 With the death of her mother-in-law, Queen Victoria, in 1901, Alexandra became queen-empress consort to the new king. Just two months later, her surviving son George and daughter-in-law Mary left on an extensive tour of the empire, leaving their young children in the care of Alexandra and Edward, who doted on their grandchildren. On George's return, preparations for Edward and Alexandra's coronation were well in hand but just a few days before the scheduled coronation in June 1902 the king became seriously ill with appendicitis. Alexandra deputised for him at a military parade, and attended the Royal Ascot races without him, in an attempt to prevent public alarm. Eventually, the coronation had to be postponed and Edward had an operation performed by Frederick Treves of the London Hospital to drain the infected appendix. After his recovery, Alexandra and Edward were crowned together in August: he by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple, and she by the Archbishop of York, William Dalrymple Maclagan.
