The Washington herald., 1912-07-21

Queen Alex4ndraS LAY, Wn1ch m
been ushered In this year with such
marked success throughout the British
empirs, when ladies of the highest nobil-
ity sold wild roses In the streets to
create . hospital fund. reminds OF the
day Of another British queen-Eiisabeth-.
whose day OF accession to the throne.
November II, 1865. for many years was
commemorated with delicious abandon
only equalled in recent times by 'Mafe-
king night" Long before daylight the
church bells reused the citizens from
their slumbers, and they commenced to
make day Of II after the vigorous man
ner Of that period But the crowning
Joy was reserved for the evening. when
procession wended its way from Moor
gate through Aldgate. Leadenhall Street
and Cheapside 10 Temple Bar, finishing
there with q bonfire.
When In the summer of 1852 the young
Princess Alexandra OF Denmark left her
native land for her marriage to the
Prince Of Wales, later King Edward.
an old friend of her grandfather, the
Landgrave Of Hesse, said: Il see from
the papers that already you are quite
popular in England. where extraordi-
nary preparations are being made for
your reception" She replied:
"All this is very delightful but It is
done from loyalty to Queen Victoria and
the Prince Of Wales. The English peo-
pie do not know me-"
Fifty years have passed since the
Danish princess made this modest esti-
mate Of herself. but each decade has
increased the popularity OF the danish
rose transplanted to bloom in English
air" Dickens and Stanley foretold that
the future Queen was something more
| than a pretty. attractive girl They
discerned character in the perfectly
nodded face and a heart OF sterling be-
meath her dignified exterior. Dean Stan
ley, a few weeks after the nuptials,
wrote rapturously of having administer
ed the holy communion to "the angel
| in the palace
Queen Alexandra's popularity never has
waned or fiuctuated. 1t has increased as
the years sped by. all the more SO be-
cause she always kept her balance
through fifty years OF an adulation such
as rarely is offered even to crowned
heads. Her interest in the sick poor,
which chiefly actuated the floral sales 10
celebrate the fftieth anniversary OF her
| arrival In England, began In her girlhood
| In the village Of Gjentofte. near the cas-
tie of Bernstorff. where she was her
| mothers right hand in ministering to the
| needs of the cottagers. And not all the
magnificent jewels which she received as
bridal presents gave her more heartfelt
pleasure than the simple gift which the
| village pastor brought in the name of
his flock to the loved young princess at
| the chateau, ere she left her native land.
| The present was simple enough-just a
| little pair OF china vases, but they were
| arranged with flowers and the Danish
colors in q basket in that simple but
| artistic way which appeals most to her.
Ere many months had passed the young
bride was fitting in and out OF the cot
tages at Sandringham, bringing sunshine
| into the hearts of those simple Norfolk
| folk In the then isolated parish by the
| lonely shore of the Wash. She would
prescribe the flannel to wrap about the
limbs of some old dame with the ''rheu-
mstics'' and send nourishing soup for the
invalid girl. Thus in ministratiSps TO the
poor at her gates Queen Alexandra began
her beneficent work in the land OF her
adoption.
| Wider philanthropic interests soon en-
gagged the attention of the young Prin-
cess of Wales, and never were charms
used to more beneficent purpose than
| during those first years, when ethe chance
OF a sight of her face created furore
OF interest whenever she appeared In
public. At that time society was begin
ming to take an interest in hospitals
| Florence Nightingale had reused the
I conscience OF the British nation during