The Life of Queen Alexandra: From Copenhagen to Windsor

Alexandra was made of sterner stuff

Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and the son and heir of Queen Victoria was a notorious rake.

Read more: The Life of Queen Alexandra: From Copenhagen to Windsor

His parents recognized this when he was very young and arranged a marriage, hoping to keep him from getting into further trouble. The wife chosen for him was the eldest daughter of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel.  Her other siblings were George (George I of Greece), Dagmar (later Empress of all the Russias via her marriage to Czar Alexander III, Thyra (Crown Princess of Hanover) and Prince Valdemar of Denmark.

Alexandra Caroline Mary Charlotte Louisa Julia of Denmark was born in Copenhagen on December 1, 1844 at 6:15 in the morning. Her rising symbol t 18 Scorpio 57 worked well for her: “fasting pilgrims outside the castle of the king” as she and Edward spent much of their lives apart — her in Sandringham with her children and retinue and he in London with his coterie of ladies.

Edward and Alexandra were married, March 10, 1863 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. She was in a magnificent gown by Worth of Paris (see the photo above), him in all his military regalia. Duty bound, despite their personal differences, the couple had six children, including Prince Albert Victor.

While Queen Victoria chose the day, a month after her own to Albert, calendar wise, the chart was perfect for the bride. Notice the red arrow where her new Ascendant of 28 Cancer 44 is conjunct her natal Part of Fortune in the 8th house as her maidenhood ends, and a new life as queen begins.

Her Nodes surprisingly stay the same at Gemini 11 [Sabian Symbol — a baptism beginning something momentous, a sacred induction]. Her New MC is now opposite her Transiting Sun. This supports the major rite of passage (the religious conversion) she was undertaking to fulfill her Part of Fortune. Incidentally, that Arabian part is conjunct her natal Uranus in the fourth house. This made her wish to be the queen become true but alas with a wrinkle — her husband would never be true (Mars as the T-Cross leg on the seventh house cusp).

Alexandra, though already knew that; his scandals had filled the London, and Copenhagen, papers but she probably did hope with time and children they would grow to love each other.

Edward’s peccadilloes

From the top left are Daisy Greville, Lilly Langtry, and Jennie Jerome. The bottom two portraits are of Agnes Keyser, and Alice Keppel.

Throughout their marriage, Edward had several well-known mistresses —  the actress Daisy Greville, herself the descendant of two of England’s King’s paramours, and for whom it is thought Daisy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was named ; Lily Langtry the actress, Agnes Keyser, the only unmarried woman during their affair, American Jennie Jerome, the future mother of Winston Churchill and whom Alexandra was very fond.

The most famous of all was Alice Keppel, the great grandmother of the current Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles,(now Queen Camilla). Rumour was this, and not Camilla’s Roman Catholicism was a major reason that Queen Elizabeth II objected to her son’s liaison’s to he because of the distress her great grandmother had caused the Queen’s own. That is more plausible as Camilla’ has always agreed to convert from Roman Catholicism to the Church of England to marry Prince Charles just like Meghan Markle had converted from Judaism to marry the then Prince Harry.

The rumors about Queen Alexandra and Mrs. Alice Keppel and the dying king have filled the gossip pages for over a hundred years. Cobbling together from many sites, we know he was on holiday with Alice Keppel, in Biarritz in France when he was first taken ill with a chill.

When the king arrived back in England near the end of April, 1910, his ailment turned to bronchitis, but the king ignored the “cold” and went out on May 2nd with Alice as though nothing was wrong. It was Alice who told the king’s doctors to contact Queen Alexandra who was abroad and return home quickly. By the time Alexandra got the notice, it was apparent to all in the castle, the king was dying.

When Alexandra arrived at Windsor, she took control of the situation, and Alice was relegated to bystander and the two rarely spoke. It did not really matter at that point, for the King was in a coma and happily unaware of the friction between the women.

The newspapers reported that King Edward VII died after a “three days” bout of pneumonia on 6 May 1910.

Shortly afterward, the Keppels left England for a tour of India and settled in Florence, Italy, returning to London only with World War II, and then returning to their palazzo after the victory. She and her husband, George, are buried there.

Alexandra’s Scars

She had a scar (Saturn 03 Aquarius 17 in the 2nd, Taurus rules the neck) and wore high-necked gowns or jeweled necklaces similar to her portrait above.

On Edward’s coronation day she wore the gorgeous Dagmar necklace, a wedding gift to Alexandra from Frederik VII of Denmark, made especially made for the occasion (see the closeup below). Alexandra loved it so much, she had a paste copy made for her burial.

She died at Sandringham House on November 20, 1925, fifteen years after her husband, from a heart attack and is buried in Windsor Castle next to her husband, the king.