**What Happened to Queen Alexandra? Her Tragic Story — Transcript & Summary | SozAI**
Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/queen-alexandra-tragic-story/

Queen Alexandra of Denmark's rise from modest obscurity to royal fashion icon, her troubled marriage to Edward VII, family tragedies and deteriorating health.

## Key Takeaways

- Alexandra's life shows how a modest royal could become a powerful fashion and social figure.
- Her personal hardships, including health problems and family losses, shaped her public image.
- Her marriage and rivalry with Queen Victoria were central sources of conflict in her life.
- Some claims in the video, such as deliberate pregnancy deception, are speculative and presented as historians' suggestions.

## What the video covers

- Alexandra of Denmark grew up in modest circumstances in Copenhagen, making her own clothes and receiving visits from author Hans Christian Andersen.
- Her family's fortunes rose in 1852 when her father became heir to the Danish throne, making her an important European royal.
- She married Edward, Prince of Wales (future Edward VII) after a quick courtship, enjoying a lavish royal welcome and fairy-tale wedding.
- Her marriage was troubled by Edward's many reported affairs, which Alexandra reportedly tracked closely.
- Alexandra clashed with Queen Victoria, her mother-in-law, over naming rights and public matters, and the transcript claims she may have misled about her pregnancies.
- Rheumatic fever during a pregnancy left her with a permanent limp, which unexpectedly became a fashion trend called the 'Alexandra limp'.
- She wore high necklines and chokers to conceal a neck scar, which also became fashionable.
- She suffered hearing loss, isolation, and the death of an infant son, and faced harsh press criticism over the public mourning.
- Later losses included her favorite son and her brother-in-law Emperor Alexander III, and she was known for generous charity.
- She died of a heart attack less than a month before her 81st birthday.

## Chapters

1. 00:00 Introduction: From Obscurity to Fashion Icon
2. 00:54 Childhood in Copenhagen
3. 01:46 Rise to Royalty and Engagement
4. 03:04 Wedding and Arrival in England
5. 04:44 Marriage, Affairs, and Clashes with Queen Victoria
6. 06:19 Rheumatic Fever and the Alexandra Limp
7. 08:39 Infant Loss, Health Decline, and Later Tragedies
8. 11:28 Final Years and Death

Answers

## Questions about this video

Why did Alexandra become known for a limp as a fashion trend?

After rheumatic fever left her with a permanent limp, high society women in London imitated her walk, creating the 'Alexandra limp' trend. Shoemakers even made mismatched shoes to help copy it.

What was the relationship between Alexandra and Queen Victoria like?

According to the video, they frequently clashed over matters such as children's names and public mourning. Alexandra resented Victoria's interference, and the transcript suggests some resentment was mutual.

How did Alexandra's marriage to Edward VII affect her life?

The transcript describes Edward's many affairs as an open secret, which caused Alexandra significant distress, though she continued her royal duties and public role.

## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

00:00

Speaker A

Near the end of her life, Alexandra of Denmark's iconic beauty had calcified into monstrosity.

00:08

Speaker A

She was a rags-to-riches royal and the unlikeliest fashion icon of all time. But as her fortunes and outfits changed, her life became one marred by tragedy after tragedy.

00:26

Speaker A

Alexandra, or Alex as her family called her, was born in 1844. Her family was only a small and insignificant branch of the House of Oldenburg, the royal house in Denmark.

00:39

Speaker A

She lived the first 18 years of her life in near total obscurity. Despite this, the princess still lived a charmed childhood, growing up with her siblings in Copenhagen's famed yellow palace rent-free.

00:54

Speaker A

Her childhood wasn't as luxurious as other royals, free palaces notwithstanding, but she still enjoyed some perks. The famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen used to come to the palace to personally read his stories to Alexandra and her siblings in

01:11

Speaker A

their drafty attic room. Her childhood was so modest that she couldn't afford to buy the latest fashions, so she made her own clothes.

01:23

Speaker A

After her spendthrift early years, her fortunes finally took a turn for the better in 1852.

01:30

Speaker A

A political crisis of succession in Denmark made her father next in line for the throne. Just like that, Alexandra and her family went from the bottom to the top. Suddenly, she and her sisters were extremely important royals on the

01:46

Speaker A

European scene. While their status upgrade didn't change their financial fortunes much, it attracted the eyes of some very wealthy suitors.

01:57

Speaker A

In England, Queen Victoria was on the hunt for a wife for her son, Albert Edward, the future King Edward VII.

02:05

Speaker A

After their families made contact, Alexandra met her prospective husband in a small town in Germany. This was just the beginning of a rocky relationship.

02:17

Speaker A

If Alexandra had dreamed of her Prince Charming, Edward, aka Dirty Bertie, almost certainly wasn't it.

02:25

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With the match agreed Edward VII proposed to Alexandra less than a year after meeting her.

02:32

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Finally, she would have the riches to match her royal title, but she had no idea what lay ahead.

02:39

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She would have a fairy tale wedding and a nightmare marriage. Alexandra received the kind of royal welcome that could have been plucked right out of one of her bedtime stories.

02:53

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When she arrived in England, she did so to the sound of music composed specifically for her arrival. Without even trying, Alexandra had become an overnight sensation in her new home.

03:06

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Her days of darning her own shabby dresses were behind her. Even before she officially married into the British royal family, Alexandra had her first moment as a fashion icon.

03:19

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She posed for widely circulated photographs in her wedding dress sporting a pearl necklace and three diamond bracelets.

03:27

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The train for her silk satin dress was so long that it required eight ladies to carry it down the aisle.

03:34

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And she was going to need all the support she could get if she was going to survive being married to one of Europe's biggest scoundrels.

03:44

Speaker A

Alexandra wasn't the only member of her family moving up in the world. Her siblings were making moves, too. In just two years, her father had ascended to the Danish throne, her brother had become king of the Hellenes, and her

03:58

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sister Dagmar was married to the Russian Tsarevich. Yet, it wouldn't be long before they'd each beg to have their simple lives back.

04:08

Speaker A

Alexandra's new mother-in-law wasn't her biggest fan. While the kingdom might have been singing her praises, Queen Victoria saw right through her couture clothing. The Queen resented Alex's Danish loyalties, but it wasn't her loyalties that the Queen should have

04:23

Speaker A

been concerned about. Alexandra was a devout Christian, and she took her wedding vows very seriously, particularly the one vow about fidelity.

04:33

Speaker A

Her husband, on the other hand, ignored that particular vow almost daily. It was an open secret at the time that Edward VII carried on multiple affairs throughout his marriage. He might have had as many as 55 different mistresses,

04:50

Speaker A

and Alexandra kept tabs on every single one of them. Alex was a social butterfly who enjoyed various physical activities. She was an expert horsewoman and often ice-skated and danced. But, it was her love of other hobbies that had Queen Victoria

05:09

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shaking in her crown. To Queen Victoria's consternation, Alexandra was an avid hunter, and she was fixing her crosshairs on her mother-in-law.

05:20

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When he wasn't too busy with one of his 55 mistresses, Edward took the time to sire six children with his wife.

05:27

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However, in a strange coincidence, every single one of those children was born premature. Or, maybe it wasn't a coincidence.

05:38

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It was no secret that Queen Victoria didn't much care for her daughter-in-law, and the feeling was mutual.

05:45

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Alexandra may have tolerated her husband's endless lineup of mistresses, but his mother was too much to bear. She couldn't exactly get rid of the queen, but she came up with a devious plan to get even with her meddling

05:58

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mother-in-law. Alexandra might have used her dresses to hide her secrets, literally. Her six premature deliveries may not have been premature at all. Some historians suggest that Alexandra deliberately lied about how far along her pregnancies were so that Queen Victoria would miss the

06:19

Speaker A

birth of her grandchildren. Of course, the tug-of-war between Alexandra and Queen Victoria for control over her marriage didn't end there.

06:29

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The queen attempted to tell Alexandra what to name her children, and it wouldn't be the last time that Alexandra had to put the queen in her place.

06:40

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During her third pregnancy, Alexandra suffered from a terrible bout of rheumatic fever. To make matters worse, her errant husband seemed particularly uninterested in her rapidly deteriorating situation.

06:53

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She recovered and delivered a healthy child, though she didn't come through unscathed. She suffered a permanent disfiguration.

07:02

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Rheumatic fever left the once glamorous princess who had strutted down the aisle in the most fashionable dresses with a terrible limp. But for Alexandra, this just meant that she found her signature walk for the runway.

07:16

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She may have been a princess of Britain, but she was a queen of fashion, and not even a hobbling gait could dethrone her.

07:24

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Instead of becoming a laughingstock, Alexandra became the envy of every woman in the kingdom. Her new awkward way of walking became a fashion trend known as the Alexandra limp. High society ladies all over London walked around with a

07:40

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pretend limp for years. All throughout London, shoemakers began making mismatched shoes to better allow women to copy Alexandra's signature walk.

07:52

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Not all of the fashion trends that she started were this strange. She also made it fashionable to wear chokers and dresses with high necklines.

08:02

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But once again, she started the trend by accident. She wore chokers and high necklines because she wanted to conceal a hideous and embarrassing scar on her neck.

08:13

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Alexandra's health got progressively worse after each of her pregnancies, and her good fortunes were beginning to sour, too. She began to lose her hearing due to a hereditary illness.

08:27

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She also stopped socializing as much and spent more time isolated with her children and pets. But her days of suffering had just begun.

08:39

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Childbirth had never been easy for Alexandra, but she had managed to produce five healthy babies. Number six would be tragically different. This baby boy only survived for a single day.

08:52

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In her grief, a weakened Alexandra pleaded with Queen Victoria for privacy. But once again, the two royals bickered bitterly.

09:01

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Queen Victoria insisted on a very public display of court mourning for the infant royal's passing.

09:08

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Alexandra, not as popular as she had once been, took all the blame for the showy display. The press described her pregnancy as a wretched abortion, and the funeral arrangements as sickening mummery. It was the lowest moment in Alexandra's life so far.

09:26

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Despite her declining health and immense grief at the loss of her infant son, Alexandra carried on her royal duties, even if everyone hated her for it.

09:36

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On a trip to Ireland, thousands of angry nationalists booed Alexandra and Edward as they waved. Alexandra somehow found the strength to smile through the whole ordeal.

09:48

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Despite their differences, there may actually have been some respect between Alexandra and Queen Victoria. The Queen said of Alexandra's tireless efforts, "She opens bazaars, attends concerts, visits hospitals in my place. She not only never complains, but endeavors to

10:06

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prove that she has enjoyed what to another would be a tiresome duty." High praise coming from the woman who had spent the last decade making Alexandra's life miserable.

10:18

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Just as it seemed like Alex was moving on from the death of her child, she suffered another tragedy. She was about to lose her favorite child in the prime of his life.

10:28

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[snorts] Alexandra had arranged for her eldest son, Prince Albert Victor, to become engaged to Princess Mary of Teck. The young couple were just about to marry when Albert Victor suddenly fell ill with flu.

10:43

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Just days before his 28th birthday, the strapping young prince succumbed to his illness. Alexandra would never recover from the loss. She was completely devastated by the death of her eldest son, and everyone could see it. Princess Mary of Teck wrote to Queen Victoria

11:01

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about Alexandra saying, "The despairing look on her face was the most heart-rending thing I have ever seen." Alexandra said of her son's passing, "I have buried my angel and with him my happiness." Unable to say goodbye to her son, she

11:20

Speaker A

turned his room into a shrine to his memory and left it untouched. Just a couple of years later, Alexandra suffered another loss. Her brother-in-law, Emperor Alexander III of Russia died suddenly. Alexandra spent 2 weeks with her sister Dagmar in Russia,

11:38

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even sleeping by her side, just like the old days in their drafty attic. In 1901, Queen Victoria died. While Alexandra may have felt some relief, it also put her right back where she didn't want to be, in the spotlight. With her

11:57

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mother-in-law gone, her husband ascended to the [music] throne, and Alexandra became Queen Consort. The one-time nobody from Denmark was now married to the King of England.

12:10

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Even after becoming Queen Consort, Alexandra kept her thrifty ways. She wasn't sewing her own dresses anymore, but she still pinched her pennies. She reused her old stockings and had her old dresses turned into furniture covers, but that didn't mean she was miserly.

12:28

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She spent a lot of money on others, opening her checkbook for just about any sob story she heard. Her grandson even went so far as to say her generosity was a source of embarrassment.

12:42

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Alexandra was visiting her brother in Greece when her husband, Edward VII, fell ill. She made it back to England without a moment to spare. The very day she returned, he passed away.

12:54

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She wrote, "I feel as if I'd been turned into stone, unable to cry, unable to grasp the meaning of it all." He might have been an incorrigible womanizer and scoundrel, but Alexandra still cared deeply for her husband, and

13:10

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now he was gone. Alexandra was related to just about every single royal in Europe, either by blood or by marriage. And just like any family, they fought bitterly. [music] Only when her family had a falling out, entire nations got involved. Alexandra

13:28

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despised her nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, and called him inwardly our enemy. During World War I, he would become outwardly her enemy. If she thought that being the aunt of the German Emperor would make him look upon

13:43

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her with mercy, she was mistaken. The German forces launched a Zeppelin air raid on Sandringham House while she was still inside. Luckily, Alexandra survived the attack.

13:56

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After all those years of hardship, Alexandra's age finally caught up with her. She was no longer the youthful fashion icon that she had once been, and aging gracefully just didn't sound like fun. She tried to maintain her looks by

14:10

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plastering her face with heavy makeup, but her days of setting fashion trends were long gone. The same people who used to copy her every move, including her limp, started calling her appearance enameled.

14:24

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In her last few years, her health and mental state had deteriorated significantly. She had endured poverty, prominence, and providence, but it was finally time to be at peace. Alexandra died from a heart attack less than a month away from her 81st birthday. She

14:41

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was laid to rest next to her husband, presumably in an elaborate dress. Thanks for watching History X Posey. If you love uncovering the best stories in history, hit like and subscribe to keep exploring with us. If you enjoyed this

15:01

Speaker A

video, check out the others on screen for more amazing history content.

Topics: Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark Edward VII Queen Victoria royal history Alexandra limp British royal family Hans Christian Andersen Danish royalty royal fashion

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