. The fate of the Danish princess in Russia. Bride of two heirs. The fate of Empress Maria Feodorovna Maria Feodorovna and Nicholas 2

Departure of Her Imperial Majesty the Empress
from Anichkov Palace to Nevsky Prospekt.

Maria Fedorovna, mother of the future Nicholas II.

rice. Brolling. Engraver Schubler. Niva.1891 No. 6; rice. Brolling. (Figure made locally.)

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Anichkov Palace is the palace in which Alexander III lived with his family.
After the death of Maria Feodorovna's husband, Emperor Alexander III, son,
Nicholas II not only left the Anichkov palace to his mother, but also against the laws of Russia,
took to pay for all the gigantic costs of maintaining the Anichkov Palace.

The Dowager Empress was entitled to 100 thousand after the death of her husband. rubles per year.
She couldn't live big if she paid for her own rent.

According to Russian laws, the tsar's oral order was equal to a written one.
Therefore, Nicholas II should not even have written. He could simply SAY and in law
would make a change. And then he, the Russian Emperor, would not break the law,
and would pay for the maintenance of his mother’s apartment BY LAW!

But the last king and queen constantly repeated: - The king can do anything! -

Autocratic power at the turn of the 20th century, it was, of course, pornography,
who couldn't survive.
But when the Supreme Power itself does not comply with the laws, then it (the power)
cannot expect anything good from her subjects.

One day, Nicholas II ordered Witte to allocate a lot of money for something. And it was
against the law. Witte was different as a person, but he had a rare talent,
he had real talent as a statesman. And Witte always stood for
enforcement of laws by the central government itself
Therefore, Witte proposed changing the law so as not to act illegally.

But the stupid and terribly vain queen again announced: -The Tsar can do anything!--

And Witte carried out the order.

And the next year, in a new edition of the laws, the king changed
this law is retroactive without announcing it to the public.

Like a thief in the night! The almighty "Master of Russia", as he called himself, SECRETLY changed the law.

Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna.
Future Empress Maria Feodorovna
(wife of the future Alexander III)
(years of life 1847-1928) 1874

Heinrich von Angeli (1840-1925)

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There are many portraits of her. I chose this one because it has no tension.
Before us clearly stands a young mother of her children, the wife of her husband from
, it seems, a prosperous bourgeois family. And she doesn't tense up.

What a nice calm look. Is it true?

“Empress Maria Feodorovna and her son Nikolai (Niki),
Niki (Future Emperor Nicholas II) with
by his mother Maria Fedorovna. 1870 .

The Danish royal family was quite bourgeois.

King Christian IX of Denmark with his daughters, Queen Alexandra of England
(left) and Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna. Copenhagen. 1880s

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Take a look. We see the king, queen and empress.

But in fact, if we didn’t know, we would confidently assume
that we see a fairly prosperous, middle-class, bourgeois family.

It seems that the father is a PASTOR, who successfully married his daughters to worthy ones,
neighborhood gentlemen as reliable as himself.

Nice photo!!!

Unless, of course, this photo was staged.

But done on a scientific level, the exhibition of Russian archives studied every
photo. And he doesn't say it was staged.

Taken from the Russian Archives exhibition. Thanks to the archives! You can view.
This is interesting.

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There is nothing super bad about bourgeoisity. To be fair, it must be said
that bourgeois means the stability of life. Conservative if
does not border on reactionary, is necessary to a certain extent
in the life of society for balance.

Petty-bourgeois and bourgeois, these are VERY SERIOUS - two big differences.

And the last Russian Tsarina beat everyone in this regard.

The wife of Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was
PETTY-BOurgeois in its essence.

And when this woman, with her petty-bourgeois habits and the same
Petty-Bourgeois psychology, and also with serious mental problems,
became the empress of the largest country in the world with an unimaginably WEAK and therefore
with a husband unable to make decisions, the empire rolled towards the finish line much faster,
How could this have happened without this “brilliant” couple.
Guess what would have happened if this couple had not driven,
with every decision, law and decree, the country and people towards revolution
all 23 years of their reign, it was not at all easy.
The empire and autocratic monarchy were doomed in the 20th century. But who knows?
Maybe Russia was able to survive the First World War
without revolution?
The change of power after the war might have happened differently.

Her level was that of an official, a burgher elite in a German town.

Nikolai would have been a successful city government official, and they would have had the same
a bunch of children, and she, just like in the palace in St. Petersburg, would give him a light,
when he would come home in the evening, but they would be happy!

She was thoroughly petty-bourgeois. Nikolai was not a giant of spirit either,
but he was capable of understanding sufficiently if he was calm
and explained it thoroughly. His main problem was that
he was absolutely incapable of making independent decisions.
And besides, not very smart, he nevertheless did not know how and was not ready to listen
those who understood the situation.

These two ended not only their dynasty on the throne, but also their own children,
because they were not able to listen to the simplest and natural
advice from their immediate family. Not to mention the subordinates.

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Emperor Nicholas II and
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
in the costumes of Russian tsars of the 17th century.
January 1903
Photographer S. L. Levitsky

This photo was taken by the first Russian famous photographer. S. Levitsky.
I took prizes in Paris.
And of course he did everything he could to make it work
highly artistic photo of the king and queen.
Instead, the crown on Alexandra Feodorovna sits like a pot on her head.
She was a German princess, but she did not have the dignity of a princess.
Not to mention the fact that here, in the photo, she is already an empress in the largest country in the world.
She was thoroughly petty-bourgeois.
If you can believe Witte, who did not love them mutually (to put it mildly),
then the chief courtier at her father's court told him that they all, including her parents,
were happy when Russia took her.
She gave the whole yard a torn year.

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Princess Dagmara of Denmark,
that is, the mother of Nicholas II, the Empress
Maria Fedorovna was an amateur artist.

There is a landscape made by Nikolai himself when he was still studying.

Her daughter, Olga, who lived and died in Canada, inherited from her
abilities and even graduated from art school in St. Petersburg,
on the course of the then famous artist and teacher K.Ya. Kryzhitsky.

They didn’t create anything super special, but you can take a look for fun.

To finish this article, I’ll post a couple of works.

Still life. 1868 Canvas, oil.

Artist, Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, future empress. (1847-1928)

She was from a poor royal house.

There they used to drink beer and eat herring and onions. Like us.

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Miser. 1890 Paper, watercolor.

Artist, Empress Maria Feodorovna. (1847 - 1928)

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artist, Grand Duchess Olga, sister of Nicholas II

As you probably understood yourself, Grand Duke. Olga drew her son Tikhon in a stroller. That is, this is the grandson of the empress
Maria Feodorovna and Alexander III. This grandson was already born in Crimea.
And this work was done there. The year as you see is 1917.

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Hood. Grand Duchess Olga, sister of Nicholas II

This is already in emigration. Amalienborg is the residence palace of the Danish kings.
And there are already two grandchildren, that is, sons.

After the Second War, in 1948, Olga and her family moved to Canada and lived
there until death.

Years of Olga's life:

(1882-1960).

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Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna
with a fishing rod on the shore of a pond. Peterhof. 1896

She rode a bicycle very well, and not only fished.

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Empress Maria Feodorovna (sitting) with her sister in Denmark,
where Maria Fedorovna spent her last years.

This photo was taken no earlier than five or six years before the death of Nicholas II’s mother.
This is all she has left.
Photos on the table and grandchildren from the youngest daughter.
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Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna died in Denmark,
at Amalienborg Palace in 1928, at the age of 80.
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This is 1864. Whole life ahead. And this attractive one
with such a light, good smile girl,
another name ---PRINCESS DAGMAR . (Dagmara)

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The last photo is taken from here:

Danish Royal Watchers

http://danishroyalwatchers.blogspot.com/2006/09/tsarina-maria-feodorovna-reburial.html
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Thanks again to the Russian Archives.

Several photos are taken from the Russian Archives exhibition. From here:

http://www.rusarchives.ru/evants/exhibitions/mf_exp/135.shtml
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Benjamin.

Passed away 89 years ago Maria-Dagmar Romanova, who went down in history as the wife of Emperor Alexander 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. The bride spent her last days 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 the last years of her life, which were very lonely and restless - her 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 Romanova is the penultimate Russian empress, wife of Emperor Alexander III, mother of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II.

Maria Sophia Frederica Dagmara, or simply Dagmar, daughter of Christian, Prince of Glucksburg, later Christian IX, King of Denmark, Princess of Denmark, in Orthodoxy Maria Feodorovna (Feodorovna) (November 14 (26), 1847 Copenhagen, Denmark - October 13, 1928 castle Vidøre near Klampenborg, Denmark).

She lived in the world for 81 years, 52 of them in Russia. She was crown princess for 16 years, empress for 11 years, lived for 28 years in a happy marriage, during which time six children were born into the family: Nicholas, Alexander, George, Ksenia, Mikhail, Olga.

Empress Maria Feodorovna in a Russian dress with a diadem and a necklace of 51 diamonds. 1883 Autograph on the photograph “Maria”

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.

In family matters and in matters of raising children, the final word remained with the mother, Maria Fedorovna. The atmosphere in the family was unusually calm and friendly. There was a measured order in everything, the personification of which was the former Danish princess. Maria Fedorovna enjoyed not only love, but also great respect from her husband. His wife’s natural intelligence and political intuition helped Alexander III better navigate his relationships with the people around him. Maria Fedorovna accompanied her husband everywhere: at balls and receptions, on trips to holy places, at military parades, and even hunting. When, due to circumstances, they had to part, the spouses missed each other and wrote detailed letters.

Maria Feodorovna was one of the most remarkable figures in the royal family. The charm of her amazing personality had a magical effect on everyone who surrounded her. According to Felix Yusupov, “despite her small stature, there was so much greatness in her manners that where she entered, no one was visible except her.” Worldly, friendly, amiable, extremely sociable, Maria Feodorovna knew everything and everyone, she was constantly seen, she personified to the fullest extent that charm that cannot be taught. She was loved by everyone, from representatives of high society to the lower ranks of the Cavalry Regiment, of which she was the chief.

The clock-based life of the court did not in any way interfere with the empress’s charitable work, for which she always found time. The enormous social activities of Maria Feodorovna as the head of the organization of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria and the Russian Red Cross Society, of which she stood, left a noticeable mark on the history of our Fatherland. On April 24, 1878, by decree of Emperor Alexander III, she was awarded the Red Cross insignia of the first degree for caring for wounded and sick soldiers during the Russian-Turkish War. Maria Feodorovna was also a trustee of many monasteries. From her personal funds, financial assistance was also provided to charitable organizations in Denmark.

Initially, she was the bride of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, the eldest son of Alexander II, who died in 1865. After his death, an attachment arose between Dagmara and Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, who together looked after the dying crown prince.

Alexander Alexandrovich wrote in his diary: “I feel that I can and even really love dear Minnie [that was Dagmara’s name in the Romanov family], especially since she is so dear to us. God willing, everything will work out as I wish. I really don’t know what dear Minnie will say to all this; I don’t know her feelings for me, and it really torments me. I'm sure we can be so happy together. I earnestly pray to God to bless me and ensure my happiness.”

On June 17, 1866, the engagement took place in Copenhagen; three months later, the bride arrived in Kronstadt. On October 13, she converted to Orthodoxy (through anointing), receiving a new name and title - Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna.

She was opposed to the marriage of her eldest son Nikolai Alexandrovich with the German princess and, despite the fact that she had to fulfill her son’s demand and agree to this union, Maria Feodorovna was never on friendly terms with her daughter-in-law. The Dowager Empress never hid her hatred of the reigning empress. The disagreements between both grew over the years also because the daughter-in-law had a strong will and did not allow interference either in her family affairs or in the affairs of government.

Maria Feodorovna patronized art and, in particular, painting. At one time she herself tried brushes, in which her mentor was Academician N.D. Losev. In addition, she was a trustee of the Women's Patriotic Society, the Water Rescue Society, and headed the Departments of Empress Maria's institutions (educational institutions, educational homes, shelters for disadvantaged and defenseless children, almshouses), Russian Red Cross Society (ROSC).

The Empress Dowager also supported the Danish Red Cross (DRC) and its activities in Russia. Thanks to her initiative, duties for issuing foreign passports, railway taxes for first-class passengers, and during the First World War - a “staff tax” of 10 kopecks from each telegram went to the ROKK budget, which significantly influenced the increase in the budget of the Russian Red Cross. During the war, many Danish officers, doctors and others worked as volunteers in Russia. Special Department "B" under the DCC resolved a whole range of issues, in particular, inspected prisoner of war camps throughout the Russian Empire, provided mediation in the delivery of correspondence, and the distribution of food and medicine.

Maria Fedorovna provided all possible assistance to the DCC, actively dealing with both the fate of prisoners of war, natives of Schleswig, who were on the territory of Russia, and Russian prisoners of war in Denmark. In the summer of 1916, she drew her son’s attention to the fact that Denmark had already proposed a year ago to transport Russian prisoners of war from Germany so that they would be fed and to save their lives... “This action,” the empress wrote, “will not cost anything. The Danes prepared it at their own expense." Russian diplomats constantly reported on the hospitable and friendly attitude of the Danes towards prisoners of war from Russia.

Maria Fedorovna did not often interfere in big politics, but at decisive moments she never hid her opinion from her son. So, in 1915, when Nicholas II decided to become the head of the army, she spent about two hours persuading him in the garden of the Yelagin Palace in St. Petersburg to abandon his decision. According to Anna Vyrubova, the tsar told her that the conversation with her mother was even more difficult than with the ministers (some of them, as you know, were also against Nicholas II becoming supreme commander), and that they parted without understanding each other.
Maria Fedorovna also categorically objected to concluding a separate peace with Germany. On December 3, 1916, she wrote to the Tsar at Headquarters: “We are all under the impression of German proposals (for peace). It’s always the same thing, he (Wilhelm) strives to take the position of a peacemaker and place all responsibility on us if they ( proposals for peace) will not be accepted. I very much hope that no one will fall for this trick, and that we and our allies will remain firm and united and reject this proposed hand."

The Empress-mother repeatedly begged her son to send Rasputin away, pointing out his moral baseness, and to forbid the queen from interfering in state affairs. The emperor did not hide his mother’s advice from his wife, and relations between the royals became increasingly strained. In court circles close to Alexandra Feodorovna, the Dowager Empress was often called “Wrathful.” Indeed, much of what happened at the imperial court aroused her anger and indignation. The Empress Mother, according to the memoirs of E. A. Svyatopolk-Mirskaya, repeatedly complained that “it’s really terrible for her to see that her son is ruining everything, to understand this and not be able to do anything.”

Contemporaries noted that Maria Fedorovna took the whole story with Rasputin very close to her heart. During her conversation with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers V.N. Kokovtsov, which took place in 1912 after the issue of taking punitive measures against the press (in connection with responses in the press to rumors about Rasputin) began to be widely discussed in the Duma, Maria Feodorovna cried bitterly, promised to talk with the sovereign and ended the conversation with these words : “My unfortunate daughter-in-law does not understand that she is destroying the dynasty and herself. She sincerely believes in the holiness of some rogue, and we are all powerless to avert misfortune.” After the murder of Rasputin in December 1916, Maria Feodorovna asked her son not to initiate investigations against the killers of this evil genius. In a reply telegram, Nicholas II assured his mother that no investigation would be carried out, and the murder case would be committed to “the will of God.”

One October day in 1916, the tsar and his son arrived in Kyiv. This was Nikolai's last visit to his mother's house and Maria Fedorovna's last meeting with her beloved grandson. Timofey Yashchik, a Cossack lifer who was with Maria Feodorovna during the last years of her life in Russia and Denmark, recalled that when saying goodbye to her son and grandson, the empress looked depressed, but tried to hide it and was sociable and even cheerful. The conversation that took place that evening between her and the king was, according to T.K. Yashchik, “extremely serious.”

The development of events in St. Petersburg in January-February 1917 caused open concern for all members of the imperial family. February 14, 1917 Prince. Felix Yusupov wrote the book. To Nikolai Mikhailovich: “They don’t want to understand that if they don’t do what is needed from above, then it will be done from below, how much innocent blood will be shed...”. He suggested, “if it’s not too late,” to take decisive measures. Taking advantage of the emperor’s departure to Headquarters, with the help of the Empress-Mother Maria Feodorovna and “with people who can help and support her,” go to Petrograd and, together with generals M.V. Alekseev and V.I. Gurko, arrest the Minister of Internal Affairs A. D. Protopopov, Chairman of the State Council I. G. Shcheglovity and send Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Anna Vyrubova to Livadia. Only such measures, according to F.F. Yusupov, they could still save the situation.

Maria Feodorovna, two weeks before the abdication of Nicholas II, wrote to him (original spelling): “So much has happened since then that we have not seen each other, but my thoughts do not leave you and I understand that these last months have been very difficult for you. This torments me terribly " .

I learned about the abdication of the emperor in Kyiv; together with her youngest daughter Olga and the husband of her eldest daughter Ksenia, Grand Duke Sandro, she moved to Crimea; transported to Great Britain on a British ship in 1919, from where she soon moved to her native Denmark; settled in Villa Hvidøre, where she had previously lived in the summer with her sister Alexandra.

According to the leader. book For Olga Alexandrovna, this news “struck us like a bolt from the blue. We were all paralyzed. My mother was beside herself, and I spent the whole night with her. The next day she went to Mogilev, and I returned back to my work in the hospital ".

At Headquarters, where Maria Fedorovna arrived with her leader. book Alexander Mikhailovich, she met her son for the last time. In Maria Fedorovna’s miraculously preserved19 memorial book, begun on January 1 and completed on April 24, 1917, she made brief notes about her stay in Mogilev and about her last meetings and conversations with her son:

March 4/17, 1917. “At 12 o’clock we arrived at Headquarters in a terrible cold and hurricane. Dear Nicky met me at the station... A sad date! He opened his bleeding heart to me, they both cried... Poor Nicky told about all the tragic events happened in two days. First, a telegram came from Rodzianko, which said that he must take everything with the Duma into his own hands in order to maintain order and stop the revolution; then, in order to save the country, he proposed to form a new government and... renounce throne in favor of his son (unbelievable!). But Niki, naturally, could not part with his son and handed the throne to Misha! All the generals telegraphed to him and advised the same thing, and he... signed the manifesto. Niki was incredibly calm and majestic in this terribly humiliating position."

March 6/19. “Shame before the allies. We not only have no influence on the course of the war, but we have also lost everything...”

March 8/21. "...one of the saddest days in my life, when I parted with my beloved Niki!... Niki came after 12 to say goodbye to the headquarters and the others. We had breakfast on the train... The commander of the regiment of St. George's Cavaliers was also there. Incomparable man, made a wonderful impression on me. Niki said goodbye to him and the St. George cavaliers. We sat until 5 o'clock until he left. A terrible farewell! God help him! I was mortally tired of everything. Nilov did not receive permission to go with Niki. Everything is very sad ! Most of the retinue remains in Mogilev..."

In March 1917, Maria Feodorovna with her daughter Ksenia and Olga and their husbands - led. book Alexander Mikhailovich and Colonel N.A. Kulikovsky - moved to Crimea. Here the Dowager Empress stayed until April 1919 - first in Ai-Todor, and then in Dulber and Caracas. “We are actually arrested,” her daughter Ksenia wrote in the June days of 1917 to Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, “and we are in the hands of the Committee (meaning the Yalta Council of Workers’ Deputies - Yu. K.), to whom the government is so kind to us gave. For what and why, no one knows... In recent days, we have been completely forbidden to leave Ai-Todor only because some ambassadors from the counter-revolution are visiting, and what does that have to do with us?... If we It's hard and often all this is unbearable, then what is it like for poor Mom! You're simply ashamed in front of her, and what's terrible is that there's nothing you can do to help her! You see and recognize her suffering and are powerless to console her, to do anything. This terrible punishment... Can you imagine that these freaks still hold Mom's letters and only returned a small part of her things to her. And if you only saw how unbearably painful and bitter what is happening at the fronts. This is such a shame that You’ll never wash it away, no matter what happens!”

Despite the fact that Maria Fedorovna rejected any thought of leaving Russia, she hoped to meet with her loved ones: “My thoughts are sad,” she wrote to her brother, “I feel constant despondency and indescribable suffering, but I often see your dear ones in front of me.” faces and I hope that I will hear your voices. Who would have thought three years ago, when we parted in Frihaven (a port in Copenhagen.), that the war would last so long, and that the country would behave so shamefully. I could never imagine imagine that we will be thrown out and that we will have to live as refugees in our own country! Further, Maria Fedorovna wrote indignantly that one of the Stockholm newspapers reported that fate had thrown her to the side of the revolution. “I was extremely outraged after reading this message... I hope that none of you believed it, only a crazy person could write something like that about me.”

The relatives and people close to her who were with Maria Feodorovna were surprised at the courage with which she held herself in those difficult days. G. D. Shervashidze in a letter to Vel. book Nikolai Mikhailovich noted: “Her Majesty delights us with the dignity with which she carries herself. Not a single complaint about the shy, never-before-seen position in which she finds herself, a calm and friendly expression, in a word, as she has always been...

Since the fall of 1917, the Danish royal house and the government have been making attempts to save the life of Maria Feodorovna and her immediate circle. An encrypted telegram dated September 10, 1917 to the Danish embassy in Petrograd stated that the Danish government had given its consent to the Dowager Empress’s visit to Denmark. The telegram also indicated the need to clarify its possible date and prepare this action in conditions of strict secrecy, “so as not to compromise high-ranking officials of the state.”
Having heard about the death of the royal family, the Dowager Empress for a long time continued to believe that her son Nicholas II and his family were saved. As he writes in his memoirs. book Alexander Mikhailovich, who was next to Maria Feodorovna in those years, “the Dowager Empress never believed the Soviet official report, which described the burning of the bodies of the Tsar and his family. She died in the hope of still receiving news of the miraculous salvation of Nika and his family.”

In the first years after returning to Denmark, Maria Feodorovna lived in Copenhagen in the royal castle of Amalinborg. Her apartments were located in the part of the building in which her father, Christian IX, had previously lived, and opposite, across the square was the residence of King Christian X. Maria Feodorovna’s grandson, Tikhon Nikolaevich Kulikovsky-Romanov, the son of Olga Alexandrovna, wrote in his memoirs about his grandmother, that he always had deep respect for Amama, as she was called in the family. She seemed to be “in charge of everyone.” “The house, the garden, the car, the driver Axel, the two Cossack cameras with daggers and revolvers who were on duty in the hallway, and even the Danish guards who stood guard at their red booths - in general, everything, everything, everything was grandma’s and existed for her. Everyone else, including myself, was “nothing.” That’s how it seemed to me, and that’s how it was to a certain extent.”

Maria Feodorovna was very popular among the Danes, and, despite the fact that she had poor financial support, she continued to help everyone who turned to her for help. However, the Danish king Christian X treated his aunt rather coolly. Many stories have been preserved telling about their constant clashes. One of them was due to the electricity bill. One evening, the king’s servant came to Maria Feodorovna and on his behalf asked to turn off some of the lamps, since the latest electricity bill was too high. In response, Maria Feodorovna called the valet and ordered to light all the lamps in her half.

Maria Feodorovna experienced serious financial difficulties. Immediately after her arrival in Denmark, on the initiative of the Great Northern Telegraph Society, which Maria Fedorovna supported in Russia for many years, 200 thousand crowns were collected to provide her with material support. In 1923, the Society allocated an annual allowance of 15 thousand crowns to the Empress (at that time a quite substantial amount). Maria Feodorovna was also supported by the English royal house. At the direction of George V, the Dowager Empress received an annual pension of 10 thousand pounds sterling. From 1920, Maria Feodorovna moved to Videre Castle, north of Copenhagen, which was purchased by her and her sister Alexandra, Queen Dowager of England, in 1907. Here they lived together until Alexandra's death in 1925.

Until the end of her life, she never believed in the death of her sons Nikolai and Mikhail Alexandrovich, daughter-in-law and grandchildren; rejected any attempts by the Russian emigration to involve her in political activity.

Empress Maria Feodorovna after returning from Russia. 1920s

The rite of her burial was performed on October 19, 1928 in the Church of Alexander Nevsky by Metropolitan Evlogii (Georgievsky), who arrived without an invitation, who was then under the ban of the Synod of Bishops (ROCOR) and considered himself under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate (Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), which caused a scandal among emigration and the need for the Chairman of the Synod of Bishops, Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), to give explanations through the press about why he did not come to Copenhagen, as well as the bishops appointed by him: “<…>I really did not have the opportunity to leave due to my illness and some difficulties associated with such a hasty departure to another country.<…>Now we have received a report that Archbishop Seraphim and Bishop Tikhon, having learned about the hasty departure of Metropolitan Eulogius, who was banned by the Council of Bishops from serving in the priesthood, with the also banned Archpriest Prozorov, found it difficult to leave and thereby prevented the question that would certainly arise, who would perform the burial of the deceased Empress<…>».

Makovsky V. E.. Empress Maria Feodorovna

Widow of the Russian Empire

She was destined for a bright, dramatic fate. A Danish princess, she was betrothed to one but married another to become empress of a foreign country. In her life there was both the happiness of love and many losses. She outlived not only her husband, sons and grandchildren, but also her country itself. At the end of her life she returned to her homeland. Maybe now she will return to Russia again...

The Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty, ruling in Denmark since the mid-15th century, belonged to the German Oldenburg family; the rulers of Sweden, several German princes, and even, to some extent, Russian emperors, belonged to the same family - its younger branches. Peter III, the male-line ancestor of all subsequent Romanovs, came from the Holstein-Gottorp line of the Oldenburg family.

The Danish king Christian IX and his wife, Queen Louise, had six children: Frederick, Alexandra, William, Dagmar, Thyra and Valdemar. It was a very friendly family, but the second daughter, Dagmar, or officially Maria-Louise-Sofia-Frederica-Dagmar, born on November 26, 1847, enjoyed special love in it. Her kindness, delicacy and sincerity earned her universal love among numerous relatives throughout Europe. She knew how to please everyone - not because she put any effort into it, but because of her innate charm. Not being a rare beauty, she nevertheless possessed that charm that could not leave anyone indifferent.

Emperor Alexander III with his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, and children: Nicholas, Xenia and George, Estland province

Danish princesses have always been prized at the European “bride fair”. An ancient family, a country that occupies a significant place in European politics - and at the same time not dominant in it (this guaranteed that the bride would behave modestly). In 1863, Alexandra, the eldest Danish princess, married Prince Albert Edward of Wales, heir to the English crown - after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria, he became King Edward VII. And the next year, the Danish Prince William was elected King of Greece and crowned under the name of George I.

It is not surprising that young Dagmar, famous for her charm and wonderful character, was noticed in Russia. Emperor Alexander II and his wife Maria Alexandrovna (nee Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt) were just looking for a wife for their eldest son, heir to the throne Nikolai Alexandrovich - in the family circle his name was Nike.

He was a handsome, very serious, although romantic, well-educated young man with a strong character. In 1864, his father sent him on a trip to Europe - in particular to Copenhagen, where he especially advised him to pay attention to young Dagmar, about whom he had heard a lot of good things. The imperial couple never tired of praising her son.

The marriage with the Danish princess was beneficial to Russia. Russia wanted to gain a foothold in the Baltic Sea - to spite Prussia and Germany. This marriage established new family ties, including with England, with which relations with this country had previously been very strained (Queen Victoria did not love Russia - as they said, because at one time the young Emperor Alexander II rejected her love). In addition, the constant German brides in Russia are already tired, and a Danish woman (albeit from a German family) will not irritate anyone. Of course, this marriage was also beneficial for Denmark - the small Baltic state needed a strong ally.

Nix had the last word. He liked the bride in the photograph; but when he showed the portrait to his brother Alexander, he did not find anything special in her - a dear young lady, but there are better ones... The brothers were always very close, but here they quarreled almost for the first time.

Nike came to Copenhagen just to meet. But it turned out that he fell in love with the young princess at first sight. Short, petite, big-eyed, funny - yes, she did not shine with either beauty or intelligence; but her charm, enchantment, and liveliness captivated us immediately. Nike couldn't resist either. Just a few days later - September 16, 1864 - he proposed to Dagmar; and she accepted it.

Dagmar also fell in love with the Russian heir. Handsome (starting with Alexander I, all the Romanovs were famous for their beauty), gentle and charming, he read poetry to her and told her about his country. For his sake, Dagmar even agreed to change her faith - this was a necessary condition for marriage. Nike promised her that at baptism she would be given one of her names - Maria. And immediately began to call her Minnie.

Nike flooded his parents and brother with letters about how happy he was to have met Dagmar. The parents approved of this union; Only Sasha was dissatisfied - in his opinion, it was a marriage of convenience, and such a union could not bring joy to his beloved brother...

The wedding was scheduled for next summer. In October, the bride and groom separated - Nikolai was supposed to meet his mother in Nice, where Maria Alexandrovna, suffering from weak lungs, was going to spend the winter.

And then the unexpected happened. During a trip to Italy, the heir became ill. The illness either went away or put Nix to bed again... In March, brother Alexander urgently went to see him, Dagmar rushed from Denmark to her fiancé, Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich arrived by express train. They arrived when Nike was already dying. Almost all the time I was in oblivion, delirious...

On the night of April 11, Nikolai Alexandrovich came to his senses and asked to call his brother and Dagmar. There were three of them in the room. According to legend, he joined their hands, placing them on his chest, and said to Alexander: “I leave you heavy duties, a glorious throne, a father and a bride who will ease this burden for you...” The next night he died.

Dagmar's grief struck everyone. At eighteen she became a widow without ever getting married. Small, fragile, she was completely emaciated from crying. In the end she was taken to Denmark...

But the Russian emperor did not forget about her. These days, he appreciated Dagmar, noting her strong character and devotion. And when he left, he even said that it would be nice to keep Dagmar with him. Alexander II liked this idea more and more: after all, his second son would also have to get married - and why look for someone when Dagmar already exists! And the emperor wrote to her, hinting at such a possibility. Dagmar was confused: she had just lost her beloved fiancé and could not yet even think about a new marriage. But, having fallen in love with Nyx, she also fell in love with Russia; and the future of Russia now belonged to Alexander Alexandrovich... Gradually Dagmar began to get used to this idea.

Alexander Nikolaevich and his wife did not forget about her. They constantly wrote letters to her, calling her their daughter. The emperor's youngest son, Alexei Alexandrovich, named his new yacht "Dagmar". But the heir Alexander himself did not show the princess any special attention; a couple of letters and that’s it. When she sent him the promised portrait of her and Nike, he barely found time to respond. The Danish court waited in vain for news from Russia...

In fact, Alexander was thinking about Dagmar: he really liked her in Nice, and he was even a little jealous of his brother - after all, he had finally found his love, although he did not have time to enjoy it. But his own heart was occupied - just at this time Alexander fell in love with Princess Maria Meshcherskaya, the maid of honor of the Empress. Not a beauty, Marie Meshcherskaya captivated the heir with her intelligence and liveliness of character. And she conquered her so much that Alexander even decided to marry her - which he directly declared to his father, knowing full well that for the sake of this marriage he would have to renounce his rights to the throne. The Emperor was furious. Meshcherskaya was immediately sent abroad (a year later she would marry the incredibly rich Pavel Demidov, and a year later she would die in childbirth), and Alexander was sent to Copenhagen.

The charm of the Danish princess turned out to be stronger than the charm of the Russian princess. In Dagmar, Alexander found everything that he considered necessary to see in his wife and future empress. On the tenth day of his stay at Fredensborg Palace, he proposed to Dagmar, and then asked: “Can you still love after my dear brother?” She replied: “No one but his dear brother!”

Alexander was not much like Nyx. Tall and strong, he loved not poetry, like Nike, but blacksmith work. Instead of the charm of his older brother, there is isolation and thoughtfulness. But Alexander exuded the reliability and strength that every woman dreams of...

The wedding was scheduled for May next year. But Alexander was so in love that he persuaded his father to get married six months earlier.

On September 1, 1866, Princess Dagmar left Denmark on the Danish ship Schleswig, accompanied by the royal yacht Standart. Among the mourners was the famous fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote about this: “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 there will be no one with her who surrounded her before.”

On September 14, she was greeted with incredible solemnity in Kronstadt by the entire imperial family. In October, Dagmar converted to Orthodoxy under the name of Maria Feodorovna - her patronymic was given in honor of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, the patroness of the Romanov family. And on October 28, 1866, the wedding of Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna with Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich took place. The Anichkov Palace became the residence of the newlyweds.

The heir's young wife came to court. Her charm had a truly magical effect on everyone. Despite her small stature, Maria Fedorovna was distinguished by such majestic manners that her appearance overshadowed everyone. Extremely active, sociable, with a lively and cheerful character, she was able to return to the imperial house the luster that was lost with the illness of Empress Maria Alexandrovna. She loved painting (even took lessons from the famous painter A.P. Bogolyubov), and adored horse riding. And although her behavior gave rise to many to reproach the young princess for some frivolity and superficiality of interests, she nevertheless enjoyed universal respect. After all, she had a very strong, integral character - and at the same time a sense of tact that did not allow her to openly demonstrate her influence on her husband.

Maria Feodorovna during a visit to her father, King Christian IX of Denmark

Their relationship was amazing for the House of Romanov. Mutual tenderness and undoubted love throughout their entire life together was an incredible rarity in the royal family, where it was considered the norm to have mistresses after marrying for convenience. Alexander II himself was no exception to this rule - although he married for love, he was nevertheless famous for his numerous love affairs. And just at this time his most high-profile romance began - with Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgoruka, who became his official favorite for many years, and then his morganatic wife. This relationship of the emperor worsened the already poor health of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, and in 1880 she died. Having barely waited forty days, the emperor married Dolgoruka, who received the title of Princess Yuryevskaya, legitimizing all the children who had lived with her. All this further complicated the already difficult relations in the imperial family: Ekaterina Mikhailovna, who did not like the emperor’s first family, dreamed of making her eldest son George heir to the throne - bypassing all existing laws.

Alexander Alexandrovich sharply condemned his father’s behavior, considering it completely unacceptable for the emperor: after all, his life is an example for all his subjects. For the heir himself, the main thing in the family was love and mutual trust. And of course, children. Over the course of 14 years, Alexander Alexandrovich and Maria Feodorovna gave birth to six of them: in 1868, the first-born Nicholas - the future Emperor Nicholas II (his family name was Niki), a year later - Alexander, in 1871 - Georgy, in 1875 - Ksenia, three more year - Mikhail. The last daughter, Olga, was born in 1882, when Alexander had already become emperor.

Contemporaries noted that a surprisingly friendly atmosphere reigned in this family. The children were raised in love, although they were not spoiled - parents, who valued order and organization, tried to instill in their children faith in God and a love for everything Russian, for traditions and ideals. Then the English education system, introduced by Maria Alexandrovna, was adopted at court: oatmeal for breakfast, cold baths and a lot of fresh air. They not only kept their children in such strictness, but also lived themselves: ostentatious luxury in a home environment was not approved. For example, for breakfast the emperor himself and his wife had only boiled eggs and rye bread.

Maria Feodorovna with her father and sister Alexandra, Princess of Wales

Minnie was no stranger to this. After all, the rules in Denmark were the same: a small, poor country did not allow its kings to live in luxury. In Russia, Maria Fedorovna felt happy. Her marriage, concluded out of mutual love, turned out to be extremely successful: everyone loved her...

But the family was plagued by troubles. The second son of the heir, named after his grandfather and father, Alexander, died at the age of one. Six unsuccessful attempts on the life of the emperor - because of them, all the Romanovs lived as if under siege. Finally, the last, successful one - March 13, 1881.

The assassination attempt took place in broad daylight, on the embankment of the St. Petersburg Catherine Canal. The explosion of a bomb thrown at the emperor's carriage tore off the boy's head; Several passers-by and Cossacks of the convoy were injured. Alexander II's carriage was blown to pieces, but he himself was unharmed - and, not caring about himself, began to help the wounded. At that moment, Ignatius Grinevitsky threw a second bomb - this explosion killed ten and mutilated fourteen people. The emperor was mortally wounded. He was carried in their arms to the Winter Palace, where he died in the presence of his entire family.

Maria Feodorovna was in terrible condition. Trying to somehow entertain her, the new Emperor Alexander III ordered an unusual gift from the court jeweler Carl Faberge for the approaching Easter. It was an amazing Easter egg: it opened and inside sat a golden chicken, and inside it was a miniature ruby ​​egg and a golden crown. The Empress liked the gift so much that they began to order the egg every year. When Nicholas took the throne, he continued the tradition, ordering two eggs: for his mother and for his wife. It is believed that a total of 54 eggs were made, each of which is a true masterpiece of jewelry art.

Alexander Alexandrovich and Maria Feodorovna were the crown couple for 15 years. Their coronation took place in Moscow in 1883. During the coronation festivities, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was solemnly consecrated and the Historical Museum was opened.

Having become empress, Maria Feodorovna refused to move to the Winter Palace, with which many difficult memories were associated. The imperial family continued to live in the Anichkov Palace, moving to Gatchina for the summer. Annual trips to the Caucasus and Denmark were also accepted, where in the summer the entire huge family gathered - the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Emperor of Russia, the Greek King (who married Alexander III's cousin Olga Konstantinovna in 1867), many ruling persons from Austria, Sweden and Germany. It was said that it was at such gatherings in Fredensborg that European politics were made.

There are many different opinions regarding the influence of Maria Feodorovna herself on Russian politics. Count Sergei Witte, for example, believed that the diplomatic abilities of the empress were the main asset of the empire. It was she who persuaded the emperor to sign an alliance with France, a longtime ally of Denmark. Others thought Minnie was more interested in balls. A real woman, she loved social life and receptions - unlike her husband, who could hardly tolerate them. When the ball, in his opinion, dragged on too long, Alexander slowly kicked out the musicians one by one; and if the guests did not leave, he simply turned off the lights. But they were a wonderful couple, complementing each other perfectly: after all, official receptions were a necessary part of the life of the imperial court.

What, however, no one ever doubted was the enormous merits of the empress in the field of charity. All Russian empresses, starting with the second wife of Paul I, also Maria Feodorovna, were engaged in charitable deeds. This was part of the unwritten duties of the emperor's wife. And the second Maria Fedorovna felt the need to live up to her name and position. Already in 1882 - immediately after the actual accession to the throne - Maria Feodorovna organized girls' schools for poorly educated girls from poor families. She was an honorary member of Kazan University, took charge of the Women's Patriotic Society, and helped the Water Rescue Society and the Animal Welfare Society. She was the permanent head of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria (named after the first Maria Feodorovna, their founder), which included various educational institutions, orphanages, orphanages and almshouses. During the wars - Russian-Turkish, Russian-Japanese, World War I - Maria Fedorovna was a sister of mercy. The Empress was the chief of several army regiments, including the Cavalry Guard and Cuirassier, and everyone, from the top command staff to the rank and file, adored her.

The Empress enjoyed the love and respect of Alexander. Her tact and political intuition greatly helped the emperor. Highly secular (her own daughter said that Maria Feodorovna remained an empress even in her childhood), she could resolve any conflicts in the large Romanov family, of which there were many. Alexander's brother, Vladimir, or more precisely, his power-hungry wife Maria Pavlovna, was a potential breeding ground for opposition in the family. But the emperor, who attached great importance to family ties, kept the entire family in his fist.

However, not everything was subject to his will. Accidents have always played a significant role in history. And the death of the emperor was also largely the result of an unfortunate accident.

On October 17, 1888, the train carrying the entire imperial family crashed on the stretch between the Borki and Taranovka stations of the Kursk-Kharkov-Azov Railway. At the time of the crash, almost the entire royal family was in the dining car. From the impact, the carriage jumped off the carts - the floor ended up on the ground, the walls collapsed, killing the lackeys standing at the windows. The roof began to sag, threatening to fall, and one corner caught on the metal of the wheels, stopping for a second. This saved the Romanovs: the emperor managed to grab the roof and held it until everyone crawled out. Then he helped save the others; Maria Feodorovna, although her arms and legs were wounded by glass, provided first aid to the wounded. She cut her underwear into bandages.

In total, twenty-one people died in the disaster and more than two hundred were injured. It is still unclear whether it was a crash or an assassination attempt. But it was precisely from that monstrous stress, as contemporaries believed, that Alexander III developed kidney disease.

His seemingly indestructible health literally collapsed in 1892. An annual trip to Denmark was canceled due to illness; Instead, they decided to take the sick king to the hunting palace in Bialowieza. But after two weeks he became worse, and the family moved to Spala, a hunting estate near Warsaw. A doctor was called there and diagnosed: dropsy; no hope of recovery. But staying in a warm climate can help.

Greek Queen Olga Konstantinovna offered her villa on the island of Corfu. We went there through the Crimean estate of Livadia, but along the way Alexander became so worse that further travel was impossible.

The whole family gathered in Livadia. Princess Alice Victoria, the bride of the heir Nicholas, was summoned from Darmstadt - Alexander wanted to bless their marriage. On October 20, 1894, the emperor died in the arms of Maria Feodorovna.

Maria Fedorovna was heartbroken. She was unable to even speak. All the necessary orders were given by the Prince of Wales - he arrived in Livadia with Maria Feodorovna’s sister Princess Alexandra two days after the death of Alexander III. The emperor's body was transported by cruiser from Yalta to Sevastopol, and from there by train to St. Petersburg. He was buried on November 19 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral - the ancestral tomb of all the Romanovs, starting with Peter I. The rulers of almost all European states attended the funeral.

Just a week later, on November 26, Emperor Nicholas II married the Hesse-Darmstadt princess Alice-Victoria-Elena-Brigitta-Louise-Beatrice, who took the name Alexandra Feodorovna in Orthodoxy. It was Maria Feodorovna’s name day, and therefore a slight weakening of mourning became possible. On May 14 (26), 1896, Nikolai and Alexandra Fedorovna were crowned in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral.

Nikolai and Alike met in St. Petersburg in 1884 - during the marriage of her older sister Elizaveta and his uncle Sergei Alexandrovich. They fell in love with each other at first sight, but Alyx rejected Nikolai’s proposal for a long time, not agreeing to convert to Orthodoxy. The heir's parents were also against it: Alexander did not want to increase the influence of England (Alike was Queen Victoria's favorite granddaughter and was raised at the English court), his wife did not like the princess's isolation and restraint. However, in the end their consent was obtained, and in the spring of 1894 in Coburg, immediately after the wedding of Princess Victoria of Edinburgh and Grand Duke Ernst of Hesse, they became engaged. But the relationship between the two empresses, which did not work out from the very beginning, only deteriorated further.

The young couple settled with the Dowager Empress in the Anichkov Palace. Nikolai did not want to leave his mother at such a difficult time for her. She could not recover from her loss for a long time; She mourned her husband for a very long time. Nicholas left many privileges for the Dowager Empress: she was the mistress of the palace, the first - on the arm of Nicholas - to speak at all receptions (while Alyx followed them, accompanied by one of the Grand Dukes); All the crown jewels remained at her disposal, she still headed the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria and the Red Cross Society, she had the right to appoint ladies-in-waiting and state ladies for both herself and the young empress. She took care of Alexandra Fedorovna’s wardrobe, ordering her dresses to suit her taste. Maria Feodorovna liked bright dresses with various trims. She had excellent taste, which made it possible to make even court outfits that were strictly regulated by protocol interesting and individual. Her favorite tailors were first the Parisian fashion designer Charles Worth, then the St. Petersburger Augustus Brissac (Brisac), and from the mid-1890s, the famous Moscow fashion designer Nadezhda Lamanova. Alyx, on the other hand, loved more formal styles, and preferred pearls to all jewelry.

Having recovered from the loss of her husband, Maria Fedorovna seemed to have found a second wind. She became openly interested in politics - to some extent this was a necessity caused by the inexperience of the new emperor. Alexander left behind a strong, influential power, but he had to be able to hold it in his hands. The realization that the heir was not ready for the role of ruler greatly depressed Maria Fedorovna, and she tried as best she could to compensate for his weakness. She worked a lot, tiring the secretaries and impressing the courtiers with her efficiency and ability to delve into complex political issues.

The young empress had a hard time enduring her position as “second violin.” But Maria Feodorovna had everything that Alika lacked: worldliness, courtesy, sociability, the ability to please and the charm of the old empress left no chance for the withdrawn, unsociable and cold Alexandra Feodorovna. Over the years, their confrontation only worsened. Since the spring of 1895, when the emperor and his wife moved from Anichkov to the Alexander Palace, Maria Feodorovna's influence on her son noticeably weakened, although she still continued to play a prominent role in state politics.

But troubles in the family continued. In 1899, Maria Feodorovna’s third son, Georgy, died - he had already suffered from tuberculosis for seven years and therefore constantly lived in the Caucasus, on the Abbas-Tuman estate. While riding a motorcycle, he overturned and died from pulmonary hemorrhage. George was the heir to the throne - after all, Nikolai’s family did not yet have a son. In May 1901, the Emperor's younger sister Olga married the Prince of Oldenburg, the son of a close friend Maria Feodorovna, but the marriage was extremely unsuccessful. The groom was a homosexual, also a gambler and spendthrift, and in fact the marriage never took place. Olga fell in love with her husband's adjutant Nikolai Kulikovsky, but was able to marry him only in 1916, when her first marriage was declared invalid.

It seemed that after the death of Alexander III, the Romanovs went into all sorts of troubles. Several high-profile scandals, morganatic marriages - concluded in violation of all laws, against the will of the emperor. The prestige of the monarchy was falling before our eyes. The final blow was dealt by Nikolai's younger brother Mikhail - he entered into a relationship with the twice-divorced Natalya Sheremetyevskaya-Wulfert (who later received the title of Countess Brasova), whom he secretly married, contrary to his brother's direct prohibition. It is not surprising that the monarchy is no longer respected.

On January 6, 1905, during the water blessing ceremony, an attempt was made on Nicholas’s life - the conspirators loaded the guns that fired the traditional salute with live shells. And less than a month later, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was blown up in Moscow. Russia was entering the most difficult period in its history.

The first Russian revolution, the unsuccessful war with Japan, the growing discord in the country - Maria Feodorovna endured all this very hard. She, in fact, remained the only custodian of family and dynastic values, but Nikolai no longer listened to her opinion. She convinced her son to introduce a constitutional monarchy in Russia, while his wife was an ardent supporter of autocracy. The conflict between the two empresses grew deeper: Maria Feodorovna strongly disapproved of Rasputin and was offended by Alika for trying to limit her communication with her son and grandchildren. The World War brought them closer together - all the women of the imperial family worked in the hospital, helping the wounded - but the rapprochement was short-lived. Alika was especially irritated by the way the Dowager Empress looked: she herself had aged noticeably due to constant worries about her sick son and her husband, while Maria Fedorovna continued to look very young, fresh, without a single gray hair.

In 1916, the Dowager Empress left for Kyiv, where she learned of Nicholas’s abdication. This incredibly amazed her - what Maria Fedorovna had given her whole life to, what she had become a part of, had collapsed... She could neither understand nor forgive. She was advised to leave, but she refused, although life became difficult - revolutionary-minded people laughed at her right on the streets. In February 1918, the door of the hospital where she worked was slammed right in front of the elderly former empress, declaring that her services were no longer needed.

The very next day, Maria Fedorovna left for Crimea, on a train that, by some miracle, was obtained by one of the Grand Dukes. Her daughters ended up in Crimea: Ksenia with her husband, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, and pregnant Olga, with her morganatic husband Colonel Kulikovsky - two months later she gave birth to a son, Tikhon. Several other great princes lived in neighboring estates. After some time, all of them were gathered at the Dulber estate, where they actually found themselves under house arrest. They were going to shoot all the Romanovs - but, oddly enough, Trotsky saved Maria Fedorovna: in a telegram he called her “an old reactionary that no one needs” and ordered her to be released. But still, one night the Bolsheviks gathered to storm Dulber - the Romanovs were saved only by the arrival of German troops, who, according to the terms of the Brest Peace, began the occupation of Crimea that very night.

Crimean prisoners received news about the sad fate of their relatives - the execution of Nikolai and his family, the death of the great princes in a mine near Alapaevsk, execution in the Peter and Paul Fortress... Maria Fedorovna did not want to believe in the death of her sons - until her death she believed that Nikolai and his family and Mikhail were saved, and did not allow funeral services to be held for them.

The fate of the Romanovs, oddly enough, was of little concern to their relatives in Europe. Neither the Windsors, nor the Danish king, nor any of the German relatives tried to save members of the Russian imperial family. George V, Nicholas's cousin and close friend, did nothing to alleviate his fate, fearing possible political complications. However, his mother, Queen Alexandra, Maria Feodorovna’s sister, was very worried about her sister and persuaded her son to save “the unfortunate Minnie.” But only at the end of 1918, the commander of the English squadron stationed in Istanbul received orders to take the empress and her two daughters out of Crimea. Maria Feodorovna refused: she did not want to leave Russia at all, and certainly did not intend to abandon her relatives and associates in Crimea, who were not mentioned in the order. Permission to take them on board was received only at the end of March 1919. On April 4, the queen, her relatives and retinue boarded the dreadnought Marlborough.

At the moment the Marlborough sailed from Yalta Bay, the Russian officers lined up on deck saluted the Dowager Empress and sang “God Save the Tsar.” Maria Feodorovna cried - she was leaving the country where she had lived for more than fifty years. She was 72 years old.

Through Constantinople, Malta and London, the former Danish princess returned to her homeland. She was accompanied by her youngest daughter Olga and her husband (Ksenia Alexandrovna remained in England). They settled with Maria Feodorovna's nephew, King Christian X - first in an outbuilding of the royal palace, then in the Videre Palace, which belonged to Minnie and her sisters. Christian was incredibly stingy, and this became the reason for an undeclared war between aunt and nephew. One day he ordered the bright lights in her palace to be turned off because the electricity bills were ruining him, but Maria Feodorovna just grinned and ordered all the lamps that were on to be turned on. He was terribly outraged by Maria Feodorovna’s manner of “wasting money”: she helped Russian emigrants, giving away almost all the money she had; By the way, many of them came to her in Denmark, forming a kind of “court” of the Dowager Empress.

The position of the poor relative greatly depressed the former empress. She, the former ruler of the richest country, lived on benefits from her nephew, King George of England. The legendary million-dollar accounts of the Romanovs in European banks did not actually exist: almost everything that was, the Romanovs withdrew from the accounts and donated to the needs of the First World War; the funds remained only in German banks, but they were completely eaten up by inflation...

As they said, George assigned a pension to his aunt not at all out of the kindness of his heart, but hoping to receive in return a box with coronation jewels, which Maria Feodorovna managed to take out of Crimea.

Time has shown that this was true. The Empress died on September 30 (October 13), 1928. Before they had time to bury her, they demanded that the casket be transported to England. Many of those pieces of fantastic beauty and value are now in the collection of the English royal house.

Maria Feodorovna was buried in the tomb of the Danish kings - St. Jorgen's Cathedral - in the city of Roskilde near Copenhagen. At her funeral, representatives of all the royal houses of Europe gathered, who had not lost respect and love for this outstanding woman.

Several years ago, representatives of the Romanov family made a request to rebury the ashes of Empress Maria Feodorovna in the Peter and Paul Cathedral of St. Petersburg, next to her husband. Time will tell whether this most loving couple in the history of the Russian Imperial House will be able to reunite...

Maria Fedorovna Romanova, née Princess of Denmark

89 years ago, Maria Dagmar Romanova, who went down in history as the wife of Emperor Alexander III and the mother of Nicholas II, passed away. 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.

Portrait of Maria Sophia Frederica Dagmar. Unknown lithographer, 1866

Danish princess with her groom, Tsarevich Nicholas

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. The bride spent her last days 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.


Danish Princess Maria-Sophia-Frederica-Dagmar

Maria Fedorovna with her sister Alexandra and husband

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.


Empress Maria Feodorovna in a Russian dress with a diadem and a necklace of 51 diamonds, 1883

Maria Fedorovna in Livadia, 1880s.

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.


Empress Maria Feodorovna

Maria Feodorovna with her son Nika and all the children

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!”


The penultimate Russian empress

Emperor Alexander III with his wife and children

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.”


Maria Fedorovna with her husband

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.


Emperor Nicholas II with his mother. Kyiv, September 1916

At first, the Empress lived in England, and then returned to Denmark, where she spent the last years of her life, which were very lonely and restless - her 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.


Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna aboard the British battleship Marlborough on April 11, 1919. Yalta in the background

The penultimate Russian empress