March 9, 1907
The Dowager Empress has arrived in England for her first visit in forty-four years, when her elder sister, Alexandra, married the then Prince of Wales, reports the Chicago Daily Tribune. Dowager Empress Marie is spending time with her sister, Queen Alexandra, in London, but King Edward VII is abroad. His absence is "causing some talk" but it is said "to be purely accidental." His plans were made long before it was known that the empress would be coming to England. There was no "sufficient reason" for the king to have "changed his plans."
This is a private visit, or rather a visit of "sisterly character," and it will be "devoid of state functions or of great festivities." It is only natural that the two sisters would want to spend time together, and they will be able to do this "in comparative quietness" while Edward is abroad.
The reporter must have been mistaken about the length between visits. Coryne Hall, in her biography of the Empress, discusses a visit by her to Britain in 1873. Still a long time, but not going all the way back to her sister's wedding.
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