#Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia

[empress-alexandra]

Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (Princess Dagmar of Denmark), mother of the last Russian Tsar, early 1880s.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, Princess Thyra, and their father King Christian IX of Denmark playing cards.

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Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King-Emperor Edward VII.

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Maria Feodorovna (26 November 1847 – 13 October 1928), known before her marriage as Princess Dagmar of Denmark, was Empress of Russia from 1881 to 1894 as the wife of Emperor Alexander III.

She was the second daughter of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

Maria's eldest son became the last Russian monarch, Emperor Nicholas II.

Maria lived for 10 years after Bolshevik functionaries murdered Nicholas and his immediate family in 1918.

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Princess Thyra of Denmark (Thyra Amalie Caroline Charlotte Anna; 29 September 1853 – 26 February 1933) was the youngest daughter and fifth child of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

In 1878, she married Ernest Augustus, the exiled heir to the Kingdom of Hanover.

As the Kingdom of Hanover had been annexed by Prussia in 1866, she spent most of her life in exile with her husband in Austria.

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Christian IX (8 April 1818 – 29 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 15 November 1863 until his death in 1906.

From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg.

[adini-nikolaevna]

“In the morning at 11 o’clock we went with Papa and Mama to St. Petersburg and attended a memorial service in the fortress for dear An-Papa and An-Mama. I approached the grave of our little angel Alexander, which was… beautifully decorated with flowers. I prayed and thought a lot about you, my darling Minnie, and I was so sad to be alone at that moment… Mama noticed this and came up to me to hug me, and it touched me very much, because she is the only one who understands and does not forget our terrible grief. Others forget and constantly ask why I don’t go to the theater, why I don’t want to attend balls at Peterhof, and it’s very difficult and unpleasant for me to answer everyone. I felt so sad when I prayed at the sweet grave of the little angel; Why is he not with us and why did the Lord take him from us?”

- the future Emperor Alexander III of Russia in a letter to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, on his grief at the death of their infant son, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Duchess Sophie Marie Dorothea Auguste Luise of Württemberg, later Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia

Russian vintage postcard, illustrated by S. Solomko

[babyboywinchester]

Let us take a moment to remember our Tsar Martyr Nicholas II who 106 years ago, on the night of July 16-17, was murdered along with his immediate family and four of their faithful retinue in a dismal basement in Yekaterinburg.

May you rest in peace, Tsar Nicholas, and your beloved wife and beautiful children. The burdens you had to bear were too heavy for an earthly crown, but now you have a heavenly kingdom to inherit.

Forgive them father for they know not what they do.

[dreamconsumer]

Portrait of María Feodorovna by Johann Gottlieb Pullman.

[krasivaa]

Blood is thicker than water

~☆~royal lookalikes~☆~

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia and her grandmother, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna. -@abigaaal 💝🎀

@krasivaa's royal series

[alexandminnie]

Another peek into Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's closet

When it comes to Empress Maria Feodorovna's clothing, finding out the details is easy. She had a long history with the House of Worth in Paris (although she was patron to others on occasion.)

I have always wanted to know why Minnie did not like her daughter-in-law's (Empress Alexandra) taste in attire (statements about this come up everywhere; Minnie tried to advise, but Alexandra dug in her heels and that was that.) It is easy to figure out. They were two very different women and their tastes in clothing showed it. As a young Empress, Minnie was all about strong colors and enjoyed working with the designers at Worth and participating in her own clothing design. Her dresses usually had interesting details. She enjoyed dressing the part of the Empress.

As you will see in this sampling of dresses that belonged to Alexandra Feodorovna, her preferred color palette was different....there is a lot of silver, lilac, pink, and beige. Her dresses' lines are simpler but equally sumptuous and elegant as those Minnie wore. They are just different.

I was trying to find out what couture house Alexandra predominantly used...she did use Worth on occasion, as well as Brizac (a house in Saint Petersburg) but I was very surprised to read something else.

Many of  Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's gowns were designed by one Nadezhda Lamanova. Interestingly, Nadezhda Lamanova was female. While almost all of the labor force making Haute Couture dresses at the time was female, it was rare to find a female designer. And Nadezhda designed the Empress's dresses.

Nadezhda Lamanova underwent training as a seamstress at the Moscow School of Sewing. Two years later, she went to work for a fashion house. In 1885, she opened her own dressmaking shop in Moscow and successfully built up her business until it became Moscow's most popular dressmaking establishment. Eventually, her work came to the attention of the Imperial Court and she was designated as “Supplier of the Court of Her Imperial Majesty” with her designs worn by the ladies of the Court and the Empress herself.  Finally,  starting around 1901, Lamanova also designed costumes for theatrical productions.

The last dress above is a dress designed by Lamanova

[loiladadiani]

Photographs: 1. Empress Maria Feodorovna holding her great-grandaughter Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova (Bebe); sitting net to her are her granddaughter Princess Irina Alexandrovna and her daughter, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna; 2. Beautiful photo of Xenia with her grandaughter Bebe; 3. Bebe and her father, Prince Felix Yusupov; 4. Bebe and her paternal grandmother, Princess Zenaida Yusupova; 5. Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova (Bebe)

Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova (Bebe) (1915 - 1983)

Irina Felixovna (Bebe), was the only daughter of Princess Irina Alexandrovna, niece of Tsar Nicholas II, and Prince Felix Yousupov. She was born on May 21, 1915. She lived with Felix's parents until the age of nine. Later, Felix would say that his daughter was difficult to control because she was raised by nannies, and his mother Zenaida spoilt her. Most people said that Irina Felixovna was difficult to control because she had a personality very similar to that of her father. Bebe was closer to her father than to her mother.

Princess Irina Felixovna married Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Sheremetev. They had one daughter, Countess Xenia Nikolaevna Sheremeteva. Bebe died in 1983 in France where she is buried alongside her paternal grandparents and her parents.

[kaiserrreich]

I have to share this fic... it's really good. Alexei II by Cribman // link

Summary: Instead of abdicating for his younger brother, Nicholas II is instead pressured to abdicate in favour of his underage and haemophiliac son, Alexei. With Russia in the midst of a revolution during a war against the brutal onslaught of the Central Powers. The new provisional government must work with the new Tsar and his regent to heal the fractured empire before more damage can be done. With their popularity damaged almost to the point beyond repair. The senior members of the House of Romanov must begin to embrace political reforms to survive the turbulence that is surely to come.

[rwpohl]

malá mořská víla, karel kachyňa 1976

[empress-alexandra]

Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (Princess Dagmar of Denmark), mother of the last Russian Tsar, early 1880s.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Empress Maria Feodorovna and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, 1891

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Maria Feodorovna (Mariya Fyodorovna; 26 November 1847 – 13 October 1928), known before her marriage as Princess Dagmar of Denmark, was Empress of Russia from 1881 to 1894 as the wife of Emperor Alexander III.

She was the second daughter of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

Maria's eldest son became the last Russian monarch, Emperor Nicholas II.

Maria lived for 10 years after Bolshevik functionaries murdered Nicholas and his immediate family in 1918.

Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia (6 April [O.S. 25 March] 1875 – 20 April 1960) was the elder daughter and fourth child of Tsar Alexander III of Russia and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (née Princess Dagmar of Denmark) and the sister of Emperor Nicholas II.

[adini-nikolaevna]

“Your sympathy is a great comfort to me and my daughter, who has endured such a severe trial at such an early age... She tells me that she would not for anything in the world wish to change the past, no matter how short, but happy it was; and I will never forget his look when the Tsar led her by the hand to his bed! It was pure happiness, and he recognized her all day when he was dying. He said goodbye to her, kissed her, and held her hand tightly in his until he died! We were on the road for four days and four nights, and she never left his bedside, kneeling next to him day and night, until at one o'clock in the afternoon she kissed him and he exhaled his young life! It was terrible for me, because I loved him very much and saw how all the happiness of the poor young bride had faded away... Minnie went to Darmstadt for the day to see his parents again. The whole dear family was so kind and sweet to her that the separation was doubly painful for her."

- Queen Louise of Denmark in a letter to Queen Victoria, on her daughter Princess Dagmar’s grief at the death of her fiancé, Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia. Dagmar went on to become Empress Maria Feodorovna as the wife of Nicholas’s brother, Emperor Alexander III. Their firstborn son was named after the uncle he never knew, he is known to history as Nicholas II, the last Russian emperor.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia

British vintage postcard

[adelinacarlito]

“I hug you with all my heart, my beloved Sasha, and ask God to bless you and dear children. Yours for life. Your faithful and devoted Minnie”

Maria Feodorovna to Alexander III

(From the book 'Imperatritsa Maria Fedorovna' [by Yu. V. Kudrina] )