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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 4,205
fudge 4000+ posts
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OP
fudge 4000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 4,205 |
Jyllands Posten (The Jutland Post) Quote:
Princess finds final resting place
The return of Danish-born Empress Maria Fedorovna to Russia finds closure after her remains were transferred from Roskilde Cathedral to St Petersburg
Members of the Royal Family and Russian dignitaries gathered in St Petersburg for Empress Maria Fedorovna's re-interment ceremony Thursday.
To Danes, she was Princess Dagmar, daughter of King Christian IX. To Russians, she was mother of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II.
On Thursday, representatives from both countries assembled to fulfil her longstanding wish to be buried next to her husband, Tsar Alexander III, and other Romanov family members in Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Empress Maria Fedorovna fled from Russia in 1919 in the chaos which ensued after the country's revolution. She spent her last years in Denmark and was buried alongside other members of the Danish Royal Family in Roskilde Cathedral upon her death in 1928.
According to remaining members of the Romanov family, however, she spoke of returning to Russia until her final days.
Dimitri Romanov, who lives north of Copenhagen, and Duke Nicholas Romanov, great grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, who headed the Romanov Dynasty Association in Switzerland, contacted Russian leaders and met with Queen Margrethe II to discuss the possibility of returning the Empress.
After three years of correspondence and negotiations, the two countries found common ground and began preparations for transferring the Empress from Roskilde Cathedral to Peter and Paul Cathedral.
The re-interment began last Saturday when Empress Maria's remains were transferred from Roskilde to the Danish naval ship Esbern Snare in Copenhagen Harbour. The ship sailed from there on to St Petersburg. Her coffin arrived on Tuesday, where it lay in state until Thursday's ceremony.
Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II presided over the ceremony, which was attended by Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, who cast earth taken from the Empress's garden in Hvidøre, north of Copenhagen, where she spent her last days.
The minister of foreign affairs, Per Stig Møller, was also on hand to represent the Danish government.
Despite the diplomatic "ice" between Denmark and Russia over some trivial discussion about international law vs. national law, it's nice to see that two countries can agree about something.
 Racks be to MisterJLA
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
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I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
And it only took 80 years.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok. 
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