Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)

Dagmar was known for her beauty. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge said that Dagmar was "sweetly pretty" and commented favorably on her "splendid dark eyes". Her fiancé Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia was enthusiastic about her beauty. He wrote to his mother that "she is even prettier in real life than in the portraits that we had seen so far. Her eyes speak for her: they are so kind, intelligent, animated." Dagmar was intelligent. When considering Dagmar for her second son, Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria judged that "Dagmar is cleverer [than her older sister, Alexandra]... she is a very nice girl." When she married, she was unable to speak any Russian. However, within a few years, she mastered the language and was so proficient that her husband wrote to her in Russian. She told an American minister to Russia that "the Russian language is full of power and beauty, it equals the Italian in music, the English in vigorous power and copiousness." Charles Frederick Worth, a Parisian couturier, greatly admired her style. He said, "Bring to me any woman in Europe-- queen, artiste, or bourgeoise-- who can inspire me as does Madame Her Majesty, and I will make her confections while I live and charge her nothing." Meriel Buchanan wrote that she possessed a "gracious and delightful charm of manner." ==Early life==

in Copenhagen Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was born on 26 November 1847 at her parents' residence in the Yellow Mansion, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade, which is located immediately adjacent to the Amalienborg Palace complex, the principal residence of the Danish royal family in the district of Frederiksstaden in central Copenhagen. She was the fourth child and second daughter of the then Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a member of a princely cadet line, and his wife Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel. She was baptised as a Lutheran in the Yellow Mansion with Queen Caroline Amalie of Denmark as her Godmother, and named after her kinswoman Marie Sophie Frederikke of Hesse-Kassel, Queen Dowager of Denmark, as well as the popular medieval Danish queen, Dagmar of Bohemia, in accordance with the national romantic fashion of the time. Growing up, she was known by the name Dagmar. Most of her adult life, however, she was known as Maria Feodorovna, the name which she took when she converted to Orthodoxy immediately before her 1866 marriage to the future Emperor Alexander III. Within her family, she was known as "Minnie" throughout her life. In 1852 Dagmar's father became heir-presumptive to the throne of Denmark, largely due to the succession rights of his wife Louise as niece of King Christian VIII. In 1853, he was given the title Prince of Denmark and he and his family were given an official summer residence, Bernstorff Palace, north of Copenhagen. It quickly became Princess Louise's favorite residence, and the family often stayed there. The children grew up within a close-knit family, in what is described as a humble but happy environment. During the children's childhood, the father only had his officer salary to live on, and the family lived a relatively simple life according to royal norms. Their household only had six employees, and Dagmar and her siblings were allowed to walk around the streets of Copenhagen during their childhood and do such things as go to the market and visit cafes. Only very rarely did they take part in ceremonial functions and then immediately had to take off their fine clothes again so as not to risk getting them dirty. Dagmar's parents emphasized giving the children a simple civic upbringing that placed great emphasis on royal duties. Later, all the children became known for their effortless ability to interact with people, their sense of duty and ability to represent. (1856) Dagmar was closest to her eldest sister, Alexandra, and they maintained a strong connection to each other all their lives. The two princesses shared a room in the Yellow Mansion and were raised together. The sisters received the same education deemed appropriate for upper-class girls: they were taught housekeeping by their mother, and learned to dance, play music, paint and draw, and speak French, English, and German by tutors. However, the father also insisted that they learn gymnastics and sports, which was more unusual for girls. During their upbringing, Dagmar and Alexandra were given swimming lessons by the Swedish pioneer of swimming for women, Nancy Edberg; she would later welcome Edberg to Russia, where she came on royal scholarship to hold swimming lessons for women. Dagmar is described as lively and intelligent, sweet but less beautiful than Alexandra, and better at painting and drawing than her sisters, who, on the other hand, were more talented in music. Upon the death of King Frederick VII in 1863, Dagmar's father became King of Denmark, as she turned 16 years old. Due to the brilliant marital alliances of his children, he became known as the "Father-in-law of Europe". Dagmar's eldest brother would succeed his father as King Frederik VIII of Denmark (one of whose sons would be elected as King of Norway). Her elder, and favourite, sister, Alexandra married Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) in March 1863. Alexandra, along with being queen consort of King Edward VII, was also mother of George V of the United Kingdom, which helps to explain the striking resemblance between their sons Nicholas II and George V. Within months of Alexandra's marriage, Dagmar's second older brother, Vilhelm, was elected as King George I of Greece. Her younger sister was Thyra, Duchess of Cumberland. She also had a younger brother, Valdemar. ==Engagements and marriage==

First engagement At the end of 1863, as the daughter and sister of the kings of Denmark and Greece and sister-in-law of the Prince of Wales, Dagmar was now considered one of Europe's most coveted princesses. She received a proposal from Crown Prince Umberto of Italy, but was reluctant to marry him because she found him unattractive. Her mother was also reluctant to support such a marriage as she saw a greater status in the prospect of Dagmar marrying into the Russian imperial family. Due to the rise of Slavophile ideology in the Russian Empire, Alexander II of Russia searched for a bride for the heir apparent, Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia, in countries other than the German states that had traditionally provided consorts for the tsars. Princess Dagmar was one of the candidates, and as early as 1860 the emperor had made his first inquiries about a possible engagement. There were also already family ties between the two families, as Dagmar's uncle had been married to the emperor's sister. In 1864, the Russian Empress Maria Alexandrovna announced that her son would visit Denmark, and during the summer Nicholas, or "Nixa" as he was known in his family, arrived at Fredensborg Palace, where the Danish royal family was staying. Nicholas had never met Dagmar, but had for a number of years collected photographs of her, and both families wanted the marriage. When they met, Dagmar and Nicholas were mutually attracted, and Nicholas wrote to his mother: After returning to Russia to obtain his father's permission, Nicholas proposed to Dagmar on 28 September 1864 in the Bernstorff Palace Gardens and received a yes. The engagement was announced at Bernstorff Palace later the same day. Her future mother-in-law Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse) gave her a six-strand pearl necklace and Nicholas gave her a diamond bracelet. The engagement was popular in both countries and at the same time ensured the Danish royal family even better connections. The engagement took place right during the Second Schleswig War between Denmark on one side and Prussia and Austria on the other, and during the peace negotiations after the war in October 1864, Dagmar unsuccessfully asked her future father-in-law to help Denmark against Prussia over the disputed territory of Schleswig-Holstein. In a letter, she asked Alexander II of Russia: "Use your power to mitigate the terrible conditions which the Germans have brutally forced Papa to accept... the sad plight of my fatherland, which makes my heart heavy, has inspired me to turn to you." In April, Nicholas grew gravely ill with cerebrospinal meningitis. Alexander II of Russia sent a telegram to Dagmar: "Nicholas has received the Last Rites. Pray for us and come if you can." She was so heartbroken when she returned to her homeland that her relatives were seriously worried about her health. She had already become emotionally attached to Russia and often thought of the huge, remote country that was to have been her home. Many were sympathetic towards Dagmar. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge wrote of "poor dear Minny's sorrow and the blight which has fallen upon her young life." Maria Alexandrovna tried to convince Louise of Hesse-Kassel to send Dagmar to Russia immediately, but Louise insisted that Dagmar must "strengthen her nerves... [and] avoid emotional upsets." Dagmar, who sincerely mourned Nicholas, and Alexander, who was in love with his mother's lady-in-waiting Maria Meshcherskaya and attempted to renounce his place as heir to the throne in order to marry her, were both initially reluctant. However, under pressure from his parents, Alexander decided to go to Denmark. In June 1866, Tsarevich Alexander arrived in Copenhagen with his brothers Grand Duke Vladimir and Grand Duke Alexei. While looking over photographs of Nicholas, Alexander asked Dagmar if "she could love him after having loved Nixa, to whom they were both devoted." The writer remarked in his diary, "Yesterday, at the quay, while passing me by, she stopped and took me by the hand. My eyes were full of tears. What a poor child! Oh Lord, be kind and merciful to her! They say that there is a brilliant court in Saint Petersburg and the tsar's family is nice; still, she heads for an unfamiliar country, where people are different and religion is different and where she will have none of her former acquaintances by her side." Peder Skram, which escorted Princess Dagmar to Russia, shown here at Kronstadt in September 1866 Dagmar was warmly welcomed in Kronstadt by the emperor's brother Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia and escorted to St. Petersburg, where she was greeted by her future mother-in-law and sister-in-law on 24 September. The weather on this September day was almost summery with temperatures of more than , which was noted by the poet Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev in the welcome poem dedicated to the arrival of the princess: The sky is light blue... On the 29th, she made her formal entry in to the Russian capital dressed in a Russian national costume in blue and gold and traveled with the Empress to the Winter Palace where she was introduced to the Russian public on a balcony. Catherine Radziwill described the occasion: "rarely has a foreign princess been greeted with such enthusiasm… from the moment she set foot on Russian soil, succeeded in winning to herself all hearts. Her smile, the delightful way she had of bowing to the crowds…, laid immediately the foundation of …popularity" (1867) In the following weeks, Dagmar was educated in Russian court etiquette. She converted to Orthodoxy on and became Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna of Russia the following day. However, at the Russian court, where French was practically the first language, she was often called "Marie". The lavish wedding took place on in the Imperial Chapel of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. Financial constraints had prevented her parents from attending the wedding, and in their stead, they sent her brother, Crown Prince Frederick. Her brother-in-law, the Prince of Wales, had also travelled to Saint Petersburg for the ceremony; pregnancy had prevented the Princess of Wales from attending. After the wedding night, Alexander wrote in his diary, "I took off my slippers and my silver embroidered robe and felt the body of my beloved next to mine... How I felt then, I do not wish to describe here. Afterwards we talked for a long time." in 1862 After the many wedding parties were over the newlyweds moved into the Anichkov Palace in Saint Petersburg where they were to live for the next 15 years, when they were not taking extended holidays at their summer villa Livadia in the Crimean Peninsula. Despite the fact that their relationship began under such strange circumstances, Maria and Alexander had an exceptionally happy marriage, and during almost thirty years of marriage, the spouses maintained a sincere devotion to each other. She was widely recognized as "the only person on the face of the earth in whom the Autocrat of all the Russias puts any real trust. In his gentle consort, he has unlimited confidence." Despite her anti-Russian sentiments, Queen Victoria wrote favorably about Maria and Alexander's marriage. She wrote that "[Maria] seems quite happy and contented with her fat, good-natured husband who seems far more attentive and kind to her than one would have thought....I think they are very domestic and happy and attached to each other; he makes a very good husband." at two years old in 1870 ==Tsarevna of Russia ==

On 18 May 1868, Maria gave birth to their eldest child, Nicholas, the future Nicholas II, at the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo south of Saint Petersburg. In his diary, the then Tsarevich Alexander recorded the momentous event of the birth of his first child, The entire imperial family was present at the birth of Alexander and Maria's first child. In a letter to her mother, Queen Louise, the Tsarevna wrote, Her next son, Alexander, born in 1869, died from meningitis in infancy. She wrote to her mother, Queen Louise of Denmark: "The doctors maintain he did not suffer, but we suffered terribly to see and hear him." Maria would bear Alexander four more children who reached adulthood: George (b. 1871), Xenia (b. 1875), Michael (b. 1878), and Olga (b. 1882). As a mother, she doted on and was quite possessive of her sons. She had a more distant relationship with her daughters. Her favorite child was George, and Olga and Michael were closer to their father. She was lenient towards George, and she could never bear to punish him for his pranks. Her daughter Olga remembered that "mother had a great weakness for him." When George visited St. Petersburg in 1867, she contrived to have George spend time with Olga. She convinced Olga's parents, her father Konstantin being wary of her young age, of the prospective groom's suitability. In a letter, her father Christian IX of Denmark praised her for her shrewd arranging of the marriage: "Where in the world have you, little rogue, ever learned to intrigue so well, since you have worked hard on your uncle and aunt, who were previously decidedly against a match of this kind." Since her mother-in-law, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, was in fragile health and spent long periods abroad for health reasons, Maria Feodorovna often had to fulfill the role of first lady of the court. She did not have the best conditions to become popular in Russia, as most Russians disliked her having married Alexander after first having been engaged to his brother. However, she quickly overcame this obstacle, and became beloved by the Russian public, a popularity she never really lost. Early on, she made it a priority to learn the Russian language and to try to understand the Russian people. Baroness Editha von Rahden wrote that "the Czarevna is forming a real, warm sympathy for that country which is receiving her with so much enthusiasm." In 1876, she and her husband visited Helsinki and were greeted by cheers, most of which were "directed to the wife of the heir apparent." Her one exception to official politics was her militant anti-German sentiment because of the annexation of Danish territories by Prussia in 1864, a sentiment also expressed by her sister, Alexandra. Prince Gorchakov remarked about that policy that "it is our belief, that Germany will not forget that both in Russia and in England a Danish Princess has her foot on the steps of the throne". The following year, Maria and Alexander welcomed the Prince and Princess of Wales to St. Petersburg; they had come for the wedding of the Prince's younger brother, Alfred, to Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of Tsar Alexander II and the sister of the tsarevich. Maria and her family were targeted in an assassination attempt on the Tsar in February 1880, but which saw the Imperial family survive through a failure to arrive on time for dinner. Maria's relationship with her father-in-law, Alexander II, deteriorated because she did not accept his second marriage to Catherine Dolgorukov. She refused to allow her children to visit their grandfather's second wife and his legitimized bastards, which caused Alexander's anger. She confided in Sophia Tolstaya that "there were grave scenes between me and the Sovereign, caused by my refusal to let my children to him." At a Winter Palace reception in February 1881, she refused to kiss Catherine and only gave Catherine her hand to kiss. Alexander II was furious and chastised his daughter-in-law: "Sasha is a good son, but you – you have no heart". ==Empress of Russia==

On the morning of 13 March 1881, Maria's father-in-law Alexander II of Russia was killed by a bomb attack carried out by the revolutionary socialist political organization Narodnaya Volya on his way back to the Winter Palace from a military parade. His leg was blown to pieces by the second of two bombs, and in her diary, Maria described how the wounded, still living Emperor was taken to the palace: "His legs were crushed terribly and ripped open to the knee; a bleeding mass, with half a boot on the right foot, and only the sole of the foot remaining on the left." Alexander II died of blood loss a few hours later. After her father-in-law's gruesome death, she was worried about her husband's safety. In her diary, she wrote, "Our happiest and serenest times are now over. My peace and calm are gone, for now I will only ever be able to worry about Sasha." Her favorite sister, the Princess of Wales, and brother-in-law Prince of Wales, stayed in Russia for several weeks after the funeral. Alexander and Maria were crowned at the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin in Moscow on 27 May 1883. Just before the coronation, a major conspiracy had been uncovered, which cast a pall over the celebration. Nevertheless, over 8000 guests attended the splendid ceremony. Because of the many threats against Maria and Alexander III, the head of the security police, General Cherevin, shortly after the coronation urged the Tsar and his family to relocate to Gatchina Palace, a more secure location 50 kilometres outside St. Petersburg. The huge palace had 900 rooms and was built by Catherine the Great. The Romanovs heeded the advice. Maria and Alexander III lived at Gatchina for 13 years, and it was here that their five surviving children grew up. Under heavy guard, Alexander III and Maria made periodic trips from Gatchina to the capital to take part in official events, continuing to use the Anichkov Palace when staying there in preference to the Winter Palace. Maria was a universally beloved Empress. Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin wrote that Maria's "bearing, her distinguished and forceful personality, and the intelligence which shone in her face, made her the perfect figure of a queen... She was extraordinarily well-loved in Russia, and everyone had confidence in her... and [was] a real mother to her people." Maria was active in philanthropic work. Her husband called her "the Guardian Angel of Russia". As tsarevna, and then as tsarina, Maria Feodorovna had something of a social rivalry with the popular Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, wife of her Russian brother-in-law, Grand Duke Vladimir. This rivalry had echoed the one shared by their husbands, and served to exacerbate the rift within the family. While she knew better than to publicly criticise both the Grand Duke and Duchess in public, in Denmark in 1893 Nearly each summer, Maria, Alexander and their children would make an annual trip to Denmark, where her parents, King Christian IX and Queen Louise, hosted family reunions. Maria's brother, King George I, and his wife, Queen Olga, would come up from Athens with their children, and the Princess of Wales, often without her husband, would come with some of her children from the United Kingdom. In contrast to the tight security observed in Russia, the tsar, tsarina and their children relished the relative freedom that they could enjoy at Bernstorff and Fredensborg. The annual family meetings of monarchs in Denmark was regarded as suspicious in Europe, where many assumed they secretly discussed state affairs. Otto von Bismarck nicknamed Fredensborg "Europe's Whispering Gallery" Maria and Alexander found Alix shy and somewhat peculiar. They were also concerned that the young Princess was not possessed of the right character to be Empress of Russia. Nicholas's parents had known Alix as a child and formed the impression that she was hysterical and unbalanced, which may have been due to the loss of her mother and youngest sister, Marie, to diphtheria when she was just six. It was only when Alexander III's health was beginning to fail that they reluctantly gave permission for Nicholas to propose. ==Empress Dowager==

on the occasion of the Alexandra Rose Day 1914. The Empress Dowager spent much time abroad and in Great Britain, having a liberal mentality. On 1 November 1894, Alexander III died aged just 49 at Livadia. In her diary Maria wrote, "I am utterly heartbroken and despondent, but when I saw the blissful smile and the peace in his face that came after, it gave me strength." Two days later, the Prince and Princess of Wales arrived at Livadia from London. While the Prince of Wales took it upon himself to involve himself in the preparations for the funeral, the Princess of Wales spent her time comforting grieving Maria, including praying with her and sleeping at her bedside. Maria Feodorovna's birthday was a week after the funeral, and as it was a day in which court mourning could be somewhat relaxed, Nicholas used the day to marry Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, who took the name Alexandra Feodorovna. As Empress Dowager, Maria was much more popular than either Nicholas or Alexandra. During her son's coronation in May 1896, she, Nicholas, and Alexandra arrived in separate carriages. She was greeted with "almost deafening" applause. Visiting writer Kate Kool noted that she "provoked more cheering from the people than did her son. The people have had thirteen years in which to know this woman and they have learned to love her very much." (1912) During the first years of her son's reign, Maria often acted as the political adviser to the Tsar. Uncertain of his own ability and aware of her connections and knowledge, Tsar Nicholas II often told the ministers that he would ask her advice before making decisions, and the ministers sometimes suggested this themselves. It was reportedly on her advice that Nicholas initially kept his father's ministers. Sophie Buxhoeveden remarked of this conflict: "Without actually clashing they seemed fundamentally unable … to understand one another", Following a visit in early 1908, Maria Feodorovna was present at her brother-in-law and sister's visit to Russia that summer. A little under two years later, Maria Feodorovna travelled to England yet again, this time for the funeral of her brother-in-law, King Edward VII, in May 1910. During her nearly three-month visit to England in 1910, Maria Feodorovna attempted, unsuccessfully, to get her sister, now Queen Dowager Alexandra, to claim a position of precedence over her daughter-in-law, Queen Mary. (center) with their niece Maria of Greece, (right) circa 1893 Empress Maria Feodorovna, the mistress of Langinkoski retreat, was also otherwise a known friend of Finland. During the first Russification period, she tried to have her son halt the constraining of the grand duchy's autonomy and to recall the unpopular Governor-General Nikolai Bobrikov from Finland to some other position in Russia itself. During the second Russification period, at the start of the First World War, the Empress Dowager, travelling by her special train through Finland to Saint Petersburg, expressed her continued disapprobation for the Russification of Finland by having an orchestra of a welcoming committee play the March of the Pori Regiment and the Finnish national anthem "Maamme", which at the time were under the explicit ban from Franz Albert Seyn, the Governor-General of Finland. In 1899, Maria's second son, George, died of tuberculosis in the Caucasus. During the funeral, she kept her composure, but at the end of the service, she ran from the church clutching her son's top hat that been atop the coffin and collapsed in her carriage sobbing. In 1901, Maria arranged Olga's disastrous marriage to Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg. For years Nicholas refused to grant his unhappy sister a divorce, only relenting in 1916 in the midst of the War. When Olga attempted to contract a morganatic marriage with Nikolai Kulikovsky, Maria Feodorovna and the tsar tried to dissuade her, yet, they did not protest too vehemently. Indeed, Maria Feodorovna was one of the few people who attended the wedding in November 1916. Maria Feodorovna disliked Rasputin and unsuccessfully tried to convince Nicholas and Alexandra to send him away. She considered Rasputin a dangerous charlatan and despaired of Alexandra's obsession with "crazy, dirty, religious fanatics". She was concerned that Rasputin's activities damaged the prestige of the Imperial family and asked Nicholas and Alexandra to send him away. Nicholas remained silent and Alexandra refused. Maria recognized the empress was the true regent and that she also lacked the capability for such a position: "My poor daughter-in-law does not perceive that she is ruining the dynasty and herself. She sincerely believes in the holiness of an adventurer, and we are powerless to ward off the misfortune, which is sure to come." While she was in London, World War I broke out (July 1914), forcing her to hurry home to Russia. In Berlin the German authorities prevented her train from continuing toward the Russian border. Instead she had to return to Russia by way of (neutral) Denmark and Finland. Upon her return in August, she took up residence at Yelagin Palace, which was closer to St. Petersburg (renamed Petrograd in August 1914 On behalf of the imperial relatives of the Tsar, both the Empress's sister Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and her cousin Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna had been selected to mediate and ask Empress Alexandra to banish Rasputin from court to protect her and the throne's reputation, but without success. In parallel, several of the Grand Dukes had tried to intervene with the Tsar, but with no more success. During this conflict of 1916–1917, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna reportedly planned a coup d'état to depose the Tsar with the help of four regiments of the imperial guard which were to invade the Alexander Palace, force the Tsar to abdicate and replace him with his underage son under the regency of her son Grand Duke Kirill. There are documents that support the fact that in this critical situation, Maria Feodorovna was involved in a planned coup d'état to depose her son from the throne in order to save the monarchy. and in September, the 50th anniversary of her arrival in Russia was celebrated with great festivities, during which she was visited by her son, Nicholas II, who came without his wife. Born Danish princesses, Maria and Alexandra resented the Prussian annexation of the former Danish territory of Schleswig-Holstein during the Second Schleswig War. They deeply hated and distrusted the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, whom Alexandra accused in 1900 of being "inwardly our enemy". Known as the "international anti-German pair", both sisters frequently interfered in the foreign policy of their respective empires, through diplomacy or espionage, in the hope of undermining German interests. In 1905, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II wrote to Nicholas II accusing the Tsar's mother of (in collusion with Alexandra and Edward VII) fomenting anti-German sentiment at the Russian court through the diplomat Alexander von Benckendorff. The German Kaiser described von Benckendorff as having met secretly with Maria in Copenhagen at the request of Edward VII to discuss strengthening the Anglo-Russian union in an attempt to isolate Germany and curb its growing influence in Asia. ==Revolution and exile==

Revolution came to Russia in 1917, first with the February Revolution, then with Nicholas II's abdication on 15 March. After travelling from Kiev to meet with her deposed son, Nicholas II, in Mogilev, Maria returned to the city, where she quickly realised how Kiev had changed and that her presence was no longer wanted. She was persuaded by her family there to travel to the Crimea by train with a group of other refugee Romanovs, arriving at the end of March. After a time living in one of the imperial residences in the Crimea, she received reports that her sons, her daughter-in-law and her grandchildren had been murdered. However, she publicly rejected the report as a rumour. On the day after the murder of the Tsar's family, Maria received a messenger from Nicky, "a touching man" who told of how difficult life was for her son's family in Yekaterinburg. "And nobody can help or liberate them – only God! My Lord save my poor, unlucky Nicky, help him in his hard ordeals!" In her diary she comforted herself: "I am sure they all got out of Russia and now the Bolsheviks are trying to hide the truth." She firmly held on to this conviction until her death. The truth was too painful for her to admit publicly. Her letters to her son and his family have since almost all been lost; but in one that survives, she wrote to Nicholas: "You know that my thoughts and prayers never leave you. I think of you day and night and sometimes feel so sick at heart that I believe I cannot bear it any longer. But God is merciful. He will give us strength for this terrible ordeal." Maria's daughter Olga Alexandrovna commented further on the matter, "Yet I am sure that deep in her heart my mother had steeled herself to accept the truth some years before her death." Since Maria Feodorovna steadfastly believed Nicholas and his family survived, she firmly regarded Franziska Schanzkowska (famously known as "Anna Anderson") as a fraud falsely claiming to be her granddaughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Maria vehemently opposed her daughter Olga Alexandrovna meeting with the imposter, which Olga did in 1925. Olga came to the conclusion Schanzkowska was an imposter, noting afterwards in a letter to former adjunct Anatole Mordvinov that Maria Feodorovna "isn't interested at all" in the imposter and the dowager empress "opposed my trip, but I had to go for the sake of the family." She also wrote that Schanzkowska's supporters subsequently accused Maria Feodorovna of ordering Olga (as well as others who knew Anastasia and refuted Schanzkowska's claim) to reject Shanzkowska's claim to be Anastasia, which Olga called a "huge lie". on board HMS Marlborough leaving Russia forever with Yalta in the distance Despite the overthrow of the monarchy in 1917, the former Empress Dowager Maria at first refused to leave Russia. Only in early April 1919, at the urging of her sister, Queen Dowager Alexandra, did she begrudgingly depart, fleeing Crimea over the Black Sea to London. King George V sent the battleship HMS Marlborough to retrieve his aunt. The party of 17 Romanovs included her daughter the Grand Duchess Xenia and five of Xenia's sons plus six dogs and a canary. After a brief stay in the British base in Malta, they travelled to England on the British battleship , and she stayed with her sister, Alexandra. Although Queen Alexandra never treated her sister badly and they spent time together at Marlborough House in London and at Sandringham House in Norfolk, Maria, as a deposed empress dowager, felt that she was now "number two", in contrast to her sister, a popular queen dowager, and she returned to her native Denmark in November 1919. After living briefly with her nephew, King Christian X, in a wing of the Amalienborg Palace, she chose her holiday villa Hvidøre, which was originally a summer retreat near Copenhagen, as her new permanent home in 1923. There were many Russian émigrées in Copenhagen who continued to regard her as the Empress and often asked her for help. The All-Russian Monarchical Assembly held in 1921 offered her the locum tenens of the Russian throne but she declined with the evasive answer "Nobody saw Nicky killed" and therefore there was a chance her son was still alive. She provided financial support to Nikolai Sokolov, who studied the circumstances of the death of the Tsar's family, but they never met. The Grand Duchess Olga sent a telegram to Paris cancelling an appointment because it would have been too difficult for the old and sick woman to hear the terrible story of her son and his family. ==Death and burial==

of Maria Feodorovna in the vaults of Roskilde Cathedral In August 1924, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia proclaimed himself "Tsar of all the Russias", Maria Feodorovna reacted with indignation and regarded his action as presumptuous. In a telegram to him, she made clear that she did not recognise his claim to the title, writing: "I am convinced that my two beloved sons are alive and so cannot consider your act a fait accompli." After her final visit to England in 1923, Maria Feodorovna "looked old and tired … she lost her appetite and strength." In 1925, she visited the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Church in Copenhagen a church she had originally supported for the last time. The church continued to serve the Russian émigré community after the Revolution, but by this time her health often prevented her from attending services. On such occasions, religious services were held at her villa at Hvidøre by her spiritual father, Archpriest Leonid Kolichev, for her and her close associates. of Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna in the Peter and Paul Cathedral In 2005, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and President Vladimir Putin of Russia and their respective governments agreed that the Empress's remains should be returned to St. Petersburg in accordance with her wish to be interred next to her husband. A number of ceremonies took place from 23 to 28 September 2006. The funeral service, attended by high dignitaries, including the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, did not pass without some turbulence. The crowd around the coffin was so great that a young Danish diplomat fell into the grave before the coffin was interred. On 26 September 2006, a statue of Maria Feodorovna was unveiled near her favourite Cottage Palace in Peterhof. Following a service at Saint Isaac's Cathedral, she was interred next to her husband Alexander III in the Peter and Paul Cathedral on 28 September 2006, 140 years after her first arrival in Russia and almost 78 years after her death. ==Issue==

Emperor Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna had four sons and two daughters: ==Legacy==

The Dagmarinkatu street in Töölö, Helsinki, and the Maria Hospital, which also previously operated in Helsinki, are named after Empress Maria Feodorovna. She is portrayed by Helen Hayes in the 1956 Hollywood historical drama Anastasia. Irene Worth portrays her in the 1971 epic Nicholas and Alexandra. Ursula Howells played the role in one episode of the 1974 drama Fall of Eagles. Gwyneth Strong and Jane Lapotaire portrayed the Empress as a teenager and adult woman respectively in the 1975 television series Edward the Seventh. Olivia de Havilland portrayed her in the 1986 television film Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. In the 1997 American animated version of the film Anastasia, directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, Maria Feodorovna is voiced by Angela Lansbury. ==Honours==

• : • Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Catherine, 1864 • Dame of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-called, 1883 • Mexican Empire: Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Saint Charles, 10 April 1865 • : Dame 1st Class of the Order of Queen Saint Isabel, 25 May 1881 • Kingdom of Prussia: Dame 1st Class of the Order of Louise • : Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa, 6 January 1887 • : Grand Cordon (Paulownia) of the Order of the Precious Crown, 23 January 1889 ==Paintings by Maria Feodorovna==

Image:Maria Fyodorovna-Still-life.jpg|Still-life. 1868 Image:Maria Fyodorovna-Miser.jpg|Miser. 1890 ==Ancestry==