Editing Alexandra of Denmark (section)

==Queen and empress consort==
[[File:QueenAlexandra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Portrait by [[Luke Fildes]], 1905]]
With the [[Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria|death of her mother-in-law]], Queen Victoria, in 1901, Alexandra became queen-empress with her husband's accession as Edward VII. Just two months later, her son George and daughter-in-law [[Mary of Teck|Mary]] left on an extensive tour of the empire, leaving their young children in the care of Alexandra and Edward, who doted on their grandchildren. On George's return, preparations for [[Edward and Alexandra's coronation]] in [[Westminster Abbey]] were well in hand, but just a few days before the scheduled coronation in June 1902, the King became seriously ill with [[appendicitis]]. Alexandra deputised for him at a military parade and attended the [[Ascot Racecourse|Royal Ascot races]] without him, in an attempt to prevent public alarm.{{sfn|Battiscombe|1969|pp=243–244}} Eventually, the coronation had to be postponed and Edward had an operation performed by [[Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet|Frederick Treves]] of the [[London Hospital]] to drain the infected appendix. After his recovery, Alexandra and Edward were crowned together in August: the King by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Frederick Temple]], and the Queen by the [[Archbishop of York]], [[William Dalrymple Maclagan]].{{sfn|Battiscombe|1969|p=249}}

[[File:Alexandra of UK with daughter Victoria.jpg|thumb|upright|Alexandra (right) was an enthusiastic amateur photographer.{{sfn|Battiscombe|1969|p=204}}
This photograph of her with her daughter Victoria is from ''Queen Alexandra's Christmas gift book'', which was published in 1908 to raise money for charities.]]
Despite being queen, Alexandra's duties changed little, and she kept many of the same retainers. Alexandra's [[Woman of the Bedchamber]], [[Charlotte Knollys]], the daughter of Sir William Knollys, served Alexandra loyally for many years. On 10 December 1903, Knollys woke to find her bedroom full of smoke. She roused Alexandra and shepherded her to safety. In the words of [[Princess Augusta of Cambridge|Grand Duchess Augusta of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]], "We must give credit to old Charlotte for ''really'' saving [Alexandra's] life."{{sfn|Battiscombe|1969|p=253}}

Alexandra again looked after her grandchildren when George and Mary went on a second tour, this time to [[British India]], over the winter of 1905–06.{{sfn|Battiscombe|1969|p=258}} Her father, Christian IX of Denmark, died that January. Eager to retain their family links, both to each other and to Denmark, in 1907 Alexandra and her sister, Dowager Empress Maria, purchased a villa north of Copenhagen, [[Hvidøre]], as a private getaway.<ref>{{harvnb|Battiscombe|1969|p=262}}; {{harvnb|Duff|1980|pp=239–240}}</ref>

Alexandra was denied access to the King's briefing papers and excluded from some of his foreign tours to prevent her meddling in diplomatic matters.{{sfn|Duff|1980|pp=225–227}} She was deeply distrustful of Germans, particularly her nephew German Emperor [[Wilhelm II]], and she invariably opposed anything that favoured German expansion or interests. For example, in 1890 Alexandra wrote a memorandum, distributed to senior British ministers and military personnel, warning against the planned exchange of the British [[North Sea]] island of [[Heligoland]] for the German colony of [[Zanzibar]], pointing out Heligoland's strategic significance and that it could be used either by Germany to launch an attack, or by Britain to contain German aggression.{{sfn|Battiscombe|1969|pp=176–179}} Despite this, [[Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty|the exchange]] went ahead. The Germans fortified the island and, in the words of [[Robert Ensor]] and as Alexandra had predicted, it "became the keystone of Germany's maritime position for offence as well as for defence".{{sfn|Ensor|1936|p=194}} The ''[[Frankfurter Zeitung]]'' was outspoken in its condemnation of Alexandra and her sister Maria, saying that the pair were "the centre of the international anti-German conspiracy".<ref>Quoted in Duff, p. 234.</ref> Alexandra despised and distrusted Emperor Wilhelm, calling him "inwardly our enemy" in 1900.{{sfn|Duff|1980|pp=207, 239}}

In 1910, Alexandra became the first queen consort to visit the [[British House of Commons]] during a debate. In a remarkable departure from precedent, for two hours she sat in the Ladies' Gallery overlooking the chamber while the [[Parliament Act 1911|Parliament Bill]], to remove the right of the [[House of Lords]] to veto legislation, was debated.{{sfn|Battiscombe|1969|p=269}} Privately, Alexandra disagreed with the bill.{{sfn|Battiscombe|1969|p=278}} Shortly afterwards, she left to visit her brother George in [[Corfu]]. While there, she received news that King Edward was seriously ill. Alexandra returned at once and arrived only the day before [[Death and state funeral of Edward VII|her husband died]]. In his last hours, she personally administered oxygen from a gas cylinder to help him breathe.{{sfn|Duff|1980|pp=249–250}} She told [[Frederick Ponsonby, 1st Baron Sysonby|Frederick Ponsonby]], "I feel as if I had been turned into stone, unable to cry, unable to grasp the meaning of it all."<ref>Ponsonby's memoirs, quoted in Duff, p. 251.</ref> Later that year she moved out of [[Buckingham Palace]] to [[Marlborough House]], but she retained possession of Sandringham.<ref>{{harvnb|Battiscombe|1969|p=274}}; {{harvnb|Windsor|p=77}}</ref> The new king, Alexandra's son George&nbsp;V, soon faced a decision over the Parliament Bill. Despite her personal views, Alexandra supported her son's reluctant agreement to Prime Minister [[H. H. Asquith]]'s request to create sufficient Liberal peers after a general election if the Lords continued to block the legislation.{{sfn|Battiscombe|1969|pp=277–278}}