Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin[a] (Alexandrine Auguste; 24 December 1879 – 28 December 1952) was Queen of Denmark from 1912 to 1947, as well as Queen of Iceland from 1918 to 1944 as the spouse of King Christian X.
Alexandrine became crown princess in 1906 and queen consort of Denmark in 1912. She is not considered to have played any political role, but is described as being intelligent and a loyal support to her spouse. In spite of her German background, she was loyal to her new country and stood by her husband during the German occupation of Denmark during World War II.
It was also in Cannes during the winter visit of 1897 that Duchess Alexandrine met her future husband, Prince Christian of Denmark, the eldest son of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Louise of Denmark. The two young royals were engaged in Schwerin on 24 March 1897.[1] In April 1897, shortly after the engagement was announced, her father the Grand Duke died suddenly at the age of just 46 years. His sudden death was somewhat shrouded in mystery as it was first reported that he had committed suicide by throwing himself off a bridge.[4] However, according to the official report, he died in his garden when he fell over a low wall during a bout of shortness of breath.[5]
The wedding of Duchess Alexandrine and Prince Christian was celebrated on 26 April 1898 in Cannes, when she was 18 years old.[1] They had two children:
On 29 January 1906, her husband's grandfather King Christian IX died, and Christian's father ascended the throne as King Frederik VIII. Christian himself became crown prince, and Alexandrine became crown princess.[1]
Queen of Denmark
King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine, 1897.Portrait of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine by Michael Ancher, 1915.The King and Queen in Thorshavn during a visit to the Faroe Islands in 1921.
On 14 May 1912, King Frederik VIII died suddenly in Hamburg, Germany, while returning from a recuperation stay in Nice in Southern France. Alexandrine's husband acceded to the throne as Christian X, and Alexandrine became queen consort of Denmark.[1] She is not considered to have played any political role, but is described as being a loyal support to her spouse.
She was interested in music, and acted as the protector of the musical societies Musikforeningen i København and Den danske Richard Wagnerforening. She was known for her needlework, which she sold for charitable purposes. After the death of her mother-in-law Louise of Sweden in 1926, she succeeded her as the official protector of the various charity organisations founded by Louise. She enjoyed golf and photography.
During World War I, she founded Dronningens Centralkomité af 1914 ("The Queen's Central Committee of 1914") to the support of poor families. The revolution in Russia brought much heartbreak for Alexandrine as three of her uncles, Nicholas, George and Sergey, were killed by the Bolsheviks.
The King and Queen arriving at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on 9 May 1945 at the first opening of Parliament following the end of Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark.The King and Queen arrives at the first football match against Sweden after the liberation of Denmark in 1945.
The couple was given great popularity as national symbols during the World War II occupation, which was demonstrated during a tour through the country in 1946. Before the occupation, she and her daughter-in-law were engaged in mobilising the Danish women.
Her rejection of Major General Kurt Himer, Chief of Staff to General Kaupisch on 9 April 1940 became a symbol for her loyalty toward Denmark before her birth country Germany.[7] When General Himer asked for an audience with the monarch, Christian was persuaded to receive him by his daughter-in-law as he would any other, which was supported by Alexandrine.[8] He asked to do so alone, but Alexandrine told him she would interrupt them. When the General was about to leave, she came in; and when he greeted her, she said: "General, this is not the circumstance in which I expected to greet a countryman."[8]
It was reported, that although Alexandrine was seen as shy and disliked official ceremonies, she had a "sharp" intelligence, and she was, together with her daughter-in-law, Ingrid of Sweden, a true support of the monarch and a driving force for the resistance toward the occupation within the royal house.[8] It was also reported, that in contrast to the monarch himself and the Crown Prince, the Queen and the Crown Princess never lost their calm when the nation was attacked.[8] As she was not the Head of the Royal House, she could show herself in public more than her spouse, who did not wish to show support to the occupation by being seen in public, and she used this to engage in various organisations for social relief to ease the difficulties caused by the occupation.[7]Kaj Munk is quoted to describe the public appreciation of her during World War II with his comment: "Protect our Queen, the only German we would like to keep!"[7]
In 1947, she was widowed; she became the first queen dowager of Denmark to opt not to use that title. In her later years, Alexandrine stayed longer and longer at Marselisborg Castle in Jutland. She remained very active until the end of her life, continuing her work as a patron and her charitable work;[9] she was also an avid golfer and photographer, and produced excellent needlework.
Queen Alexandrine died on December 28 1952, four days after her birthday after a long illness and was buried at the traditional burial place of the royal family in Roskilde Cathedral.
^ abcBörge Outze & Aage Svendstorp (in Swedish): 5 år i bojor. Danmark under ockupationen 1940–1945 (5 years in chains. Denmark during the occupation) Aktiebolaget boktryck (1945) Hälsingborg.
^Busck, Jens: Christian 10. og Dronning Alexandrine. Biografie, herausgegeben vom Amalienborg-Museum. Kopenhagen 2012. ISBN 978-87-89542-98-0. S. 45, S. 47.
Bramsen, Bo (1992). Huset Glücksborg. Europas svigerfader og hans efterslægt [The House of Glücksburg. The Father-in-law of Europe and his descendants] (in Danish) (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: Forlaget Forum. ISBN87-553-1843-6.
Lerche, Anna; Mandal, Marcus (2003). A royal family : the story of Christian IX and his European descendants. Copenhagen: Aschehoug. ISBN9788715109577.
Zeepvat, Charlotte (2006). "The Other Anastasia: A Woman who Loved and Who Lived". Royalty Digest Quarterly (2). ISSN1653-5219.