British Royalty: Edward VII--Queen Alexandra's Childhood


Figure 1.--Alix and Dagmar are seen here as young girls in a painting by E. Jerichau-Baumann. Alex wears long ringlets, Damar shorter curls. Both have a center part. Alix also wore ringlets at her wedding. Later she would wear her hair up. I believe ringlets were seen as a fashion for a child or very young woman. Note the stylilized leading strings.

Alexandra was born in the Yellow Palace (not a palace in the popular sence) in Copenhagen during 1844. We have been able to find little information about Alexandra's childhood. We know ge was raised in frugal, but comfortable middle class suroudings. The Danish royals did not have the wealth of some European royals. This was especially true of Alix's family as her father while of the bluest of royal blood had no family inheritance and was not initially in line to inherit the Danish Crown. The family lived on his small incomne as an army officer. They lived in a moderate mansion and could not afford many of the glamorous trimmings often associated with royals. Alix and Dagmar were plainly dressed, primarily because money was scarce, and as teenagers they learned the best way to get a new frock was to sew one. Alix as a girl wore her hair in long ringlet curls. One painting shows Dagmar with shorter curls. Alix's family was not noted for its intellectual pursuits. There was little money for tutors. Their mother taught the children music and dance. Their father focused on gymastics which the children loved.

Birth

Alexandra was born in the Yellow Palace (not a palace in the popular sence) in Copenhagen during 1844. She was born only a few years after her future husband, the Prince of Wales.

Childhood

We have been able to find little information about Alexandra's childhood. We know ge was raised in frugal, but comfortable middle class suroudings. The earlist report of the young princess was noted by an English governess visiting Copehhagen, she chanced on a goat cart led by a liveried footman and another following along with a nurse. Inside the cart was 9-year old Princess Alexandra in a fur bonet who "waved gayly". The Princess was already a charmer. Accounts stress the frugality of Prince Christian's home. This accounts suggest that such accoiunts can be over done. [Battiscombe, pp. 7-8.]

Home Life

The Danish royals did not have the wealth of some European royals. This was especially true of Alix's family as her father while of the bluest of royal blood had no family inheritance and was not initially in line to inherit the Danish Crown. The family lived on his small incomne as an army officer. They lived in a moderate mansion and could not afford many of the glamorous trimmings often associated with royals. Alexandra as a girl was raised in rather frugal circumstances in Copenhagen. They enjoyed rather a middle-class life. She and her sisters sewed many of their own clothes. Occasionally they would wait on the table at hime and perform other household chores. Alex and her sister Dagmar were inseparable. They shared a small room in the cramped Yellow Palace. It was a very happy, outgoing family. The children loved to play outdoors and to play parctical jokes. Alix was a naural athelete and the children practiced gymastics under their father's guidance. She loved to ride and a very competent horsewoman.

Childhood Clothes

Alix and Dagmar were plainly dressed, primarily because money was scarce, and as teenagers they learned the best way to get a new frock was to sew one.

Hair Styles

Alix as a girl wore her hair in long ringlet curls. One painting shows Dagmar with shorter curls. Even as a young Princess of Wales in the 1860s she wore ringlet curls. A small scar on her neck caused concern before her marriage as it was rumored it might be an indication of a tubercular tendency. It was not. This was to cause a fashion trend. Even at her wedding she wore ringlets. Later when she decided to dress her hair high she invented a jeweled collar to hide it. The collar later became known as the "dog collar". They became highly fashionalble for several decades.

Education

Alix's family was not noted for its intellectual pursuits. There was little money for tutors. Their mother taught the children music and dance. Their father focused on gymastics which the children loved. They were incouraged in outside activities. Alexandra became an excellent horsewoman. There was an English nanny and Alexandra and her brothers and sisters learned English. The girls also managed tomlearn French and German. Her father himself was poorly educated. Little enough attention was given to his sons' intelectual education and virtually none to the girls. At the time, many did not consider important to educate girls. (Here Alix's future father-in-law, Prince Albert was a notable exception and he gave great attention to his daughter's education.) Little attention was given to the education of Alix and her sisters. Alix would grow up to become a largely unducated woman, lacking in virtually any intelectual curiosity. This was her major personal flaw.

Sources

Research on Queen Alexandra is complicated by the fact that, like her husband, she ordered the destruction of her letters and papers after her death.

Battiscombe, Georgina. Queen Alexandra (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1969).

Bennett, Daphne King Without a Crown: Albert Prince Consort of England, 1819-1861 (New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1977).

Bradford, Sarah. The Reluctant King: The Life and Reign of George VI, 1895-1952 (New York: St. Marin's Press, 1989), 506p.






Christopher Wagner








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Created: June 14, 2002
Last updated: June 14, 2002