empresses

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:30:26 +0100

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

The Queen at the World's Fair, New York City, 1939.
Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions; Empress consort of India
Tenure	11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952
Coronation	12 May 1937

Spouse	George VI
Issue
Elizabeth II Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Full name
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon
House	House of Windsor (by marriage)
Father	Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Mother	Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck
Born	4 August 1900(1900-08-04) London or Hitchin
Died	30 March 2002 (aged 101) Royal Lodge, Windsor
Burial	9 April 2002 St George's Chapel, Windsor

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Elizabeth Angela Marguerite; 4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions from 1936 until 1952 as the wife of King George VI. After her husband's death, she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother,^[1]^[2]^[3] to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. She was the last Queen of Ireland and Empress of India.

Born into a family of Scottish nobility (her father inherited the Earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1904), she came to prominence in 1923 when she married Albert, Duke of York, the second son of George V and Queen Mary. As Duchess of York, she – along with her husband and their two daughters Elizabeth and Margaret – embodied traditional ideas of family and public service.^[4] She undertook a variety of public engagements, and became known as the "Smiling Duchess" because of her consistent public expression.^[5]

In 1936, her husband unexpectedly became King when her brother-in-law, Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. As Queen Consort, Elizabeth accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America in the run-up to World War II. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public, and in recognition of her role as a propaganda tool, Adolf Hitler described her as "the most dangerous woman in Europe".^[6] After the war, her husband's health deteriorated and she was widowed at the age of 51 in 1952.

On the death of her mother-in-law Queen Mary in 1953, with her brother-in-law living abroad and her elder daughter Queen at the age of 25, Elizabeth became the senior member of the Royal Family and assumed a position as family matriarch. In her later years, she was a consistently popular member of the family, when other members were suffering from low levels of public approval.

Only after the illness and death of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret, in early 2002 did she appear to grow frail. She died seven weeks after Margaret, at the age of 101.

Early life

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude George Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis, (later 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne), and his wife, Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck. Her mother was descended from British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, and Governor-General of India Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, who was the elder brother of another Prime Minister, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

The location of her birth remains uncertain, but reputedly she was born either in her parents' London home at Belgrave Mansions, Grosvenor Gardens, or in a horse-drawn ambulance on the way to the hospital.^[7] Her birth was registered at Hitchin, Hertfordshire,^[8] near the Strathmores' country house, St Paul's Walden Bury, which was also given as her birthplace in the census the following year.^[9] She was christened there on 23 September 1900, in the local parish church.

She spent much of her childhood at St Paul's Walden and at Glamis Castle, the Earl's ancestral home in Glamis, Angus, Scotland. She was educated at home by a governess until the age of 8, and was fond of field sports, ponies and dogs.^[10] When she started school in London, she astonished her teachers by precociously beginning an essay with two Greek words from Xenophon's Anabasis. Her best subjects were literature and scripture. After returning to private education under a German governess she passed the Oxford Local Examination with distinction aged 13.^[11]

On her fourteenth birthday, Britain declared war on Germany. Her elder brother, Fergus, an officer in the Black Watch Regiment, was killed in action in France at the Battle of Loos in 1915. Another brother, Michael, was reported missing in action in May 1917. He had actually been captured after being wounded and remained in a prisoner of war camp for the rest of the war. Glamis was turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, which Elizabeth helped to run. One of the soldiers she treated wrote in her autograph book that she was to be "Hung, drawn, & quartered ... Hung in diamonds, drawn in a coach and four, and quartered in the best house in the land."^[12]

Marriage to Prince Albert

Detail of "The Duchess of York" by Philip de László, 1925.

Prince Albert, Duke of York – "Bertie" to the family – was the second son of George V. He initially proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, but she turned him down, being "afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to".^[13] When he declared he would marry no other, his mother, Queen Mary, visited Glamis to see for herself the girl who had stolen her son's heart. She became convinced that Elizabeth was "the one girl who could make Bertie happy", but nevertheless refused to interfere.^[14]

Eventually Elizabeth agreed to marry Albert, despite her misgivings about royal life.^[15] The engagement was announced in January 1923. Albert's freedom in choosing Elizabeth, legally a commoner though the daughter of a peer, was considered a gesture in favour of political modernisation; previously, princes were expected to marry princesses from other royal families.^[16] They married on 26 April 1923, at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth laid her bouquet at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior on her way into the Abbey,^[17] a gesture which every royal bride since has copied, though subsequent brides have chosen to do this on the way back from the altar rather than to it. She became styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York. They honeymooned at Polesden Lacey, a manor house in Surrey, and then went to Scotland.^[18]

In 1926, the couple had their first child, Princess Elizabeth – "Lilibet" to the family – who would later become Queen Elizabeth II. Another daughter, Margaret Rose, was born four years later. The Duke and Duchess of York travelled to Australia to open Parliament House in Canberra in 1927.^[19]

Accession and abdication of Edward VIII

On 20 January 1936, King George V died and the succession passed to Albert's brother, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, who became King Edward VIII. George had expressed reservations about his eldest child, "I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne."^[20]

As if granting his father's wish, Edward forced a constitutional crisis by insisting on marrying the American divorcée Mrs Wallis Simpson. Although legally Edward could have married Mrs Simpson and remained king, his ministers believed that the people would never accept her as queen and advised against the marriage. As a constitutional monarch, Edward was obliged to accept ministerial advice.^[21] Rather than abandon his plans to marry Mrs Simpson, Edward chose to abdicate in favour of Albert,^[22] who reluctantly became king in his place. Albert took the regnal name George VI. He and Elizabeth were crowned King and Queen of Great Britain, Ireland and the British dominions beyond the seas, and Emperor and Empress of India on 12 May 1937, the date already nominated for the coronation of Edward VIII. Elizabeth's crown was made of platinum and contained the Koh-i-Noor diamond.^[23]

Edward and Mrs Simpson married, and became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, but while Edward was a Royal Highness, George VI decided to withhold the style from the Duchess, a decision which Elizabeth supported.^[24] Elizabeth was later quoted as referring to the Duchess as "that woman".^[25]^{[N 1]} For her part, the Duchess referred to Elizabeth as "Cookie".^[27]

Queen consort to George VI (1936–1952)

Royal tour of Canada and the United States in 1939

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit the Canadian Pavilion at the World's Fair, New York City.

In June 1939, Elizabeth's husband became the first reigning King to tour Canada, as well as the United States. According to the official Royal Tour historian Gustave Lanctot, George VI was to be present in Canada as a living example of Canada's status as an independent kingdom. During the tour of the United States, the King and Queen were accompanied by Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, as the sole Minister in Attendance, rather than by a British minister, by way of reinforcing that their visit to the United States was a visit from Canada.^[28]

The extensive tour took them across Canada from coast to coast and back, with a brief detour into the United States, where they visited the Roosevelts in the White House and at their Hudson Valley estate. According to an often-told story, during one of the earliest of the royal couple's repeated encounters with the crowds, a Second Boer War veteran asked Elizabeth, "Are you Scots or are you English?" She replied, "I am a Canadian!"^[29] Their reception by the Canadian and U.S. public was extremely enthusiastic,^[30] and dissipated in large measure any residual feeling that George and Elizabeth were in any way a lesser substitute for Edward.^[31] Elizabeth told Prime Minister Mackenzie King, "that tour made us",^[32] and she returned to Canada frequently both on official tours and privately.^[33]

Further information: History of monarchy in Canada

World War II

During World War II, the King and Queen became symbols of the nation's resistance. Shortly after the declaration of war, The Queen's Book of the Red Cross was conceived. Fifty authors and artists contributed to the book, which was fronted by Cecil Beaton's portrait of the Queen and was sold in aid of the Red Cross.^[34] Elizabeth publicly refused to leave London or send the children to Canada, even during the Blitz, when she was advised by the Cabinet to do so. She said, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave the King. And the King will never leave."^[35]

She often made visits to parts of London that were targeted by the German Luftwaffe, in particular the East End, near London's docks. Her visits initially provoked hostility. Rubbish was thrown at her and the crowds jeered, in part because she dressed in expensive clothing which served to alienate her from those suffering the privations caused by the war.^[36] She explained that if the public came to see her they would wear their best clothes, so she should reciprocate in kind; Norman Hartnell dressed her in gentle colours and never black, in order to represent "the rainbow of hope".^[37] When Buckingham Palace itself took several hits during the height of the bombing, Elizabeth was able to say, "I'm glad we've been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face."^[38]

Though the King and Queen spent the working day at Buckingham Palace, partly for security and family reasons they stayed at night at Windsor Castle (about 20 miles [35 kilometres] west of central London) with the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. The Palace had lost much of its staff to the army, and most of the rooms were shut.^[39] Because of fears of imminent invasion during the "Phony War" the Queen was given revolver training.^[40]

Because of her effect on British morale, Adolf Hitler is said to have called her "the most dangerous woman in Europe".^[6] However, prior to the war both she and her husband, like most of Parliament and the British public, had been supporters of appeasement and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, believing after the experience of the First World War that war had to be avoided at all costs. After the resignation of Chamberlain, the King asked Winston Churchill to form a government. Although the King was initially reluctant to support Churchill, in due course both the King and Queen came to respect and admire him for what they perceived to be his courage and solidarity.^[41]^[42]

Queen Mother (1952–2002)

] New role in widowhood

On 6 February 1952, King George VI died of lung cancer. Shortly afterward, Elizabeth began to be styled Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. This style was adopted because the normal style for the widow of a king, "Queen Elizabeth", would have been too similar to the style of her elder daughter, now Queen Elizabeth II.^[43] Popularly, she simply became "the Queen Mother" or "the Queen Mum".

She was devastated by the King's death and retired to Scotland; however, after a meeting with Prime Minister Winston Churchill, she broke her retirement and resumed her public duties.^[44] Eventually she became just as busy as Queen Mother as she had been as Queen. In July 1953, she undertook her first overseas visit since the funeral, laying the foundation stone in Mount Pleasant of the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland – the current University of Zimbabwe.^[45]

The widowed queen also oversaw the restoration of the remote Castle of Mey on the Caithness coast of Scotland, which she used to "get away from everything"^[46] for three weeks in August and ten days in October each year.^[47] Inspired by the amateur jockey Lord Mildmay,^[48] she developed an interest in horse racing that continued for the rest of her life, owning the winners of approximately 500 races. Her distinctive light blue colours were carried by horses such as Special Cargo, the winner of the 1984 Whitbread Gold Cup and The Argonaut. Although (contrary to rumour) she never placed bets, she did have the racing commentaries piped direct to her London residence, Clarence House, so she could follow the races.^[49]

Before the marriage of Lady Diana Spencer to her grandson Prince Charles, and after Diana's death, Queen Elizabeth – known for her personal and public charm – was by far the most popular member of the British Royal Family.^[13] Her signature dress of large upturned hat with netting and dresses with draped panels of fabric became a distinctive personal style. She had a discerning love of the arts, and purchased works by Claude Monet, Augustus John and Peter Carl Fabergé, among others.

Centenarian

The Queen Mother reads a telegram from her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, on her 100th birthday.

In her later years, the Queen Mother became known for her longevity. Her hundredth birthday—4 August 2000—was celebrated in a number of ways: a parade that celebrated the highlights of her life included contributions from Norman Wisdom and John Mills;^[50] her image appeared on a special commemorative £20 note issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland;^[51] and she attended a lunch at the Guildhall, London, at which George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, accidentally attempted to drink her glass of wine. Her quick admonition of "That's mine!" caused widespread amusement.^[52]

In December 2001, the Queen Mother had a fall in which she fractured her pelvis. Even so, she insisted on standing for the National Anthem during the memorial service for her husband on 6 February the following year.^[53] Just three days later, her second daughter Princess Margaret died. On 13 February 2002, at Sandringham House, the Queen Mother fell and cut her arm. A doctor and an ambulance with a resuscitation unit (the latter only being there as a precaution) were called to Sandringham, where the wound on the Queen Mother's arm was dressed.^[54] Despite this fall, the Queen Mother was still keen to attend Margaret's funeral at St George's Chapel, Windsor, two days later on Friday of that week. The Queen and the rest of the royal family were greatly concerned about the journey the Queen Mother was facing to get from Norfolk to Windsor.^[55] Nevertheless, she made the journey but insisted that she be shielded from the press, so that no photographs of her in a wheelchair could be taken.^[55]

Death

The Queen Mother's funeral carriage escorted by the Queen's Guard.

On 30 March 2002, at 3:15 p.m., the Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep at the Royal Lodge, Windsor, with her surviving daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, at her bedside. She had been suffering from a cold for the last four months of her life.^[54] She was 101 years old, and at the time of her death was the longest-lived member of the royal family in British history. This record was broken on 24 July 2003, by her last surviving sister-in-law Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, who died aged 102 on 29 October 2004.

Elizabeth grew camellias in every one of her gardens, and as her body was taken from the Royal Lodge, Windsor to lie in state at Westminster Hall, camellias from her own gardens were placed on top of the flag-draped coffin.^[56] More than 200,000 people over three days filed past as she lay in state in Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster. Members of the household cavalry and other branches of the armed forces stood guard at the four corners of the catafalque. At one point, the Queen Mother's four grandsons Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Viscount Linley mounted the guard as a mark of respect known as the Vigil of the Princes—a very high honour only bestowed once before, at King George V's lying in state.

On the day of the Queen Mother's funeral, 9 April, more than a million people filled the area outside Westminster Abbey and along the 23-mile (37 km) route from central London to her final resting place beside her husband and younger daughter in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.^[57] At her request, after her funeral the wreath that had lain atop her coffin was placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, a gesture that echoed her wedding-day tribute.^[58]

Public perception

Despite being regarded as one of the most popular members of the Royal Family in recent times who helped to stabilise the popularity of the monarchy as a whole,^[59] Elizabeth was subject to various degrees of criticism during her life. Among the most serious relates to perceived partiality in relation to the appeasement debate in the 1930s. Upon Neville Chamberlain's return from Munich in 1938, he was invited onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace to receive acclamation from a crowd of well-wishers. While broadly popular among the general public, Chamberlain's policy towards Hitler was the subject of some opposition in the House of Commons, which led historian John Grigg to describe the King's behaviour in associating himself so prominently with a politician as "the most unconstitutional act by a British sovereign in the present century".^[60] However, historians have also argued that the King only ever followed ministerial advice and acted as he was constitutionally bound to do.^[61] In 1945, Churchill was invited onto the balcony in a similar gesture.

During the 1939 Royal Tour of North America, U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt said that Elizabeth was "a little self-consciously regal".^[62] During a visit to London in 1948 she observed, "[Elizabeth and her family] are nice people but so far removed from real life, it seems."^[63]

Kitty Kelley, a controversial writer, and others have alleged that during World War II Elizabeth did not abide by the rationing regulations to which the rest of the population was subject.^[64]^[65] However, this point is contradicted by the official records;^[66]^[67] Eleanor Roosevelt during her stay at Buckingham Palace during the war reported expressly on the rationed food served in the Palace and the limited bathwater that was permitted.^[68]

Kelley also alleged that Elizabeth used racist slurs to refer to black people,^[64] a claim strongly denied by Major Colin Burgess.^[69] Major Burgess was the husband of Elizabeth Burgess, the mixed-race secretary who accused members of the Prince of Wales's Household of racial abuse.^[70] Queen Elizabeth made no racist public comments. Woodrow Wyatt records in his diary that when he expressed the view that non-white countries have nothing in common with "us", she told him, "I am very keen on the Commonwealth. They're all like us."^[71] However, she did distrust Germans; she told Woodrow Wyatt, "Never trust them, never trust them."^[72] While she may have held such views, it has been argued that they were normal for British people of her generation and upbringing, who had experienced two vicious wars with Germany.^[73]

Her political views were never publicly disclosed, though a letter she wrote in 1947 described Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee's "high hopes of a socialist heaven on earth" as fading and presumably describes those who voted for him as "poor people, so many half-educated and bemused. I do love them."^[74] She told the Duchess of Grafton, "I love communists".^[75] Woodrow Wyatt thought her "much more pro Conservative than the Queen or the Prince of Wales"^[76] but she later told him, "I like the dear old Labour Party."^[77]

In 1987, she was criticised when it emerged that two of her nieces, Katherine Bowes-Lyon and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon, had both been committed to a psychiatric hospital because they were severely handicapped. However, Burke's Peerage had listed the sisters as dead, apparently because their mother, Fenella (the Queen Mother's sister-in-law), "was 'extremely vague' when it came to filling in forms and might not have completed the paperwork for the family entry correctly".^[78] When Nerissa had died the year before, her grave was originally marked with a plastic tag and a serial number. The Queen Mother claimed that the news of their institutionalisation came as a surprise to her.^[79]

Legacy

Sir Hugh Casson described her vividly as like "a wave breaking on a rock, because although she is sweet and pretty and charming, she also has a basic streak of toughness and tenacity. ... when a wave breaks on a rock, it showers and sparkles with a brilliant play of foam and droplets in the sun, yet beneath is really hard, tough rock, fused, in her case, from strong principles, physical courage and a sense of duty."^[80] Elizabeth Alexeievna (Louise of Baden)

Elizabeth Alexeievna
Empress consort of All the Russias

Elizabeth Alexeievna by Madame Vigee Le Brun, 1795, Castle of Wolfsgarten. Elisabeth sent this portrait as a gift to her mother
Spouse	Alexander I
Issue
Maria Alexandrovna Elizabeth Alexandrovna
Father	Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden
Mother	Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt
Born	24 January 1779 Karlsruhe
Died	16 May 1826 Belev

Elizabeth Alexeievna (Russian: Елизавета Алексеевна) (13/24 January 1779 - 4 May/16 May, 1826) was the wife of emperor Alexander I of Russia.

Princess of Baden

Elizabeth Alexeievna was born in Karlsruhe, on 24 January, 1779 as Princess Louise Maria Auguste of Baden of the House of Zähringen. She was the third of the seven children of Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden and his wife Amelia Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her grandfathers were Charles Frederick, Margrave of Baden and Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Princess Louise of Baden grew up in a close, warm family environment. She would remain particularly attached to her mother, with whom she maintained an intimate correspondence until her death. (The Margravine of Baden outlived her daughter). Princess Louise was only twelve years old when her fate was determined. Empress Catherine II "the Great" of Russia was looking for a bride for her eldest grandson, the future Alexander I, and set her eyes on the Princesses of Baden. After receiving favorable impressions, Catherine invited Princess Louise and her younger sister Frederica, to Russia. In the fall of 1792, the two sisters arrived in St. Petersburg.

The Empress Catherine was delighted by Louise, finding her a model of beauty, charm, and honesty.^[1] Louise herself was attracted to Alexander; he was tall and handsome. At first, Alexander was shy with his future bride—very young and inexperienced, he did not know how to treat her—and she mistook his reserve for dislike. However, the young couple soon grew fond of each other. “ You tell me that I hold the happiness of a certain person in my hands,” she wrote to Alexander. “ If that is true, then his happiness is assured forever… this person loves me tenderly, and I love him in return, and that will be my happiness…you can be certain that I love you more than I ever can say,” she added. They were engaged in May 1793.

The Princess of Baden learned Russian, converted to the Orthodox Church, took the title of Grand Duchess of Russia and traded the name Louise Maria Auguste for Elizabeth Alexeievna. The wedding took place on 28 September 1793 .^[1] “It was a marriage between Psyche and Cupid” ^[1] Catherine wrote to the Prince of Ligne. Elizabeth was only fourteen, her husband a year older.

Grand Duchess of Russia

Elizabeth Alexeievna, praised for her beauty, would not find happiness in her marriage or fulfillment in her position in Russia

Very young when she was married, shy and naïve, Elizabeth Alexeievna was ill-prepared for her new position. She was overwhelmed by the splendor of the Russian Court and frightened by the vicious intrigues waged there with cold calculation.^[2] She was appalled by the intense sexual intrigues that flourished all around her in a court where adultery was an accepted form of entertainment. The Empress herself, Catherine II, set the example for the licentious ways of the court. Catherine’s II young lover, Platon Zubov, even tried to seduce Elizabeth Alexeievna.^[3]

The Grand Duchess felt lonely and homesick, particularly after her sister Frederica returned to Baden. Elizabeth was abandoned in an alien world where she could never be herself, even among her servants and ladies-in-waiting. The relationship with Alexander was her only source of solace. “Without my husband, who alone makes me happy, I should have died a thousand deaths”^[1]^[2]

The first years of the marriage were relatively happy, but the Grand Duchess disappointed Catherine II who did not live to see a son be born to the young couple. The death of Catherine the Great in November, 1796 brought Elizabeth’s father-in-law, Paul I, to the Russian throne. During the years of his reign, Elizabeth avoided Paul’s court.^[4] She utterly disliked her father-in-law, disapproved the injustices of his government and the bluntness of his character.

The first cracks in Elizabeth’s marriage began to appear. She did not find fulfillment for her romantic nature in a husband who neglected her. Elizabeth looked for emotional solace elsewhere. She first found refuge for her loneliness in a close intimate friendship with the beautiful Countess Golovina. Later she started a romantic liaison with Alexander’s best friend, the dashing and clever Polish Prince, Adam Czartoryski. Their relationship lasted for three years.

After more than five years of a childless marriage, on 29 May 1799, Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. At court, some attributed the paternity to the Polish Prince. The child had black hair and dark eyes and at the baptism, Tsar Paul I did not fail to remark his amazement that two blonde, blue eyed parents had had a dark haired child. Elizabeth Alexeievna soon lost both her lover and her daughter. Adam Czartoryski was sent in a diplomatic mission abroad and Elizabeth’s baby daughter did not live long. “As of this morning, I no longer have a child, she is dead” she wrote to her mother on 27 July 1800. “Not an hour of the day passes without my thinking of her, and certainly not a day without my giving her bitter tears. It cannot be otherwise so long as I live, even if she were to be replaced by two dozen children.”^[5]

Personality

Elizabeth Alexeievna was distinguished by a soft, melodious voice, and a beautiful oval face, with delicate features, a Greek profile, large almond-shaped blue eyes and curly ash blond hair, which she usually left floating on her shoulders. Her figure was elegant and regal in her carriage.

Charming, generous and intellectual, Elizabeth Alexeievna loved literature and the arts. Unfortunately, she possessed a shy, withdrawn personality which failed to endear her to either the Russian Court or her in-laws. She preferred simplicity and solitude to the pomp and ceremony of life at Court.

Her marriage also failed to bring her fulfillment. Although Elizabeth Alexeievna loved her husband, and encouraged him in many personal and political crises, Alexander neglected her. Their relationship was harmonious, but emotionally distant, with each engaging in love affairs outside their marriage.

Russian Empress

Elizabeth Alexeievna in 1814. Russian poet Alexander Pushkin dedicated her his poem I wasn't born to amuse the tsars(я не рожден царей забавить..).

The eccentricities of Tsar Paul I led to a plot to overthrow him and place Alexander on the Russian throne. Elizabeth was well aware of this scheme and on the night of Paul’s assassination, she was with her husband giving him support.

Once Alexander I became Emperor, Elizabeth Alexeievna encouraged him to leave behind the trauma of Paul’s I murder and dedicate himself to serve Russia. As Empress Consort, she took part in Court life and the duties of representation, but the first female rank in the Empire was reserved for her mother-in-law Maria Feodorovna.

Alexander I treated his wife indifferently, he was polite toward her in public ceremonies and made an effort to have his meals in her company. Elizabeth was too soft and placid to keep a hold on a restless and soul tortured man such as her husband.^[6] In 1803 Alexander began a love affair that would continue for more than fifteen years with the Polish Princess Maria Czetwertynska, wife of Prince Dmitri Naryshkin. Princess Maria Naryshkina flaunted her liaison at Court in a tasteless, blatant fashion.

Elizabeth Alexeievna, for her part, found solace in her relationship with Adam Czartorysky, who had returned to Russia at Alexander I’s ascension to the throne. This liaison ended when she started a love affair with a handsome staff-captain, Alexis Okhotnikov. All the correspondence between Elizabeth and Alexis Okhotnikov (and some of her diaries) were destroyed by the Emperor Nicholas I after her death.

The affair with Okhotnikov had a tragic end. The staff-captain died in 1807 after an attempt on his life. Many contemporaries considered that Alexander I or his brother Grand Duke Konstantin had ordered him killed.

On 16 November 1806, Elizabeth gave birth to a second daughter. There were rumors that the newborn, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Alexandrovna, was not a child of Emperor Alexander but of Okhotnikov. After his death, Elizabeth Alexeievna felt more abandoned than ever and poured out all her affection on her daughter Elizabeth, “ Lisinka.” Fifteen months later the little girl died suddenly of an infection blamed on teething. “Now,” wrote Elizabeth to her mother, “I am not longer good for anything in this world, my soul has no more strength to recover from this last blow.”^[7]

The death of their daughter temporarily brought husband and wife closer. Although Elizabeth Alexeievna was not yet thirty years old, neither she nor Alexander had further hopes of a family and they would have no more children.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Elizabeth Alexeievna was a reliable supporter of her husband’s policies as she had been in other personal and political crises.^[6] After the fall of Napoleon, she joined her husband and many of the crowned heads of Europe in the Congress of Vienna (1814), there she was reunited with her old paramour, Adam Czartorysky. He was still in love with her and forgave her past infidelity with Okhotnikov. Their re-encounter was short lived.

Once she reached forty, Elizabeth Alexeievna's beauty was largely faded; she left behind any romantic pretensions. Her husband also experienced a personal transformation that, drove the couple closer than they ever were. In 1819 Alexander I, immersed in religious mysticism, broke his long relationship with Maria Narishkina. From then on, husband and wife started to spend more time together. The Empress sympathized deeply with him and Alexander found her supportive when he lost his beloved natural daughter, Sophia. The marked reconciliation between the Emperor and the Empress caused general surprise “I am reduced to thinking of myself sometimes as Alexander’s mistress, or as if we had been married secretly...”^[8] Elizabeth wrote to her mother.

By 1825, Elizabeth Alexeievna's health was frail; she suffered from a lung condition and a nervous indisposition. The doctors recommended her to take a rest in a temperate climate and suggested the southern city of Taganrog , by the sea of Azov. With no comfortable Palace, the Imperial Couple were established in a modest house in Taganrog by 5 October. The were happy together living in intimate simplicity. On 17 November 1825 Alexander returned to Taganrog from visiting Crimea with a cold which developed into typhus, from which he died that December in the arms of his wife. Elizabeth was stricken by her loss, writing ‘I do not understand myself, I do not understand my destiny.” And later “ What am I to do with my will, which was entirely subjected to him, with my life, which I loved to devote to him?” ^[9]

Carpet on which Elizabeth Alexeievna stood to pray after death of Alexander I of Russia from Alexander I Palace in Taganrog. "Blessed Be the Place where You Prayed. 1826!"

The now-Dowager-Tsarina was too frail to come back to St. Petersburg for the funeral. When Elizabeth Alexeievna finally started her returning journey to the capital, she felt so sick that had to stop at Belev, Tula Province, on the road from Taganrog to St. Petersburg just a few hours before she was to meet her mother-in-law, who was coming south to greet her. In the early hours of 16 May 1826, towards four-thirty in the morning, when her lady’s maid went to check on the Empress, she found her dead in bed. Elizabeth Alexeievna had died of heart failure.

Three days after her husband’s death Elizabeth had written her mother, “Do not worry too much about me, but if I dared, I would like to follow the one who has been my very life.”

Children

Alexander I and Elizabeth Alexeievna had two daughters, both died in early childhood. Their common sorrow drew husband and wife closer together for a brief time.

Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (St.Petersburg 29 May 1799 - St. Petersburg 8 July 1800)
Elizabeth Alexandrovna of Russia (St. Petersburg 15 November 1806 - St. Petersburg 12 May 1808)

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lincoln, The Romanovs, p. 385
^ ^a ^b Lincoln, The Romanovs, p. 386
^ Lincoln, The Romanovs, p. 237
^ Bergamini, The Tragic Dinasty, p. 267
^ Troyat,, Alexander of Russia, p. 45
^ ^a ^b Bergamini, The Tragic Dinasty, p. 299
^ Troyat, Alexander of Russia, p. 110
^ Troyat, Alexander of Russia, p. 279
^ Troyat, Alexander of Russia, p. 292

References

Bergamini, John, The Tragic Dynasty: A History of The Romanovs, Konecky&Konecky, ISBN 1-56852-160-X
Lincoln, W. Bruce, The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias, Anchor, ISBN 0-385-27908-6.
Troyat, Henri, Alexander of Russia, E.P Dutton, Inc, ISBN 0-525-24144-2
Troyat, Henri, Catherine the Great, Plume, ISBN 0-452-01120-5

Russian royalty
Elizabeth Alexeievna (Louise of Baden) House of Baden Cadet branch of the House of Zähringen Born: 24 January 1779 Died: 16 May 1826
Preceded by Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg	Empress Consort of Russia 1801 – 1825	Succeeded by Charlotte of Prussia

Empress Elizabeth of Bavaria

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:18:13 +0100

Elisabeth of Bavaria

For the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, also born Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, see Elisabeth of Bavaria (1876–1965).

For women with similar names, see Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation) and Elisabeth of Wittelsbach.

This article is about the empress consort. For other uses of Sissi, see Sissi (disambiguation).

Elisabeth of Bavaria

Elisabeth as the Queen of Hungary.
Empress consort of Austria; Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia
Tenure	24 April 1854 - 10 September 1898
Coronation	8 June 1867 (Hungary)

Spouse	Francis Joseph I of Austria
Issue
Archduchess Sophie Archduchess Gisela Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria Archduchess Marie-Valerie
House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine House of Wittelsbach
Father	Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria
Mother	Princess Ludovika of Bavaria
Born	24 December 1837(1837-12-24) Munich
Died	10 September 1898 (aged 60) Geneva

Coronation of Francis Joseph and Elisabeth as King and Queen of Hungary

Elisabeth of Bavaria (24 December 1837 - 10 September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia^[1] as spouse of Francis Joseph I. From an early age, she was called “Sisi” by family and friends.

While Elisabeth's role and influence on Austro-Hungarian politics should not be overestimated (she is only marginally mentioned in scholarly books on Austrian history), she has undoubtedly become a 20th century icon. Elisabeth was considered to be a free spirit who abhorred conventional court protocol; she has inspired filmmakers and theatrical producers alike.

[

Duchess in Bavaria

She was born in Munich, Bavaria as Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria. She was the fourth child of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and her mother was Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. Her family home was Possenhofen Castle.

Elisabeth accompanied her mother and her 18-year-old sister, Duchess Helene, on an 1853 trip to the resort of Bad Ischl, Upper Austria [1], where they hoped Helene would attract the attention of their maternal first cousin, 23-year-old Francis Joseph, then Emperor of Austria. Instead, Francis Joseph chose the 15-year old Elisabeth, and the couple were married in Vienna at St. Augustine's Church on 24 April 1854.

Queen and Empress

Elisabeth had difficulty adapting to the strict etiquette practiced at the Habsburg court. Nevertheless, she bore the emperor three children in quick succession: Archduchess Sophie of Austria (1855–1857), Archduchess Gisela of Austria (1856–1932), and the hoped-for crown prince, Rudolf (1858–1889). In 1860, she left Vienna after contracting a lung-disease which was presumably psychosomatic. She spent the winter in Madeira and only returned to Vienna after having visited the Ionian Islands. Soon after that she fell ill again and returned to Corfu.

Elisabeth, 1864, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

National unrest within the Habsburg monarchy caused by the rebellious Hungarians led, in 1867, to the foundation of the Austro–Hungarian double monarchy. Elisabeth had always sympathized with the Hungarian cause and, reconciled and reunited with her alienated husband, she joined Francis Joseph in Budapest, where their coronation took place. In due course, their fourth child, Archduchess Marie Valerie was born (1868–1924). Afterwards, however, she again took up her former life of restlessly travelling through Europe. Elisabeth was denied any major influence on her older children's upbringing, however — they were raised by her mother-in-law Princess Sophie of Bavaria, who often referred to Elisabeth as their "silly young mother.^[2]"

Elisabeth embarked on a life of travel, seeing very little of her offspring, visiting places such as Madeira, Hungary, England and Corfu. At Corfu she commissioned the building of a palace which she called the Achilleion, after Homer's hero Achilles in The Iliad. After her death, the building was purchased by German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Elisabeth with diamond stars in her hair, 1865, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

She became known not only for her beauty, but for her fashion sense, diet and exercise regimens, passion for riding sports, and a series of reputed lovers. She paid extreme attention to her appearance and would spend most of her time preserving her beauty. She often shopped at Antal Alter, now Alter és Kiss, which had become very popular with the fashion-crazed crowd, as described by the famous 19th-century writer Richard Rado:

“Everyone, from the most wealthy, to the upper middle class… almost every woman visited the shop. The shop's name even extended beyond the country’s borders… Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary (Sisi), wife of Francis Joseph I and Queen of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, was also among its clients.

Her diet and exercise regimens were strictly enforced to maintain her 20-inch (50 cm) waistline and reduced her to near emaciation at times (symptoms of what is now recognised as anorexia).^{[citation needed]} One of her alleged lovers was George "Bay" Middleton, a dashing Anglo–Scot who was probably the father of Clementine Ogilvy Hozier (the wife of Winston Churchill). She also tolerated, to a certain degree, Franz Joseph's affair with actress Katharina Schratt.

The Empress also engaged in writing poetry (such as the "Nordseelieder" and "Winterlieder", both inspirations from her favorite German poet, Heinrich Heine). Shaping her own fantasy world in poetry, she referred to herself as Titania, Shakespeare's Fairy Queen. Most of her poetry refers to her journeys, classical Greek and romantic themes, as well as ironic mockery on the Habsburg dynasty. In these years, Elisabeth also took up with an intensive study of both ancient and modern Greek, drowning in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Numerous Greek lecturers (such as Marinaky, Christomanos, and Barker) had to accompany the Empress on her hour-long walks while reading Greek to her. According to contemporary scholars, Empress Elisabeth knew Greek better than any of the Bavarian Greek Queens in the 19th century.

In 1889, Elisabeth's life was shattered by the death of her only son: 30-year-old Crown Prince Rudolf and his young lover Baroness Mary Vetsera were found dead, apparently by suicide. The scandal is known by the name Mayerling, after the name of Rudolf's hunting lodge in Lower Austria.

After Rudolf's death, the Empress continued to be an icon, a sensation wherever she went: a long black gown that could be buttoned up at the bottom, a white parasol made of leather and a brown fan to hide her face from curious looks became the trademarks of the legendary Empress of Austria. Only a few snapshots of Elisabeth in her last years are left, taken by photographers who were lucky enough to catch her without her noticing. The moments Elisabeth would show up in Vienna and see her husband were rare. Interestingly, their correspondence increased during those last years and the relationship between the Empress and the Emperor of Austria had become platonic and warm. On her imperial steamer, Miramar, Empress Elisabeth travelled restlessly through the Mediterranean. Her favourite places were Cap Martin on the French Riviera, where tourism had only started in the second half of the 19th century, Lake Geneva in Switzerland, Bad Ischl in Austria, where she would spend her summers, and Corfu. More than that, the Empress had visited countries no other Northern royal went to at the time: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Malta, Greece, Turkey and Egypt. Travel had become the sense of her life but also an escape from herself.

Assassination

Luigi Lucheni

Elisabeth 1864
by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

On 10 September 1898, in Geneva, Switzerland, Elisabeth, aged 60, was stabbed in the heart with a sharpened file by a young anarchist named Luigi Lucheni, in an act of propaganda of the deed. She had been walking along the promenade of Lake Geneva about to board steamship Genève for Montreux with her lady-of-courtesy, Countess Sztaray, when she was attacked. Unaware of the severity of her condition she still boarded the ship. Bleeding to death from a puncture wound to the heart, Elisabeth's last words were "What happened to me?" The strong pressure from her corset kept the bleeding back until the corset was removed. Only then did her staff and surrounding onlookers understand the severity of the situation. Reportedly, her assassin had hoped to kill a prince from the House of Orléans and, failing to find him, turned on Elisabeth instead. As Lucheni afterward said, "I wanted to kill a royal. It did not matter which one."

The empress was buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna's city centre which has for centuries served as the Imperial burial place.

Legacy

Arms of Empress Elisabeth of Austria

In 1988, historian Brigitte Hamann wrote The Reluctant Empress, a biography of Elisabeth, again fuelling interest in Franz Joseph's consort (see bibliography). Unlike the previous portrayals of Elisabeth as a one dimensional fairy tale princess, Hamann portrayed her as a bitter, unhappy woman full of self-loathing and various emotional & mental disorders, who spent her entire life searching for happiness, but in the end dying a broken woman who never found it, which opened up various new facets to the legend of Sisi.

Monument of Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (Sisi) in Szeged, Hungary.

Tourism has profited enormously from the renewed interest in Elisabeth, both in Austria and abroad. Apart from the usual souvenirs such as T-shirts and coffee mugs, visitors are eager to see the various residences Elisabeth frequented at different points in her life. These include her apartments in the Hofburg and the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the imperial villa in Ischl, the Achilleion in Corfu, Greece that she built in 1890, soon after her son's death, and her summer residence in Gödöllő, Hungary.

Elisabeth loved Hungary far more than Austria and surrounded herself with Hungarian ladies-in-waiting, being particularly close to Marie Festetics and Ida Ferenczy. She insisted that her attendants speak Hungarian, which she herself spoke fluently. One of her closest friends was Count Andrássy, who later became Emperor Franz-Joseph's Foreign Minister. Elisabeth's attachment to Hungary benefitted the Empire because the Hungarian people returned the attachment but also antagonized the Viennese and the Czechs of Bohemia. There are several sites in Hungary named after her, two of Budapest's districts, Erzsébetváros and Pesterzsébet, and most famously, Elisabeth Bridge.

Empress Elisabeth Western Railway commemorative coin

Empress Elisabeth and the Austrian Western Railway named after her was recently selected as a main motif for a high value collectors' coin: the Empress Elisabeth Western Railway commemorative coin. The reverse shows a view of the passenger hall of the first Vienna West Railway Station. The style of this building was inspired by Romantic Historism. On the right of the coin, the statue of the Empress Elisabeth can be seen. This statue still stands today in the station.

In literature and drama

In the German-speaking world, Elisabeth's name is often associated with a trilogy of romantic films about her life directed by Ernst Marischka and starring a teenage Romy Schneider:

Sissi (1955)
Sissi — die junge Kaiserin (1956) (Sissi — The Young Empress)
Sissi — Schicksalsjahre einer Kaiserin (1957) (Sissi — Fateful Years of an Empress)

The three films, now newly restored, are shown every Christmas on Austrian, German and French TV and have done much to create the myth surrounding Elisabeth. A condensed version dubbed in English was published in 1962 under the title Forever My Love, and in 2007 the three German films were released with English subtitles as The Sissi Collection.

Schneider loathed the role, claiming, "Sissi sticks to me like porridge (Griesbrei)." Later she was able to achieve a sort of satisfaction, appearing as a much more realistic and fascinating Elisabeth in Luchino Visconti's Ludwig, a 1972 movie about Elisabeth's cousin, Ludwig II of Bavaria. A portrait of herself in this film was the only one of her roles Schneider displayed in her home.

Ava Gardner also played the Empress in the 1968 film Mayerling. (Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve played the doomed lovers.) She, also, had one sole film portrait of herself on display in her home: it was from this film.

She was the subject of a 1991 German movie called Sissi/Last Minute (original Sisi und der Kaiserkuß "Sissi and the kiss of the Emperor"). The movie starred Vanessa Wagner as Sissi, Nils Tavernier as Emperor Franz Joseph and Sonja Kirchberger as Nene.^[3]

In 1974, Elisabeth was portrayed in the British television series Fall of Eagles by Diane Keen (as the young Elisabeth) and Rachel Gurney (as Elisabeth at the time of Prince Rudolf's death).

In 1936, Columbia Pictures released The King Steps Out, a musical comedy inspired by Elisabeth. The film was directed by Josef von Sternberg, with music by Fritz Kreisler and starring the opera diva Grace Moore and Franchot Tone.

Her story also became part of a children's book series: The Royal Diaries: Elisabeth, The Princess Bride.

Elisabeth's heavily fictionalised younger years are portrayed in a 1997 children's series, Princess Sissi.

In one of the episodes of the Austrian TV show, Kommissar Rex (1994), about a police dog who always solves his police-inspector owner's cases, the myth of Sissi is shown under the influence of her story on a young woman who often sneaks into a palace where Sissi lived and starts acting like her during the night, when the museum is closed. This includes riding in the park, using hair ornaments similar to the ones Elisabeth was known for using and even sleeping in the Empress's bed, dressed in vintage nightwear, after having brushed her hair in Sissi's way, separating it in two parts spread over the pillow so that the strands wouldn't be mussed by morning: all this, of course, using Sissi's old brush. This episode, the thirteenth of Season 5 of the show (and the last from that season), is called "Sissi" and originally aired on 22 April 1999. The empress-obsessed character's name is Marion, and she is played by actress Marion Mitterhammer.

In 2007, German comedian and director Michael Herbig released a computer-animated parody film of Sissi's character under the title Lissi und der wilde Kaiser (lit.: "Lissi and the Wild Emperor"). It is based on his Sissi parody sketches featured in his TV show Bullyparade.

In dance and music

Fritz Kreisler composed a comic operetta Sissi, which premiered in Vienna in 1932. The libretto was written by Ernst and Hubert Marischka, with orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett.^[4]

In 1992, the musical Elisabeth premièred at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria. Written by Michael Kunze (libretto, lyrics) and Sylvester Levay (music), this is arguably the darkest portrayal of the Empress' life. The leading role in the premiere was played by Pia Douwes of the Netherlands. It has also been produced successfully in Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and in Japan, with Douwes also again performing the role of Sissi in the Netherlands, Berlin, Essen and Stuttgart.

In the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, the character Christine is wearing a gown inspired by a portrait of Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary by Franz Xavier Winterhalter during her opera debut when she performs the song "Think of Me".

French ballet dancer Sylvie Guillem appeared to great acclaim at the Paris Opera Ballet in a piece titled Sissi Imperatice , choreographed by Maurice Bejart.

Elisabeth has a featured role in Kenneth MacMillan's ballet, Mayerling including a pas de deux with her son Prince Rudolf, the central character in the ballet; and a notable pas de six with five male partners, Bay Middleton and four Hungarian officers, friends of her son.

Dutch singer Petra Berger's album Eternal Woman includes "If I Had a Wish", a song about Elisabeth.

Issue

Children	Birth	Death	Notes
Sophie Friederike Dorothea Maria Josepha	5 March 1855	29 May 1857	Died in childhood.
Gisela Louise Marie	12 July 1856	27 July 1932	Married, 1873 her second cousin, Prince Leopold of Bavaria; had issue.
Rudolf Francis Charles Joseph	21 August 1858	30 January 1889	Died in the Mayerling Incident Married, 1881, Princess Stephanie of Belgium; had issue.
Marie Valerie Mathilde Amalie	22 April 1868	6 September 1924	Married, 1890 her second cousin, Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria-Tuscany; had issue.

Notes

^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/184779/Elizabeth
^ Martyrdom of an Empress, (C) 1899 Harpers
^ Sissi und der Kaiserkuß at the Internet Movie Database
^ "Orchestrator on His Own", Time, 12 December 1932.

References

Sissi's desk at the Achilleion

Nicole Avril: L'impératrice, Paris, 1993
Konstantin Christomanos: Diaries (Tagebuchblätter, several editions in Modern Greek, German, French)
Barry Denenburg: The Royal Diaries: Elisabeth, The Princess Bride
Brigitte Hamann: The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Knopf: 1986) (ISBN 0-394-53717-3) (410pp.).
Brigitte Hamann: Sissi, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria (Taschen America: 1997) (ISBN 3-8228-7865-0) (short, illustrated).
Ann Nibbs: The Elusive Empress (Youwriteon.com: 2008) (ISBN 978-1849231305) (372pp).
Matt Pavelich: Our Savage (Shoemaker & Hoard: 2004) (ISBN 1-59376-023-X) (270pp.).
Matteo Tuveri: Elizabeth of Austria: A Beauvoirian perspective, Simone de Beauvoir Studies, Volume 24, 2007-2008, Published by the Simone de Beauvoir Society (CA - U.S.A.)
Matteo Tuveri: Sissi: Myth and history, Journal Eco delle Dolomiti, Pinzolo (TN), Italy.
Matteo Tuveri: Sissi becomes Lissy, L'Unione Sarda, 6 gennaio 2009, p. 40, Cagliari
Matteo Tuveri: Specchi ad angoli obliqui. Diario poetico di Elisabetta d’Austria, Aracne Editrice, Rome, 2006 (ISBN 88-548-0741-9)
Matteo Tuveri: Tabularium. Considerazioni su Elisabetta d'Austria, Aracne, Rome, 2007 (ISBN 978-88-548-1148-5)

Elizabeth of Russia

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:15:30 +0100

Elizabeth of Russia

Elizabeth

Portrait painted by Charles van Loo
Empress and Autocrat of All the Russians
Reign	December 6, 1741–January 5, 1762
Coronation	March 6, 1742
Predecessor	Ivan VI
Successor	Peter III

Spouse	Alexey Razumovsky
Father	Peter I of Russia
Mother	Catherine I of Russia
Born	December 29, 1709(1709-12-29) Kolomenskoye
Died	January 5, 1762 (aged 52)

Elizaveta Petrovna (Russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́т) Петро́вна) (29 December [O.S. 18 December] 1709 – 5 January 1762 [O.S. 25 December 1761] ), also known as Yelisavet and Elizabeth, was an Empress of Russia (1741–1762) who took the country into the War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756 – 1763). On the eve of her death in 1762, the Russian empire spanned almost 4 billion acres^{[citation needed]} (more than 16 million squared kilometres).

Her domestic policies allowed the nobles to gain dominance in local government while shortening their terms of service to the state. She encouraged Lomonosov's establishment of the University of Moscow and Shuvalov's foundation of the Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg. She also spent exorbitant sums of money on the grandiose baroque projects of her favourite architect, Bartolomeo Rastrelli, particularly in Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo. The Winter Palace and the Smolny Cathedralremain the chief monuments of her reign in Saint Petersburg. Generally, she was one of the best loved Russian monarchs, because she did not allow Germans in the government and not one person was executed during her reign.^[1]

Life before becoming Empress

Elizabeth, the second-oldest surviving daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine I of Russia, was born at Kolomenskoye, near Moscow, on December 18, 1709 (O.S.).^[2] Her parents were secretly married in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in St.Petersburg in November 1707.^[3] The marriage was made public in February 1712.^[4] As her parents were not publicly acknowledged as being married at the time of her birth, Elizabeth's 'illegitimacy' would be used by political opponents to challenge her right to the throne. On March 6, 1711, she was proclaimed a Tsarevna and on December 23, 1721 a Tsesarevna.^[5]

Out of the twelve children of Peter and Catherine (five sons and seven daughters), only two daughters, Anna and Elizabeth survived.^[6] Anna was betrothed to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, nephew of the late King Charles XII of Sweden, Peter's old adversary.^[7] Her father had tried to also find a brilliant match for Elizabeth with the French Royal court when he paid a visit there.^[8] It was Peter's intention to marry his second daughter to the young French King Louis XV, but the Bourbons declined the offer.^[9] Elizabeth had been betrothed to Prince Karl Augustus of Holstein-Gottorp.^[10] Politically it was a useful and respectable alliance.^[11] A few days after the betrothal, Karl Augustus died.^[12] At the time of Peter's death, no marriage plan had succeeded.^[13]

As a child, Elizabeth was bright, if not brilliant, but her formal education was both imperfect and desultory. Her father adored her. Elizabeth was his daughter and in many ways resembled him as a feminine replica, both physically and temperamentally.^[14] Peter had no leisure to devote to her training, and her mother was too down-to-earth and illiterate to superintend her formal studies. She had a French governess, and was fluent in Italian, German and French^[15]. She was also an excellent dancer and rider.^[16] From her earliest years she delighted everyone with her extraordinary beauty and vivacity. She was commonly known as the leading beauty of the Russian Empire.^[17]

So long as Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov remained in power, Elizabeth was treated with liberality and distinction by the government of her adolescent half-nephew Peter II. The Dolgorukovs, an ancient boyar family, deeply resented Menshikov.^[18] With Peter II's attachment to Prince Ivan Dolgorukov, and with two of their family members on the Supreme State Council, they had the leverage for a successful coup. Menshikov was arrested, stripped of all his honours and properties and exiled to northern Siberia, where he later died in November 1729.^[19] The Dolgorukovs hated the memory of Peter the Great, and practically banished Peter's daughter from Court.

With the death of her father and the later accession of the Empress Anna, no royal court or noble house in Europe could allow a son to pay court to Elizabeth, as it would be seen as a unfriendly act to the Empress.^[20] Marriage to a commoner was not possible as it would cost Elizabeth not only her title, but also her property rights and her claim to the throne.^[21] Elizabeth's response was to make a lover of Alexis Shubin, a handsome sergeant in the Semyonovsky Guards regiment,^[22]. After his banishment to Siberia (having previously been relieved of his tongue) by order of the Empress Anna, she turned to a coachman and even a waiter.^[23] Eventually she consoled herself with a young Ukranian peasant with a good bass voice who had been brought to Saint Petersburg by a nobleman for a church choir. Elizabeth acquired him for her own choir. His name was Alexis Razumovsky.^[24] Razumovsky was a good and simple-minded man, untroubled by personal ambition.^[25] Elizabeth was devoted to him and there is reason to believe that she could have married him in a secret ceremony.^[26] Later Razumovsky would become known as "the Emperor of the Night"^[27] and Elizabeth would make him a Prince and Field Marshal on becoming Empress. The Emperor of Austria would also make Razumovsky a Count of the Holy Roman Empire.^[28]

Palace Revolution of 1741

During the reign of her cousin Anna (1730 – 1740), Elizabeth was gathering support in the background; but after the death of Empress Anna, the regency of Anna Leopoldovna with infant Ivan VI was marked by high taxes and economic problems. Such a course of events compelled the indolent, but by no means incapable, beauty to overthrow the weak and corrupt government. Elizabeth, being the daughter of Peter the Great, enjoyed much support from the Russian guards regiments.^[29] Elizabeth often visited the regiments, marking special events with the officers and acting as godmother to their children.^[30] The guards repaid her kindness when on the night of November 25, 1741, Elizabeth seized power with the help of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Arriving at the regimental headquarters dressed in a metal breastplate over her dress and grasping a silver cross she stated, "Who do you want to serve? Me, the natural sovereign, or those who have stolen my inheritance?"^[31] After winning the regiment over, the troops marched to the Winter Palace where they arrested the infant Emperor, his parents and their own lieutenant-colonel, Count von Munnich. It was a daring coup and passed without bloodshed.^[32] Elizabeth had vowed that if she became Empress that she would not sign a single death sentence. ^[33]

The portrait of Elizabeth as Venus, painted in the 1710s for the Grand Peterhof Palace.

At the age of thirty-three, this naturally indolent and self-indulgent woman, with little knowledge and no experience of affairs, found herself at the head of a great empire at one of the most critical periods of its existence. Her proclamation as Empress Elizabeth I explained that the preceding reigns had led Russia to ruin:

"The Russian people have been groaning under the enemies of the Christian faith, but she has delivered them from the degrading foreign oppression." ^[34]

Russia had been under the domination of German advisers and Elizabeth exiled the most unpopular of them including Heinrich Ostermann, Burkhard von Munnich and Carl Gustav Lowenwolde.^[35] Elizabeth crowned herself Empress in the Dormition Cathedral on April 25, 1742.

Fortunately for herself and for Russia, Elizabeth Petrovna, with all her shortcomings (documents often waited months for her signature)^[36], had inherited some of her father's genius for government. Her usually keen judgment and her diplomatic tact again and again recalled Peter the Great. What in her sometimes seemed irresolution and procrastination, was, most often, a wise suspension of judgment under exceptionally difficult circumstances.

The substantial changes made by Elizabeth's father, Peter the Great, had not exercised a really formative influence on the intellectual attitudes of the ruling classes as a whole.^[37] Elizabeth made considerable impact and laid the groundwork for its completion by her eventual successor, Catherine II.^[38]

Bestuzhev's policies

After abolishing the cabinet council system that was in favor during the rule of the two Annas, and reconstituting the senate as it had been under Peter the Great, with the chiefs of the departments of state (none of them Germans as was the case previously), the first task undertaken by the new empress was to address her quarrel with Sweden. On the January 23, 1743, direct negotiations between the two powers were opened at Åbo (Turku). On the August 7, 1743 (the Treaty of Åbo), Sweden ceded to Russia all the southern part of Finland east of the river Kymmene, which subsequently became the boundary between the two states. Provisions of the treaty included the fortresses of Villmanstrand and Fredricshamn.

This triumphant issue can be credited to the diplomatic ability of the new vice chancellor, Aleksey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin. His policies would have been impossible without her support.^[39] Elizabeth had wisely placed Bestuzhev at the head of foreign affairs immediately after her accession. He represented the anti-Franco-Prussian portion of her council, and his object was to bring about an Anglo-Austro-Russian alliance which, at that time, was undoubtedly Russia's proper system. Hence the bogus Lopukhina Conspiracy and other attempts of Frederick the Great and Louis XV to get rid of Bestuzhev (making the Russian court the centre of a tangle of intrigue during the earlier years of Elizabeth's reign.)

Promenade of Elizaveta Petrovna through the streets of Saint Petersburg (1903), watercolour by Alexandre Benois.

Ultimately, however, the minister, strong in the support of Elizabeth,^[40] prevailed, and his faultless diplomacy, backed by the dispatch of an auxiliary Russian corps of 30,000 men to the Rhine, greatly accelerated the peace negotiations, ultimately leading to the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (October 18, 1748). By sheer tenacity of purpose, Bestuzhev had extricated his country from the Swedish imbroglio; reconciled his imperial mistress with the courts of Vienna and London, her natural allies; enabled Russia to assert herself effectually in Poland, Turkey and Sweden, and isolated the King of Prussia by forcing him into hostile alliances. All this would have been impossible if not for the steady support of Elizabeth, who trusted him implicitly, despite the insinuations of the Chancellor's innumerable enemies, most of whom were her personal friends.

On February 14, 1758, Chancellor Bestzuhev was removed from office. The future Catherine II recorded, "He was relieved of all his decorations and rank, without a soul being able to reveal for what crimes or transgressions the first gentleman of the Empire was so despoiled, and sent back to his house as a prisoner."^[41] No specific crime was ever pinned on Bestzuhev. Instead it was inferred that he had attempted to sow discord between the Empress and her heir and his consort.^[42] Those intent on bringing about Bestzuhev's ruin were his rivals the Shuvalovs, Vice-Chancellor Mikhail Voronstov and the Austrian and French ambassadors.^[43]

Finding an heir

As an unmarried and childless Empress, it was imperative for Elizabeth to find a legitimate heir to secure the Romanov dynasty. She chose her nephew, Peter of Holstein-Gottorp. Elizabeth was only too aware that the deposed Ivan VI, who she had imprisoned in the Schlusselburg Fortress and placed in solitary confinement, was a threat to her throne. Elizabeth feared a coup in his favour and set about destroying all papers, coins or anything else depicting or mentioning Ivan.^[44] Elizabeth had issued an order should any attempt be made for him to escape, he was to be eliminated. Catherine II upheld the order and when an attempt was made he was killed and secretly buried within the fortress.^[45] The young Peter had lost his mother, Elizabeth's sister Anna, at three months old and his father at the age of eleven. Elizabeth invited her young nephew to Saint Petersburg where he was received into the Orthodox Church and proclaimed heir on November 7, 1742.^[46] Elizabeth gave him at once Russian tutors. Keen to see the dynasty secured, Elizabeth settled on Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst as a bride for her nephew. On her conversion to the Russian Orthodox Church, Sophie was given the name of Catherine in memory of Elizabeth's mother. The marriage took place on August 21, 1745 with a son, the future Paul I, finally born on September 20, 1754.^[47] There is considerable speculation as to the actual paternity of Paul I. It is suggested that he was not Peter's son at all, but that his mother had engaged in an affair—to which Elizabeth had consented—with a young officer named Serge Saltykov, and that he was Paul's real father.^[48] In any case, Peter never gave any indication that he believed Paul to have been fathered by anyone but himself. He also did not take any interest in parenthood.^[49] Elizabeth though most certainly took an active interest. She removed the young Paul and acted as if she were his mother and not Catherine.^[50] The Empress had ordered the midwife to take the baby and to follow her. Catherine was not to see her child for another month and then on the second time briefly for the churching ceremony.^[51] Six months later Elizabeth let Catherine see the child again. The child had in effect become a ward of the state and in a larger sense, the property of the state.^[52] In her infinite capacity for self-deception, Elzabeth had made the decision to bring up the baby as she believed he should be—as a true heir and great-grandson of her father, Peter the Great.^[53]

Seven Years' War

Elizabeth on Horseback, Attended by a Page.

The great event of Elizabeth's later years was the Seven Years' War. Elizabeth regarded the treaty of Westminster (January 16, 1756, whereby Great Britain and Prussia agreed to unite their forces to oppose the entry into, or the passage through, Germany of the troops of every foreign power) as utterly subversive of the previous conventions between Great Britain and Russia. Elizabeth sided against Prussia over a personal dislike of Frederick the Great.^[54] She wanted him reduced within proper limits, so that he might be no longer a danger to the empire. Elizabeth acceded to the treaty of Versailles thus entering into an alliance with France and Austria against Prussia. On May 17, 1757 the Russian army, 85,000 strong, advanced against Königsberg.^[55]

Neither the serious illness of the Empress, which began with a fainting-fit at Tsarskoe Selo (September 19, 1757), nor the fall of Bestuzhev (February 21, 1758), nor the cabals and intrigues of the various foreign powers at Saint Petersburg, interfered with the progress of the war, and the crushing defeat of Kunersdorf (August 12, 1759)^[56] at last brought Frederick to the verge of ruin. From that day forth he despaired of success, though he was saved for the moment by the jealousies of the Russian and Austrian commanders, which ruined the military plans of the allies.

On the other hand, it is not too much to say that, from the end of 1759 to the end of 1761, the unshakable firmness of the Russian Empress was the one constraining political force which held together the heterogeneous, incessantly jarring elements of the anti-Prussian combination. From the Russian point of view, Elizabeth's greatness as a stateswoman consists in her steady appreciation of Russian interests, and her determination to promote them at all hazards. She insisted throughout that the King of Prussia must be rendered harmless to his neighbors for the future, and that the only way to bring this about was to reduce him to the rank of a Prince-Elector.

Frederick himself was quite alive to his danger. "I'm at the end of my resources", he wrote at the beginning of 1760, "the continuance of this war means for me utter ruin. Things may drag on perhaps till July, but then a catastrophe must come." On May 21, 1760 a fresh convention was signed between Russia and Austria, a secret clause of which, never communicated to the court of Versailles, guaranteed East Prussia to Russia, as an indemnity for war expenses. The failure of the campaign of 1760, wielded by the inept Count Buturlin, induced the court of Versailles, on the evening of January 22, 1761, to present to the court of Saint Petersburg a dispatch to the effect that the king of France by reason of the condition of his dominions absolutely desired peace. The Russian empress's reply was delivered to the two ambassadors on February 12. It was inspired by the most uncompromising hostility towards the king of Prussia. Elizabeth would not consent to any pacific overtures until the original object of the league had been accomplished.

Elizaveta Petrovna in Tsarskoe Selo (1905), painting by Eugene Lanceray, now in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Simultaneously, Elizabeth caused to be conveyed to Louis XV a confidential letter in which she proposed the signature of a new treaty of alliance of a more comprehensive and explicit nature than the preceding treaties between the two powers, without the knowledge of Austria. Elizabeth's object in this mysterious negotiation seems to have been to reconcile France and Great Britain, in return for which signal service France was to throw all her forces into the German war. This project, which lacked neither ability nor audacity, foundered upon Louis XV's invincible jealousy of the growth of Russian influence in eastern Europe and his fear of offending the Porte. It was finally arranged by the allies that their envoys at Paris should fix the date for the assembling of a peace congress, and that, in the meantime, the war against Prussia should be vigorously prosecuted. In 1760, Russian troops occupied Berlin.^[57] Russian victories placed Prussia in serious danger.^[58]

The campaign of 1761 was almost as abortive as the campaign of 1760. Frederick acted on the defensive with consummate skill, and the capture of the Prussian fortress of Kolberg on Christmas day 1761, by Rumyantsev, was the sole Russian success. Frederick, however, was now at the last gasp. On January 6, 1762, he wrote to Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein, "We ought now to think of preserving for my nephew, by way of negotiation, whatever fragments of my territory we can save from the avidity of my enemies", which means, if words mean anything, that he was resolved to seek a soldier's death on the first opportunity. A fortnight later he wrote to Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, "The sky begins to clear. Courage, my dear fellow. I have received the news of a great event." The great event which snatched him from destruction was the death of the Russian empress (January 5, 1762 (N.S.)).^[59]

The Court of the Empress

Under the reign of Elizabeth, the francophile Russian court was one of the most splendid in all Europe.^[60] Foreigners were amazed at the sheer luxury of the sumptuous balls and masquerades. The Empress prided herself on her skills as a dancer and wore the most exquisite dresses. She issued decrees governing the styles of dresses and decorations worn by courtiers.^[61] Nobody was allowed to have the same hairstyle as the Empress and Elizabeth owned fifteen thousand ball gowns, several thousand pairs of shoes as well as an unlimited number of silk stockings.^[62] In spite of her love of court, Elizabeth was deeply religious. She visited convents and churches and spent long hours in church. When requested to sign a law secularising church lands she said, "Do what you like after my death, I will not sign it."^[63] All foreign books had to be approved by the church censor. Klyuchevsky called her a "kind and clever, but disorderly Russian woman" who combined "new European trends with "devout national traditions."^[64]

Death

In the late 1750s, Elizabeth's health started to decline. She began to suffer a series of dizzy spells and refused to take the prescribed medicines. She forbade the word "death" in her presence.^[65] Knowing she was dying, Elizabeth used her last remaining strength to make her confession, to recite with her confessor the prayer for the dying and to say good-bye to those few people who wished to be with her including Peter and Catherine and Counts Alexey and Kirill Razumovsky. Finally on December 25, 1761, the Empress died.^[66] She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg on February 3, 1762, after six weeks lying in state.^[67]

Elizabeth in popular culture

Empress Elizabeth has appeared numerous times in dramatizations of Catherine II's life. The 1934 film Catherine the Great (based on the play The Czarina by Lajos Biró and Melchior Lengyel) stars Flora Robson as Elizabeth, and the 1991 TV miniseries Young Catherine features Vanessa Redgrave in the role. Jeanne Moreau portrayed Elizabeth in the 1995 television movie Catherine the Great. She is also a major character in several episodes of the Japanese animated series, Le Chevalier D'Eon.

References

^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.105.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.104.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.46.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.46.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.104.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.50.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.50.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.50.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine, p.50.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.58.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.58.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.58.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.50.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.23.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.104.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.104.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.104.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.52.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.52.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.59.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.59.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.59.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.59.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.59.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.59.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.59.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.59.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.59.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.105.
^ The Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.105.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.105.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.105.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.105.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.106.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.106.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.107.
^ The Evolution of Russia by Otto Hoetzsch, p.83.
^ The Evolution of Russia by Otto Hoetzsch, p.83.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.57.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.57.
^ Catherine the Great by Virginia Rounding, p.118–119.
^ Catherine the Great by Virginia Rounding, p.119.
^ Catherine the Great by Virginia Rounding, p.119.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.103.
^ Russian Tsars, Boris Antonov, p.103.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.110.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.119.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.108.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.111.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.111.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.112.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.112.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.112.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.107.
^ The Evolution of Russia by Otto Hoetzsch
^ The Evolution of Russia by Otto Hoetzch, p.93.
^ The Evolution of Russia by Otto Hoetzsch, p.93.
^ The Evolution of Russia by Otto Hoetzsch, p.93.
^ The Evolution of Russia by Otto Hoetzsch, p.93.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.107.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.107.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.107.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p. 107.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.107.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.109.
^ Elizabeth and Catherine by Robert Coughlan, p.174.
^ Russian Tsars by Boris Antonov, p.109.

Books and articles

Antonov, Boris (2006). Russian Tsars. Saint Petersburg: Ivan Fiorodov Art Publishers. ISBN 5938931096.
Coughlan, Robert (1974). Jay Gold. ed. Elizabeth and Catherine: Empresses of All the Russias. London: Millington Ltd. ISBN 0 86000 002 8.
O

empresses

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

Contents

Early life

Marriage to Prince Albert

Accession and abdication of Edward VIII

Queen consort to George VI (1936–1952)

Royal tour of Canada and the United States in 1939

World War II

Queen Mother (1952–2002)

] New role in widowhood

Centenarian

Death

Public perception

Legacy

Contents

Princess of Baden

Grand Duchess of Russia

Personality

Russian Empress

Children

Footnotes

References

Empress Elizabeth of Bavaria

Elisabeth of Bavaria

Contents

Duchess in Bavaria

Queen and Empress

Assassination

Legacy

In literature and drama

In dance and music

Issue

Notes

References

Elizabeth of Russia

Elizabeth of Russia

Contents

Life before becoming Empress

Palace Revolution of 1741

Bestuzhev's policies

Finding an heir

Seven Years' War

The Court of the Empress

Death

Elizabeth in popular culture

See also

References

Books and articles