Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)

Appearance and personality

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." When she was tsarevna, Thomas W. Knox met her at Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia's wedding and wrote favorably about her beauty compared to that of the bride, Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He wrote that Dagmar was "less inclined to stoutness than the bride, she does not display such a plumpness of shoulder, and her neck rises more swan-like and gives fuller play to her finely formed head, with its curly hair and Grecian outline of face." He also commented favorably on "her keen, clear, and flashing eyes."

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." She claimed that "for compactness of expression", Russian rivaled "Latin, and for the making of new words is equal to the Greek."

Dagmar was very fashionable. John Logan, a visitor to Russia, described her as "the best dressed woman in Europe". He claimed that Empress Elisabeth of Austria "excelled her in beauty" but that "no one touched" her "in frocks". 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."

Dagmar was very charming and likable. After meeting her, Thomas W. Knox wrote, "No wonder the emperor likes her, and no wonder the Russians like her. I like her, and I am neither emperor nor any other Russian, and never exchanged a thousand words with her in my life." Maria von Bock, the daughter of Pyotr Stolypin, wrote, "kind, amiable, simple in her discourse, Maria Feodorovna was an Empress from head to toe, combining an inborn majesty with such goodness that she was idolized by all who knew her." Meriel Buchanan wrote that she possessed a "gracious and delightful charm of manner." Andrew Dickson White, the U.S. minister to Russia, said that she was "graceful, with a most kindly face and manner" and that she was "in every way cordial and kindly." Nadine Wonar-Larsky, her lady-in-waiting, noted that "her smile cheered everyone and her gracious manner always suggested a touch of personal feeling which went straight to the hearts of her subjects. She also possessed that priceless royal gift of never forgetting a face or name."

Early life

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.

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.

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:I came here as if in a fever (...) I can not describe to you what came over me, when we approached Fredenborg and I finally saw the sweet Dagmar. How can I describe it? She is so beautiful, direct, intelligent, experienced, and yet shy at the same time. She is even more beautiful in reality than in the pictures we have seen so far.

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. In total, the betrothal gifts Dagmar received from her future in-laws cost 1.5 million rubles.

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." It is believed that she did it with the consent of her parents, but it is not known if it was at their request. Her appeal was in vain, but from that moment on she became known for her anti-Prussian views.

Second engagement and wedding

Alexander II of Russia and Maria Alexandrovna had grown fond of Dagmar, and they wanted her to marry their new heir, Tsarevich Alexander. In an affectionate letter, Alexander II told Dagmar that he hoped she would still consider herself a member of their family. 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." She answered that she could love no one but him, because he had been so close to his brother. Alexander recalled that "we both burst into tears... [and] I told her that my dear Nixa helped us much in this situation and that now of course he prays about our happiness." On 17 June, he proposed to her during a picnic to the beach at Hellebæk by the coast of the Øresund strait near Elsinore and received a yes. The engagement was announced on 23 June at Fredensborg Palace. Both Dagmar and Alexander quickly embraced the prospect of marrying each other, and were soon described as genuinely enthusiastic.

In the time leading up to Dagmar's departure to Russia, many festive events took place in Copenhagen, On 22 September 1866, Dagmar left Copenhagen on board the Danish royal yacht Slesvig escorted by the armoured frigate Peder Skram, and accompanied by her brother, Crown Prince Frederik. Hans Christian Andersen, who had occasionally been invited to tell stories to Dagmar and her siblings when they were children, was among the crowd which flocked to the quay in order to see her off. 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."

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,

Around 12.30 my wife came to the bedroom and lay down on a couch where everything was prepared. The pains became stronger and stronger, and Minny suffered very much. Papa ... helped me hold my darling the whole time. Finally, at 2.30, the last minute came and suddenly all her suffering stopped. God sent us a son whom we named Nicholas. What a joy it was! It is impossible to imagine. I sprang to embrace my darling wife, and she instantly became cheerful and was terribly happy. I had been weeping like a child but suddenly my heart became light and cheerful.

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,

.. this bothered me immensely! The Emperor held me by one hand, my Sasha by the other, whilst every so often the Empress kissed me.

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."

The family often visited her many relatives across Europe. She spent periods of time in Greece, England, and Denmark, on trips with family to her various siblings. Her children thus became close friends with their first cousins, the children of the King of Greece, Prince of Wales (future King of Great Britain and Ireland), and Crown Prince of Denmark (future King of Denmark). Through these relationships, Maria arranged the marriage between her brother George I of Greece and her cousin-in-law Olga Constantinovna of Russia. 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."

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.

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 Empress, she assumed patronage of the Marie Institutions that her mother-in-law had run: It encompassed 450 charitable establishments. In 1882, she founded many establishments called Marie schools to give young girls an elementary education. She was the patroness of the Russian Red Cross Society. During a cholera epidemic in the late 1870s, she visited the sick in hospitals.

Empress Dowager

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." Richard Harding Davis, an American journalist, was surprised that she "was more loudly greeted than either the Emperor or the Czarina."

Once the death of Alexander III had receded, Maria again took a brighter view of the future. "Everything will be all right", as she said. Maria continued to live in the Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg and at Gatchina Palace.

As a new Imperial Train was constructed for Nicholas II in time for his coronation, Alexander III's "Temporary Imperial Train" (composed of the cars that had survived the Borki disaster and a few converted standard passenger cars) was transferred to the Empress Dowager's personal use.

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. Maria herself estimated that her son was of a weak character and that it was better that he was influenced by her than someone worse. Her daughter Olga remarked upon her influence: "she had never before taken the least interest … now she felt it was her duty. Her personality was magnetic and her zest of activity was incredible. She had her finger on every educational pulse in the empire. She would work her secretaries to shreds, but she did not spare herself. Even when bored in committee she never looked bored. Her manner and, above all, her tact conquered everybody". After the death of her spouse, Maria came to be convinced that Russia needed reforms to avoid a revolution. According to courtier Paul Benckendorff there was a scene when Maria asked her son not to appoint the conservative Viktor von Wahl as minister for internal affairs: "during which one [the empress dowager] almost threw herself at his [the tsar's] knees' begging him not to make this appointment and to choose someone who could make concessions. She said that if Nicholas did not agree, she would 'leave for Denmark, and then without me here let them twist your head around'". Nicholas did appoint her favored candidate in 1904, and she reportedly told that candidate, the liberal reformist Pyotr Sviatopolk-Mirsky, to accept by saying: "You must fulfil my son's wish; If you do, I will give you a kiss". After the first few years of his reign, Nicholas II replaced his mother as his political confidant and adviser with his wife, Empress Alexandra.

World War I

In May 1914, Maria Feodorovna travelled to England to visit her sister. 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) than Gatchina. During the war she served as president of Russia's Red Cross. As she had done a decade earlier in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, she also financed a sanitary train.

During the war, there was great concern within the imperial house about the influence Empress Alexandra had upon state affairs through the Tsar, and the influence Grigori Rasputin was believed to have upon her, as it was considered to provoke the public and endanger the safety of the imperial throne and the survival of the monarchy.

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. The plan was reportedly for Maria to make a final ultimatum to the Tsar to banish Rasputin unless he wished for her to leave the capital, which would be the signal to unleash the coup. Exactly how she planned to replace her son is unconfirmed, but two versions are available: first, that Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia would take power in Maria's name, and that she herself would thereafter become sole empress of Russia (like Catherine the Great did over 100 years prior); the other version further claims that Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia would replace the Tsar with his son, the heir to the throne, Maria's grandson Alexei, upon which Maria and Paul Alexandrovich would share power as regents during his minority.

The anti-German pair

Maria and her sister Alexandra, who was married to King Edward VII, were anti-German and made no secret of their feelings. 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 Alexandra's nephew, 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".

Death and burial

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.

In November 1925, Maria's favourite sister, Queen Alexandra, died. That was the last loss that she could bear. "She was ready to meet her Creator," wrote her son-in-law, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, about Dowager Empress Maria's last years. On 13 October 1928 at Hvidøre near Copenhagen, in a house she had once shared with her sister Queen Alexandra, Dowager Empress Maria died at the age of 80 of heart failure, having outlived four of her six children. Following services in Copenhagen's Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Church, the Empress was interred at Roskilde Cathedral on the island of Zealand, the traditional burial site for Danish monarchs since the 15th century.

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

Russian Empire:

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

Kingdom of Portugal: Dame 1st Class of the Order of Queen Saint Isabel, 25 May 1881

Kingdom of Prussia: Dame 1st Class of the Order of Louise

Spain: Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa, 6 January 1887

Empire of Japan: Grand Cordon (Paulownia) of the Order of the Precious Crown, 23 January 1889