On October 13, 1866, in Moscow, the betrothal ceremony of Alexander III and Danish Princess Dagmar, known in Orthodoxy as Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, took place.

They met when Minnie (Dagmar’s nickname in the Romanov family) was engaged to Alexander’s older brother, Nicholas. However, Nicholas unexpectedly fell ill and died. Two years later, Alexander met Dagmar again in Europe—and fell in love!

It was a remarkably successful union. Living together for almost 30 years, the couple managed to maintain a genuine affection for each other. One their six children became the last Russian emperor, Nicholas II.

During the October events of 1917, Maria Feodorovna was on vacation in Crimea, which likely saved her life. After Nicholas II's abdication, she stayed in Crimea with her daughters, Xenia and Olga, and their husbands—Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Colonel Kulikovsky—effectively under house arrest.

Deeply affected by the news of Nicholas II’s brutal execution, Maria Feodorovna continued to believe for a long time that her son and his family had been "miraculously saved" and forbade her relatives from holding memorial services for them.

On April 11, 1919, British King George V, the empress’s nephew, sent the warship Marlborough to Crimea to rescue her. Maria Feodorovna was 72 years old at the time, having lived in Russia for about 52 years, and it took considerable effort from her relatives to convince her to leave.

Dagmar died in Copenhagen at the age of 80 on the anniversary of her betrothal to Alexander III—October 13, 1928—and was buried in the royal tomb of the Danish kings. On September 28, 2006, Maria Feodorovna’s remains were reinterred in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

#TodayInHistory

⚡️ InfoDefenseENGLISH

Web  | VK |  X | Odysee | InfoDefAll