Marie Feodorovna and Her Electric Bills

Empress Maria Feodorovna. Image from Wikimedia Commons

The Romanovs of Russia were overthrown in 1917 and it was only in 1919 that Empress Maria Feodorovna finally decided to leave the Crimea on board HMS Marlborough. She briefly stayed in Malta before moving to England where she lived with her sister, Queen Alexandra. She later transferred totCopenhagen where she occupied a wing of the Amalienborg Palace. However, her stay in the Danish capital was only short-lived. King Christian X was not too welcoming of her aunt and a rift eventually occurred between the two.

While Maria Feodorovna was accustomed to her luxurious life in Russia, Christian X and his court were rather parsimonious. Many royal courts, particularly the Scandinavian houses, observed post-war austerity measures. Christian X was also not happy of the fact that the empress dowager kept her fabulous jewelry right under her bed. She refused to sell not one item no matter how straightened her circumstances have become.

King Christian X. Image from Wikimedia Commons

King Christian X took every opportunity to humiliate the dowager empress. Once he accused his aunt of pawning some objet d'arts at Amalienborg, earning the ire of the long-suffering lady. One night in 1920, she and her daughter, Grand Duchess Olga, were at their sitting room when the king’s footman entered their apartment. “His Majesty has sent me over to ask you to switch off all these lights,” the footman said. “His Majesty said to mention to you that the electricity bill he had to pay recently was excessive.” Marie Feodorovna “paled” and gave the royal servant a cold stare. With the footman standing still, she called for her own servant, demanding that he “light the palace from cellar to attic.” ^{1, 2}

Empress Maria Feodorovna eventually left Amalienborg and settled in her seaside villa in Hvidore.

[1] Massie, Robert K. (2012). Nicholas and Alexandra. Modern Library

[2] Gelardi, Julia P. (2011). From Splendor to Revolution: The Romanov Women, 1847—1928. St. Martin’s Press