Hello, lovely people!
Welcome back to my channel, and it is wonderful to see you again after my little break.
I did miss your little faces.
but thankfully, having a break has given me much more energy and I'm excited for all the videos
that I have planned for the coming weeks!
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not only for the #disabilityhistorymonth I have coming up,
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Today we're going to be celebrating the life of one of my favourite people:
a highly fashionable deaf and disabled princess who became Queen of England.
Princess Alexandra dealt with multiple disabilities, and adapted her clothing to fit them,
incidentally creating fashion crazes along the way.
A stylish, disabled princess?
Clearly, she had to be my first profile.
This video is part of a series I'm making in celebration of the UK's disability history month.
You can find links to the other videos in this series in the description down below.
There will also be two highly exciting livestreams.
Next week's is coming to you from LA!
Where I'll be with my wife.
Sunning.
And seeing Stevie
and doing some work.
But mainly sunning.
Because this morning I woke up to snow
and I need the sun.
More information on those coming very soon on the Community Tab on my channel.
But you can also follow me for updates on Twitter,
where I will tell you everything that's going on.
If you really enjoy this video, then please do let me know; suggest who you'd like to see profiled,
and I'll continue the series at a later date.
On with the video.
Actually, no, OK, quick thing.
Last thing.
I am deaf and I struggle to pronounce words I didn't hear before I went deaf,
so I apologise in advance that my fifteen-year-old self
did not take the time to speak to more Danish people before becoming deaf.
Alexandra of Denmark was born on December 1st, 1844, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
[Struggling with pronunciation] Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
[Attempts pronunciation again]
I mean, something there was right.
And her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel.
Much like our current English Queen, Elizabeth the Second,
Alexandra's father was not originally born to be king.
Indeed, whilst Elizabeth’s father had been a second son,
Alexandra’s was from a relatively obscure branch of the Danish Royal Family.
However,
when the senior Royal line produced no heirs, Prince Christian was chosen to succeed his distant cousin
in 1852,
and eventually took the throne in 1863,
when Alexandra was nineteen years old;
which was the same year she married Albert Edward, Prince of Wales,
heir apparent to his mother, Queen Victoria of England.
She was the second eldest of six children,
who all went onto marry into great European Royal families,
leading to her parents being nicknamed the Grandmother and Grandfather of Europe.
The descendants included:
The Royal Family of Denmark;
Belgium; Norway; Spain; Luxembourg;
Romania; Greece; the United Kingdom;
and the last Tsar of Russia.
When Princess Alexandra was sixteen, she met Albert Edward –
Bertie to friends and family –
the Prince of Wales; the heir to Queen Victoria’s throne.
One story of their meeting was that whilst Prince Albert Edward was out shooting with a party of friends,
he happened to see a photograph of her one of his friends was carrying
and immediately arranged a tour of the continent, with a special stop in Denmark to meet her.
He met her at the Cathedral of Worms in Southern Germany,
and whilst he talked to the princess,
his personal servant took pity on a nervous-looking man wandering around the Cathedral.
Thinking that man was part of the retinue with the princess,
the servant spent some time chatting with him.
Later he learned the anxious man was actually King Christian of Denmark,
Princess Alexandra’s father, who was probably feeling like any parent watching his child go on her first date.
The official story of their first meeting is less romantic, though.
Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, had a, um…
a wandering eye.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were most concerned about this
and enlisted the help of their daughter,
Crown Princess Viktoria of Prussia, to hunt for a wife.
Princess Viktoria favoured Princess Alexandra for the match, and introduced the young couple.
But Queen Victoria was less enthusiastic,
as when the German Confederation invaded and annexed Schleswig-Holstein,
Queen Victoria adamantly took the German's side,
and Alexandra and her family just as adamantly embraced the Danish position.
I mean, probably because they were Danish and they'd just been invaded...
[Sarcastically] What was she expecting?
Said philandering prince took some time to break off his affair with Nelly Clifton,
but finally on September 9th, 1962 (1862),
he proposed to Alexandra at the Laeken Royal Palace,
the home of King Leopold I of Belgium, his great-uncle.
Potentially, this was prompted by his father Prince Albert's death the year before,
as Queen Victoria blamed her son for her husband's death.
The story goes that Prince Albert had travelled down to Cambridge to have a serious discussion with Prince Albert Edward
about his indiscreet affair with an actress that could possibly bring shame to the Royal Family.
Father and son had taken a long walk in the rain to discuss the issue,
and shortly after returning home, Prince Albert became seriously ill and died a few weeks later.
At the time, it was believed that he died from typhoid fever,
but later medical research by historians shows that in reality,
he had been suffering from long-term stomach problems for several years,
and his cause of death was probably abdominal cancer.
So it was not Bertie's fault.
It was cancer's fault.
Didn't stop Victoria blaming her son for decades, though.
Although the wild playboy thing probably didn't help him.
And Queen Victoria did want him to become more responsible and mature,
so maybe she was...shaming him...
into being good?
No, there's--there's no justification for that.
The wedding of Prince Albert Edward and Princess Alexandra took place on March 10th, 1863,
at the St. George Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Because the Royal court was still in mourning following the death of Prince Albert,
the wedding was a solemn occasion.
Queen Victoria refused to take part in the ceremony,
and watched from a secluded area in the St. George's Chapel.
I mean, there's being in mourning and then there's just being rude.
The women attending were only allowed to wear lilac, grey or mauve,
and the venue was so small that only Alexandra's closest family were invited.
Which rather annoyed them all.
Prince Albert Edward and Alexandra settled into Marlborough House as their London home,
and chose Sandringham House in Norfolk as a country retreat,
which later became Princess Alexandra's favourite house.
The newlyweds entertained lavishly,
and Queen Victoria was...rather disapproving of what she considered their "excessive socialising."
Jesus, is this entire video just me throwing shade on Queen Victoria?
During his marriage, Albert Edward continued his relationships with other women,
including Lily Langtry, the actress; Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick;
Agnes Keyser, humanitarian;
American, Jennie Jerome, who was the future mother of Winston Churchill; and society matron, Alice Keppel.
Alexandra knew about most of her husband's relationships,
and bore them with dignity, remarking: "He loved me the most."
Contemporaries reported that Alexandra was dignified, and charming in public,
and affectionate and fun-loving in private.
She enjoyed activities including dancing, ice skating,
and was also a skilled horsewoman and tandem driver.
Much to Queen Victoria's dismay, Princess Alexandra also enjoyed hunting,
although the Queen unsuccessfully tried to make her refrain from it.
Oh, Queen Victoria...
But, what was truly extraordinary about Alexandra
was the way she styled through her many physical challenges.
She inherited a condition called otosclerosis,
which is an abnormal growth of bone in the middle ear,
that worsened her hearing as she aged,
leaving her profoundly deaf as an adult.
Although she tried to learn lipreading, she didn't have much success with it,
and took to relying on her not-small charm,
smiling winningly whenever she didn't understand something.
Which was often.
[Sarcastically] Gosh, can't relate.
Since Queen Victoria was still Regent, her heir, Albert Edward, was styled as "Prince of Wales."
Note: "Prince of Wales" does not actually mean he is a Prince of Wales, the country specifically.
There actually haven't been any of those since the 13th century, when Edward I, King of England,
wiped out the Welsh Royals, took over the country, and then invested his own son as Prince of Wales, so...
Since the 14th century, it's been used as a dynastic title,
granted to the heir apparent to the English, but later British, monarchy.
I-I mean, it's a way to honour the Welsh and make them feel included, although...
they probably didn't feel too great about having their own Royals killed.
So Alexandra became Princess of Wales, and eventually the longest title-holder in British history,
as Queen Victoria lived for another thirty-eight years...
However, the Queen continued her self-imposed period of prolonged mourning,
and withdrew from society, so she was rarely seen in public for royal functions.
The British public were more than a little outraged at being - they felt - abandoned,
and so it fell to Bertie and Alexandra to step in to the official role.
The Royal couple acted as the Queen's representatives for official functions,
and together proved to be extremely popular with the public.
The Queen reported that Alexandra never complained about her round of opening bazaars;
attending concerts; and visiting hospitals in the Queen's palace.
She wrote that Alexandra spared her, "the strain and fatigue of functions."
"She opens bazaars, attends concerts, visits hospitals in my place,
and she not only never complains,
but endeavours to prove that she has enjoyed what to another would be a tiresome duty."
Dear Lord, Victoria!
And this is all despite Alexandra's deteriorating hearing.
Just smile and wave.
Alexandra selected the London Hospital for special attention, visiting it frequently.
During one of her visits, she met Joseph Merrick, better known as...
No, not better known as -
the Elephant Man,
who was a patient there.
She was noted for her kind heart and good will towards all people -
essential in a princess.
In political matters, though, she failed miserably.
Her attempts to influence her husband and the British ministers
to favour Danish and Greek interests over those of Germany and Prussia
failed miserably.
Clearly, she wanted to be supportive of her father, the King of Denmark, and her brother, the King of Greece,
but she also vehemently hated her nephew Wilhelm II,
the German Emperor and King of Prussia, who she is said to have found untrustworthy.
As a result of her interference, Alexandra was *restricted* [laughs]
to uncontroversial public duties, including charity organisations.
Biographers agree that Alexandra's marriage to Bertie was in many ways a happy one;
however, some have asserted that Albert Edward did not give his wife as much
*attention* as she would have liked,
and that they gradually became estranged until his attack of typhoid fever -
the disease which was believed to have killed his father - in late 1871
brought about reconciliation.
Other biographers point to the fact they had six children during this time.
Six!
I don't think they were that estranged.
But, as all the history buffs in the comments will tell you,
it's can be very hard to get to the core of people's emotions in the past,
especially since we can't even do that particularly well with the people who are here right now.
We do know, however, that the Prince was severely criticized from many quarters of society
for his apparent lack of interest in Alexandra's very serious illness with rheumatic fever
(although some modern doctors do believe that was polio),
and this warped her spine, worsened her hearing, and left her in excruciating pain.
But she styled it out.
Turning what some people may have seen as flaws and weaknesses
into reasons to create new fashions.
Indeed, some women were so taken by her,
they took to walking with sticks and a limp just to look more like the princess.
From the beginning, Alexandra enjoyed immense popularity with the British public,
much like her twentieth century counterpart, Princess Diana.
Her beauty captivated her subjects, but
her enormous charm made them love her.
As the years passed, Alexandra endured her husband's philandering with...dignity,
which further endeared her to the British public.
For a long time Alexandra was in fact the most popular member of the Royal Family,
and at times the crowds would cheer her and boo the Prince of Wales.
She was never denigrated in scandal sheets the way that Queen Victoria and Prince Bertie were,
so...you go, Alexandra!
That rheumatic fever I mentioned earlier was not a small thing, however;
it was so serious that doctors asked Queen Victoria and Princess Alexandra's own parents to come to her bedside,
expecting her not to make it through.
Again, however, Prince Bertie carried on his social life and flirtations.
What a...what a great husband.
Alexandra survived, but recovered as a changed person, both physically and emotionally.
She'd been an active, outgoing young woman,
but now had a noticeable limp, and her illness had aggravated her otosclerosis,
and she became increasingly deaf.
It's an abnormal growth of bone in the middle ear,
because you remember that there are all those tiny bones inside there?
And if one of them starts to grow too much or get a bit warped, it throws the whole thing off.
The resulting loss in hearing for Princess Alexandra was profound.
According to biographers, she tried hard to learn to lipread, but she was really struggling with it,
and surrounded by men with beards, which...we don't need.
She was isolated socially from many of her family and friends,
but found companionship in her young children and pets,
who don't judge; they just accept.
As Princess of Wales, Alexandra was already a fashion icon,
implementing the British clothing industry with her elegant style of dress
that was copied by society women, who demanded to emulate her style.
Princess Alexandra had arrived in England at barely eighteen-years-old for her wedding,
and she was very beautiful,
and tall and slim in stature.
Due to a childhood surgery, she had a scar on her neck,
which some have suggested was thanks to a tracheotomy,
while she had scarlet fever,
but...it's really hard to find information about that.
Boy did I look through the internet.
I am five biographies and many online articles in,
and no one can give me a definitive answer.
She was left with a small scar on her neck, and she hid this by wearing day dresses with high collars
and multiple layers of pearls or diamond necklaces in the evening.
These were known as Collier de Chien
(she says, butchering the French pronunciation once again)
- meaning a collar necklace.
This style of jewellery became very popular with society ladies,
and a fashion trend was soon started that survived for fifty years!
The illness warped her spine, and as a result she walked with a distinct limp.
Alexandra attempted to adapt her clothing, to distract from the physical disability and minimise attention...
but the public noticed anyway.
The ladies so admired everything about Princess Alexandra
that they were soon emulating the limp by wearing special pairs of shoes
at different heel heights, all walking with canes.
See? Disabled people:
Fashionable.
Stylish.
After Queen Victoria died in January, 1901,
Albert Edward became King Edward VII,
and Alexandra became his Queen-Empress Consort.
The Emperor/Empress thing is to do with India,
and that is a whole different kettle of highly political historical fish
that you shouldn't eat or fish unsustainably
or at all...
I've taken this metaphor too far.
The Royal couple were crowned together in August 1902,
with the Archbishop of Canterbury crowning Edward and the Archbishop of York crowning Alexandra.
In 1910, Alexandra set a precedent
when she became the first Queen Consort to visit the British House of Commons during a debate
For two hours, she sat in the Ladies' Gallery that overlooked the Chamber,
while Members of Parliament debated the Parliamentary Bill
which would remove the right to the House of Lords to veto legislation -
a Bill that Alexandra opposed.
Even though a Bill did pass to [inaudible] their rights to veto,
it instead turned it into the right to delay.
And that's really important that their power remained,
as they went on to veto various new benefit rules that would have disproportionately affected disabled people.
Good job, House of Lords.
After that long wait as Prince of Wales, King Edward VII only reigned for ten years,
dying of a heart attack on May 6th, 1910,
as Queen Alexandra personally administered oxygen from a gas cylinder
to help him to breathe.
The Queen observed that she felt like she had been turned into stone,
unable to cry; unable to grasp the meaning of it all.
Bertie and Alexandra's son George became the new king,
and later in the year, Queen Alexandra moved out of Buckingham Palace to Marlborough House
keeping Sandringham in Norfolk as her residence.
She spent her days surrounded by grandchildren,
and continued to work at her charitable organisations.
One of her favourite charities was Alexandra Rose Day,
where women volunteers sold artificial roses that disabled people made to help raise funds and aid hospitals.
She also learnt to fingerspell during this time
[fingerspells A, B, C, D]
and regularly attended deaf services at St. Saviour's Church in London.
Although in some ways, she was frugal,
she loved a good party, and to be honest, I...
also love being in a situation where no one else can hear, so...
She also had her old stockings done for re-use, and
recycled her dresses to make furniture covers,
but when her comptroller protested her more extravagant spending,
she would just pretend to have not heard the complaints.
[Sarcastically] Can't relate.
Over the following years, Alexandra's heath slowly declined
and she developed severe rheumatism in her legs
and her eyesight began to fail, as well.
On November 20th, 1925,
at the age of eighty, she suffered a fatal heart attack at Sandringham House in Norfolk.
She was buried on November 28th, 1925,
beside her husband at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
According to some sources, when Diana became Princess of Wales on July 29th,
1981,
a well-wisher handed her a biography of Queen Alexandra.
They believed it would be a helpful guide to coping with her new position.
The same one that Alexandra had assumed and filled so successfully.
She left a lasting legacy in other ways;
there are at least sixty-seven rows and streets in the Greater London area alone
called Alexandra Road; Alexandra Avenue; Alexandra Gardens;
Alexandra Close; or Alexandra Street.
And they are all named after her!
I really hope you've enjoyed this video and mini-biography.
I know it's quite different to other things on the channel,
but if you'd like to see more, please do let me know.
I also wanted to do something that was quite calming and
...just used my voice,
because I know a lot of people have said that they would like that kind of thing.
So, let me know if that is maybe something you'd like to see more of.
Next Friday, Claud and I will be livestreaming from LA and answering your questions
on how my disability affects our marriage.
So do not miss that.
Again, follow me on Twitter and also on our couple's account on Instagram
for updates on the exact time of the stream.
Then the week after that on the Friday, I will be profiling another disabled figure from history,
so do let me know what you really liked about this one
and want to see more of and want to see less of.
I'm working on learning to accept constructive criticism.
So. Construct me!
I'll see you on Monday, when I'll be talking about growing up within Quakerism.
In the meantime, here are some other amazing historical figures with disabilities you can read up on.