Maud of Great Britain and Ireland
Princess Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland VA (born November 26, 1869 in Marlborough House , London , † November 20, 1938 ) was a British princess and became the first queen of the independent Kingdom of Norway through her marriage to Prince Carl of Denmark . She is the grandmother of the reigning King Harald V of Norway.
Childhood and youth
Maud was born on November 26, 1869 in Marlborough House, London. She was the youngest daughter of King Edward VII and Princess Alexandra of Denmark . Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were her paternal grandparents. On her mother's side, she was the granddaughter of King Christian IX. of Denmark and Princess Louise of Hesse . Maud had three brothers, Albert Victor (1864–1892), George (1865–1936), who was crowned King of Great Britain as George V in 1911 , and Alexander John (1871–1871), as well as two sisters, Louise (1867– 1931) and Victoria (1868–1935), called Toria .
On December 24, 1869, Maud was baptized at Marlborough House by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Charles Thomas Longley. Among her nine godparents were Leopold, Duke of Albany , Crown Princess Louise of Denmark , her maternal aunt Princess Dagmar of Denmark (later Tsarina Maria Fyodorovna of Russia) and King Charles XV. of Sweden. Maud grew up relatively relaxed with her two sisters. The princess was her father's favorite child and was considered to be very cocky and lively. Horse riding and sport in general were among her hobbies early on. The boyish Maud was also called Harry within the family . It was given this nickname after Admiral Henry Keppel , a friend of Edward's, who described his friend's behavior in the Crimean War as extremely courageous. Together with her sisters and mother, she visited her grandparents in Denmark every year. She later accompanied her mother on cruises to Norway and the Mediterranean. She was one of the bridesmaids at the wedding of her aunt Beatrice and Prince Heinrich Moritz von Battenberg in 1885 and 1893 at that of her brother George and Princess Maria von Teck .
In 1887 Queen Victoria awarded her three granddaughters Louise, Victoria and Maud the Order of the Crown of India . She also received the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert first class and was the holder of the Order of Malta.
Marriage and Life to the Coronation
Maud married quite late for her class. Originally there was a marriage with Prince Francis von Teck , the brother of her sister-in-law Maria. Francis lost a lot of money gambling and horse racing and was in constant financial distress. Marriage to a princess from the British aristocracy could have been beneficial for him, but he was not interested.
On July 22, 1896, she married her first cousin, Prince Carl of Denmark (1872-1957), in the chapel of Buckingham Palace . He was the son of her uncle Crown Prince Friedrich, who later became Friedrich VIII , as well as Crown Princess Louise and also the grandson of the Danish King Christian IX. The bride's father made Appleton House on the Sandringham Estate available to the couple for his stays in Great Britain . On July 2, 1903, their only child, Prince Alexander (1903-1991), was born. Prince Carl was a lieutenant in the Danish Navy and so they lived in Denmark until 1905.
In 1905 the Norwegian-Swedish state union broke up and Norway declared itself independent. A committee then selected Carl as a candidate for the king. After a referendum, 79 percent of Norway's eligible population voted for a constitutional monarchy , and Carl officially received Norwegian royal dignity on November 18.
On November 25, 1905, the royal family reached the Norwegian capital Kristiania ( Oslo ) on board the yacht Dannebrog , where Carl swore his oath on the constitution. On June 22, 1906, Maud and Carl were crowned in Trondheim's Nidaros Cathedral . From then on, Carl carried the name Haakon VII.
Queen of Norway
Maud quickly got used to her new position as queen. Maud played a strong and dominant role at court and in the family, but a discreet one in public.
During the first years in Norway, the royal couple had themselves photographed in Norwegian costume and practiced the national sport, skiing . This should also improve their public image. Wearing used clothes and jewelry by the queen also contributed to this. Maud soon started doing charitable work. She supported charitable causes, in particular she wanted to help animals and children. She gave a lot of encouragement to artists and musicians in their work. One of her projects was the Dronningens Hjelpekomité (Queen's Aid Committee) during the First World War . The Queen supported feminists like Katti Anker Møller and their projects like a house for pregnant and unmarried mothers. Maud did her chores conscientiously and with great care.
Despite the fact that she now lived in Norway, she continued to refer to the UK as her true home and visited her family there every year. During her visits, she stayed at Appleton House. She still preferred to raise her son in Norwegian and learned to ski herself. In public she was described as reserved, in private life she literally blossomed and liked to play one or two pranks. She never got involved in politics, nor did she exert much influence on her husband.
death
Her last public appearance was at the coronation of her nephew King George VI . at Westminster Abbey in May 1937. In October 1938 Maud came to Great Britain on a visit. At first she stayed in Sandringham, but then moved to a hotel in London's West End. She fell ill and was taken to a nursing home, where an operation was performed on her abdomen on November 16, 1938. King Haakon had gone straight to her in London. Although she survived the operation, Queen Maud died of heart failure on November 20, 1938, shortly before her 69th birthday. She was buried in the royal mausoleum of Akershus Castle.
The Queen Maud Land , the Queen Maud Mountains , the Maud Rise (indirect), the Maud Seamount (indirect) and the Maud Subglacial Basin (indirect) in the Antarctic and the Queen Maud Gulf in the Arctic are named after her . Her great-great-granddaughter Maud Behn, daughter of Princess Märtha Louise , also bears her name.
title
- November 6, 1869 to July 22, 1896: Her Royal Highness Princess Maud of Wales
- July 22, 1896 to November 18, 1905: Hendes Kongelige Højhed Prinsesse Maud af Danmark
- November 18, 1905 to November 20, 1938: Hennes Majestæt Dronning Maud av Norge (Bokmål) or Hennar Majestæt Dronning Maud av Noreg (Nynorsk)
Web links
- Newspaper article about Maud of Great Britain and Ireland in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
- Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria (Norwegian)
- [1] (Norwegian)
- [2] (Norwegian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Yvonne's Royalty Home Page: Royal Christenings. (No longer available online.) In: users.uniserve.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011 ; Retrieved April 2, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ NPG x87212; 'The Duke and Duchess of York and Bridesmaids' - Portrait - National Portrait Gallery. In: www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved April 2, 2016 .
- ^ Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria - Norsk biografisk leksikon. In: Store norske leksikon. Retrieved April 2, 2016 .
- ↑ Katti Anker Møller in the English Wikipedia
- ^ Queen Maud Undergoes Operation - The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld.: 1933-1954) - 17 Nov 1938. In: Trove. Retrieved April 2, 2016 .
- ^ DEATH OF QUEEN - Norwegian Ruler SISTER OF GEORGE V - The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld.: 1933-1954) - 21 Nov 1938. In: Trove. Retrieved April 2, 2016 .
| predecessor | Office | Successor |
|---|---|---|
| Sophia of Nassau | Queen of Norway 1905–1938 |
Sonja from Norway |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Maud of Great Britain and Ireland |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and Queen of Norway |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 26, 1869 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Marlborough House, London |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 20, 1938 |
| Place of death | London |