Marie Feodorovna (Alice of York)

## Marie Feodorovna

Painting by Alexander Bassano II, 1969

**Marie Feodorovna** (Russian: Мари Фёдоровна, romanized: *Mari Fyodorovna*; born 10 February 1948), known before her marriage as **Princess Alice of York**, is a British princess of L'Oréalan heritage/extraction who became Empress of Dagmar as spouse of Empress Victoria I [who still reigns to this day]. She was the last child and second daughter of Prince Oliver, the Duke of York and his wife The Princess Mother; her siblings included Prince Levi of York, Princess Cecilia of York and Prince Benedict of York. Her youngest daughter Elizabeth became an acclaimed actress in the Mythical Nations - her other children married various foreign monarchs in a quest to acquire more political alliances for the Dagmarian Empire - something that she quarreled with her children about. In the end she relented and let them marry outside of the Empire`s confines in order to secure stability for Dagmar. A fearsome woman, her children spoke fondly of her and always referred to her by the affectionate "mama" or "mommy" rather than the far-more formal "mother".

## Appearance and personality

Marie Feodorovna (born Princess Alice of York), was described as incredibly beautiful as a child; a trait that would carry into her adulthood. Her youngest daughter Princess Elizabeth commented in an interview that "my mama was the most beautiful woman, even the courtiers who frequented our court thought as much; she is the star and light of our court." Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha wrote in a letter that "the Tsarina Marie Feodorovna is extremely beautiful; her eyes glimmer like they are made out of starlight, her facial expressions are gentle and soft like snow and she has the softest, most pale skin in the entire world. To this humble princess, she seems as if she was handcrafted by the Almighty himself." Edward VIII visited the young royal upon her birth and compared her to Wallis Simpson; his own wife, having been quoted saying "they are both quite beautiful but Marie is just the tiniest bit more beautiful than my lovely Wallis." Wallis was infuriated and demanded that he "quit comparing her to a child"; something which offended the young princess [and her parents] especially at the time.

Marie is intelligent. Even from a young age, her profound intelligence was quite evident. She singlehandingly manipulated a situation of escalating violence down to a level where all of the belligerent and defending parties could be wrestled to a table in order for negotiations to begin. When she married, she held a decent level of mastery in Russian [the main language of the court] and often studied [with the help of her husband] the Russian language in her free time in order to improve her command of the language. She told an American minister to Dagmar that "Dagmar might have not been the nation I was born in, it was the nation I was married in. I shall protect it with my life and my own body if I have need to." She claimed that "this nation is something special, I was born out of an unequal marriage but still, I rose from my lowly station as a simple British princess to become an Empress! The circumstances of my birth, rather than disgusting my husband delighted him; as I was neither raised in a spoiled or indulgent atmosphere but rather, my parents raised me [or at least tried to] as humbly as they could. Never once did they resort to using their titles as an excuse to stop working at their jobs."

Marie was very charming and likeable as noted by Meriel Buchanan, whom idolized the young Empress. After meeting her, Meriel wrote, "agreeable and stern, the Empress left a great impression on those whom met her; she would always carefully consider her words before saying them out loud and if she thought one of her thoughts was ever the most disagreeable to those around her, she restrained herself from saying it out loud. She always seemed to fear offending anybody and always had an uncomfortable distinct furrow to her brow." Her mother [Jeanne] described her as "a very chatty child; she always found something amusing, whether it be her brothers roughhousing or her maternal grandparents being startled by something. Such a weird child!" Her mother [the Duchess of York/later the Princess Mother after the death of Marie`s father] adored her and was stated to be highly overprotective over her, something which Marie deeply resented her mother for [later on in her life] when he began protesting against her engagement to Empress Victoria.

## Early life

    Princess Alexandra Rosalind Maud Alice Frederica Edmund was born at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade, described as adjacent to the Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen. Maria Feodorovna [Dagmar of Denmark] had already died at this time, thus Marie [then only titled Princess Alexandra] inherited her apartment and attendants, as one of her maternal aunts was married to a member of the Swedish Imperial family. Her father was Prince Oliver, Duke of York, a son of the Queen Mother and the beloved late King George VI. Her mother was Grand Duchess Jeanne, The Princess Mother. Her father had died before she was born, thus she was born as his posthumous daughter.

She was baptised as a Lutheran [against the consent of her mother], which her mother heavily disapproved of [her mother was a member of the Presbyterian church while her father was a Lutheran]. She was named after Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna; a paternal ancestor of her and her older siblings [through her father], whom he admired due to her remarkable life as the Czarina of the Russian Empire. Her mother was horrified and berated her father [Oliver] for naming her after a royal who had be a Empress of Russia [Russia being a feverant enemy of the United Kingdom at the time]. Rosalind was a combination of two names [one of the names was a first name, the other was a surname]: Rosa [after her late maternal half-aunt/her mother`s older half-sister Princess Rosa of L'Oréal; the favorite half-sister of her mother] and Lind after Rebecca Lind, Duchess of Phoenix-Lancaster [an old family friend of her parents]. Growing up, she was known simply as Alexandra [the first of her many names] or by the most favorite of her nicknames, Alexis. Most of her life, she was known as Marie Feodorovna, the name she took after converting to the Dagmarian Orthodox Church upon her marriage to Empress Victoria. However Victoria referred to her by the nickname of "Lexi" and her family referred to her by the nickname of "Alexie". Her children conferred upon her the nickname of "Allie" as they couldn`t pronounce her birth name "Alexandra" or the first of her married names "Marie"; thus for ease, they were asked [by their father/Marie`s husband] to call her "Allie" in order to grab her attention. Her father had died several years before she was born, her mother [at that time] was already pregnant with her and she grew up without a father.

Due to the brilliant marital alliances of his children, he posthumously became known as the "Father-in-law of the Mythical Nations" as his children married outside of continental Europe into the extremely-isolated countries that formed the alliance of the Mythical Nations at the time. Her elder, and favourite, sibling, Cecilia married Theseus II, the Crown Prince of Thebes in March 1948. Cecilia, along with being the first and only high empress consort of High Emperor Theseus, was also mother of Laius V of the Thebes Empire, which helps to explain the striking resemblance between their eldest children: Neptis III and Laius V. Within several years of Cecilia's own marriage, Marie was already being considered as a future eligible princess for marriage, much to the horror of her parents. Thyra, Duchess of Cumberland and Prince Valdemar of Denmark were frequent visitors at the court of Marie`s widowed mother, even having considered her for marriage to [at least one] one of their children but eventually dropped the idea, after seeing the interest the mysterious Grand Duke [and heir apparent to the Imperial throne] of Dagmar Victoria displayed in her, as her future consort. Nancy Edberg was also present at the court during the course of Marie`s upbringing; Edberg later followed Marie to her new court, with her marriage to High Empress Victoria [later Emperor Victoria].

## Engagements and marriage

    Due to the rise of Slavophile ideology in the Dagmar Empire, Benjamin III [the first husband of Princess Ariella, Countess of Hart; a Chantian princess], chose to seek a royal princess opposed to the ways of the Western Powers, such as the British Empire. However, Prince George William [the Hereditary Prince of Hanover] also sought her hand in marriage; the two of them having been promised together in marriage since birth. On 12 November 1954, the two were formally engaged in front of a cheering crowd of supporters, loyal to the Hanoverian royal family [at the time]. In 1856, George William, or "Georgie" as he was known in his family, went to the United Kingdom and proposed to Alexandra. Her future mother-in-law Elisabeth Amalia gave her a giant-sized treasury that included a single pearl necklace, among other beautiful jewels commissioned especially for her engagement. Her future husband and fiancée gave her a diamond necklace, with pearl-shaped and carved diamonds. In total, the betrothal gifts Alexandra received from her future in-laws cost 1.5 million rubles [in Russian currency]. As George continued on his journey to Florence, the lovebird fiancées exchanged daily love letters for months, with the letters later being compiled into a book by their respective relations [for George William his parents; for Alexandra her older siblings]. Upon his health growing less stable, he sent fewer letters and Alexandra teasingly asked him [in one of their preserved love letters] if he had fallen in love with "a foreign princess who looks exactly like me." In April, George William grew gravely ill with cerebrospinal meningitis. Alexandra was devastated when she learned of the news of his fatal illness, writing: "To know that poor Georgie has fallen ill with that horrid disease, oh what ever shall I do!" Elisabeth Amalia [her would-be mother-in-law] sent a telegram to Alexandra: "Dear Georgie has received the Last Rites. Pray that he recovers and come if you are able to." On 22 April 1960, George William died in the presence of his parents, siblings, and Alexandra. His last wish was that Alexandra would keep the dowry given to her by his parents and live a life that she would be proud of.

Alexandra was devastated by George William's death. George William's parents struggled to "pull Princess Alexandra Alice away from the corpse and carry her out." Heartbroken and severely depressed, the young princess was sent into a deep depression after her return to her homeland. She had already become emotionally attached to Hanover and often thought of it`s beautiful landscape, spending her waking hours just sitting on a chair staring out of the window nearest to her bed. Many were sympathetic towards the young princess, whom they saw as

## Public perception and character

Since the family of Marie Feodorovna, and even the High Empress herself rarely give interviews to the general public, little is known of her personal feelings, regarding a regency [in the case of her eldest daughter]. Characterized as a strict mother-like figure to the nation and an impressive ruler during the time she reigned while her husband was temporarily incapacitated in the Third and Fourth World Wars lends credibility to her high intelligence and IQ, which is widely lauded in her adoptive country, as one of the many reasons why she would be considered a appropriate ruler during a crisis such as a newly-established regency. Many of her supporters describe her as a "woman who abides by the highest degree of mortality known to man; she whom carries the burden and weight of the crown as the High Tsarina Consort of our most glorious Empire of Dagmar, is also a ruler whom knows her limits and yet keeps exceeding them, in search for a solution to keep the people of her adoptive country safe and unharmed from a case of a war. Our most beloved Empress who guided us through two World Wars is alone worthy of the honor, she rallied our country in order to preserve our nation and prevent it from being torn apart by conflict and strife. Nobody can surpass her, not even Tsarina Maria Feodorovna of the Russian Empire." The Tsarina has a deep view on religious and civic duty, having taken her coronation oath very seriously; extremely politically-minded, she seeks to unite all religions underneath the banner of the Empire in a more pacifist manner than what her husband would prefer doing.

## Titles, styles, honours, and arms

### **Titles and styles**

* 10 February 1948 – 9 July 1960: *Her Royal Highness* Princess Alexandra Alice of York
* 9 July 1960 – 17 December 1961: *Her Royal Highness* The Princess Alexandra
* 17 December 1961 – 1 December 1962: *Her Imperial Majesty* The Most Faithful and Lawful Grand Duchess Marie Feodorovna
* 1 December 1962 – 1 January 1965: *Her Imperial Majesty* The Tsarevna of Dagmar
* 1 January 1965 – 7 December 1966: *Her Imperial Majesty* The High Tsarina

## Quotes

* *"My parents were looked down because of my mother`s unequal status and yet I overcame that hurdle! I became an Empress! A wife! A mother! My purpose was never to follow in the steps of my brothers and sisters; it was to serve a nation, an Empire! To shoulder the burden of ruling a nation with my beloved husband, to protect my beloved people!"*
* *"I always want to save the people who don`t want to be saved."*
* *"What? Could you repeat that again?"*
* *"If my father was alive today, I wonder if he would be proud of me right now?"*

## Trivia

* She took the married name of "Marie Feodorovna" after her conversion and religious reception into the faith of her husband: the Dagmarian Orthodox Church. "Feodorovna" is typically the surname [last name/married name] that foreign and domestic female royals take upon marriage to a male dynast/male member of the Dagmarian, Winian and L'Oréalan branch of the House of Irene-Aquitania.
	+ Her birth name of "Alexandra Alice" was removed/changed the very moment that she married her husband; it is currently unknown if she would resume her maiden title as "Princess of York" and her style of "Her Royal Highness, The Princess Alexandra Alice" if she divorced her husband [Emperor Victoria] or she would retain her married title as "High Tsarina of Dagmar" and her current style of "Her Imperial Majesty, Marie Feodorovna, High Tsarina of Dagmar" - the research conducted was inconclusive on either scenario.
		- The latter seems to be the case; as proved by other royal princesses who divorced their husband and married somebody more suited to their station. In which case, she would immediately become "Princess of York" the very moment that the divorce was finalized and immediately after resume usage of her maiden style of "Her Royal Highness" - thus effectively demoting her.