Rosenborg Castle
Rosenborg Castle is a renaissance castle located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The castle was built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and is an example of Christian IVs many architectural projects. It was built in the Dutch Renaissance style, typical of Danish buildings during this period, architects Bertel Lange and Hans van Steenwinckel the Younger are associated with the structural planning of the castle. The castle was used by Danish regents as a residence until around 1710. After the reign of Frederik IV, Rosenborg was used as a residence only twice. The first time was after Christiansborg Palace burned down in 1794, located on the third floor, the Long Hall was completed in 1624. It was originally intended as a ballroom, around 1700 it was used as Royal Reception Room and for banquets. It was not until the half of the 19th century that it became known as the Knights Hall. Christian V had the hall partly modernised with twelve tapestries depicting the Kings victories in the Scanian War, the stucco ceiling seen today is from the beginning of the 18th century.
It shows the Danish Coat of Arms surrounded by the Orders of the Elephant, side reliefs depict historical events from the first years of the reign of Frederik IV, including the liberation of the serfs, the founding of the dragoons and of the land militia among them. The frescos in the ceiling by Hendrick Krock, represent the Regalia, among the main attractions of Rosenborg are the coronation chair of the absolutist kings and the throne of the queens with the three silver lions standing in front. The Long Hall contains a collection of silver furniture. Some of these once belonged to the nobility and the aristocracy. The castle, now property, was opened to the public in 1838. Of special interest to tourists is a Schatzkammer displaying the Crown Jewels, a Coronation Carpet is stored there. The Throne Chair of Denmark is located in the castle, in the summer time, flowers bloom in front of the castle in the castle garden. The castle is situated in Kongens Have, known as Rosenborg Castle Garden, the Rosenborg Castle Garden is the countrys oldest royal garden and was embellished in the Renaissance style by Christian IV shortly before the construction of the main castle.
Today, the gardens are a popular retreat for the people of Copenhagen, next to the castle are barracks where the Royal Life Guards is garrisoned
Frederiksberg Palace
Frederiksberg Palace is a Baroque residence, located in Frederiksberg, adjacent to the Copenhagen Zoo. It commands a view over Frederiksberg Gardens, originally designed as a palace garden in the Baroque style. Constructed and extended from 1699 to 1735, the served as the royal family’s summer residence until the mid-19th century. Since 1869, it has housed the Royal Danish Military Academy, as crown prince, Frederick IV had broadened his education by travelling in Europe. The original building, probably designed by Ernst Brandenburger, was completed in 1703 for Frederick IV as a small, one-storey summer residence. The first major extension, when it was converted into a three-storey H-shaped building, was completed in 1709 by Johan Conrad Ernst, giving the palace an Italian Baroque appearance. It was Lauritz de Thurah who executed the third and final extension from 1733 to 1738 when the palace received extensions to the lateral wings encircling the courtyard, Frederick IV spent many happy years at the palace.
Christian VII who was married to the English princess Caroline Matilda spent some time in the palace and their son, who was to become Frederick VI, loved the palace and lived there both as crown prince and as king. After Frederick VIs dowager wife Queen Marie died at the palace in March 1852, in 1868, it was transferred to the War Ministry and the following year it became the Officers Academy. The building has undergone significant restoration work, first from 1927 to 1932. During the construction of the palace building, it was decided that there should be a chapel in the east wing. This probably explains why there is no indication of the chapel from the outside and it actually covers the space behind the six central windows on the ground floor. Wilhelm Friedrich von Platen and Ernst Brandenburger designed the chapel in the Baroque style and it was inaugurated on 31 March 1710. When the palace was taken over by the Officers Academy, the chapels furnishings, they were returned in the 1930s and can still be seen there today.
The palace and the chapel can be visited and they contain imposing stucco work, ceiling paintings, an elegant marble bathroom with a secret access staircase, and the Princesses pancake kitchen. In 1854, British MP S. M. Peto gave a window to the King of Demark for the chapel. Since 1932, the chapel has been used as the parish church. The palace overlooks Frederiksberg Gardens which dates back to the first palace in 1703, from 1795 to 1804, it was redesigned by Peter Pedersen as an English landscape garden with the winding paths, lakes and canals which can be seen today
Lauritz de Thurah
Laurids Lauridsen de Thurah, known as Lauritz de Thurah, was a Danish architect and architectural writer. He became the most important Danish architect of the baroque period. As an architectural writer and historian he made a contribution to the understanding of both Denmarks architectural heritage and building construction in his day. De Thurah was an architect who learned much of what he knew by studying the inspiring buildings he saw on his travels outside Denmark between 1729 and 1731. He brought home the baroque style, which was popular, throughout his life he maintained a loyalty to the baroque, even as the world around him continued to change and he lost work assignments to others who mastered the newer, more popular styles. Lauritx de Thurah was born Laurids Lauridsen Thura in Aarhus, the son of parish priest Laurids Thura, Bishop of Ribe. He was educated at home by the elder Thura, a literate scholar, by chance he come into contact with the royal house when King Frederik IV called on the Bishop, and chose the boy and his older brother Didrich for military service.
In 1719 he went to Copenhagen as a cadet, a landkadet in Danish. He was employed in 1725 as Assistant Resident Engineer in the Holstein Engineering Corps, in order to attain this he made carefully detailed drawings of Rendsburgs fortifications and houses, and a preliminary construction drawing for a suspension bridge. The king was impressed, and promised to give him funds, Thura made drawings and measurements of the newest castle in Denmark, which were given as a gift to the Count of Hesse, before he traveled. Thura and Rosenkrantz left in 1729, and visited a number of German cities, including Kassel and they traveled further to Italy, France and England before returning to Denmark in 1731. After his return home, Thura rose rapidly up the ranks and he became resident engineer in 1732. In 1733 he was named Royal Building Master with supervisory responsibility for royal buildings on Zealand, at the same time, he was promoted to captain in the Engineering Corps. In 1732–1736, he designed and built the palace in Roskilde, known as the Yellow Palace.
The four-wing baroque building became the headquarters of the Duke of Wellington during the English siege of Copenhagen in 1807, in 1733–1739, he worked on the first remodelling and expansion of Hirschholm Palace for King Christian VI and his consort, Queen Sophie Magdalene. In 1734–36, de Thurah built the Eremitage Palace, a hunting lodge overlooking Jægersborg Dyrehave north of Copenhagen. The grey-stone house with copper-clad mansard roof replaced another hunting lodge named Hubertus, the original design featured an elevator-table, similar to a dumbwaiter, which could be raised from the cellar up to the dining room. In this way, servants stayed in the kitchen, where they prepared and set the table
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials, the most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has traditionally been a more general one. Zoos, which wild animals in simulated natural habitats, were formerly called zoological gardens. Western gardens are almost universally based on plants, with garden often signifying a shortened form of botanical garden, some traditional types of eastern gardens, such as Zen gardens, use plants sparsely or not at all. Xeriscape gardens use local plants that do not require irrigation or extensive use of other resources while still providing the benefits of a garden environment. Gardens may exhibit structural enhancements, sometimes called follies, including features such as fountains, waterfalls or creeks, dry creek beds, arbors, trellises. Some gardens are for ornamental purposes only, while some produce food crops, sometimes in separate areas.
Food-producing gardens are distinguished from farms by their scale, more labor-intensive methods. Flower gardens combine plants of different heights, textures, Gardening is the activity of growing and maintaining the garden. This work is done by an amateur or professional gardener, a gardener might work in a non-garden setting, such as a park, a roadside embankment, or other public space. Landscape architecture is a professional activity with landscape architects tending to specialise in design for public. See Grad for more complete etymology, the words yard and Latin hortus, are cognates—all referring to an enclosed space. The term garden in British English refers to an enclosed area of land. This would be referred to as a yard in American English, garden design is the creation of plans for the layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Gardens may be designed by garden owners themselves, or by professionals, professional garden designers tend to be trained in principles of design and horticulture, and have a knowledge and experience of using plants.
Some professional garden designers are landscape architects, a formal level of training that usually requires an advanced degree. Garden design can be divided into two groups and naturalistic gardens. All of these considerations are subject to the limitations of the budget, most gardens consist of a mix of natural and constructed elements, although even very natural gardens are always an inherently artificial creation
George V
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, on the death of his grandmother in 1901, Georges father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910 and he was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar. His reign saw the rise of socialism, fascism, Irish republicanism, the Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, in 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations.
He had health problems throughout much of his reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House and he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and he was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, George was only 17 months younger than Albert Victor, and the two princes were educated together. John Neale Dalton was appointed as their tutor in 1871, neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually. For three years from 1879, the brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the colonies of the British Empire in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, and visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante.
Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, after Lausanne, the brothers were separated, Albert Victor attended Trinity College, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire, during his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–92. From on, his rank was largely honorary
Baroque
The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis.
In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses.
It employed an iconography that was direct, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists.
Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
Lake Esrum
Lake Esrum is the largest lake in Denmark by water volume and the second-largest lake by surface area, after lake Arresø. It is situated in the part of North Zealand, straddling the boundaries of the municipalities Hillerød, Helsingør and Gribskov. The lake covers 17 km2, Its length from north to south is 8.4 km and its principal drainage is Esrum Å, a 10-km stream which passes Esrum Watermill and the remains of Esrum Abbey on its way to The Kattegat at Dronningmølle. The western shore of the lake is dominated by Gribskov, one of Denmarks largest forests, Fredensborg Palace, one of the official residences of the Danish Royal Family, with its extensive gardens, is situated on the southeast shore. Boat trips operate on the lake from Sørup, a village just south of the palace gardens, like many of the surrounding forests, Lake Esrum was originally a royal domain. It was first administrated by Tentekammeret and by Frederiksborg Amtsstue on behalf of the Danish government, fishing in the lake was entrusted with a fishing master who resided at Fiskergården, located next to Slotsmøllen at Slotssøen in Hillerød.
From 1864, fishing was carried out by private citizens and from 1907, from the beginning of the 19th century, Lake Esrum played a role in the transport of firewood from Grib Forest to Copenhagen. From 1802 to 1805, a canal was constructed between the end of the lake and Dronningmølle. Here firewood was loaded onto cargo ships and sailed to Copenhagen. The canal was 9 km long,9 m wide and 1.5 m deep, the work was led by Adolph von der Recke and carried out by local peasants and forced labour workers. A towpath ran on the banks of the canal and on the shores of lake Esrum. The timber had to pass a 4-metre crater-like ramp called Væltningen, the upper part of the canal passed two ponds. Transportation of firewood on the canal continued until 1874 and it was used for leisure trips. It has now dried out and been covered by forest, but Væltningen, from the middle of the 19th century, the small village of Sørup on the southeastern shores of the lake was home to numerous laundries. The laundry was picked up at institutions and wealthy households in both Copenhagen, Hillerød and Elsinore, when the industry peaked, Sørup was home to 20 laundries with some one hundred employees.
The water quality of lake Esrum is considered good, since 2002, there have been a few incidences of trematoda plaguing swimmers in the summertime every year. The trematodes are a part of lake Esrums aquatic life. Lake Esrum have a population of European perch and Northern pike
Gribskov
Gribskov is Denmarks fourth largest forest, comprising c.5,600 ha of woodland situated in northern Zealand and south of Lake Esrum. The forest is owned and administered by the State of Denmark, in July 2015, it was one of three forests included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, The par force hunting landscape in North Zealand. Only a thin strip of Hillerød town in the south separates Gribskov from many larger woodlands such as Store Dyrehave at 1,100 ha, Tokkekøb Hegn at 631 ha, the Danish name Gribskov translates literally as Grib forest in English. The first part, grib, is the form of the verb for catch or grab. Grib refers to the Old Danish word for something without any specific owner and Lake Esrum are designated as EU habitat directive and Natura 2000 areas, as part of an even larger preserve. On top of that, Gribskov is designated as an Important Bird Area. Around 20% or c.1,200 ha of the forest has been reserved as forest to be untouched, in an effort to some of the few spots of semi-natural woodland in Denmark.
The birdlife in Gribskov is varied and of international importance, the forest is home to the largest populations of common goldeneye, green sandpiper and red-backed shrike in Denmark and near Nødebo at Lake Esrum, a noisy colony of great cormorants has found a home. Cormorants can be a bird to administer locally, but is protected in Denmark and is on list III in the Berne convention. The forest grows in a terrain, with lower lying areas in the east and west. The low-lying areas are dominated by beech and oak, but with several forest types mixed in, such as pastures or old coppice woodland with alder. There are small ponds, bogs and springs, some enshrouded by myths. Former wetlands were drained and many new species were introduced. These practises have now stopped in Gribskov, artificial ditches are being filled to allow a more natural waterflow and the spruce plantations are cut down, to be naturally and quickly replaced by alder and willow in coming years. It is expected that Gribskov will comprise more semi-natural woodland of trees in the future.
Roe deer have lived here for as long as the forest itself, the fallow deer population in Gribskov is the largest free roaming fallow deer population in Denmark, at 600-800 animals. This already has enhanced biological diversity and has had a positive influence on the living conditions for birds in Gribskov. It is a so-called dystrophic lake and it is impossible to see the bottom in its dark waters, the lake has no outflows and it can be ice cold just beneath the surface, so care should be taken when bathing
Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)
Maria Feodorovna, christened Dagmar, was a Danish princess and Empress of Russia as spouse of Tsar Alexander III. She was the daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Cassel, her siblings included Alexandra, King Frederick VIII of Denmark. Her eldest son became the last Russian monarch, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar was born at the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a member of a relatively impoverished princely cadet line and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel. She was baptised into the Lutheran faith and named after her kinswoman Marie Sophie of Hesse-Kassel, Queen Dowager of Denmark as well as the medieval Danish queen, growing up, she was known by the name Dagmar. Most of her life, she was known as Maria Feodorovna and she was known within her family as Minnie. In 1852 Dagmars father became heir-presumptive to the throne of Denmark, in 1853, he was given the title Prince of Denmark and he and his family were given an official summer residence, Bernstorff Palace.
Dagmars father became King of Denmark in 1863 upon the death of King Frederick VII, due to the brilliant marital alliances of his children, he became known as the Father-in-law of Europe. Dagmars eldest brother would succeed his father as King Frederick VIII of Denmark and her elder, and favourite, Alexandra married Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales in March 1863. Within months of Alexandras marriage, Dagmars second older brother, was elected as King George I of the Hellenes and her younger sister was Thyra, Duchess of Cumberland. She had younger brother, Valdemar. In 1864, Nicholas, or Nixa as he was known in his family, on 22 April 1865 he died from meningitis. His last wish was that Dagmar would marry his younger brother, Dagmar was distraught after her young fiancés death. She was so heartbroken when she returned to her homeland that her relatives were seriously worried about her health and she had already become emotionally attached to Russia and often thought of the huge, remote country that was to have been her home.
The disaster had brought her close to Nixas parents. He told Dagmar in very affectionate terms that he hoped she would still consider herself a member of their family, in June 1866, while on a visit to Copenhagen, the Tsarevich Alexander asked Dagmar for her hand. They had been in her room looking over photographs together, Dagmar left Copenhagen on 1 September 1866. Hans Christian Andersen, who had occasionally been invited to tell stories to Dagmar, the writer remarked in his diary, Yesterday, at the quay, while passing me by, she stopped and took me by the hand
George I of Greece
George I was King of Greece from 1863 until his assassination in 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was born in Copenhagen, and he was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the unpopular former king Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Second French Empire and he married the Russian grand duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, and became the first monarch of a new Greek dynasty. Two of his sisters and Dagmar, married into the British, King Edward VII and Tsar Alexander III were his brothers-in-law and King George V and Tsar Nicholas II were his nephews. Georges reign of almost 50 years was characterized by territorial gains as Greece established its place in pre-World War I Europe, Britain ceded the Ionian Islands peacefully, while Thessaly was annexed from the Ottoman Empire after the Russo-Turkish War. Greece was not always successful in its ambitions, it was defeated in the Greco-Turkish War.
During the First Balkan War, after Greek troops had captured much of Greek Macedonia, compared to his own long tenure, the reigns of his successors Constantine and George II proved short and insecure. George was born at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade and he was the second son of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. Although he was of blood, his family was relatively obscure. In 1852, Georges father was designated the heir presumptive to the childless King Frederick VII of Denmark, Georges siblings were Frederick, Dagmar and Valdemar. Georges mother tongue was Danish, with English as a second language and he was taught French and German. He embarked on a career in the Royal Danish Navy, while Frederick was described as quiet and extremely well-behaved, George was lively and full of pranks. Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, Great Britain, rallied around Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
British prime minister Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were panting for increase in territory, hoping for a gift of the Ionian Islands, which were a British protectorate. The London Conference of 1832, prohibited any of the Great Powers ruling families from accepting the crown, the Greeks nevertheless insisted on holding a plebiscite in which Prince Alfred received over 95% of the 240,000 votes. There were 93 votes for a Republic and 6 for a Greek, with Prince Alfreds exclusion, the search began for an alternative candidate. Eventually, the Greeks and Great Powers winnowed their choice to Prince William of Denmark, aged only 17, he was elected King of the Hellenes on 30 March 1863 by the Greek National Assembly under the regnal name of George I. Paradoxically, he ascended a royal throne before his father, who became King of Denmark on 15 November the same year, there were two significant differences between Georges elevation and that of his predecessor, Otto
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals, the term stable is used to describe a group of animals kept by one owner, regardless of housing or location. The exterior design of a stable can vary widely, based on climate, building materials, historical period, a wide range of building materials can be used, including masonry and steel. Stables can range widely in size, from a building housing one or two animals to facilities at agricultural shows or race tracks that can house hundreds of animals. The stable is typically historically the second-oldest building type on the farm, the world’s oldest horse stables were discovered in the ancient city of Pi-Ramesses in Qantir, in Ancient Egypt, and were established by Ramesses II. These stables covered approximately 182,986 square feet, had floors sloped for drainage, free-standing stables began to be built from the 16th century.
They were well built and placed near the house due to the value that the horses had as draught animals, high-status examples could have plastered ceilings to prevent dust falling through into the horses’ eyes. Relatively few examples survive of complete interiors from the century or earlier. Traditionally, stables in Great Britain had a hayloft on their first floor and windows were symmetrically arranged. Their interiors were divided into stalls and usually included a stall for a foaling mare or sick horse. The floors were cobbled and featured drainage channels, outside steps to the first floor were common for farm hands to live in the building. For horses, stables are often part of a complex which includes trainers, vets. Stable is used metaphorically to refer to a group of people – often sportspeople – trained, supervised or managed by the person or organisation. For example, art galleries typically refer to the artists they represent as their stable of artists, the headquarters of a unit of cavalry, not simply their horses accommodation, would be known as a stable.
Media related to stables at Wikimedia Commons, horse care and stables Glossary of equestrian terms Livery stable Nativity of Jesus Pen
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India as the wife of King-Emperor Edward VII. At the age of sixteen, she was chosen as the wife of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. They married eighteen months in 1863, the year her father became king of Denmark as Christian IX. She was Princess of Wales from 1863 to 1901, the longest anyone has held that title. Largely excluded from wielding any political power, she attempted to sway the opinion of British ministers and her husbands family to favour Greek. Her public duties were restricted to uncontroversial involvement in charitable work, on the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, Albert Edward became king-emperor as Edward VII, with Alexandra as queen-empress. She held the status until Edwards death in 1910 and she greatly distrusted her nephew, German Emperor Wilhelm II, and supported her son during World War I, in which Britain and its allies fought Germany. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel, although she was of royal blood, her family lived a comparatively normal life.
They did not possess great wealth, her fathers income from a commission was about £800 per year and their house was a rent-free grace. Occasionally, Hans Christian Andersen was invited to call and tell the stories before bedtime. In 1848, King Christian VIII of Denmark died and his only son, Frederick was childless, had been through two unsuccessful marriages, and was assumed to be infertile. A succession crisis arose as Frederick ruled in both Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, and the rules of each territory differed. In Holstein, the Salic law prevented inheritance through the female line, being predominantly German, proclaimed independence and called in the aid of Prussia. In 1852, the great powers called a conference in London to discuss the Danish succession, Prince Christian was given the title Prince of Denmark and his family moved into a new official residence, Bernstorff Palace. Alexandra shared a draughty attic bedroom with her sister, made her own clothes and Dagmar were given swimming lessons by the Swedish pioneer of womens swimming, Nancy Edberg.
At Bernstorff, Alexandra grew into a woman, she was taught English by the English chaplain at Copenhagen and was confirmed in Christiansborg Palace. She was devout throughout her life, and followed High Church practice, Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, were already concerned with finding a bride for their son and heir, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales. They enlisted the aid of their daughter, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, Alexandra was not their first choice, since the Danes were at loggerheads with the Prussians over the Schleswig-Holstein Question and most of the British royal familys relations were German
