Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Queen consort of Denmark
Tenure 14 May 1912 – 20 April 1947
Queen consort of Iceland
Tenure 1 December 1918 – 17 June 1944
Born (1879-12-24)24 December 1879
Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Died 28 December 1952(1952-12-28) (aged 73)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Burial Roskilde Cathedral
Spouse Christian X of Denmark
Issue Frederick IX of Denmark
Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark
Full name
Alexandrine Auguste
House Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Father Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Mother Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia
Religion Lutheranism

Alexandrine Auguste of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (24 December 1879 – 28 December 1952) was Queen of Denmark as the spouse of King Christian X. She was also Queen of Iceland from 1 December 1918 to 17 June 1944.

Family

She was born a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in the city of Schwerin, Germany. Her father was Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; her mother was Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia.

Marriage and issue

Queen Alexandrine on her wedding day in the Villa Weden, Cannes

Duchess Alexandrine married Prince Christian of Denmark on 26 April 1898, in Cannes, France, when she was 18 years old. They had two children:

She died in Copenhagen as Dowager Queen of Denmark in 1952 and is interred next to her husband in Roskilde Cathedral.

The only brother of Queen Alexandrine was Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, while her only sister was Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, wife of German Crown Prince William, eldest son of German Emperor William II.

Queenship

In 1902, the couple were given Marselisborg Palace, and the garden was to become one of her greatest interests. Alexandrine became crown princess in 1906 and queen in 1912. 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.

She survived the 1918 flu pandemic.[1]

Queen Alexandrine

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 women of Denmark. Her rejection of General Kaupisch on 9 April 1940 became a symbol for her loyalty toward Denmark before her birth country Germany.[2] When the General of the occupation forces first 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.[3] 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."[3] 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.[3] 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.[3] 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.[2] 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!"[2]

In 1947, she was widowed; she became the first queen dowager of Denmark to opt not to use that title.

Titles, styles and honours

Honours

National honours

Foreign honours

Ancestors

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Collier 1974.
  2. 1 2 3 Börge 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.
  3. 1 2 3 4 http://bjoerna.dk/Besaettelsen/Oberst%20Mygind/3.htm
  4. ↑ http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lT136maUeuY/UxR43owmrtI/AAAAAAAAK_k/4Ge5MZ3xS_w/s1600/chr-x-alexandrine-wedding.jpg
  5. ↑ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Queen_alexandrineofdenmark.JPG
  6. ↑ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/AlexandrineQueen_of_denmark_wedding.JPG
  7. 1 2 3 blogspot.com, Queen Alexandrine wearing her Danish decorations
  8. 1 2 3 Flickr.com, Queen Alexandrine wearing her Danish Orders
  9. 1 2 3 4 Pinterest.com, Queen Alexandrine wearing decorations
  10. ↑ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AfYNJwSFBks/Uo4eP42x_-I/AAAAAAAAIbI/jV9qfI0UG6c/s1600/22513053_Big.jpeg
  11. 1 2 Pinterest.com, Queen Alexandrine wearing the Seraphim Order and 90th birthday medal
  12. ↑ https://yooniqimages.blob.core.windows.net/yooniqimages-data-storage-resizedimagefilerepository/Detail/10217/150a44a8-ab09-4200-9465-52d1d0959c7c/YooniqImages_102170933.jpg
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Cadet branch of the House of Mecklenburg
Born: 24 December 1879 Died: 28 December 1952
Danish royalty
Preceded by
Louise of Sweden		 Queen consort of Denmark
1912–1947 		Succeeded by
Ingrid of Sweden
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