Princess Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria of Wales is born November 26th 1869, to Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and Alexandra, Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra). She is their third daughter, and fifth child. She grows up as their youngest, since her baby brother Prince Alexander John lives less than a day. She is thus a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
Her parents become King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1901, and her older brother succeedes his father as King George V in 1910.
Princess Maud is growing up to be a lovely young lady, quite mischievous they say:
Most every summer Princess Maud goes with her mother to Denmark, to visit her grandparents, King Christian IX and Queen Louise:
Queen Louise of Denmark with her granddaughers, the Princesses of Wales.
The three daughers of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, painted in 1883 by Sydney Prior Hall:
Princess Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar (1867-1931); Princess Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria (1869-1938) and Princess Victoria Alexandra of Wales (1868-1935)
During these summer trips she even sails to Western Norway in 1895 and has her picture taken in Bergen, wearing a traditional Norwegian Hardangerbunad:
She is a lovely young lady as a teenager, and several European princes are suggested as future spouses.
But Princess Maud chooses to marry her cousin, Prince Carl of Denmark (or Prince Charles as he was known in the United Kingdom) because he is several steps removed from the centers of royal locomotion. He is very much in love with her, and his vigorous pursuit pays off.
They are married in 1896 at the private chapel of Buckingham Palace, and settle down at Appleton House, part of the Sandringham estate, a gift to the newly wed from the brides parents.
With a dashing husband, a dream estate and a newborn son in 1903, whom she names Alexander after her lost baby brother, she is all set for the quiet countryside life she envisioned:
However, the Norwegian proposal of 1905, is about to turn their life completely upside down, and you will hear more about that in the next post in this series.
This post is part of a series of several posts about the Norwegian Royal Family as follows:
- Part I: King Haakon VII
- Part II: Queen Maud
- Part III: The Coronation
- Part IV: The Coronation Journey
- Part V: Reign
- Part VI: Crown Prince Olav
- Part VII: King Olav V
- Part: VIII: King Harald V
- Part IX: Crown Prince Haakon
- Part X: Princess Ingrid Alexandra
- Part XI: Genealogy
Click on King Haakon VII’s family badge below to download high quality images from this post.
I wish to extend a big THANK YOU to Hild-Tove Aslaksen, who has helped find many vintage images of the Norwegian Royal family. She has already contributed immensely to the Pretty Data project, and I’m very happy to be working with her.
If you are curious about my Pretty Data project, and interested in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, please get in touch, as I’m still hoping to sign up more helpers with my project! Warning: you’d have to be pretty crazy about imagery, somewhat interested in history, and have a (more or less secret) crush on royalty!…lol I have divided the project into the various European countries, so please let me know which country you would be interested in working with. If you are interested in SWEDEN or the UNITED KINGDOM, don’t even think twice, these are the countries I’ll be focusing on next, after Norway 😉
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Wings of Whimsy 
Fascinating; she was a beautiful woman,& I do love the delicacy of the clothes and jewels of the period.
Incredible amount of work and detail in this post, well done! I have an inquiry about where you sourced the photo of Queen Maude in her Bunad? I’m working on a documentary short and would love to be able to find a high-quality file of it. Can you please assist? bill@whiterainfilms.com. Tusen Takk. Bill
Thank you so much for this! British and European history are among my top favourite interests in life, and while I am knowledgable about the British royal family, I know less about the Scandinavian and German royal houses except where they intersect with the British through marriage. Some truly incredibly rare photos here.