- Empress of Russia 1881-1894
- Grand Duke Paul was born on 3 October [O.S. 21 September] 1860 at the Catherine Palace, in Tsarskoye Selo.[1][2] He was the eighth and youngest child of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and his first wife, Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, née Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.[1].
- Daughter of Christian IX and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. Sister of King Frederik VIII,Queen Alexandra, King George of Greece, Prinsesse Thyra, and Prins Valdemar.
- Son of Tsar Alexander II.
- After having been buried in Denmark, her last wish was granted in 2006
- she was then re-buried next to her beloved husband in Russia.
- Grand Duke Paul's early years were spent at Tsarskoye Selo and at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, with vacations at Livadia, the family's Crimean retreat. As time passed and the Empress' health dictated her to avoid the harsh Russian climate, the Tsarina spent long sojourns abroad with her three youngest children in Jugenheim outside Darmstadt, and the winters in the south of France.[5] Paul was a protected delicate child; he never had a robust constitution.[7].
- Has 6 children: Nicholas (1868-1918), Alexander (1869-1870), George (1871-1899), Xenia (1875-1960), Michael (1878-1918) and Olga (1882-1960).
- Two of her sons, Tsar Nicholas II, Grand Duke Michael, and her grandchildren - Grand Duchess Olga, Grand Duchess Tatiana, Grand Duchess Maria, Grand Duchess Anastasia, and Tsarevitch Aleksey Nikolaeyvitch Romanov - were killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.
- Grandchildren: Grand Duchess Olga (1895-1918), Grand Duchess Tatiana (1897-1918), Grand Duchess Maria (1899-1918), Grand Duchess Anastasia (1901-1918), and Tsarevich Alexei (1904-1918, Nicholas' children). Princess Irina (1895-1970), Prince Andrei (1897-1981), Prince Feodor (1898-1968), Prince Nikita (1900-1974), Prince Dmitri (1901-1980), Prince Rostislav (1902-1978) and Prince Vasili (1907 - 23 June 1989, Xenia's children). George Mikhailovich, Count Brasov (1910-1931, Michael's son), Tikhon Nikolaevich Kulikovsky (1917-1993) and Guri Nikolaevich Kulikovsky (1919-1984, Olga's sons).
- He was from birth a Guard cornet in an Infantry Regiment.[3] However, his career advanced more slowly than that of his elder brothers. He became a Lieutenant in January 1874, but as he was still too young, he was the only one of Tsar Alexander II's sons not to take part in the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78).[3].
- Between March 1913 and July 1918, eight members of her family were murdered: his elder brother King George of Greece (1845-1913), her sons Tsar Nicholas II (1868-1918) and Grand Duke Michael (1878-1918) and her grandchildren Grand Duchess Olga (1895-1918), Grand Duchess Tatiana (1897-1918), Grand Duchess Maria (1899-1918), Grand Duchess Anastasia (1901-1918) and Tsarevitch Aleksey Nikolaeyvitch Romanov (1904-1918).
- Great-grandmother of Olga Romanoff. Great-great grandmother of Francis Mathew.
- Sister-in-law of King Edward VII.
- When Maria's eldest sister Alexandra visited Gatchina in July 1894, she was surprised to see how weak her brother-in-law Alexander III had become. At the time Maria had long known that he was ill and did not have long left. She now turned her attention to her eldest son, the future Nicholas II, for it was on him that both her personal future and the future of the dynasty now depended.
- The biggest threat to the lives of the tsar and his family, however, came not from terrorists, but from a derailment of the imperial train in the fall of 1888. Maria and her family had been at lunch in the dining car when the train jumped the tracks and slid down an embankment, causing the roof of the dining car to nearly cave in on them.
- During her upbringing, Dagmar, together with her sister Alexandra, was given swimming lessons by the Swedish pioneer of swimming for women, Nancy Edberg;[1] she would later welcome Edberg to Russia, where she came on royal scholarship to hold swimming lessons for women.
- 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. In May 1896, she travelled to Moscow for the coronation of Nicholas and Alexandra.
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