Alexandra of the United Kingdom and of the Netherlands
| Alexandra | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defender of the Faiths President of the Hanoverian Union Head of the Commonwealth Head of the British Armed Forces Head of the Netherlands Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief of the Luxembourg Armed Forces | |||||
 | |||||
| Queen of the British and of the People of other Commonwealth realms | |||||
| Reign | 13 October 2017 - present | ||||
| Coronation | 1 August 2019 | ||||
| Predecessor | Thomas | ||||
| Prime Minister | See list | ||||
| Queen of the Dutch | |||||
| Reign | 13 October 2017 - present | ||||
| Inauguration | 1 January 2018 | ||||
| Predecessor | Thomas | ||||
| Prime Minister | See list | ||||
| Grand Duchess of the Luxembourgers | |||||
| Reign | 13 October 2017 - present | ||||
| Coronation | 1 January 2018 | ||||
| Predecessor | Thomas | ||||
| Prime Minister | See list | ||||
| Born | 11 May 1996 Margaretha House, New York, United States | ||||
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| House | Hanover-Stuart-Orange-Nassau | ||||
| Father | Thomas | ||||
| Mother | Christy Turlington | ||||
| Religion | Protestant | ||||
| Alma mater | Seattle University London School of Economics (MEc) King's College London (PhD) | ||||
| Signature | |||||
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Alexandra (English: Alexandra Katharine Charles Nicole Lauren Elizabeth Thomas; German: Alexandra Kathrin Carl Nikole Laurens Elisabeth Thomas; Dutch: Alexandra Catharina Carel Nicole Laurens Elisabeth Thomas; French: Alexandra Catherine Charles Nicole Lauren Élisabeth Thomas; born 11 May 1996) is Queen of the British, Queen of the Dutch, and Grand Duchess of the Luxembourgers. On 13 October 2017, she simultaneously ascended to the British, Dutch, and Luxembourgish thrones following the voluntary abdication of her father King Thomas, becoming the second British and Dutch queen regnant in history and the first duchess regnant in Luxembourgish history. As Queen of the British, she is the official head of state of approximately eight independent nations, a role she also exercises as the constitutional monarch of the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In addition, she is also the head of the Commonwealth of Nations as well as the president of the Hanoverian Union, a politico-economic union consisting of the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Born in New York, United States as the eldest child of King Thomas and the American supermodel Christy Turlington, Alexandra initially lived out the first three years of her life with her mother in the United States before later permanently moving to the United Kingdom at the age of three. Generally considered to be one of the most talented female footballers in the world, in her youth, Alexandra enjoyed a somewhat successful career as a striker for Arsenal, with whom she won the Women's Super League a total of seven times, the Women's FA Cup thrice, the FA Women's League Cup six times, and the UEFA Women's Champions League twice during which she became both the club's and the Women's Super League's leading goalscorer with 107 goals in 98 total appearances, the second-most goalscorer in the UEFA Women's Champions League behind Ada Hegerberg with 53 goals, as well as holding the joint record for the most goals scored in a UEFA Women's Champions League season (15) and the sole record for the most goals scored in a Women's Super League season (25). Moreover, during a brief two-year period, Alexandra also enjoyed a relatively successful career with the National Women's Soccer League side Seattle Reign FC, with whom she won the NWSL Championship in 2014. Meanwhile, on the international level, Alexandra was a member of the England women's national team, with whom she won the 2015 and 2019 Women's World Cups and the UEFA Women's Euro 2017, their first few major titles, while also having won the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and finishing as runners-up in the 2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship with the under-20 squad. With 84 goals scored in 71 appearances, she is the leading all-time female goalscorer for England and is one of only two female players to have scored a hat-trick in a Women's World Cup final alongside compatriot Georgia Stanway. In addition, she is also the leading all-time goalscorer in the UEFA Women's Championship with 12 goals and the second-highest all-time goalscorer in the World Cup (men or women) with 21 goals. A three-time Ballon d'Or Féminin winner, Alexandra was an instrumental figure in the foundation of the award and later won its inaugural edition in 2015 before following it up with two further wins in 2017 and 2019, becoming both its youngest winner at nineteen and the one with the most awards won to date (3). Meanwhile, the Alexandra Trophy, awarded to the best-performing female player under the age of 21, is named after her.
Over the first two years of her reign, the period was marked by a temporary regency led by her mother. However, beginning from the end of her regency in August 2019, Alexandra's reign has since come to be marked by several notable events including the COVID-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matters protests, political crises, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Moreover, her reign has also been a period of considerable success for England in football with both the men's and women's national teams being mutually successful on the international stage.
At 27 years old, Alexandra is both the youngest reigning monarch and the youngest serving state leader in the world as well as being just one of only three queen regnants in the world alongside Romania's Queen Margareta and Japan's Empress Akiko. Since October 2019, she has served as honorary president of Premier League club Arsenal and is the sister of professional footballers William Smith and Prince Richard. With an estimated net worth of $7.2 billion, she is also one of the richest monarchs in the world.
Early Life
Born on 11 May 1996 at the Margaretha House, a country estate belonging to the British royal family in Skaneateles, New York, Alexandra was the eldest child of Prince Thomas and the American supermodel Christy Turlington. Conceived in the midst of her mother's university studies in the United States, she was her parents' firstborn child but otherwise her father's third overall child with her two half-siblings from the latter's previous relationship with actress Jaclyn Smith preceding her. Nonetheless, in the first few minutes that followed, news of the princess's birth quickly circulated and soon became a source of great celebrations worldwide particularly in the United Kingdom where she would set to become its first queen regnant in over two hundred years. Similarly, in both the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the reception towards the princess's birth was also mostly positive given that, in the case of the Dutch, Alexandra would become their first queen regnant in over three hundred years after the 18th-century Queen Mary III, and in the case of Luxembourg, their first-ever grand duchess regnant in the country's centuries-old history.
Upon baptism, she was named Alexandra Katharine Charles Nicole Lauren Elizabeth Thomas, in which her first name, meaning "defender of men", was deliberately chosen to signify her future role as her country's queen regnant, while her following middle names, in no particular order, were intended as tributes to the royal's maternal grandmother Maria Elizabeth, the American actress Katharine Hepburn, a close and lifelong friend of her paternal grandparents, her paternal grandparents King Charles III and Queen Lauren, followed by her own parents, the future King and Queen. Meanwhile, her godparents included US Senator Ted Kennedy, Prime Minister of Israel Shimon Peres, along with singers Frank and Nancy Sinatra, George Michael, and Elton John. In addition to this, the star-studded list also included Hollywood celebrities Sean Connery, Hugh Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor, along with the rest of the "big five" supermodels. Aside from this, Alexandra also boasts a fairly rich ethnic background as she is of English, German, and Romanian descent through her paternal ancestors and is also of Salvadoran descent through her maternal ancestors. In this, she was also born into a religiously diverse household with her father and paternal grandfather being of the Protestant faith, her mother and maternal grandmother of the Roman Catholic faith, and her paternal grandmother of the Jewish faith, which Alexandra later credited in massively establishing her as a very tolerant person, stating, "By circumstance, when you essentially grow up among people that come from very different backgrounds, you're essentially bound to learn and to respect the differences in your life because at the end of the day they are what makes the world so unique and interesting all around which is something that is just rather bizarre to even dislike or hate in the first place".
In the months following Alexandra's birth, a contentious debate briefly ensued between Alexandra's family members on whether the young princess would be raised in her ancestral country albeit at the cost of being temporarily separated from her mother for the time being or whether she would instead be raised abroad in the United States by none other than her own mother who at the time of her firstborn daughter's birth was pre-occupied with her studies at New York University, a circumstance which concerned the princess's grandparents, who were worried that the infant Alexandra could not be taken care of well by her rather busy mother. In the end, it was agreed upon by both sides that the young princess would largely remain with her mother in New York, so as to not separate the two both physically and mentally, especially at such an early age for the newborn princess. Meanwhile, on his part, after being forced to return to the United Kingdom as a result of his father's abdication on January 1997, Thomas continued to maintain regular contact with both his wife and daughter by usually residing with them for the first six months of the next two years in which case his brother Prince Nelson would temporarily assume the former's royal duties as regent while the remaining six months of both years would otherwise be spent by Thomas alone back in the United Kingdom, thereby guaranteeing a somewhat perfect balance between his marital and regnal duties. Later on, despite this peculiar arrangement, Alexandra herself came to describe her first few years in a mostly positive manner with her fondest memories including "rolling around on the grass at Central Park" and "having small family picnics by the Connecticut coast".
While still in her adolescence, a young Alexandra would come to almost regularly follow her mother on the latter's humanitarian trips abroad, a routine that was said to have begun when she was around ten years old where the royal, if not occupied with her schoolwork, would usually be tagging along with her mother to various places abroad with the very first place that she visited being the Central American country of El Salvador where her maternal grandmother had originally come from. However, such a move was not without some controversy, owing to the country's notoriously high crime rate, although this itself proved fruitless in preventing the young princess from following her mother there, with Alexandra herself later stating, "Reasonably speaking, there was some fair amount of concern over my personal safety as a mere ten-year-old going into some rather unsafe country but at the same time it opened my eyes as well as exposed myself to an entirely different environment and community, one that does not necessarily share the same comfort and luxury as perhaps an average European citizen would". Aside from this, Alexandra also followed her mother along to African countries such as Ethiopia where she personally met then-First Lady Azeb Mesfin who later recalled the princess as a "very intuitive and bright young girl" and who was "very concerned and thoughtful about things happening around her". In addition, she also once visited the tiny landlocked nation of Eswatini where she later candidly recounted being "very surprised" by the number of wives held by the reigning King Mswati III who currently has fifteen wives in total. Even more, the young princess and her mother also visited the relatively new nation of East Timor as one of the first few foreign dignitaries since the country gained its independence from Indonesia in which they were welcomed by President Xanana Gusmão whose country's independence from Indonesia was restored largely due to the efforts of King Thomas, Alexandra's own father, in successfully pressuring the Indonesian government to hold a referendum that saw the majority of East Timor voting to secede from the country.
Having been raised in a somewhat athletic and sports-centric household, from as young as seven years old, Alexandra was quick to be exposed to a variety of sports, namely basketball, tennis, archery, and golf, with perhaps the most notable one being none other than football which she came to immediately embrace and possess much passion for. In this, she was enrolled at the youth academy for Premier League club Arsenal whose women's side she later enjoyed a widely successful career with. In the meantime, Alexandra is also known to have enjoyed recreational swimming, having once dove to photograph the seabed of the Long Island Sound, an activity that is said to be a daily habit whenever she is visiting the US state of Connecticut where her family occasionally retreats to for private vacations. Among others, Alexandra is also a proficient horseback rider with her favourite horse being a white thoroughbred whom she named "Bolt". Evidently, her deeply rooted love for sports meant that physical education was indisputably one of her favourite subjects in school although she is still described by most of her former teachers to be an "all-rounder" student who is excellent in both academics and sports. Ironically, Alexandra has otherwise refuted claims or assertions of her being a "tomboy", stating, "Undoubtedly, I did do a lot of sports and was, to some extent, very physical growing up but deep down I'm personally no different than the average girly young girl. Honestly speaking, if not sports, some of the things I like to do are dancing to my favourite songs and playing dress-up with my mother who just knows how to make her little princesses look and feel pretty each time".
Change In Succession Laws
Owing to the passage of the Succession to the Crown Act 1995 by the British parliament and the passage of corresponding laws by the Dutch and Luxembourgish parliaments respectively which, among others, established a new absolute primogeniture succession system in the place of the old male-preference primogeniture succession system that previously dictated the succession laws in all three countries, Alexandra, as a result, was simultaneously made the first Duchess of Cornwall, first Princess of Orange, and the first Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg in her own right, thereby fully confirming her status as her father's undisputed heir apparent. Prior to this, no female British, Dutch, or Luxembourgish royal has ever held the aforementioned titles in their own right, as the previous male-preference primogeniture system made it that any male siblings, regardless of birth order, would always be ahead of their female siblings in the line of succession to the throne for all three countries. Meanwhile, on her very first birthday, having automatically been both the Princess of Orange and the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from birth, Alexandra was then officially made Princess of the Welsh, although her investiture ceremony for the said title would not take place until she turned around twenty years old.
Regardless, the decision was met with a unanimously positive reception by the public with then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had taken office just a few days earlier, heralding the proclamation as a "great milestone for gender equality in Britain". A similarly positive response also came from Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok and Luxembourgish Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, both of whom echoed Blair's heralding of "gender equality" in society. In particular, Juncker, whose country would see the accession of its first-ever female ruler, said, "The history of Luxembourg is undoubtedly marked by kings and grand dukes but never before a queen or a grand duchess. Now, after almost a thousand years, Luxembourg will bear witness to its first female ruler in history who will surely leave her own mark on the country's history as she reigns".
Education
Having initially spent her formative years at home with her family, the princess, upon reaching the age of seven, was then enrolled at the Southbank International School in London located just two miles away from her nearby family residence of Buckingham Palace. However, for the first few weeks or so, the princess was faced with some notable setbacks as photographers would often wait outside of the school perimeter to photograph the princess's arrival and departure from the school, much to the annoyance of the British royal family themselves, so much so that on one occasion, a photographer for The Sun busy photographing the princess while the latter was departing from her school was once run over by the royal's mother Queen Christy who was then attempting to force through her vehicle past the swarm of photographers outside of the school, an incident that resulted in a brief but heavily publicised trial where her mother was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing. Instead, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Woolf ruled that the photographer, thirty-seven-year-old Zachary Bell, had "unnecessarily intruded on the privacy of another individual who in response was consequently forced to adopt a measure of last resort in order to clear their way out of the situation". Nonetheless, a few days later, Queen Christy was reported to have donated a sum of £100 to the photographer, which Buckingham Palace then described as a "gesture of goodwill" and said that "the royal family has absolutely no intentions of harbouring a grudge against any human being, only reconciliation and friendship". Nonetheless, the incident itself soon prompted nationwide debate over the ethics of paparazzi in which the photographer's "rude" and "invasive" behaviour when in the proximity of a member of the royal family was severely criticised, causing then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, with near-unanimous support in the House of Commons, to then pass the Princess Alexandra Act 2004 into law, effectively prohibiting the paparazzi from photographing underage subjects under any possible circumstances, therefore giving the princess herself some much-needed privacy and breathing space in undergoing her daily life. Similarly, the same was also done in the Netherlands and Luxembourg, with the former even going so far as to declare that while photographs of the royals while they are on duty are permitted, photographs of them while they are off duty are otherwise only permitted through government arrangement on the condition that they are left alone by the press afterward.
Gìven the fact that she never attended kindergarten beforehand, coupled with her extreme personal closeness to her mother, in her early years at least, Alexandra came to develop a reputation for being somewhat shy around her peers and who is otherwise strongly connected to her parents, especially her mother, who was consequently forced to accompany her daughter to school for the first few weeks or so just to calm the young princess down and alleviate the latter's immediate concerns over being temporarily separated from her mother for a few hours each day. Nonetheless, despite her initial reclusiveness and strong emotional attachment to her parents, Alexandra otherwise proved to be an academically gifted young student, excelling in the subjects of English, Mathematics, and History. Moreover, her somewhat extensive and high-level vocabulary, which became evident when she was to write or speak at length, has also been a particular subject of praise by her teachers, with one even praising the royal's "Shakespearean level of command" of the English language, noting her occasional use of exquisite and uncommon English words especially when writing essays.
Upon graduating from secondary school, Alexandra decided to further her studies abroad in the United States where she attended the Seattle University, a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington that was chosen for convenience following her signing by Seattle Reign FC. However, her time at the university would not last long as it would be abruptly cut short following the death of her grandmother on 12 August 2014, which effectively put an end to her academic pursuits in the United States as the princess fell victim to a months-long depressive episode. Then, upon a successful recovery from her depression, she later resumed her studies at the London School of Economics, from where she went on to graduate with a master's degree in economics, and most recently, a Doctor of Philosophy degree from King's College London, which she earned through a thesis that she wrote titled The British & American media compared: A case for a truly fair and nonpartisan media that primarily concerns the issue of media polarisation and how it affects a country's population. Later, upon her ascension to the throne, Alexandra was awarded an honorary doctorate by her alma mater whose president Stephen Sundborg said, "Even if it was just for a while, the Queen's presence at the university was definitely a part of history that will be proudly cherished while Seattle University itself will proudly remember the Queen as one of its own forever".
In March 2022, Alexandra was awarded her Doctor of Philosophy degree from University College London for a thesis that she wrote titled British & American Media Compared: A case for a truly fair and nonpartisan media, a thesis paper that she wrote that largely centers around the issue of media polarisation. As the first-ever monarch in the world to have received a non-honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree, the Queen's academic milestone was soon met with praises from various individuals, with Prime Minister David Cameron describing it as "a proud milestone to achieve for an undeniably brilliant and very talented young monarch". Similarly, her own mother Queen Christy also expressed much positive sentiment regarding her daughter's academic achievements, stating in an interview with Women's Health, "From the beginning, I always encouraged my children to not necessarily follow in my footsteps as a model but rather do or work for something that they personally like be it sports, science, or anything else while at the same time, they should also learn and study just as hard as they play for at the end of the day my children aren't solely academics or athletes only but rather those who can be both when necessary".
Since becoming Queen, Alexandra has served as the chancellor of her alma mater, the federal University of London, by virtue of which she is also the chancellor of its member institutions including both the London School of Economics and King's College London. In addition, she is also the recipient of honorary doctorates from various educational institutions including Yale University, Columbia University, Seattle University, University of Toronto, University of Tokyo, University of Bucharest, Tel Aviv University, University of Amsterdam, University of Luxembourg, New York University, Free University of Berlin, Paris-Saclay University, and the University of Helsinki. In addition, since ascending to the throne, owing to her strong academic background, Alexandra has begun awarding scholarships to a select list of one hundred academically promising students each year with the ceremony usually held at Buckingham Palace along with the Birthday Honours.
Football Career
Manchester United Women (2005 - 2007)
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexandra Katharine Charles Nicole Lauren Elizabeth Thomas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 11 May 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Margaretha House, New York, United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 - 2007 | Manchester United | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 - 2010 | Arsenal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 - 2012 | Arsenal | 28 | (26) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013 - 2014 | OL Reign | 40 | (38) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 - 2019 | Arsenal | 70 | (81) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 138 | (145) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 - 2014 | England U19 | 11 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | England U20 | 6 | (13) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 - 2019 | England | 71 | (84) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Honours
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
At the age of nine, hoping to pursue a professional football career in her later years, Alexandra initially joined the women's youth academy of Manchester United, the club that she had initially grown up supporting as a child via her father, a longtime fan of the English football club. Almost immediately, her inherent natural talent, coupled with her humble personality and being a relatively quick learner in her own right, soon made her a somewhat promising and standout academy talent, even catching the attention of Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton who, in an interview shortly after the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup concluded, described the royal as "one of Manchester United's finest academy products". However, despite consistent and promising progress that saw her being perceived as the club's "next big talent" as well as the "natural successor" to her half-brother, one of Manchester United's most decorated and talented players of all time, the disbandment of the women's senior team in 2005 by the club's new owner Malcolm Glazer soon threw Alexandra's footballing prospects into doubt, particularly with concerns over whether she would ever earn her first professional contract after coming of age. Eventually, in 2007, after taking into account the overall performance of England's top women's football clubs, Alexandra subsequently transferred to Arsenal which is generally considered to be one of the strongest and most successful English women's football clubs with the expectation that she would eventually make her way into the senior team via her commendable talent at a relatively young age. Later, during a 2018 interview with Sky Sports, Alexandra revealed that her father once attempted to convince the Manchester United ownership to reinstate the women's team so as to especially not lose the club's young academy talents to other clubs with an existing women's team as was the case with Alexandra herself but to no avail as the Glazers insisted on having the women's senior team disbanded due to financial reasons.
In a 2022 interview with Sky Sports, when asked over whether she regretted having never played for her favourite club of Manchester United, Alexandra replied by asserting that despite some "personal regret" over not playing for her much-beloved football club, she nonetheless found her decade-long time at Arsenal to be a "very great and rewarding experience", stating, "Even if I wasn't playing outright for the club that I initially wanted, Arsenal itself, especially its women's side, is nonetheless a very good and professional team and without a doubt I would never forsake the many great friends I made at the club for anything, even for an alternate reality where I was playing at a different club altogether". On the other hand, in a pointed criticism directed towards the Glazer ownership, Alexandra argued that it was the latter who should bear much of the regret, stating, "For fifteen years, they essentially chose to discard any promising talents coming from the academy while otherwise letting them fend for themselves out in the open trying their luck with any interested clubs all while being much uncertain about the future of their careers. If anything, we players made a choice and moved on when we had to while the owners were basically sitting in their comfy offices with much little care for every talent that leaves due to their own actions".
In the meantime, Alexandra herself has vocally criticised the family's ownership of Manchester United, which she described in one instance as "a bad tragedy", as well as the club's controversial but ultimately aborted decision to reintegrate controversial academy graduate Mason Greenwood after charges of rape and sexual assault against the latter was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service in which the Queen, as the most vocal critic of the decision, derided it as "morally bankrupt", adding, "If such an egregious decision goes through, it effectively shows that regardless of what troubles or controversies one could get themselves into, he or she is essentially guaranteed a spot in one of the most prestigious football clubs in the world under the guise of being a supposedly talented player all while suffering little to no consequence for their behaviour". Later on, it was announced that Greenwood had been loaned out to the La Liga side Getafe, a decision that she treated with some antipathy, stating, "Even if some football club somehow still sees some value in the man despite his misgivings, it is perhaps better that he does his stuff elsewhere and preferably outside of England where he is clearly no longer welcome".
Arsenal Women (2007 - 2019)
In the midst of this, the timing of Alexandra's entry into the club happened to coincide with Arsenal opting to take a temporary hiatus shortly after their victory in the 2009-10 season of the FA Women's National League thereby delaying her debut by roughly a year. Nonetheless, the space in time granted as a result of the club's temporary hiatus that year quickly proved to be a blessing in disguise for the young princess who, after initially being met with some skepticism over her actual talent and the fact that she is the first British royal to actively dabble in professional football, subsequently used the period available to gradually improve her skills and technique while also endearing herself among the club's senior ranks that included Ellen White, Katie Chapman, and Alex Scott as well as fellow newcomers including Steph Houghton and Jordan Nobbs. Later, in recounting her early years at Arsenal, Alexandra said, "Honestly speaking, from the moment of my arrival, I was an immediate outsider among the other girls there who were obviously quite surprised to see an actual princess joining them at a football club. To put it simply, making friends wasn't the easiest process early on but in the face of it I just accepted the reality that I wouldn't immediately be the most popular person there and just mostly concentrated on improving myself as a player by attending training and whatnot. Eventually, some of the girls began warming up to me and by the time I left in 2019, I could confidently say that I'm friends with almost every player at the club that I've ever met and played with".
In the ensuing inaugural season of the newly-established Women's Super League, for the club's first match, that being against Chelsea, then-manager Laura Harvey chose not to initially include the princess in the starting lineup, most likely over initial concerns surrounding her true potential and capabilities. However, after finally coming onto the field in the 70th minute as a substitute for Ellen White, Alexandra immediately left a positive impression on her squad when just nine minutes later she successfully netted her first ever goal for Arsenal through a powerful 20-yard shot that she followed up on with two more goals in the final minutes of the game to record a memorable hat-trick at the 91st minute. Then, despite later finding herself unable to register any further goals in the next few matches, an early 10th-minute goal by the princess proved vital in helping Arsenal achieve a narrow 3-2 victory over Bristol City. Similarly, in an August 11th match against Birmingham City, a 60th-minute brace from Alexandra helped her team break a 1-1 deadlock while also ensuring a dominant 3-1 victory over their opponents. Just a week later, a second hat trick from Alexandra at the 76th minute saw Arsenal record their biggest win of the season, namely a 6-0 win over Doncaster Rovers Belles. By the end of it, with nine goals to her name, she consequently emerged as the league's second top goalscorer behind Birmingham City's Rachel Williams with fourteen goals. In the meantime, aside from success in the domestic league, Alexandra also saw much success with her club in domestic tournaments, winning both the Women's FA Cup and the FA Women's League Cup during which she scored a brace in the former to mark a 5-2 victory over Sunderland in the sixth round proper. Meanwhile, in the UEFA Women's Champions League, a goal in the first leg and a hat-trick in the second leg of the semi-finals from the princess against Olympique Lyonnais saw Arsenal reach the finals in the tournament's inaugural season since its rebranding where they proceeded to defeat Turbine Potsdam 5-2 to achieve their second continental treble, having previously done so in the 2006-07 season. At the same time, with twelve goals to her name in the tournament, Alexandra herself finished as the tournament's top scorer that season.
In the following season, an overwhelmingly dominant performance in the league saw Arsenal emerge as winners with no matches lost in the process, a feat that promptly drew comparisons to the 2003-04 season of the Arsenal men's side who were popularly nicknamed "The Invincibles". During this, Alexandra herself scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 win against Liverpool, a separate tiebreaking hat-trick against Everton, and lastly, two tiebreaking goals against Bristol City. Separately, a hat-trick from Alexandra in the Women's FA Cup semi-finals against Chelsea proved decisive in overturning their opponent's 2-0 lead, although a 1-3 loss to Birmingham City in the finals prevented them from ultimately retaining the title. Nonetheless, they were otherwise successful in retaining their FA Women's League Cup title through a 3-0 victory in the finals against Birmingham City, with Alexandra herself scoring a brace in what was later said to be an "act of vengeance" for the club's previous 1-3 Women's FA Cup loss. However, an elimination in the semi-finals at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt instead saw them unable to defend their Champions League title which subsequently went to Olympique Lyonnais who later defeated the former 2-0 to win their first European title. In the meantime, despite much initial success with her club, under the auspices of pursuing her education abroad, Alexandra temporarily left Arsenal at the end of the 2012 FA WSL season before later rejoining it two seasons later following her return from the United States and a subsequent recovery from a personal tragedy.
In her first season since returning to the club, Alexandra re-established herself almost immediately by scoring two tiebreaking goals in the opening match against Notts County before promptly following it up with a tiebreaking goal against Chelsea and another against Bristol City on later dates. In addition, Alexandra also proved vital in securing a draw against Manchester City, which proved more than enough to win her club the domestic league that season. Moreover, by helping to decisively overturn a 1-2 Chelsea lead in the quarter-finals, Alexandra also helped her club to win the Women's FA Cup through a final 5-1 victory in the finals over Notts County who they also defeated 5-0 to win the FA Women's League Cup as well. Following this, in the ensuing seasons leading up to her retirement, Alexandra went on to see much further success with the club, winning the Women's Super League three further seasons in a row, the FA Women's League Cup twice, and the UEFA Women's Champions League once more, with her final season seeing her win both the Women's Super League and the FA Women's League Cup where in the latter tournament, Arsenal ultimately prevailed over rivals Manchester City in a dramatic penalty shootout which they won 5-4. On the other hand, a 2-3 loss to Chelsea and a 1-2 loss to VfL Wolfsburg respectively saw her fail to win both the Women's FA Cup and the UEFA Women's Champions League in her final season with the club prior to her ensuing retirement which she announced shortly after the conclusion of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Final whereby she made clear her full retirement from professional football at both club and international level in order to fully assume her regnal duties as queen.
Former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry on Alexandra's footballing skills
With 107 goals in 98 appearances, Alexandra is the all-time goalscorer for both Arsenal Women and the Women's Super League. In addition, she also holds five Women's Super League Golden Boot awards, the most of any player, aside from which, Alexandra also holds the record for most assists in the Women's Super League with 50 assists, followed by Arsenal's Beth Mead with 38 assists. In 2019, she was inducted into the Women's Super League Hall of Fame as one of the league's most talented players. In that same year, she was also appointed as the club's honorary president and is since considered by many to be Arsenal's royal patron. Meanwhile, together with Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema, Alexandra is one-third of the Women's Super League's fabled "One Hundred Trio" as the only players so far to have accumulated a total of one hundred goals plus assists.
Seattle Reign FC (2013 - 2014)
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In the lead-up to the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League, having moved to the United States for educational purposes, a sixteen-year-old Alexandra was soon chosen by Seattle Reign FC head coach Laura Harvey who had previously managed the royal at Arsenal and therefore saw an immediate benefit in acquiring the latter's services for her new team. However, given that she was far below the determined age limit of eighteen for eligible players, Alexandra's acquisition soon sparked considerable controversy with the league effectively prohibiting her from officially signing a professional contract with the club due to the aforementioned age limit. In response, Alexandra, who previously faced little issue in playing for Arsenal at just fifteen, promptly filed a lawsuit against the National Women's Soccer League at the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on the basis of the age limit being in apparent violation of antitrust laws established by the Sherman Antitrust Act given that the age limit violated the principle of free competition. Eventually, amidst a response from the league claiming that the age limit was to "protect minors at an important stage of development", Alexandra, pointing to her state of relative well-being during her previous years with Arsenal, ultimately compelled District Judge Ronald B. Leighton to issue a landmark ruling ordering the former to remove their age limit which was deemed to be against the spirit of competition.
To that end, having officially signed her contract with the club, Alexandra soon made her maiden appearance for Seattle Reign FC on 14 April 2013 where she scored her first-ever goal to deliver a 2-1 win over Chicago Red Stars. However, just a week later, her team suffered a narrow 1-2 loss to Portland Thorns FC but not before Alexandra avenged the loss with a brace in a 2-2 draw against FC Kansas City. Then, on May 4th, she scored yet another brace to instead deliver a 2-1 win over their opponents but not before a series of consecutive losses soon haunted the team throughout much of the month of May and later only came to a halt on June 9th when Seattle Reign FC drew 1-1 against FC Kansas City courtesy of an equalising goal from Alexandra herself. Meanwhile, amidst a parallel goal drought on her part, Alexandra later scored another brace in a 3-1 win over Boston Breakers on July 3rd and afterward her first hat-trick for Seattle Reign FC on August 10th in a 3-1 win over Washington Spirit as her team concluded the season with a 1-2 loss to Portland Thorns FC on the final day which proved not enough to push Seattle Reign FC into the playoffs as they finished in fifth place. Nonetheless, with eleven goals scored, Alexandra came second in the season's top goalscorers list with just one goal behind the top goalscorer Lauren Holiday who scored twelve for FC Kansas City.
In her second and final season, where she was joined by former Arsenal teammate Kim Little, Alexandra started the season off promisingly, scoring a hat-trick in the opening match against Boston Breakers which they won 6-0. Soon afterward, following a goal in a 4-1 win over Washington Spirit, Alexandra then scored a brace in a 4-0 win over Houston Dash which she took some time to follow up on in the form of a goal in a 4-2 win over FC Kansas City on May 14th. Then, on June 1st, she provided a brace in a 5-1 win over Sky Blue FC before promptly following it up with two separate hat-tricks to mark a dominant 6-1 win over Chicago Red Stars and a similarly huge 5-0 victory over Boston Breakers. Meanwhile, she also scored the tiebreaking goal in a 1-0 win over Sky Blue FC on June 28th and on July 12th provided an equalising goal to avoid defeat at the hands of Chicago Red Stars. Then, on August 2nd, she scored a brace to break the 1-1 deadlock against FC Kansas City, a hat-trick in a 7-1 win over Houston Dash on August 2nd, and perhaps most crucially, a brace on the final day against Portland Thorns FC where her two goals both overrode Alex Morgan's lone goal and ensured that Seattle Reign FC concluded the season unbeaten, thereby earning them the nickname of "Invincible Seattle", while also posting a record high of 61 points. Consequently, Alexandra herself then participated in her first and only NWSL Playoffs where after assisting a Megan Rapinoe goal in a 2-1 win over Washington Spirit in the semi-finals she proceeded to score a memorable hat-trick to seal a dramatic 4-2 win over FC Kansas City in the finals, thereby securing her first and only NWSL Championship in addition to the NWSL Shield that Seattle Reign FC won courtesy of having the season's best regular record. Moreover, with a total of twenty-seven goals, Alexandra personally finished as the season's top goalscorer with teammate Kim Little following suit with sixteen goals. In this, despite positive sentiment, Alexandra announced her departure from Seattle Reign FC to later rejoin Arsenal the following year, a sudden decision sparked by the passing of her paternal grandmother who died just several days prior to the final match against Portland Thorns.
Considered to be one of the club's most talented players, with 38 goals in 40 appearances, Alexandra is Seattle Reign FC's fourth-highest all-time goalscorer ahead of Kim Little and is seen as one of the club's most recognisable faces alongside Megan Rapinoe. Even more, Alexandra holds a number of distinctions including being the league's youngest goalscorer while also holding the record for the most hat-tricks scored in a single season (5) and the most goals scored in a single season (27). Moreover, in a testament to her incredible playmaking abilities, Alexandra also currently holds the record for the league's all-time assists with 43 assists.
England Women (2010 - 2019)
In 2011, shortly after having led Arsenal to a continental treble that year, a fifteen-year-old Alexandra was subsequently included in the England U19 squad by head coach Mo Marley where her apparent talent could immediately be put to good use. However, having failed to qualify for the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship that year in Italy, Alexandra only made her debut the following year when England successfully qualified for the 2012 edition in Turkey. To that end, on 2 July 2012, Alexandra made her maiden appearance in a group stage match against Sweden where she scored her first two goals for England to mark a 2-1 win over their opponents. Then, on July 5th, Alexandra scored her first-ever hat-trick although this proved not enough to avoid a narrow 3-4 loss to Spain which Alexandra promptly avenged by scoring twice in the final match against Serbia to mark a 2-0 win as the only England player to have scored in the group stage. In the end, by virtue of goal difference, England were prevented from advancing to the knockout stages by second-placed Sweden whose slightly superior goal difference allowed them to qualify together with Spain. Regardless, with a total of seven goals, Alexandra did finish the tournament as its top goalscorer and was largely met with praises for her solo effort as England's only goalscorer in the tournament.
Despite the setback, Alexandra would feature once again in the successive 2013 edition in Wales. In this, despite failing to score in two of the three group stage matches, Alexandra did otherwise score a lone goal in the final match against Denmark which England won 4-0 to mark a perfect record and therefore advance to the knockout stages. However, despite providing an assist in a 4-0 win over Finland in the semi-finals, Alexandra failed to make a difference in England's 0-2 loss to France in the finals. Meanwhile, in the following 2014 edition, her last with England as a youth player, Alexandra only scored once in the tournament, namely in a 3-2 win over Spain where in spite of her hat-trick England ultimately failed to advance beyond the group stages. In general, her overall performance, coupled with her status, soon made her a subject of interest among football pundits and supporters with talks of Alexandra, much like her famous half-brother, being a potential key to delivering England Women's first major title.
Around a month after her appearance at the 2014 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, Alexandra further competed at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Canada. In this, she proved a consequential figure in the group stages, scoring a hat-trick against Korea and a brace against Nigeria respectively. Then, in the ensuing knockout stages, Alexandra continued her goalscoring feats with another hat-trick in a 6-1 win over France in the quarter-finals, followed by a brace in a 3-0 win over Germany in the semi-finals, and a final hat-trick in a 5-2 win over Nigeria in the finals to claim England's first-ever title, a milestone that was achieved just weeks after Alexandra's own grandmother, the late Queen Lauren, had passed away on August 12th of that year with her funeral taking place on the day right before the final. Later on, in a candid recollection of the tournament, Alexandra revealed that she "cried for quite some time" right before the August 13th fixture against Nigeria to which head coach Mo Marley initially considered starting another player in the place of Alexandra who instead insisted on starting the match herself and even later went on to score the winning goal against Nigeria. Meanwhile, with a total of thirteen goals, Alexandra herself finished as the tournament's top scorer while also surpassing the previous record of eleven goals set by Canada's Christine Sinclair in 2002.
Shortly after her return to football, then-England Women manager Mark Sampson, aware of the royal's recent growing talent and past performance, was said to have proposed for the nineteen-year-old Alexandra to finally join the senior team, an offer that was initially met with some hesitation given that such a decision would have added further burden onto the princess in light of her recent recovery. However, aware of the upcoming 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup that year in Canada and hoping to emulate her brother's recent World Cup glories just a decade prior, Alexandra opted to accept Sampson's offer. Then, following her father's abdication in 2017, it was later agreed by the then newly-appointed manager and former footballer Phil Neville that she would remain with the team until the end of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, and that she would afterward retire regardless of the tournament's ultimate outcome to fully assume her awaiting regnal duties which she had temporarily put on hold in light of her growing football career. Regarding this, she later said, "Initially, it was quite sad and disappointing to learn that I've only got a few years left with the national team but at the same time, it also drove me to do my absolute best with the remaining time that I have so that in the end, I'll only be enjoying what I've done in the past and not otherwise regretting it and thinking that I could've done more".
On 13 February 2015, Alexandra made her international debut for England in a friendly match against the United States where she scored her first goal for the national team in the 49th minute to equalise with the Americans whose initial 1-0 lead had come from a 25th-minute goal by striker Alex Morgan. Then, around a month later, Alexandra was featured as a regular starter for the national team at the 2015 Cyprus Women's Cup where a brace from her at the 86th minute in the group stage match against the Netherlands proved vital in breaking the initial 1-1 deadlock, thereby allowing England to progress to the finals where they proceeded to defeat Canada 3-0 with another of Alexandra's brace adding to a late 67th-minute goal by striker Lianne Sanderson to complete the 3-0 rout. Meanwhile, in the two subsequent friendly matches against China and Canada respectively, Alexandra scored a brace in both fixtures to guarantee a victory on both occasions, with her brace in the match against Canada proving vital for a successful England comeback against their opponents who initially led 1-0 thanks to an initial 23rd-minute goal by midfielder Sophie Schmidt. Not long afterward, Alexandra subsequently participated in her first major tournament in the form of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, an experience she later described as both "thrilling" and "nerve-wracking". Soon enough, in the group stages, after missing an initial opportunity to score during a 0-1 defeat to France, Alexandra went on to score her first and only hat-trick in the tournament to give her side a dominant 5-1 win over Mexico which was followed by a 2-1 win over Colombia that saw them successfully qualify for the knockout stages which England began by recording a 3-1 victory over Norway in the round of 16, followed by a 4-1 win over hosts Canada in the quarter-finals, and a dramatic 3-2 win over defending champions Japan in the semi-finals where after a 92nd-minute own goal by defender Laura Bassett momentarily saw Japan take the lead, a 93rd-minute tiebreaking goal from Alexandra allowed England to reach the finals for the first time ever, a realisation that she later admitted having brought her to tears upon learning of it. In the ensuing final match at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada, a brace by Fara Williams and a goal from Katie Chapman with assistance from Alexandra herself saw England dramatically defeat the United States, the two-time champions, 3-2 to win their first-ever title. Later on, Alexandra was later named the tournament's Best Young Player, particularly for her "inspiring performance" during England's semi-finals triumph against Japan who later lost 0-2 to Germany in the third place play-off match to ultimately settle for fourth place.
Following their historic success at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, England also qualified for the UEFA Women's Euro 2017. In this, Alexandra herself started off promisingly, scoring a brace in an 8-0 demolition of Scotland and a hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Portugal in the group stages. Then, having easily qualified for the knockout stages, Alexandra scored another brace in a 2-0 win over France in the quarter-finals and a memorable hat-trick in a 3-3 draw against the Netherlands in the semi-finals where a 93rd-minute own goal from defender Millie Bright resulted in a penalty shootout that England ultimately won 4-2 to advance to the finals for the first time ever in which goals from Alexandra, Fran Kirby, Millie Bright, and Lucy Bronze saw England mark a dominant 4-0 win over Denmark to claim their first European title just two years after their maiden World Cup glory. In that same year, England also came marginally close to winning the 2017 SheBelieves Cup but ultimately fell short in doing so after France narrowly prevailed to win the tournament outright by just one point ahead. However, in the following 2018 edition, a superior goal difference to that of the United States crucially allowed England to win the tournament for the first time ever especially after their previous immediate attempt had fallen short. Meanwhile, despite the back-to-back success, the England women's national team briefly became the center of controversy when then-manager Mark Sampson, amidst allegations and reports of verbal abuse by the former against England international Eniola Aluko, was dismissed from his position by The Football Association who then appointed former England international and men's World Cup winner Phil Neville as the Lionesses' new head coach.
In 2019, her final year with England, Alexandra would come to see one last major success with the women's national team, namely at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. From the start, a dominant performance in the group stages against Scotland, Argentina, and Japan saw England easily progress to the round of 16 where Alexandra's contribution of two goals for her side in the match helped seal a huge 5-0 victory over Cameroon, thereby allowing them to then meet Norway in the quarter-finals where they also defeated their opponents by a similarly large 6-0 margin with Alexandra herself scoring a hat-trick in the 68th minute. Then, in the ensuing semi-finals, in an exact repeat of their previous encounter, a brace from Alexandra at the 83rd minute saw England seal a dramatic 3-2 victory over the United States to progress to the finals for the second consecutive time. In the ensuing final match at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais, a hat-trick from Alexandra in the 53rd minute, coupled with goals from Beth Mead and Abbie McManus respectively in the second half saw England achieve a dominant 5-1 win over the Netherlands to clinch their second World Cup title in a row while the Dutch managed to only reply once via a 75th-minute consolation goal from Daniëlle van de Donk. Meanwhile, the United States, who came second in the previous edition, later finished third via a narrow 4-3 win over Sweden in which both Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe scored twice to edge the Swedes in the final minutes. Consequently, the Lionesses' back-to-back victory saw them become the second nation after Germany to have won two consecutive FIFA Women's World Cups.
In the end, despite her sustained success with England and with rumours claiming that she might potentially forgo her rights of succession to the throne in order to remain with the England women's national team for the near future, Alexandra, as was intended beforehand, announced her retirement from professional football at the end of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, which was then followed by a "semi-modest" farewell event at the St George's Park National Football Centre involving both her England and Arsenal teammates. Meanwhile, despite her abrupt retirement and short-lived career, Alexandra holds a record of 84 goals in 71 appearances for the England women's national team, making her their leading all-time goalscorer, a status that her half-brother William Smith also enjoys as the all-time leading goalscorer for the England men's national team with 160 goals in 124 appearances. Moreover, despite her limited number of appearances, she is also the all-time goalscorer in the UEFA Women's Championship with 12 goals and the second-highest all-time goalscorer in the World Cup (men or women) with 21 goals behind half-brother William Smith. In both respects, she is followed jointly by Germany's Birgit Prinz and Inka Grings in the former and by Brazil's Marta in the latter.
In a 2022 interview with Sky Sports held shortly after England's back-to-back victory at the UEFA Women's Euro 2022, when asked whether she "personally regrets" forgoing the rest of her growing football career in order to better concentrate on her duties as queen, Alexandra responded with an affirmative "no", stating, "I certainly don't regret the time I spent at England at all, even if it's just four years long, which some might see as a rather short period of time because in the end, I made a lot of good friends during that time, and not to mention, in just four years, we were able to win two World Cups in a row, along with at least one Women's Euro tournament along the way. Essentially, what matters is not the amount of time you spent on something, but rather what you achieved or done, irrespective of the amount of time spent". She later added, "Looking back, if I were to not have won even a single competition back then when I had that four-year chance, then I would have absolutely regretted retiring so abruptly because it obviously meant that whatever potential I had, I never fully reached it and it was otherwise completely wasted despite the chances that I had". In addition, besides the overwhelming support from her family, Alexandra also cited football as one of the main driving forces behind her successful recovery from her near-fatal depressive episode, stating, "The fact that within just a year after my grandmother's death, I was then just joyfully and proudly holding a World Cup trophy in my arms in front of millions of people definitely changed the way I looked at life from that moment onwards and gave the years after she was no longer alive a whole new meaning and perspective for me to keep moving on and live my life to the fullest. For me, my grandmother's passing was not the end of my journey and there's actually more of it waiting for me down the road".
In October 2019, shortly after her retirement came into effect, Alexandra was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, with The Football Association chairman Greg Clarke heralding the royal as "one of England's brightest talents in women's football" and "a lifelong icon for young girls across England looking to get into football". During much of her playing years, given her pre-existing wealth as a royal, Alexandra personally opted to receive no salary at all from her club thereby relieving them of considerable financial burden which, in turn, later allowed them to sign promising and talented strikers such as Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema to form an effective and lethal attacking trio that included Alexandra herself. Regarding this, she said, "Frankly, with what I had, it was the least that I could do for a club that I feel truly happy and thankful. In the end, players like Vivianne and Beth came along and by all accounts, everyone is happy with it".
Foundation of Ballon d'Or Féminin
Beginning in 1956, in an annual event hosted by France Football, the Ballon d'Or award has routinely been given to male footballers deemed to have best performed in a given year and which has since been won by a host of players with former United States and England international William Smith currently holding the record for most awards won with eleven in total while Englishman Stanley Matthews is the inaugural recipient of the award, having first won it in 1956. In contrast, due to longstanding restrictions imposed on and social norms regarding women's football across Europe, women's football never really became established in the decades following the Second World War and a corresponding award for female footballers therefore did not exist. However, in 2015, shortly after helping the England women's national team to their maiden FIFA Women's World Cup title, Alexandra, given the gravity of such a feat, publicly questioned the lack of a women's equivalent to the prestigious Ballon d'Or award especially given that the tournament itself had at least officially begun in 1991.
Eventually, an initially fringe idea that soon secured support from the likes of men's football icons William Smith, David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane as well as several established female footballers including Christine Sinclair, Mia Hamm, and Michelle Akers, and even French President François Hollande compelled France Football to introduce the Ballon d'Or Féminin with its inaugural edition set to be awarded jointly with the men's Ballon d'Or that same year. To that end, on 6 January 2016, having won a domestic treble that year with Arsenal as well as having crucially helped England to their first FIFA Women's World Cup title, Alexandra soon won a huge majority of the votes to become the award's inaugural recipient (as well as the youngest at just nineteen), defeating compatriot Eniola Aluko and German Célia Šašić, while her half-brother William Smith simultaneously picked up his ninth Ballon d'Or award in one of the few instances where both awards are simultaneously won by a pair of siblings. In addition, she is currently just one of three English players to have won the award alongside Beth Mead who won it in 2022 and Lucy Bronze who won the following edition.
In the years since, during which Alexandra herself later won it twice more in 2017 and 2019, the award has been won by five different recipients with the most recent winner being England's Lucy Bronze while Norway's Ada Hegerberg, who last won it in 2018, is just one of two players alongside Alexandra to have won it more than once during which an interesting pattern emerged whereby both players won the award right after the other. During a 2022 interview with The Guardian shortly after her partner Beth Mead won her first Ballon d'Or Féminin award, Alexandra described her decision to pressure France Football into introducing the award as "one of the proudest things I have ever done in my life", stating, "Ultimately, it is not solely about me but about women's football and its emerging players as a whole who now have the chance to be recognised with the same prestige that their male counterparts had for decades". Meanwhile, in 2018, in line with the creation of the Kopa Trophy meant for the best performing male player under the age of twenty-one, the corresponding Alexandra Trophy was also created with French player Selma Bacha of Division 1 Féminine club Lyon chosen as the inaugural winner. In 2023, shortly after England Women achieved a historic third consecutive Women's World Cup title, an equally successful lobbying campaign resulted in the creation of the Angerer Trophy, the women's equivalent to the Yashin Trophy and which was named after German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer who famously kept a clean sheet throughout the entire course of her country's victorious campaign at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. Almost immediately, for her role in England's historic milestone, Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps was chosen as the inaugural winner, having also won the Golden Glove and The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper awards as well.
Retirement (2019 - Present)
For her subsequent August 2019 coronation, Alexandra personally invited her former Arsenal teammates as well as members of the England women's national team, all of whom were later featured with the Queen in a group photograph in front of the St George's Park National Football Centre, the base for all of England's national sports team, including both the men's and the women's football teams. Meanwhile, on 2 December 2019, Alexandra herself received her third Ballon d'Or Féminin award, the most so far, for her success at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. In addition to that, she was also honoured with a second BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award which followed that of a previous one awarded to her in 2015, making her the joint-highest winner of the award alongside compatriot Lucy Bronze who along with the former and fellow compatriots Beth Mead and Mary Earps make up the award's four recipients so far to have hailed from England.
Despite the somewhat limited time spent and early retirement from women's football at the young age of twenty-three, Alexandra has since come to be well-regarded by her former teammates, with Arsenal defender and England captain Leah Williamson, who debuted for her club around the same time as the former's return, describing the royal as a "very wholesome and fun teammate to play with" while also revealing that her very first encounter with the royal on their first match for Arsenal together left her "pretty much stunned" by the former's easygoing character, stating, "To some extent, I initially believed that all these royalty people are just very snobbish and uptight people but in our very first encounter she acted pretty much like any other normal girl you see everyday". Similarly, retired England international Ellen White has also particularly praised Alexandra's "teamwork spirit" during their time together in the national team, stating that the two "generally got along very well" and that in necessary situations the royal proved to be a valuable and important teammate with whom White often worked in tandem leading England's attack. Moreover, Phil Neville, who managed the England women's national team from 2018 to 2021 and oversaw their victory at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, described the royal as a "very hardworking, selfless, and talented player not afraid to realise her errors and immediately correct them when necessary", adding, "In the eyes of many, when I was the manager, I was essentially talking to my country's own queen and head of state as a commoner but the reality is that both of us understood that when it comes to football, titles and statuses don't matter and what ultimately matters is the team's success that everyone, regardless of any differences, should work together at their hardest to achieve it". Meanwhile, Vivianne Miedema, a teammate of hers at Arsenal but otherwise an opponent on the international level representing the Netherlands, described her as "one of the most brilliant teammates and one of the most formidable opponents I have ever met".
Since her retirement from professional football, Alexandra has continued to be an active and vocal figure for women's football, an issue which she has come to champion since her retirement in 2019. Most notably, following the England women's national team's victory at the UEFA Women's Euro 2022, the Queen subsequently reiterated her call for further attention and investment into women's football as a whole, stating, "If winning a single major tournament is all it takes for women's football in England to receive all the media coverage and attention, then they have done so for years now and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, hopefully with renewed interest and attention it so deserves". In addition to this, Alexandra also emerged as a vocal critic of the unsuccessful European Super League project, which she once described as "the rich man's football and one that is both soulless and meritless at its core". Moreover, despite the project reportedly planning to include a women's league alongside the men's, Alexandra herself opined that "regardless of the gender equality pretense behind it, it would be an absolute shame if female footballers are also roped into this disaster of a plan, one that is concocted by a group of greedy businessmen with little to no passion or interest in football itself". Similarly, Culture Secretary Chloe Smith also voiced her public disapproval of the project in conjunction with Prime Minister David Cameron, stating that the European Super League would "kill football as we know it for both men and women". More recently, together with former teammates Leah Williamson and Lotte Wubben-Moy, the Queen vocally called for the British government to both guarantee and expand access to sports, including football, for girls at schools, owing to the longstanding systemic imbalance between boys and girls in terms of access towards sports.
Heir Apparent
Beginning in the early 2010s, a teenage Alexandra would gradually come to absorb a more prominent role as the heir to the throne, with her future duties simultaneously becoming ever more apparent since then. Soon enough, on 1 January 2011, Alexandra made her maiden public appearance alongside her family members and relatives at the wedding of her aunt Catherine, Princess Royal to American actress Jodie Foster, the first instance of a same-sex wedding involving a member of the British royal family, and which, given that same-sex marriage was only legalised in the United Kingdom roughly a year later, instead took place in the Netherlands, which had been the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage back in 2001. Following this, the princess subsequently made her second public appearance in the following February where she attended the funeral of her grandfather, the late King Charles III, with the event beginning with a sizable procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey led at the front by brothers King Thomas and Prince Nelson before coming to an end at the esteemed Anglican church where a 94-gun salute, the amount of which represents the years of his life, was given as a final farewell before the late monarch was finally laid to rest alongside his other ancestors. Attended by various political and military figures, as well as several surviving former United States Air Force servicemen who once served together with the former during the Second World War, the event saw Thomas honour his deceased father as "an honourable man, a loving father, and a selfless patriot" while Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force General Norton A. Schwartz praised him as a "capable pilot" and a "fearless warrior of justice".
From July to August 2012, Alexandra and her family were prominently featured as honorary guests at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London which, particularly saw her father personally participate in the opening gimmick alongside British actor Daniel Craig in which the two men parachuted out of a building and onto the stage below in a performance that was met with wide applause from many. In the meantime, Alexandra's half-brother also gained much prominence at the event as the captain of the Great Britain men's football team which he successfully led to victory via a 2-0 win over Mexico in the finals. Nonetheless, despite their status as hosts, Great Britain only managed to rack up a total of 66 medals, far behind China in second place with 94 medals, and the United States in first with 104 medals in total. Later that November, Alexandra also attended her half-brother's wedding to American actress Anne Hathaway at Oheka Castle in New York, United States where in the ensuing lunch feast she personally welcomed her "new beloved sister", stating, "Without a doubt, ever since I could read and talk, as a young little girl, I was so obsessed about a particular American actress for years on end. Now, to even personally welcome the actress as my own sister-in-law absolutely feels like an impossible or far-fetched dream although it is one that I will remember for a lifetime". In the meantime, on 20 July 2012, roughly a week before the 2012 Summer Olympics began, Alexandra also represented her country at the enthronement of Japan's Empress Akiko, the country's first female monarch in centuries.
Upon completing her secondary level education at the Southbank International School, Alexandra briefly refocused her interests in assuming her official duties as heir apparent to her father. In this, beforehand, the princess had mostly been accompanying her parents on their many state visits abroad and was never really given an opportunity to do so herself, owing to her age and priorities, until around September 2011 when, in an apparent break from tradition, it was announced that the princess would be headlining her first-ever solo visit abroad with the country of choice being France. In this, Alexandra met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and First Lady Carla Bruni, with whom she noticeably developed a close friendship early on owing to Bruni's close relations with her mother Christy Turlington as fellow fashion models during the 1990s. In the end, her solo visit to France, which spanned over the course of three days, was positively received by many including the French media outlet France 24 which praised the royal for "carrying herself elegantly and flawlessly at such a young age" while First Lady Carla Bruni described the princess as a "lovely young girl wise beyond her years" and an "absolute joy of a girl just like her mother".
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The following year also saw Alexandra undertake several further official trips abroad in her own personal capacity, beginning with a visit in February to the United States where she met then-President Barack Obama, which she soon followed up on with a visit to neighbouring Canada where she met then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Then, in June of that same year, the princess went on a personal trip to Spain where she attended the enthronement of King Felipe VI as the new Spanish monarch as a guest of honour. The following July, in response to the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, a commercial airliner en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Amsterdam, Netherlands that was shot down while flying over the tumultuous area of eastern Ukraine by Russian forces in the area, Alexandra issued a public statement condemning those responsible for the attack, calling it an "act of utter barbarism", while also likening it to the infamous 1988 Lockerbie bombing in which a commercial airliner flying over Lockerbie, Scotland was destroyed mid-air by a bomb explosion placed by Libyan terrorists, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom. Among the 298 total passengers onboard the downed flight, all of whom were killed upon impact, ten of them were identified as British nationals while one hundred ninety-seven of them were otherwise identified as Dutch nationals.
On 13 July 2014, Alexandra, along with members of the Royal Family together traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they attended in person the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final between England and Argentina in which England, under the captaincy of her half-brother, won 4-2 on penalties to secure their third consecutive World Cup title, becoming the first nation to do so, while also equalising Brazil's record of four World Cup titles during which England captain William Smith himself notably broke the record of three World Cup titles for an individual player held by the Brazilian football legend Pelé. Meanwhile, in a close affair, the Netherlands narrowly defeated Germany 3-2 to clinch a third-place finish in the ensuing playoff match following their previous defeat to runners-up Argentina, making it just the second time that they have finished third since participating for the first time in the 1938 FIFA World Cup where they also finished third by defeating Sweden 3-0 before later winning it in 1974 FIFA World Cup by defeating hosts West Germany 5-4 on penalties following a 0-0 draw.
On 30 September 2016, in what was then her first-ever instance of setting foot in Israel, Alexandra, along with a host of other international dignitaries, attended the state funeral of former President Shimon Peres that was held at the Mount Herzl national cemetery site. Peres, whose relation to the princess via him being a cousin of the late Queen Lauren made him a well-regarded albeit a distant member of the British royal family, was eulogised by Alexandra who in her statement praised the late Israeli politician as a "humble, yet effective and visionary leader who never stopped seeking for eternal peace, even if such a goal seemed impossible or far-fetched at times". Similarly, Alexandra's father King Thomas also expressed much praise for the late Peres, stating, "In a rather troubled and complicated region such as the Middle East, Shimon Peres is undoubtedly one of its most talented, promising, and visionary leaders ever".
From early-to-mid-2017, following a series of terrorist attacks that targeted the Palace of Westminster, Manchester Arena, and the London Bridge, Alexandra published a statement expressing her condolences and condemning the violent acts, stating, "As the nation grieves for the unfortunate loss of its people to these heinous acts of terror, questions will arise over the safety and well-being of the people as a whole. Regarding this, I have full trust in the government and the relevant authorities to ensure that necessary measures are taken to ensure that such violent episodes will never come up again". Like her predecessors, together with her parents, Alexandra personally visited the sites where the incidents had taken place during which she and her family wore black clothing as a sign of respect for the deceased. In one interview, Alexandra later described seeing the aftermath of said incidents as having reminded her of the infamous 2005 London bombings in which Islamist terrorists bombed London's public transport system during morning rush hour, stating, "It is never a good thing to hear or to even see what a bunch of violent people intend to do to your own country, a place where you were born, raised, and live in for your entire life. Of course, the London bombings are now about a decade ago but to be reminded of it, even in the slightest, definitely stings and hurts me a lot in an emotional sense".
Death of Queen Dowager Lauren
On 12 August 2014, while in her first year of university in the United States, Alexandra was met with a personal tragedy when her elderly grandmother and former actress Queen Lauren passed away at the age of eighty-nine. Her grandmother's death, which had occurred in the presence of her mother, soon forced a distraught Alexandra to abruptly halt her studies for some time, having found it difficult to continue her studies further at the time. Consequently, both the princess and her mother, who had been accompanying her all the while, soon together flew back for the United Kingdom via the royal family's private plane with the late queen dowager's coffin in tow. The following days were then filled with extensive preparations as well as rehearsals for the late queen dowager's funeral, which eventually took place on 23 August 2014, with the ceremony, in contrast to the more elaborate and extensive one held for the late King Charles III, ultimately being a more relatively simple and brief one instead, a change in tone that was reportedly requested by the late Queen Lauren herself before her passing, in which she, according to her eldest son Thomas, "wanted a simple funeral away from the spotlight" despite initial suggestions that she should be awarded an equally elaborate and grand funeral like her late husband's given their lasting legacy on British society. Lasting for no more than thirty minutes long, the funeral saw the British royals depart Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey at 9:00 p.m. in a fleet of black sedans with the late queen dowager's coffin in tow and which was then subsequently laid to rest next to that of her late husband's, with the royals then paying their last respects to the family's "former patriarch and matriarch" before subsequently departing back for Buckingham Palace, hence concluding the funeral. Since then, it has been said to be a family tradition whereby each year on the date of the late couple's marriage, namely the 15th of March, the royals would together come at Westminster Abbey at exactly 9:00 p.m. to mark the late couple's passing as well as to "properly reflect on the days since the departure of two beloved and honourable individuals that came to mark and define the family in the modern and ever-changing world".
Meanwhile, the following days, as later described by Alexandra herself, proved to be "much more difficult" for the former who was said to have often spent much of her time alone in the bedroom while also maintaining a largely silent and cold demeanour, a stark contrast to her normally carefree and talkative character. Around that same time, amidst concerns over her mental health, Alexandra was then prescribed by doctors a bottle of anti-depressant pills for her own personal consumption. However, on 12 September, an abrupt decision to consume her pills at an amount slightly higher than that recommended to her by doctors threw the princess into a comatose state, which was quickly noticed by her mother who soon afterward had her daughter treated to by palace doctors. Soon enough, possibilities surrounding the princess's state of survival and current health promptly led to staffers at the BBC and other British media outlets to don black outfits, as per the traditional customs, a decision that immediately proved to be a source for great concern and curiosity among the British public who in the hours that followed began descending on the gates of Buckingham Palace, while major news outlets, including the likes of the BBC and Sky News began reporting on the situation almost immediately, with the BBC then stating that the princess was facing a "serious illness" without providing any further details, a decision most likely influenced by the royal family's choice to keep any major knowledge regarding the princess's wellbeing a closely guarded secret and away from the public. Throughout the next four days or so, as crowds continued to fill the area outside of the palace gates, Buckingham Palace itself otherwise remained largely silent on the princess's condition, but not before later issuing a statement at 9:30 a.m. on 16 September that the princess was "making a promising recovery from her aforementioned illness", which was later confirmed roughly two days later when Alexandra herself publicly appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the first time since recovering from her coma, to which the crowd below shouted "God Save the Princess!", followed by a roar of applause and waves of clapping.
In the days following her recovery from her coma, under the recommendation of her doctors, Alexandra was to be kept mostly at home with the exception of important matters as well as being strictly monitored by her mother given that she is who Alexandra herself felt most close to and coupled with the fact that Queen Christy herself had beforehand acted as her daughter's main source of support following the latter's grandmother's departure providing much-needed physical and emotional support. Eventually, after around a month or so, once it was deemed that the princess had now possessed a stable state of mind and was not at any risk of relapsing, Alexandra, based on her own request, then went along with her mother on a month-long private trip to Hawaii where the mother and daughter pair proceeded to spend the following month under much secrecy which meant that when interacting with the general public, the pair often assumed fake aliases so as to conceal their true identities while also avoiding places that were said to have been frequented by high-profile individuals all in order to attract the least amount of attention possible. In a later interview, she said, "Without a doubt, everything about the vacation was 100% perfection, with it being just me and my mother relaxing at the beach with no one else interrupting, and just the two of us hiking through the beautiful Hawaiian rainforest", adding that at one point the mother-daughter duo reportedly camped for three days long in the Hawaiian jungle during which the two, according to Alexandra herself, "cooked delicious fishes, crossed mighty rivers, and saw beautiful waterfalls". In the meantime, the two also met with Hawaii Governor David Ige, who subsequently described the two as a "very kind and unassuming pair", adding, "From the moment I first met them, they definitely looked less like royals and more like two wonderful people very eager to enjoy all the things Hawaii could offer".
By the following year, having initially put her university studies on indefinite hold following her grandmother's death, Alexandra decided to finally return back to committing herself once more to her academic studies. However, in doing so, she chose not to return to her old university, instead opting to study at a local university in England, that being the University of London, a choice she later attributed to geographical reasons as well as her personal need to be "close to home", thus avoiding potential homesickness, and given that the university itself is only two miles away from Buckingham Palace, also made communications between herself and her family much easier in general. In addition, having also decided to take up professional football once again, the relevant training centers for both Arsenal and the England women's national team also happened to be within the university's proximity, thereby also making the princess's football duties less of an overall burden as she also decided to simultaneously resume her football career which she had then also put on hold following her grandmother's death.
On 10 October 2023, a date commonly known to be for World Mental Health Day, for the first time, Alexandra publicly disclosed that her previously vague "serious illness" was actually her being in a comatose state that resulted from a near-fatal overdose on drugs which she had consumed beyond the recommended limit. Explaining further, Alexandra went on to describe the period, which immediately followed the passing of her paternal grandmother in August 2014, as the "darkest period of my life to date", adding, "In a sense, it wasn't really 100% the case but at the time, I just felt extremely lost, lonely, and as if I had lost one of my bodily senses. I just didn't really have the energy or usual enthusiasm to do the things that I normally do because, at the time, they all just felt so dull and meaningless to me. From my own perspective back then, someone that I loved so much just left for good so what's the point of doing this stuff anymore?". Regardless, Alexandra has credited her "superhero mother" and "truly caring family" for helping her out of the situation and for "giving me a very solid, even if a rather generic reason to continue living and not end my life so abruptly just like how I almost did". The revelation, made during a special interview with the BBC, was widely received by the public while mental health experts praised the Queen for her "frankness in revealing an undeniably dark but consequential episode of her life". Similarly, British journalist Zeinab Badawi, who conducted the interview herself, said, "Admittedly, given who she is, some people are always going to take this whole thing with a little grain of salt but for me, as a commoner, it was not that hard to swiftly understand what she was going through during that dark time. Rich or poor, anyone losing a beloved relative of theirs is always going to have a hard time dealing with it and I commend her for willingly telling her experience as it is with the noble purpose of emphasising just how obviously important mental health is to an individual, especially with all the stuff that has been happening recently". In addition, Badawi also revealed that upon the Queen's own request, almost little to none of the interview was edited out including moments of her briefly pausing between sentences and occasionally sobbing a little, stating that she "really wanted the things that she said to be raw and hard-hitting and for the whole interview to be as honest and open as possible with little editing involved". Meanwhile, on her part, Alexandra said, "Aside from the fact that it would be on a day meant worldwide for mental health, I just personally felt that after some time keeping secret the real reason that made me ill back then I have to eventually come clean and let the public know the unfiltered truth where, as a princess and a future queen of the country, I once took drugs in an amount that was far too dangerous and that I almost died in doing so. In the end, I'm a human and all humans have emotions".
Investiture of the Princess of the Welsh
Following her creation as Princess of the Welsh through letters patent issued by her father, prospects of an investiture ceremony as the new Princess of the Welsh quickly gained traction, while also receiving much support from the former King Charles III, Alexandra's own grandfather. Moreover, such prospects were also looked upon favourably by a number of Welsh-born politicians including then-Secretary of State for Wales Ron Davies who argued that having such a ceremony for the title's first female holder would be a "great step forward for the cause of gender equality in Wales and the whole of the United Kingdom". However, despite its potential social implications, proposals for another investiture were not without criticism, with Welsh nationalists being fundamentally opposed to the continuation of the title's use for the heir apparent to the British throne. Nonetheless, in February 2002, proposals for an investiture ceremony in the future were confirmed with an announcement by Buckingham Palace, which declared that the investiture ceremony would "proceed as planned" and that it would take place sometime after the princess had reached the age of twenty. To that end, in the months leading up to the investiture ceremony, a then-twenty-year-old Alexandra was sent on a brief tour of Wales itself during which she also undertook language lessons in the Welsh language so as to better prepare the princess who was expected to deliver her speech in Welsh at some point during the ceremony.
Eventually, on 5 June 2016, her investiture ceremony was held at the historic Welsh medieval fortress of Caernarfon Castle which had previously served as the very site where the investiture ceremony for her predecessors took place before. Then, in the closing hours of the event, Alexandra read aloud her speech, first in English, followed by a second one in Welsh, with her fluency in the language being a subject of much praise by observers who noted the princess's "flawless delivery in the Welsh language". Meanwhile, the event itself was noted for reportedly being one of the most viewed events that year with an estimated viewership amount of up to 29.5 million people, including both UK citizens and non-UK citizens, although this was later surpassed by her own August 2019 coronation, which otherwise reported an estimated total amount of viewership at 32 million.
2016 EU referendum & "June riots"
On 23 June 2016, hoping to quell the nationwide debate over the United Kingdom's future in the European Union, Prime Minister David Cameron's government held a nationwide referendum, the results of which, although legally non-binding, was expected to be implemented by the British government. In the end, the referendum resulted in a clear victory for the Remain vote at 57.6% to the Leave vote's 42.4%, thereby guaranteeing the United Kingdom's continued membership in the European Union. Consequently, over the next few days, a series of rallies organised by prominent figures of the Leave campaign, namely Nigel Farage and Michael Gove, quickly sprang up across England and which were particularly concentrated in the East Midlands region which had registered the highest percentage of Leave votes in the referendum. According to the BBC, along with several other media outlets, a "sizable majority" of the rallies were reported to be "very emotionally charged" along with containing "strong elements of overt xenophobia and anti-immigrant racism". In this, numerous figures of the Leave campaign were mostly seen bemoaning the campaign's dramatic loss at the polls which they particularly attributed to the strongly pro-Remain constituent country of Hanover where its roughly three million voters, most of whom are in favour of remaining in the European Union, helped ensure a decisive victory for the Leave campaign despite England, the most populous constituent country, recording a majority in favour of a withdrawal. In the meantime, amidst growing tensions, isolated incidents of violence, which later came to form the "June riots", began occurring across the United Kingdom with England being where most of the incidents were recorded. In the end, a BBC investigation reported that around thirty-eight people were killed whereas eighty-three more were injured and a further one hundred and thirty-two were arrested by police during the violence.
In response, both King Thomas and Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the violence that unfolded, with the latter expressing "much sadness and despair at the fact that a simple referendum could lead to such ugly incidents of violence" while the monarch expressed his "utter disbelief at the level of chaos that followed a simple and normal democratic procedure". Similarly, Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn condemned the "irrational and unnecessary violence that unfolded" while Minister-President of Hanover Mark Heffelfinger, referencing the particular criticism directed towards voters in Hanover by the Leave campaign's leaders, both condemned the riots and also called out the likes of Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, and Nigel Farage for "shameless anti-German racism", stating, "It is absolutely reprehensible and utterly bizarre that as the legitimate citizens of the United Kingdom in Hanover voted for their desired outcome, a certain group of people, when ultimately dealt with a loss, could not somehow bring themselves to accept the final results and instead resorted to shameless targeting and singling out an entire group of people for having exercised free will in a democratic country". Consequently, under the demand of Heffelfinger, whose party threatened to withdraw and leave the Conservatives governing alone in the minority, both Johnson and Gove were subsequently expelled from the party by David Cameron given their prominent roles and outspokenness as well-known figures for the Leave campaign. Meanwhile, with his much-publicised plan for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union effectively thwarted, by the following year, Farage subsequently resigned from the party leadership and in turn shifted his political activities over to the United States which had then elected fellow anti-EU politician and real estate mogul Donald Trump as president.
Abdication of King Thomas
Alexandra reflecting on her father's abdication
In the last few years leading up to the end of her father's reign, the King himself had largely shown little signs of ailing health. This, coupled with the fact that the King himself is a keen sportsman, particularly in sports such as tennis and polo, initially made a sudden abdication from the throne rather unlikely. Despite this, on precisely 6 October 2017, at 3:30 p.m., shortly after returning to his bedroom, King Thomas suddenly collapsed from an apparent heart attack. His fall, which was immediately noticed by his wife, was quickly dealt with as the royal was promptly rushed to a nearby medical room within Buckingham Palace itself where for the next few days or so doctors patiently operated on the incapacitated monarch. In the meantime, despite news of the monarch's health and condition being strictly limited to among palace staff and the royal family itself, newscasters at the United Kingdom's major broadcasters, namely the BBC and ITV, were nonetheless ordered to wear black outfits in the event of the King's possible death. Around that same time, as news of the King's health, even if somewhat limited in information, began to spread to the public, droves of British citizens begin to gradually assemble just outside of the gates of Buckingham Palace where for at least two days or so the crowd patiently waited for any further updates concerning the monarch's health.
Eventually, on 8 October 2017, Buckingham Palace announced that the King had "fully recovered from a minor injury sustained a few days ago", thereby quickly disseminating rumours of the monarch's death, while the King himself later thanked members of the public for their "touching show of support and love during my most critical days". In the days that followed, as questions began to rise over whether the now sixty-year-old King could continue to reign as usual for the foreseeable future, King Thomas himself subsequently suggested abdicating the throne in favour of his daughter and heir during which he reportedly described the stroke that he had recently suffered as a "personal calling" for him to abdicate the throne. Then, amidst concerns that a sudden abdication would consequently disrupt the princess's university studies, it was soon agreed that for the next two years, the princess's mother Christy Turlington, being the current queen consort herself and now the queen dowager, would therefore serve as a temporary regent on her daughter's behalf until the end of the said two-year period at which point she would formally assume her duties as head of state.
Following that, with the King's abdication from the throne expected to take place in the next few days, the agreement was subsequently relayed to Alexandra herself by Prime Minister David Cameron who then contacted the princess's university in order to personally relay the news to the new monarch. Later, according to Cameron himself, the princess was "understandably shocked in the beginning, for quite a good reason, but eventually calmed down, composed herself, and accepted that her time as the new monarch has begun". Otherwise, Alexandra herself later candidly recounted "feeling sleepless for the next few days", stating, "Obviously, I know well enough that one day my father will depart and I will immediately become the new monarch but I never expected it to be so quick even if my father actually abdicated rather than dying outright".
Reign
Ascension
On 13 October 2017, at precisely 12:00 p.m., the abdication of King Thomas finally came into effect, with Buckingham Palace being the first to announce the monarch's resignation, followed by the Royal Palace of Amsterdam and the Grand Ducal Palace. Soon afterward, having chosen her own given name for her regnal name as the new monarch, she was promptly proclaimed "Queen Alexandra" in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands while in Luxembourg, she was fittingly proclaimed "Grand Duchess Alexandra" due to the country's historic nature of being a grand duchy as opposed to a kingdom. Then, just an hour later, in the form of a televised speech broadcasted by the BBC and other media outlets, the Queen declared her intention to "serve my country to the very best of my ability", adding that "while my role would mostly be as a conventional figurehead for the nation, I could never ignore the real-world challenges ahead, challenges that I will bravely face and overcome". Following this, as per tradition, a 21-gun salute was observed in the United Kingdom to mark her accession to the throne, with a similar gesture also being simultaneously observed in the Netherlands and Luxembourg respectively. Meanwhile, in line with her ascension to the throne, Alexandra also officially became the new president of the Hanoverian Union, an organisation comprising the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Luxembourg, all three countries of which she is the head of state.
At the time of her ascension to the throne, Alexandra effectively became just one of three queen regnants in the world alongside her distant relative, namely Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, and Japan's Empress Akiko. Then, just two months later, Romania's King Michael passed away, leaving his eldest child and heir to ascend the throne as Queen Margareta, thereby making it four queen regnants in the world currently on the throne. Regardless, as the youngest monarch at the time, Alexandra's ascension was met with considerable attention with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel describing the royal as a "bright, young woman" while Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, who took office just a couple of weeks later, expressed her hope of working together with the Queen on relevant issues.
In the days following her ascension to the throne, rumours allegedly spread by republican and anti-monarchist groups began claiming that the Queen's ascension was not legitimate, with the claims said to be disputing Alexandra's legitimacy via an old statement made by her mother in which the latter, while still in a relationship with her then-boyfriend, the actor Roger Wilson, claimed that the two were married but only in a religious sense and not a legal one. In response, Wilson, who dated the American supermodel prior to the latter's marriage, confronted such rumours, explaining that in a legal sense the two were never officially married to each other and the fact that they had broken up roughly two years before Turlington herself later married her husband meant that they had "called it quits for a while already". In the meantime, after an initial silence, Turlington herself also addressed the rumours, stating, "Frankly, these unsubstantiated rumours are ridiculous and at worst insulting to me and my family. Yes, I did say such words before when I was with him (Wilson) but of course, we later broke up, and around two years later, I met and wedded the man who I've proudly called my husband for over twenty-four years now and to whom I am truly and well married for life". Meanwhile, Alexandra, the target of such rumours herself, was said to have initially considered pursuing legal action on the basis of defamation but eventually decided against it for unknown reasons with one source claiming that the Queen "refused to validate such baseless rumours any further".
On 1 January 2018, as per longstanding Dutch royal tradition whereby the new monarch is inaugurated on the first day of the following year, at exactly 7:30 a.m., the Queen, accompanied by the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force Lieutenant General Dennis Luyt, departed for the Netherlands' Leeuwarden Air Base from the United Kingdom's RAF Kenley onboard the RNLAF's Gulfstream G650. Then, upon arriving at 8:13 a.m., she was received by Prime Minister Mark Rutte and subsequently driven in an orange Bentley Continental GT to the Nieuwe Kerk church in Amsterdam with the royal convoy driving over the A7 motorway before eventually arriving in Amsterdam itself. Upon arriving, the Queen was then escorted into the Nieuwe Kerk where she was then paid homage by members of the States General after taking her customary oath as the new Dutch monarch. Meanwhile, for reasons of simplicity, Alexandra's simultaneous inauguration as the monarch of Luxembourg, an occasion that followed a roughly similar process, was also done at Nieuwe Kerk and which followed shortly afterward with those in attendance including Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and members of the Chamber of Deputies who similarly paid their homage to the Grand Duchess after she took her oath as the new Luxembourgish monarch. Then, on the following day, Alexandra's swearing-in ceremony as the new Hanoverian Union president took place in which she made a three-hour trip to the Royal Palace of Brussels from her official residence of Royal Palace of Amsterdam where upon arriving she was afterward sworn in as the new president in the presence of the chairman, deputy chairman, and the secretary-general.
Public Image
Almost immediately, at the start of her reign, Alexandra mostly enjoyed overwhelming popularity among the general public, with one YouGov poll placing her approval rate at 94% on her very first day as monarch, a phenomenon that, according to some observers and commentators, could be explained by a number of factors with the first being the Queen's perceived approachability as an individual with the British public as a whole as evidenced by her near-frequent sightings at various public events as well as by the many interviews she has since conducted with various media outlets, both local and international ones, ranging from the BBC and The Guardian in the United Kingdom to CNN and France 24 in the United States and France respectively. In addition to that, her close association with women's football as one of its most talented and memorable players has also made her a largely popular figure among supporters and fans of women's football, particularly in England. This was further corroborated by England Women captain Leah Williamson who later said, "Without a doubt, the fact that the queen or king of a country could even be playing a sport together with the common people is definitely unthinkable, and perhaps, the sheer unpredictable and unprecedented nature of it made her (Alexandra) a very unique person and definitely someone one could well easily like, especially if that person is a women's football fan".
Besides that, some observers have also attributed her high popularity to her predecessors themselves, especially her late grandfather King Charles III, given the latter's overwhelming popularity among the public as a widely revered icon of modern liberalism and a staunch defender of the Jewish people. Moreover, the popularity of her own mother, the American supermodel Christy Turlington, as both a model and a humanitarian has also helped in cementing a widely positive image and sentiment for the young Alexandra who upon ascending to the throne immediately rode the overwhelmingly positive sentiment associated with her reign. On the other hand, especially during the 2020 George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, her traditionally high levels of popularity suffered a noticeably slight dip as police brutality and anti-racism protests held in both countries raised questions over the monarchy's past ties to British and Dutch imperialism respectively and colonial-era slavery of Africans. For instance, in the United Kingdom, a statue of the 17th-century English merchant and slave trader Edward Colston was toppled and pushed into Bristol Harbour as part of the protests while an equestrian statue of the late King William V was met with demands for removal from its site at Marlborough House, the late King's birthplace, although such demands were never carried out. In addition, some critics have also taken issue with the Queen's perceived immense wealth which, although never officially confirmed or disclosed to the public, has been estimated in the billions.
The Vogue editor Anna Wintour on Alexandra's physical beauty
Since her ascension to the throne, Alexandra has been photographed for various magazines, ranging from Vogue to Vanity Fair. In addition, she was also once chosen as Person of the Year by Time magazine, as well as being placed in the 11th spot by Forbes in 2021 for their annual list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Moreover, her considerable popularity, particularly among the male demographic, is made evident by her being named the 2019 winner of men's magazine Maxim's annual Hot 100 competition, as well as "Sexiest Woman Alive" by the magazine itself in that same year for which she narrowly beat American model Kate Upton by a difference of a single vote, becoming the second royal after her aunt and the first athlete to receive such a title. Furthermore, women's magazines have also rated her physical beauty in a largely favourable manner, with British Vogue once dubbing her "the most beautiful royal in the world" while Tatler, noting her athletic background, described her as "Britain's Princess Charlene" in a reference to the former South African swimmer who later wedded Monaco's Prince Albert II. Considered to be a fashion icon in her own right, be it during formal or informal occasions, Alexandra has been photographed wearing outfits from high-end designers including Alexander McQueen, Vera Wang, and Marc Jacobs along with otherwise casual and nondescript clothing with her preferred apparel being a pair of jeans coupled with a blank t-shirt underneath a shirt or alternatively a coat in instances of cold weather.
In line with her being a relatively youthful monarch, Alexandra herself maintains a fairly active social media presence, with around 129 million followers on Instagram and 98 million followers on Twitter, with the latter amount being just few millions ahead of American singer Taylor Swift. To that end, on both Twitter and Instagram, there exists an "official account" representing the monarchy and separate from the Queen's own personal account on both respective social media platforms and which is mostly responsible for "documenting and promoting the works and efforts of Her Majesty The Queen and Grand Duchess". However, as of recently, following the takeover of Twitter by the South African billionaire Elon Musk, both the Queen's personal and official accounts on Twitter were reportedly deactivated, presumably in response to Musk's controversial policies as the new CEO, while the ones on Instagram have continued to function as usual. Meanwhile, on 24 January 2023, it was reported by Reuters that the Queen had filed a lawsuit against Musk over unpaid rent relating to Twitter's use of its London headquarters which is rented to the company by the Crown Estate.
Regency
Throughout the following year, despite effectively being Queen herself already as a result of her father's abdication, Alexandra, through an agreement struck between her father and the British, Dutch, and Luxembourgish governments respectively, was nonetheless allowed to further pursue both her education and her football career with her mother otherwise serving as a temporary regent for the time being. Eventually, in the later months of 2018, Alexandra went on to graduate once more from the London School of Economics, this time with a master's degree in economics, thus making her the only British royal so far with such an academic degree given that both her father and her closest relatives have so far only graduated with a bachelor's degree in their own respective rights. Later on, when questioned on why she opted to continue furthering her studies well after her ascension to the throne, she said, "When I look back and realise that my own mother never gave up on her university studies even after just having gone through the undeniably painful experience of giving birth to her very first child, I felt somewhat ashamed as both her daughter and as a woman myself at the thought of just not trying to keep going on when there's some extra load being unloaded on my shoulders. Simply put, if my mother can do it, then so can I too".
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Even so, despite the preoccupation with her academic and sporting needs, throughout much of the year, Alexandra was nevertheless able to achieve a number of significant feats for herself as the new monarch, beginning with a speech that she gave on 8 January 2018 commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Fourteen Points speech made by President Woodrow Wilson following the First World War in which she remarked, "For exactly a hundred years since the late President Wilson made it known to the whole world the necessity and importance of self-determination, freedom, and democracy, the important struggle in achieving such ideas has never ceased to end and yet, against all odds, activists and believers in such ideas have never stopped fighting for what they believe in and want to see implemented for the sake of not just themselves but for a better future for everyone". Later that May, she was also said to have subtly criticised the American government's decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement, having emphasised the "importance of constructive dialogues over aggressive armed confrontations" in a speech she gave just a day after the decision was made. However, despite her perceived criticism of the United States, on 30 November that year, Alexandra, along with her father, attended the state funeral of former President George H. W. Bush with then-President Donald Trump and former US presidents Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama also in attendance alongside other foreign leaders. Meanwhile, the Queen herself also personally hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that was held domestically in London, England while also spending some time abroad attending the G8 summit in Quebec, Canada and the NATO summit in Brussels, Netherlands where she met Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for the first time.
Moreover, in that same year, she also presided over the opening ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which was held in Queensland, Australia between 4 and 15 April 2018, the first sports event she presided over as the British monarch. Meanwhile, on 15 July 2018, at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final in Russia, defending champions England defeated France 5-4 on penalties in a dramatic and tense affair in which a botched attempt by Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribéry was capitalised upon by Tottenham Hotspur fullback Kieran Trippier, the fifth England penalty taker, who scored the winning penalty past goalkeeper and club teammate Hugo Lloris to mark an unprecedented fourth consecutive World Cup title for England and which is also their first under new manager Gareth Southgate who later led the country to a fifth consecutive title at the 2022 edition in Qatar, making it roughly sixteen years unbeaten for England since 2006. In light of this, as per tradition, Alexandra later treated Southgate and the England players to a celebratory dinner at Buckingham Palace where the latter became only the second England manager after the late Alf Ramsey to be knighted for their successes while Wayne Rooney, who also announced his retirement shortly afterward, notably joined former teammate and compatriot William Smith in being one of only two players with four World Cup titles. On the other hand, Brazil, having been denied an appearance in the finals by a narrow 0-1 loss to eventual runners-up France, instead settled for third place by defeating Croatia 2-0 in the third-place playoffs where an initial Neymar penalty, aided by a second-half goal from Willian, saw them avenge their initial loss with a dominant win over the Croatians who were previously denied a maiden appearance in the finals by a 1-2 loss to England.
On 8 October 2018, Alexandra was among the several high-profile guests who attended the second wedding of Hungary's King Charles V. Held at the royal residence of Buda Castle in the capital city of Budapest, the occasion saw the Hungarian monarch, who divorced his first wife the previous year, remarry to Hungarian Victoria's Secret model Barbara Palvin. In this, the wedding, aside from making the latter the first native-born Hungarian queen consort in centuries, also sparked much controversy given that Palvin is thirty-two years her husband's junior and is therefore also rather close in age to the latter's eldest child and heir Crown Princess Eleonore. Regardless, other Victoria's Secret models have also gone on to marry into royalty including the Portuguese-born Sara Sampaio who in May 2020 wedded Afonso, Prince of Beira, son of Portugal's King Edward III, and the South African-born Candice Swanepoel who in October 2018 became one of the several wives of Eswatini's King Mswati III.
Coronation
On 1 August 2019, after a roughly two-year-long period of preparation and rehearsal, Alexandra was coronated as Queen of the British at Westminster Abbey, the traditional coronation site for British monarchs. Her coronation, the second in British history to involve a female sovereign after that of Queen Mary III's in 1702, notably saw a major shift in its overall tone and setting, with changes including the act of homage in which senior male members of the royal family would kneel and pay homage to the new monarch being officially discontinued, as well as the notable inclusion of figures from other major religious faiths, namely Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, to reflect the United Kingdom's "modern multireligious society". In addition to that, her subsidiary title of "Defender of the Faith", which traditionally reflects the monarch's role as a protector of the Christian faith in the United Kingdom, was modified to a more "inclusive" version, that is "Defender of the Faiths", a change that, in the words of Prime Minister David Cameron, "reflects a modern and more multicultural Britain, one that is vastly different than the Britain of the 20th century while at the same time affirming the monarch's longstanding role as the leader of the Anglican faith". Similarly, the usage of the more updated introductory phrase of "by the Grace of God and the Will of the People", which first came into use under the reign of King Frederick was also retained, and which was meant to emphasise a delicate balance between the traditional concept of the divine right of kings and the more modern concept of a popular monarchy that was first popularised in the United Kingdom by the Queen's great-grandfather King Frederick in an attempt to "modernise" the institution.
Much like that of her predecessors, Alexandra's coronation saw the usual attendance of various foreign guests from many countries around the world, namely the presidents of France, South Africa, Bahrain, Germany, Israel, and Indonesia, as well as the sovereigns of Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Greece, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Libya, and Japan, among others. In addition to this, a number of celebrities and athletes were also featured at the coronation, namely the Queen's former Arsenal and England teammates, singers Adele, John Legend, Katy Perry, Mick Jagger, and Harry Styles, as well as actors Hugh Grant, Emma Watson, Morgan Freeman, and Angelina Jolie. Moreover, owing to her personal connections with football, notable sports figures David Beckham, Harry Kane, Mia Hamm, Alex Morgan, and Sir Alex Ferguson were also in attendance along with non-footballing athletes including Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Tiger Woods, and Michael Phelps. Beginning at 10:00 a.m., the Queen, riding in the Gold State Coach with her mother sitting beside her, traveled to the coronation site of Westminster Abbey in the presence of a large procession made up of members of the British Armed Forces. Following her arrival at the site, in a religious ceremony led by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Alexandra was formally coronated as Queen of the British, with the guests in attendance unanimously proclaiming "God Save the Queen" in response, the first of such instance in almost three hundred years since the coronation of Queen Mary III in 1708.
Meanwhile, despite the overwhelming positivity, the coronation was not without its controversies as republican and anti-monarchist protests sprang up across London in anticipation of the event although these were quickly dealt with by authorities. Meanwhile, for either political or social reasons, despite the array of high-profile guests in attendance, some were otherwise reportedly excluded from the ceremony. Among those included US President Donald Trump, reportedly due to his wide unpopularity among Britons at large, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, owing to recent memories of the Salisbury poisonings, with both leaders instead being substituted by Vice President Mike Pence and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev respectively. Meanwhile, despite effectively being his father's deputy abroad, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was reportedly excluded from the event, a decision most likely influenced by lingering outrage over the crown prince's alleged role in the assassination of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi the previous year. Instead, Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the United Kingdom, was allowed to represent his government at the coronation given that the elderly King Salman himself was deemed physically unable to attend the coronation on his own.
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In a first for a royal coronation, the ceremony was subsequently followed by a live concert at Windsor Castle the following day featuring a considerable number of well-known British musical acts of various genres, namely Elton John, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, Queen, Blue, Adele, Slick Rick, Sting, and The Rolling Stones. Then, on 10 August 2019, under the Queen's own initiative, an exhibition match was held in her honour at Wembley Stadium pitting the England men's and women's national teams against one another and who are captained by Harry Kane and Steph Houghton respectively. In the end, the women's team defeated the men's team 2-1 in which winger Beth Mead provided both a goal and an assist, resulting in her later being named player of the match. With an official attendance of 88,543 spectators, the event successfully raised a rough total of £5.7 million, with the entirety of the proceeds being subsequently channeled towards further developing football for both men and women. In the meantime, a grand one-off football tournament, officially named the Premier Cup, was held in the months leading up to her coronation that featured a total of sixteen clubs with Premier League champions Liverpool eventually emerging victorious by defeating Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich 3-1 in the finals while Bundesliga runners-up Borussia Dortmund defeated Premier League runners-up Manchester City 5-4 on penalties in a dramatic fashion to secure a third-place finish.
Perhaps most significantly, the coronation itself also saw the very first instance of the United Kingdom's new national anthem "Onwards, Britannia!" being sung in public, with the very first instance being the moment shortly after the Archbishop of Canterbury had placed St Edward's Crown onto the Queen's head, in which the attendees and choir members inside the abbey proceeded to sing the new national anthem in unison. First conceived as a viable and popular alternative to the longstanding "God Save the King", the song was later jointly composed by Master of the Queen's Music Judith Weir and noted German composer Hans Zimmer whose well-documented success and reputation as a film score composer in Hollywood led the Queen to personally tap the former into jointly composing the new national anthem, a choice that she later explained, stating, "For anyone with even the slightest knowledge of Hollywood films, Hans Zimmer is indisputably a great talent whose works are universally well-acclaimed and which have also won a number of awards themselves. With that in mind, how many countries today can claim that a man of such brilliance and talent has had a part in composing their national anthem? None, per se, except for the United Kingdom, which would absolutely both stand out and be much delighted with such an honour". To that end, Zimmer himself was then prominently featured at the coronation and would even later receive an Order of the British Empire award for his part in composing "Onwards, Britannia!".
Early Years
Beginning in August, Alexandra started conducting her first few state visits since her coronation with the first country of choice being Japan where she met Empress Akiko and also visited the factories of renowned Japanese automobile manufacturers including Toyota, Subaru, and Nissan. Following this, she also visited Korea, where she was hosted by President Moon Jae-in and later even personally met with some of the country's most well-known artists including the pop groups BTS and Blackpink. In that same month, she also visited the Southeast Asian nations of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia during which she survived an assassination attempt in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, addressed the thriving LGBT community in Singapore, and personally apologised for past Dutch atrocities committed against Indonesians. Then, in the following September, the Queen also met with Vatican City's Pope Francis at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, becoming the third successive British monarch to meet with the Roman Catholic leadership after her late grandfather first did so in a historic meeting with the late Pope Pius XII while her father met the former Pope Benedict XVI, the predecessor of Pope Francis. Aside from this, in a personal gesture towards her late grandmother, Alexandra also held a state visit to Romania, from which the late Queen Lauren's parents originated, where she met with Queen Margareta and the country's Jewish community. In this, she also met with neighbouring Bulgaria's Tsar Simeon II, the world's currently longest-reigning monarch, having taken the throne in 1943 in the middle of the Second World War and is therefore the only serving head of state from as far back as the war itself, a distinction that he previously shared with Hungary's King Otto II and Romania's King Michael, both of whom are now deceased.
Aside from that, Alexandra has also held a number of state visits to Africa as well, with the first instance being a state visit to South Africa in March 2018, just a month after President Cyril Ramaphosa took office following the resignation of his controversial predecessor Jacob Zuma. Describing Ramaphosa as a "visionary leader in the spirit of Nelson Mandela", the two leaders subsequently toured the country's major cities and also visited the Kruger National Park which the Queen herself once visited as a child beforehand during which she also met the late Nelson Mandela, a hugely popular South African political figure who she later described as a "kind old grandfather undoubtedly determined to transform a nation". Then, in June, she paid a state visit to Tanzania for which she received considerable attention from both the Tanzanian and international media for successfully climbing the famous Mount Kilimanjaro, a feat that she later described as a "dream come true", adding, "Just by its sheer height and beauty, I always felt fascinated by it since the first time I laid eyes on it. Obviously, Everest is too dangerous for even an adult me to climb so at the very least, Kilimanjaro is the best option that I got and it's something that I'll undoubtedly enjoy a lot when I finally finish climbing it". In the meantime, Alexandra also visited the island country of Madagascar where she met President Andry Rajoelina and also took photographs with the country's native lemur animals.
On 25 October 2019, controversy arose when it was announced that the Queen would be visiting the Caribbean island nation of Cuba where she then met with President Miguel Díaz-Canel as well as Raul Castro, former leader of Cuba and the surviving younger brother of the late Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro. Almost immediately, among some sectors of the international community, the meetings between the Queen and the two men sparked some considerable backlash, with some even perceiving it as an "endorsement" of the authoritarian Cuban regime. However, in her farewell address to the country, the Queen publicly expressed her wish that the "unnecessary burden imposed upon the Cuban people would be lifted in good conscience by the United States government” while also publicly expressing her hope for a "beneficial and fruitful dialogue between the governments of Cuba and the United States concerning important matters such as democracy and trade". Soon enough, despite receiving much praise from humanitarian groups who applauded the Queen for her neutral approach towards ongoing tensions between the two countries, the remark itself, particularly the part where she called for the lifting of the American embargo on Cuba, drew strong criticism from the American government including President Donald Trump who stressed that the embargo would "remain fully in force unless Cuba makes some significant reforms first" while some members of the Republican Party and several Cuban exiles in the United States accused the Queen of "protecting the brutal Castro regime" to which British Prime Minister David Cameron responded by stating that the Queen's remark was "purely humanitarian in nature and never about protecting or defending the Cuban regime" while particularly pointing out the fact that the United States is currently the only country with an active embargo on Cuba whereas most European nations enjoy fairly unrestricted trade relations with Cuba. Likewise, leaders of the Democratic Party, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who once criticised the embargo herself, defended the monarch's remarks, stating, "What the Queen had recently said about Cuba isn't exactly a fringe opinion but one shared by many genuinely concerned for the livelihoods of innocent people who are yet to see any change from an embargo that has been in place for over half a century and counting".
Despite the controversy, the Queen later followed up on a second state visit to the Americas just a month later, with her second state visit to the continent being to El Salvador, the ancestral home of her maternal grandmother Maria Elizabeth. Upon arriving in the country, and accompanied by her mother and grandmother, the Queen met with President Nayib Bukele whose administration oversaw a notable decline in the country's notoriously high crime rate which later led the former to express her wish during the ensuing state dinner at "seeing a peaceful and vibrant El Salvador freed from its murderous and horrific past". Ironically, despite an initial positive perception of the Bukele administration early on, in recent years, Alexandra's perception of the Salvadoran president is reported to have gradually soured, as a result of several domestic controversies involving Bukele, with the most infamous being his decision to send soldiers into the country's legislative assembly in order to ensure the passing of a bill guaranteeing further funding for the country's police and armed forces, as well as his decision to fire the country's attorney general and five of its supreme court judges, both of which have been described as a "self-coup" and met with condemnation by many.
On 20 September 2019, Alexandra personally addressed the United Nations for the very first time as her country's head of state in which she called for a "global and coordinated initiative to tackle both the pressing issues of global warming and extremism in all known forms" while also particularly advocating for "further collective action" to tackle the longstanding global migrant crisis, an issue that she described as "personally close to my heart" and "greatly appalling to hear about every single day". Furthermore, in a remark believed to be a subtle form of criticism towards US President Donald Trump, the Queen remarked, "When it comes to a land of opportunities, immigrants are not to be turned away but rather welcomed and celebrated as part of the community they have come to associate with. In the end, throughout much of history, humans have always been on the move to places around them and they rarely, if ever, otherwise remain in one single place". In addition, the Queen also stressed the need for religious tolerance, stating, "As the proud daughter of a Protestant father and a Roman Catholic mother, I personally know all too well about maintaining everlasting balance and eternal tolerance between people of two differing religious sects as well as the consequences if they are otherwise not properly upheld which, to simply put it, are not the best for humanity. After having seemingly abandoned it for centuries, religious wars between two major religious faiths should not be allowed to return and overtake constructive dialogue between the two sides".
Meanwhile, in December of that year, following the confirmation of Finnish politician Sanna Marin as the country's new prime minister, Alexandra herself notably became the first world leader to personally congratulate Marin on her new premiership role via Twitter where she also expressed her wish that "an undeniably historic and memorable meeting between the youngest monarch and the youngest prime minister in the world could take place in the near future". Soon enough, such a proposal did indeed become a reality when on 17 December 2019, exactly a week into Marin's tenure as prime minister, Alexandra herself paid a state visit to Finland which began with her participating in a Q&A session with the Finnish press followed by a boat ride with Marin along the coast of the Gulf of Finland and later an official state dinner held in her honour at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki where the Queen met Finnish President Sauli Niinistö who subsequently praised the monarch as a "bright and extraordinarily talented young woman". In the midst of this, the close and somewhat personal friendship between Alexandra and Marin was quickly noted by the media, with The Guardian particularly noting the two's "wholesome genuine spirit of friendship" as seen by their somewhat informal and more relaxed behaviour when in each other's presence which The Independent attributed to the two women being relatively young leaders themselves, hence the somewhat close bond between the two who are notably just seven years apart in age. Moreover, following the defeat of Marin's SDP party at the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election, thereby effectively ending her four-year tenure as prime minister, Alexandra herself publicly expressed her "deepest sadness" electoral defeat of her "close friend", to which Marin responded by affirming that their close friendship will remain strong for the foreseeable future. Later, on 12 September 2023, at the Wembley Stadium in London, Marin was photographed attending an exhibition match between England's men's and women's national football teams in which she was joined by Alexandra and several of their close friends.
COVID-19 Pandemic
Alexandra on the COVID-19 pandemic occurring during her reign
On 31 January 2020, following the emergence of the COVID-19 virus in the United Kingdom, Alexandra privately moved to nearby Windsor Castle all while public engagements planned for the near future were promptly canceled by her own decree. Then, on March 5th, following the first COVID-related death in the country, she promptly addressed the public through a televised broadcast from the castle in which she declared, "Eighty years ago, the British people have both calmly and vigilantly endured the grueling troubles and deathly hardships of the Blitz. Today, it is time that we emulate the very same sense of calmness and vigilance that have propelled us forward and past our misery before. In the end, success is what we cherish and is also what we shall fight for together as a united nation and community". On May 8th of that year, in commemorating the 77th VE Day anniversary, she once again addressed the nation, in which she spoke of the importance of "perseverance, vigilance, and rationality" in facing the COVID-19 pandemic, stating, "In difficult times like these, it is rather easy to get carried away or be led astray, therefore, it is our collective responsibility to ensure a firm and united front against this ongoing pandemic". Then, on May 11th, which was also the date of her 24th birthday, the Queen carried out her first public engagement since the beginning of the pandemic by visiting a number of NHS facilities across Great Britain before proceeding with a three-day-long tour around Hanover where she met with a number of Hanoverian government officials and medical experts. Then, she also visited the neighbouring countries of the Netherlands and Luxembourg, where she also reigns over as monarch, meeting government officials and medical experts in both countries respectively.
In the first few days since the government's COVID-19 vaccination program began, Alexandra, along with the immediate members of the Royal Family, was reported to have been one of the first few people in the country to have taken the vaccine, namely the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed by a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. Following this, the Queen, in conjunction with various high-profile British figures, actively took part in promoting vaccination against the virus on a wider scale to the public, with the monarch herself appearing in several commercials and short videos encouraging the public to get vaccinated. In the meantime, it was reported in May 2020 that in light of the financial burdens caused by the pandemic, the Queen would be lowering her annual salary by roughly 45%, a move that was also observed in the neighbouring Netherlands and Luxembourg, which was soon met with a mostly positive response, with Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn applauding the Queen for her "self-consciousness" and her "honourable display of personal empathy" while also contrasting it with the "utter lack of shame displayed by the shambolic Conservative government" in regards to instances of alleged rule-breaking parties held by government ministers deemed to be in violation of COVID-19 lockdown rules.
On 6 May 2020, as per the rules of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, a general election was held to elect members of the House of Commons. In this, despite some controversy over the timing of the election which happened to be within the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided that the election would proceed as planned with alternative methods such as early and postal votings strongly encouraged out of health and safety concerns. In the end, despite some delays due to the widespread use of the new voting methods, incumbent David Cameron and the Conservative Party, who had been in a coalition with the HUP, successfully achieved a working majority of 381 seats whereas the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn saw their share of seats reduced further from 232 to 185, prompting him to later announce his resignation as party leader in light of their worst showing in decades. In the midst of this, her half-sister Jacqueline Smith was elected to the House of Commons as a representative of the St Albans constituency after which the latter went on to become leader of the Liberal Democrats in light of the resignation of Tim Farron following a disastrous showing. Meanwhile, on 15 January 2021, following a Dutch parliamentary inquiry into the country's childcare benefits scandal, the incumbent Mark Rutte subsequently tendered his resignation as the country's prime minister whilst accepting full responsibility for the scandal himself. Nonetheless, in the following 2021 Dutch general election, which took place from 15 to 17 March 2021, Rutte, who leads the National Coalition, subsequently won re-election to serve his fourth consecutive term as prime minister.
Post-COVID-19
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, and on the grounds of "personal health" and "safety issues", the Queen consequently temporarily ceased conducting any further state visits abroad for the time being until around September of that same year when she began resuming her usual state visits as monarch abroad, with her first country of choice being Israel, a choice that, given the longstanding tensions in the region, immediately proved controversial. In response, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond argued that the state visit was "nothing more than the Queen getting in touch with her well-known Jewish heritage" while critics, particularly Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh claimed that the state visit, the first for a British monarch to Israel, supposedly signified the monarchy's "endorsement of Zionist atrocities against the Palestinians", to which Prime Minister David Cameron responded by asserting that the Queen would "meet the leaders of both Israel and Palestine in an equal and non-judgemental manner".
Meanwhile, in June 2021, the Queen went on to host the sitting US President Joe Biden in a scaled-down ceremony at Buckingham Palace after which she, along with her siblings attended that year's G8 summit held in Cornwall, England alongside Prime Minister David Cameron and the other leaders of the organisation including Biden himself. Then, on July 10th, in an apparent sign of close relations between the two leaders, which stood in stark contrast to that between the Queen and Biden's predecessor, Alexandra paid her first-ever state visit as monarch to the United States, arriving alongside Foreign Secretary Rory Stewart at Joint Base Andrews where they were received by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Over the course of the week-long visit, the Queen toured a number of historical sites across the United States including Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, and the Lincoln Memorial, visited several of the country's top universities, and also met with a number of Hollywood celebrities. Meanwhile, the highlight of her state visit came in the form of an address to a joint session of the United States Congress in which she touched on the "special relationship" between the two countries and, in a subtle reference to the attack on the United States Capitol in January beforehand, stressed the importance of "fair elections" and a "working democracy" during which she was interrupted by a series of heckling from the pair of controversial Republican congresswomen Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene, both of whom were consequently temporarily expelled from the chamber by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, allowing the monarch to read out the rest of her speech before concluding with unanimous applause from the crowd. In the midst of this, Alexandra herself briefly became the target of a failed assassination attempt believed to be ideologically motivated in which a pair of gunmen opened fire on the vehicles carrying the Queen, Foreign Secretary Rory Stewart, and Vice President Kamala Harris, although all three of them ultimately emerged unscathed by the attempt while Alexandra herself later condemned the perpetrators, describing them as "violent ideological terrorists".
In that same month, Alexandra also personally attended and witnessed England's 3-0 victory over Spain in the UEFA Euro 2020 Final at Wembley Stadium, London in which captain Harry Kane scored first to give England the lead before Jordan Henderson doubled the lead afterward and which was only extended further by an own-goal error from Spanish midfielder Dani Parejo whose blunder confirmed England's third European title in almost a decade since they last won it in 2012 in which England defeated Spain 5-2 to claim their second consecutive European title after their inaugural one in 2008. In this, her father Prince Thomas, Duke of Hanover personally handed the trophy to England captain Harry Kane in a recreation of the moment where the late King Charles III handed the World Cup trophy over to then-England captain Bobby Moore at the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final at Wembley Stadium while her younger brother Prince Richard was later named the tournament's best young player for his memorable hat-trick in a 4-0 win over the Czech Republic. Then, on October 10th, she was also present at the San Siro in Milan, Italy, where England defeated Spain 2-0 through goals from captain Harry Kane and defender Harry Maguire in the 2021 UEFA Nations League Final to claim their first title in just its second edition whereas the Netherlands won the inaugural edition by defeating Portugal 2-1 at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal.
On 15 August 2021, not long after the Afghan capital of Kabul fell to encroaching Taliban forces, Alexandra herself was reported personally meeting and addressing returning British troops evacuated from the Afghan capital in the days leading up to the city's fall to the militants in a "special meeting" held at the Army Headquarters in Hampshire where the BBC later reported that the Queen held a "very serious and heartfelt discussion with returning British troops over the ongoing chaos in Afghanistan". Since then, Alexandra has actively called for the returning Taliban administration to "abide by your stated promises" with the said promises referring to the militant group's pledge for, among others, a more "moderate" administration, a move seen by some as the group's supposed departure from its previous hardline rule that was ended by a US invasion of the country in late 2001. Then, amidst several reversals and delays in meeting the aforementioned promises, Alexandra has since come to actively and publicly criticise what she termed the "return of the old regressive administration of the Taliban regime", stating, "One day, they publicly hinted at turning over a new leaf and starting over now that they have all the power but alas, just the following day, they have clearly shown that they are going to stick to their old ancient ways no matter what all while completely disregarding their initial promises". Then, on 20 May 2022, just a day after the Taliban decreed that female television anchors are to cover themselves up, the Queen said, "Geopolitical interests aside, it is absolutely obvious that recent developments have been an absolute blow for women, especially in traditionally conservative or patriarchal societies, for all the freedom, independence, and personal liberty they've previously enjoyed are now being quickly taken away in a matter of days with little to no resistance". Later, on December 21st, the Queen once more voiced her criticism of the Taliban administration after an indefinite suspension on women's university education was announced by Abdul Baqi Haqqani, the Taliban-appointed Afghan Minister for Higher Education.
On 6 December 2021, as the current President of the Hanoverian Union, the Queen attended the 16th Brussels Summit in Brussels, Netherlands, her first summit meeting since becoming the organisation's president in October 2017. At the summit, in her capacity as President, she assumed the official duty of opening the new legislative session, which was then normally followed by a period of political debate among the parliamentary members that eventually culminated in the enacting of an official agenda that was later officially named "16th Trinational Plan" and which largely concerned efforts at aiding the recovery of member states from the COVID-19 pandemic and in dealing with the ensuing supply chain crisis. In the meantime, Alexandra also presided over the appointment of the British-born Baroness Hale of Richmond as the first female chief justice of the Hanover Supreme Court, the organisation's highest judicial institution, a feat she described as "a long time coming for an organisation that prides itself on the pursuit of progress, cooperation, and inclusiveness". The landmark appointment came shortly after Hale's predecessor Lord Woolf had completed his ten-year term as chief justice.
A fierce critic of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, since the conflict's inception in February 2022, the Queen has regularly spoken out against what she perceived as "clear-cut military aggression by a sovereign country against another", stating, "The last time an European country decided to egregiously violate the sovereignty of another European nation, the whole world paid the price for it, namely in the form of millions of deaths worldwide". On 25 May 2022, the Queen herself met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a brief visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in which she was joined by her father and Foreign Secretary Rory Stewart. In addition to the visit, the Queen also strongly condemned the accession referendums held by Russia in several occupied regions of Ukraine, calling them "downright farcical" and "another blatant example of Russia mocking and abusing democratic norms in order to achieve their irredentist and nationalistic goals of Novorossiya". Later, in a speech marking the first anniversary of the invasion, Alexandra urged for Western governments to "continue resolutely supporting Ukraine in their fight for sovereignty and total independence from Russia who have been exposed by many to be rather struggling in their bloodthirsty conquest in the face of spirited and unyielding resistance by the people of Ukraine". On 24 August 2023, in response to news reports surrounding the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia's private military company Wagner Group, from a plane crash, the Queen described it as "very good news for the victims of years of Russian and Wagner violence" while asserting that the conflict itself nonetheless remains unchanged given Putin's continued role in the ongoing war.
On 25 May 2022, shortly after the release of a damning report by the British civil servant Sue Gray that further implicated longtime Prime Minister David Cameron and the ruling Conservative Party over the issue of lockdown parties held during the ongoing pandemic, by way of a press conference held roughly ten minutes after the report's release, David Cameron announced his decision to "effectively resign" as prime minister, thereby triggering a subsequent leadership election for the Conservative Party that eventually saw Philip Hammond, formerly the Foreign Secretary under Cameron, elected as the new leader of the ruling Conservative Party and therefore the country's newest prime minister. On 6 June 2022, at 10:15 a.m, shortly after Cameron tendered his resignation to the Queen, Hammond, the victor of the party leadership election, was then duly sworn in as the new prime minister while the sitting Chancellor of the Exchequer David Gauke was sworn in as the new deputy prime minister, replacing Cameron's longtime deputy George Osborne in the position while also retaining his original post. Meanwhile, Hammond's post of Foreign Secretary was handed over to Rory Stewart who officially took office a few days later. In the meantime, on June 1st, the Queen also officially opened the Alexandra line, a high-frequency hybrid urban-suburban rail service that was first constructed back in May 2009 and which operates within the vicinity of London and is also named after the monarch herself.
On 31 July 2022, shortly after a historic back-to-back victory for the England women's national team over their German rivals in the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 championship which they won 2-1 thanks to a late tiebreaker goal by forward Chloe Kelly in the 110th minute in extra time, the Queen issued a public announcement whereby all the members of the England women's national team would each be awarded an Order of the British Empire in recognition of their "continued success in women's football", with the victory seeing them win their second UEFA Women's Championship in a row, becoming only the second nation to do so after Germany, which had won the majority of the tournament's previous editions. In conjunction with that, the Queen also publicly called on the British government to "ensure that women's football is just as popular and widely covered as the men's", stating, "Up to this point, the women's team have continued to win both the World Cup and the Euros twice in a row without fail, which to me, and perhaps to the entire team itself, deserves more than just brief and cursory recognition from both the government and the wider public, just as how the men's team won three World Cups and two Euros in a row just a decade ago". A week later, all the England women's national team players, including Dutch-born manager Sarina Wiegman (who otherwise received an Order of Orange-Nassau award and an honorary damehood for her success), were then invited to a celebratory dinner at Buckingham Palace as per the tradition of honouring a major success achieved by either the country's men's or women's national football teams that began from England's memorable 1966 FIFA World Cup victory where the players and then-manager Sir Alf Ramsey were treated to a celebratory dinner at Buckingham Palace by King Charles III for their historic success. Otherwise, amidst popular assumptions of her being personally critical of the controversial 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar as evidenced by the royal's notable absence from the tournament in which heads of state of competing nations are usually present in support, Alexandra nonetheless celebrated England's triumph at the tournament where they defeated Germany 5-1 to mark a fifth consecutive World Cup title, making it sixteen years unbeaten. Later on, as per tradition, the England squad, along with head coach Gareth Southgate, was subsequently treated to a celebratory dinner at Buckingham Palace during which awards and decorations were handed out to those deemed to have performed well in the tournament.
On 29 December 2022, Alexandra, along with a host of other major football figures, together voiced their condolences shortly after it was reported that the Brazilian football legend Pelé had passed away at the age of eighty-two at the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, where the latter had been receiving treatment in the days prior to his death for a reported tumour before eventually dying of colon cancer. In a public statement released shortly after the Brazilian legend's death, she remarked that "regardless of gender, men or women, the man known as Pelé or Edson Arantes do Nascimento will always be an icon for generations to remember and be inspired by to play the beautiful game of football". The following year, the Queen was also met with the death of her distant cousin, namely Greece's King Constantine II on January 10th, thereby ending a long five-decades-long reign, and just a day later, the death of German supermodel Tatjana Patitz, one of her mother's close modeling friends. Meanwhile, in April the following year, Alexandra held a state visit to neighbouring Ireland, becoming the first British monarch to visit the country since it gained full independence from the United Kingdom in 1919, with previous state visits being deemed unfeasible owing to both political sensitivities and security issues caused by activities of the Irish Republican Army who eventually ceased all armed activities following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. During the ensuing three-day period, amidst a series of nationalist protests, the Queen met with Irish President Michael D. Higgins and Ireland Women captain Katie McCabe, previously a teammate of hers at Arsenal and who publicly spoke out in support of her former teammate, stating that regardless of the "difficult history" between their nations, the two do otherwise get along well as teammates. Meanwhile, in that same month, the Queen also attended the inaugural Women's Finalissima match at Wembley Stadium, London, in which England, winners of the UEFA Women's Euro 2022, defeated Brazil, winners of the 2022 Copa América Femenina, 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in which a 23rd-minute Ella Toone goal was countered by a late 93rd-minute Andressa goal in extra time. Similarly, in the men's edition that was held the previous year at Wembley Stadium, England defeated Argentina 3-1 via goals from Richard, Harry Kane, and Phil Foden while Argentina only managed a reply once via Lionel Messi.
On 10 July 2023, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, following his coalition government's collapse over immigration issues, announced that he would not be seeking a fifth term as prime minister, effectively bringing to an end the an almost decade long tenure with an ensuing general election resulting in Paul Magnette, leader of the Coalition for Labour and Socialism, appointed prime minister. Meanwhile, ten days later, in her capacity as head of state, the Queen presided over the opening ceremony of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand during which she gave a short speech commending the progress of women's football in recent years while also briefly acknowledging the victims of a shooting in Auckland, New Zealand just hours prior to the event, stating, "The unfortunate lives lost just recently will undoubtedly be a source of grief and tragedy for all but at the same time the violent actions of one man will never deter the event and all its supporters from going ahead now in the spirit of both the lives lost as well as the values and the future this tournament holds". In the end, while making history as the first women's national team to reach three consecutive finals in a row, England also notably became the first women's team to win three World Cups in a row by defeating maiden finalists Spain 5-2 in the finals at the Stadium Australia where the Queen, joined by her brothers William Smith and Prince Richard, witnessed Georgia Stanway score four times against the Spaniards, becoming just the second female player after Alexandra herself to score a hat-trick in a Women's World Cup final and most notably the only player, male or female, to score four goals in a World Cup final. In the ensuing celebratory dinner, Alexandra heralded the Lionesses' record-breaking successes as "out of this world" and also a "living proof of the successes of the Wembley Renaissance", adding, "Obviously, to some people, this is perhaps the end or culmination of a several years long effort but make no mistake, for as long as football itself exists, England will always continue to strive and innovate with the unquestionable goal of consistently being on top in both men's and women's football as both innovators and pioneers of the sport". In the meantime, two-time champions United States were infamously eliminated in the group stages for the first time via a shock 0-1 loss to debutants Portugal who, in turn, made it all the way to the semi-finals where a 0-2 loss to eventual runners-up Spain ultimately denied them a chance for a historic maiden appearance in the finals and instead saw them contest the third-place playoffs with hosts Australia where two goals in extra time, including one from captain Sam Kerr, saw the Matildas clinch an impressive third-place finish after a previous 0-3 semi-finals defeat to eventual champions England.
On 7 October 2023, shortly after a surprise attack conducted by the Palestinian militant group Hamas left hundreds of Israeli civilians dead with a number of them taken hostage afterward, Alexandra issued a public statement condemning the group's actions, describing it as a "horrific major act of terror" and a "serious impediment to meaningful peace processes". Afterward, amidst increasing calls for a ceasefire between the two sides, the Queen remarked that "any cessation in hostilities must be both impactful and worthwhile" while also sternly warning against "misguided acts of communal violence" spurred by either anti-Semitism or Islamophobia, stating, "The events that unfolded in Gaza were already difficult enough and therefore they do not need to serve as inspiration for further violence abroad, namely in the United Kingdom where communities of differing faiths have lived in relative peace for years". In addition, she also criticised the Yemeni Houthis for their "incessant attack on commercial ships", stating that "regardless of any situation, the concept of freedom of navigation is absolutely non-negotiable" while also chiding the militants for "making enemies with whom they should have otherwise not".
On 20 February 2024, not long after the ruling Conservative Party suffered two major by-election losses which saw their share of seats in the House of Commons reduced dangerously close to the majority threshold, a no-confidence vote was brought forward by Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer that resulted in the collapse of the government after nineteen Conservative parliamentarians rebelled against their party and voted decisively alongside the opposition to achieve a final 384-352 result, thereby leading the Queen to dissolve the lower house with general elections scheduled in a couple of months. In this, rumours have arisen that the country's three biggest opposition parties, namely the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Hanoverian Union Party have secretly concocted an electoral pact to oust the ruling Conservatives, reportedly in anticipation of a hung parliament based on current trends and predictions.
Personal Life
In the tradition of her ancestors, the Queen is personally known for her own love of automobiles as evidenced by her personal collection of several luxury vehicles including a McLaren GT, a BMW M8, and the iconic Jaguar E-Type in which a one-off and exclusive model was made for her eighteenth birthday by the British luxury vehicle brand Jaguar. However, while all three vehicles are personally driven by the Queen on non-ceremonial or leisurely occasions, for official occasions, she is normally driven in an armoured Rolls-Royce Phantom VI along with several other Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles. In line with this, Alexandra herself is reportedly proficient at fixing automobiles by herself, a skill she publicly displayed during a special appearance in Top Gear. However, despite her fondness for automobiles, Alexandra is said to have also enjoyed horseback riding which she would often do around the grounds of Buckingham Palace or the Scottish Highlands whenever she was visiting Scotland up north. In a 2018 interview, she revealed that among the collection of horses at her disposal, her personal favourite is a male white thoroughbred named "Bolt" in reference to the titular dog character from the 2008 film Bolt. Incidentally, she also personally owns a Siberian husky which she named "Little Bolt". A certified pilot, Alexandra is known to have occasionally flown her late grandfather's treasured de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane for recreational purposes, having previously inherited the antique biplane that was built back for her late grandfather in the 1930s and which has since been passed down from one generation to the other.
During an interview with Vogue, Alexandra revealed that in her free time, when not doing any physical activities or spending time with her family members, Alexandra revealed herself to be a recreational "gamer", stating that as an avid football fan, she mostly enjoyed the FIFA video game series in which case she claims to be "relatively proficient" at playing it. In addition to this, Alexandra is also said to enjoy the popular sandbox game Minecraft, classic puzzle video game Tetris, racing simulation video game series Gran Turismo, and the open world video game series Assassin's Creed. In this, Alexandra explained that her parents generally do not restrict her time playing video games, stating, "Early on, I always had a sense of discipline, self-control, and punctuality that I rarely overindulge when playing video games or the sort. Personally, for me, my ideal playing time is a couple of hours maximum because if I go on longer than that then I'll just end up tired and exhausted by the end of it".
In line with her well-known athletic lifestyle, on the occasions where she was not preoccupied with any sort of duties, Alexandra, usually alongside her mother, would often participate in various marathons across the United Kingdom including the annual London Marathon for which she had a personal best record of 2:57:36. Regarding this, the Queen has described it as "one of the very moments where I can just be myself with no one else bound to notice amidst an ocean of people around" but added that her participation in such events otherwise presented some reasonable security risks, thereby requiring her to always wear a tracking device on herself along with being discreetly accompanied by at least several able-bodied bodyguards nearby who are to always be within distance of the monarch in case of emergencies. In addition to this, she is also a noted anti-smoking activist, a cause she inherited from her own mother who began indulging herself in anti-smoking activism following her father's passing from lung cancer just several months after Alexandra, his first grandchild, was born, a moment that the royal herself described as "too vague to fully remember but one that certainly breaks my heart each time".
A polyglot, Alexandra is known to be able to communicate fluently in a number of languages in addition to her native English which includes German, Dutch, Spanish, and Hebrew, a feat that she attributed to her rather diverse background in which her father is the descendant of a long line of English monarchs while her mother is otherwise born to an immigrant from El Salvador in Central America. At the same time, her future role as her country's head of state, which requires her to travel to many different countries around the world, coupled with the fact that she would also later become the head of state of the Dutch-speaking Netherlands, prompted her to learn a few more languages as preparation for her future role as monarch, a task that she once described as "very Herculean but ultimately rewarding in the end", stating, "Life just becomes absolutely more fun when you can talk to a different group of people in their own language and vice versa".
A self-professed "superfan" of Hollywood films, particularly those of the romantic comedy genre, Alexandra is known to have personally enjoyed a number of films to a strong degree, namely Notting Hill, Legally Blonde, 13 Going on 30, Love Actually, and She's Out of My League. In this, she has named the Legally Blonde character Elle Woods, played by Reese Witherspoon, as her "personal favourite", stating that the character's "happy-go-lucky attitude" and "unwavering determination" were qualities that she came to see as particularly relevant as she was entering adulthood herself, adding, "Regardless of one's status or position in life, losing a dearly beloved family member right on the cusp of adulthood is an undeniably difficult thing and which is something I was forced to face even when I obviously didn't ask for it. On some occasions, it almost brought me down both physically and mentally but I got help and most importantly persevered which was something that Elle Woods definitely inspired me to do". Meanwhile, from an early age, Alexandra came to be a passionate fan of the American comedy-drama series Gilmore Girls starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel, the latter with whom Alexandra is known to be very close in the years since. On the other hand, in terms of music, Alexandra is known to have enjoyed a mix of contemporary and classic musical acts including Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, NSYNC, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, George Michael, Queen, Paula Abdul, and Whitney Houston. In the meantime, her favourite actors and actresses include Hugh Grant, Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Jack Black, Julia Roberts, Emma Watson, Alexis Bledel, Reese Witherspoon, Anne Hathaway, and Julie Andrews.
With an estimated personal net worth of $7.2 billion via her hereditary inheritance of the complete shares of LC Holdings, a Luxembourgish holding company, Alexandra is generally regarded as one of the richest monarchs in the world. Moreover, with a projected inheritance of up to $48 billion in shares belonging to her father in the multi-billion dollar holding company Atlantic Connection, she is therefore expected to be worth a grand total of around $55 billion, effectively making her one of the richest women in the world. However, according to several media reports, the former King Thomas reportedly intends to divide the total between his seven children with each expected to receive around $6.8 billion only, an amount that was later revised to $12 billion each after his two eldest children reportedly chose not to be among the major recipients and his twin daughters agreed to inherit their shares jointly as a single unit rather than as two separate individuals. However, despite being fully entitled to her personal wealth, the Queen, much like her predecessors, has traditionally delegated financial responsibilities to the Keeper of the Privy Purse. Meanwhile, beginning from the reign of King Charles III, British monarchs have traditionally employed a member of the English branch of the illustrious Rothschild banking family, beginning with Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild, whose primary role is overseeing and managing the monarch's investments with their shares in Atlantic Connection considered to be the most profitable and biggest of them all.
Although primarily known for her successful football career, in a 2022 interview with BBC Sport, Alexandra revealed that if not for football, she could have considered a different career in sports with alternative options including tennis and basketball. In this, despite her relatively short height compared to the WNBA average, a factor that might hinder her progression in the sport, Alexandra asserts that in an alternate reality, she would have liked to become a professional basketball player in her own right in which her preferred position in a team would be a point guard, a role that she deemed to be the most fitting owing to her relatively short height and impressive pace, both of which could prove useful in her role as the team's playmaker and top assister. In addition, Alexandra has also expressed some occasional interest in tennis, with her idols in the sport being the likes of Billie Jean King, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova. To that end, on her 20th birthday, Alexandra herself managed to get Sharapova to participate in a best-of-three exhibition match that also doubled as a charity event at the famous Centre Court in Wimbledon, London which ultimately ended in a 2-1 win for the royal who initially bested Sharapova 7-5 in the first round before the Russian came back to win 6-3 in the second round but not before Alexandra herself ultimately emerged triumphant by defeating the latter 6-4 in the third and final round. During the subsequent post-match interview, Alexandra revealed that despite the gap in experience, she asked Sharapova to "not go easy on me", stating, "Logically speaking, I knew pretty well that by conventional wisdom, I was going to absolutely lose to someone like Sharapova. To ultimately come out victorious somehow is one thing but even if I had lost anyway, which is what most people expected me to, I can safely say that she (Sharapova) did not hold back and kept me on my toes with every single stroke by her racquet". Meanwhile, on her part, Sharapova herself admitted to "giving a 101%" in all three rounds against the royal whose eventual triumph, coupled with her surprising tenacity and ability to remain competitive against the more experienced Russian tennis player, was described by her as a "very big surprise" although she nonetheless described it as a "very good and memorable contest" and added that both of them "gave their very best against each other" despite the gap in experience and initial signs pointing to an easy victory for Sharapova. In the meantime, the event itself successfully raised a rough total of £4.47 million, all of which was later donated to charitable causes.
Relations & Friendships
Romances
Much like her father, Alexandra is known to have preferred an extremely private and secretive approach to any romantic relationships, which she argued was "personally necessary for me, especially with the ever story-hungry paparazzi who generally don't give a single damn about your private life and feelings for the sake of some eye-catching headline every now and then". Evidently, this approach can be seen by the fact that little to no public knowledge of her relationship with Jack Schlossberg, an American lawyer and grandson of the late John F. Kennedy, existed throughout the entire time the couple was together and that their relationship only became known after the two only opted to disclose it to the public, which they only did after having parted ways several months prior.
Owing to her royal status and physical attractiveness, ever since coming of age, Alexandra has been described by various media outlets as "the world's most eligible bachelorette". To that end, when asked about her personal opinion over being labeled the "world's most eligible bachelorette", the royal mostly took a non-committal and if not a slightly disapproving approach, stating, "According to reality, this might seem inevitable in that given who I am, it's just so obvious that a lot of potential suitors or the sort are going to be tied to me. However, on a personal level, I'm not really into that sort of discussion very much because as much as some tabloids like to make it a thing I'm not some woman who is out and about just waiting to bump into some man like in those romcom movies. If anything, I'm probably not even ready yet to be in love at all".
During a 2022 interview with Vogue, Alexandra revealed that she first became aware of her bisexuality sometime in 2018 during which she quickly disclosed to her family members afterward. Later, in recounting the moment, she remarked, "Without a doubt, I was just extremely lucky to have been born into an extremely liberal and somewhat tolerant family who were willing to accept me for who I am as opposed to banishing or exiling me away which is definitely something that a number of unlucky people sadly suffered when they choose to come out to their respective families". In the meantime, Alexandra also revealed that at one point during her high school years, she was once in a relationship with an unnamed classmate of hers where after some initial progress, she eventually had the relationship terminated after finding out that the said classmate of hers had only dated her for the sake of a challenge and not necessarily out of genuine interest, a sudden revelation that reportedly "traumatised" the royal, leading her to avoid having a new romance for several years afterward out of fear of a repeat of the incident. Regarding this, she later said, "As weird as it might sound, even as a royal myself, there are certainly a few challenges and difficulties that I had to face which when it comes to romances meant that after what happened before I was always worried if I'm really with somebody for the love and passion rather than just for perhaps money and position". Despite this, during her short-lived study in the United States, in which she assumed an entirely new identity, Alexandra was said to have briefly dated an unnamed male classmate of hers who she later described as "generically sweet and quite alright" but that her abrupt return to the United Kingdom following her grandmother's death soon brought a premature end to the relationship which was never rekindled afterward.
Modeling
Interests
Women's Football
Assassination Attempts
Style of Play
Former Arsenal Women manager Joe Montemurro on Alexandra's speed and versatility
Blessed by an explosive pace, coupled with a relatively short stature and combined with adept dribbling and crossing abilities, Alexandra initially started off as a winger in her early years at Arsenal in support of fellow teammate Ellen White who otherwise mostly served as the principal forward for her team. In this, despite not necessarily playing in her dream position of a center-forward, her rapid pace and adept crosses made her a highly proficient winger with a knack for facing opposition full-backs head-on while also cutting inside into the penalty area. In addition, although naturally left-footed, Alexandra is nonetheless generally adept with either leg and has been deployed on either flank. However, as she later shifted more to the center as a striker or even an attacking midfielder, Alexandra then came to be known more for her creativity in engineering goalscoring chances through a combination of excellent positioning, adept dribbling, and masterful passing. Known for her elaborate and precise crossing abilities, Alexandra cited former England international David Beckham as her main inspiration.
Considered to be one of the best dribblers in the world, Alexandra is highly regarded by many for her ability to easily get past opponents when in possession of the ball via either the elaborate Cruyff turn maneuver or a simple nutmeg with her low center of gravity and strong pair of legs allowing her to easily shift herself and the ball itself into a different spot almost instantly thereby making her a rather difficult player to mark or even dispossess. In addition, Alexandra is also well-known for her quick and precise crosses which proved very useful in setting up attacks from the sides especially given her tendency to occasionally play out wide before drifting inside with the ball akin to an inside forward. Although traditionally left-footed, Alexandra is known to be able to operate effectively on either side in spite of her usually being positioned on the right from where she would mostly cut inwards using her strong foot.
Known for being a primarily deep-lying forward in the style of Johan Cruyff, William Smith, and Harry Kane, Alexandra is highly regarded for her excellent positioning and expansive vision with her movements and positioning often serving to draw opposition center-backs away from their usual positions while also creating chances deep within the midfield area via excellent link-up play with her teammates. In this, a high work-rate saw Alexandra always being on the move around the middle of the pitch keeping an eye on the ball while also scouting potential teammates with whom to form an attacking sequence. In this, Alexandra cited the positioning and off-the-ball movements of Bayern Munich forward Thomas Müller whose widely-renowned tactical intelligence and overall awareness were cited by her as the inspiration behind her own playing style. Nonetheless, aside from her tactical ingenuity, Alexandra is equally known for her goalscoring prowess, being the top all-time goalscorer for Arsenal Women and the Women's Super League, and her simultaneous capability in creating goalscoring opportunities for either herself or her teammates, with former Arsenal Women head coach Joe Montemurro describing Alexandra as "the quintessential all-rounder striker desired by elite teams capable of doing almost everything required" while Arsenal legend Thierry Henry hailed her as an "ingenious creator" and a "consistent goalscoring machine". Similarly, Vivianne Miedema, with whom she established an effective attacking partnership, has also heaped much praise on Alexandra, describing the latter as "highly dependable" and "extremely cooperative", adding, "At times, it does feel like whether consciously or not the two of us just have some sort of a telepathic connection between us since in most cases we both knew exactly where to be, when to move, and most importantly whether a goal was possible from a certain position". Fittingly, the duo, who often alternated between themselves the roles of number 10 and number 9, have been popularly compared to the likes of Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema and Manchester United's William Smith and Wayne Rooney.
Separately, Alexandra has also been noted for her "exemplary sense of professionalism", a trait that she revealed in an interview with ESPN to have been "deeply instilled" in her at a young age by her half-brother, a successful professional footballer himself, adding that the latter also told her that "regardless of how good you are, even if naturally, you would be absolutely nothing and would not get anywhere without a tiny bit of discipline in yourself". Similarly, Alexandra's consistently high work rate has also been a subject of praise, with former Arsenal Women manager Joe Montemurro once stating, "When you consider the fact that as her country's queen, she's also beholden with all these other tasks and duties that she has outside of football, it's just unbelievable and amazing really that she's just consistently putting this much effort in football with little signs of stopping". Similarly, former Arsenal teammate Vivianne Miedema described Alexandra as "the most hardworking and dedicated teammate and striker I've ever seen", adding that "if she (Alexandra) was expected to score goals in a particular match, it is more than likely that she will do and will absolutely not stop in doing so until the time is up".
While not necessarily known to have shared or inherited her half-brother's infamous militaristic leadership style (hence his nickname "The General"), Alexandra has nonetheless received much praise for her great sense of teamwork which, coupled with her general friendliness towards her teammates, helped establish her as a reliable and proficient team player and who particularly excelled in that regard, especially during important matches. Accordingly, by her own admission, Alexandra described herself as "not necessarily someone who can easily and just effortlessly take charge of a huge team in an instant but who, under the right circumstances, can work well with others in times of need". Meanwhile, in a 2019 interview, former Lionesses captain Steph Houghton said, "Of course, throughout the time she was there she was never actually captain in an official sense but if necessary I would say I trust her somewhat as a team captain because in a way she just has that sense of unbroken togetherness that easily brings a disjointed team together".
In an August 2022 interview with Sky Sports, Alexandra named former Arsenal teammates Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema as her "favourite football buddies", stating that in a usual team setup where all three of them are available, Miedema would normally play as a center forward while both she and Mead otherwise act as wingers on the right and left respectively to form what many have described as the Women's Super League's "greatest attacking trio" with all three of them currently leading the league in terms of both goals scored and assists provided. Known simply as "ABA", a combination of the first letters of their given names and a play on the name of the famous Swedish pop group ABBA, the trio have been popularly compared to Real Madrid's "BBC", Barcelona's "MSN", and Manchester United's "WCW", all of which are considered to be some of the most decorated attacking trios in men's football. Conversely, much like her half-brother's well-known professional rivalries with the likes of Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo, on her part, Alexandra named the Norwegian international Ada Hegerberg as her "great rival", stating, "Of course, the fact that we both played for different clubs in different countries meant that we never really face each other except for in the Champions League but when we do face each other in that tournament, Ada is undoubtedly one of or if not the single player that gives me the most worries ahead of a match because I knew that I would be up against a talented goalscoring machine who can give me a run for my money at any time". Evidently, both Alexandra and Hegerberg themselves together dominate both the Ballon d'Or Féminin and the UEFA Women's Champions League, namely as the only players to have won the award more than once and as players currently ranked within the top three of the tournament's all-time goalscorers with Hegerberg in first, Alexandra in second, and Anja Mittag in third.
In a 2019 interview with People, when asked about her favourite football club, Alexandra said that while she "grew up very much liking Manchester United", given her half-brother's association and success with the club, she otherwise declared herself to be "a Gooner through and through", citing her own time of having played for Arsenal for roughly a decade long. Since her retirement, whenever she is not preoccupied, Alexandra could be seen occasionally attending matches involving both Arsenal's men's and women's teams, leading one British football commentator to describe her as "a constant and unmistakable presence at stadiums always sternly looking at the pitch below with arms crossed and seemingly eagle-eyed precision". Likewise, Mikel Arteta, who currently manages Arsenal's men's side, described the royal as "someone who truly cares a lot about the club and who always wanted to be informed firsthand of anything that just happened".
Media Depiction
Known for her somewhat media-friendly persona and photogenic appearance, since ascending to the throne, Alexandra has been depicted by various people in the media and has also personally made appearances in the media herself. For instance, in an episode of the 2016 miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, she appeared in a cameo role as herself who happens to befriend the character Rory Gilmore played by actress Alexis Bledel. In another instance, she also appeared on the reality television series Running Wild with Bear Grylls where in a special final episode of the show's third season, she, along with host and adventurer Bear Grylls together traversed through the Scottish Highlands, an experience she later described as "challenging but fun" and "personally groundbreaking", stating, "Prior to doing the show, I have never been on live television where by all accounts people get to see me at my most vulnerable just trying to scale or climb hills and mountains because that's exactly what I did and the fact that I wasn't doing it in private but rather on television meant something very new to me and to some extent definitely changed me in a way". Owing to her popularity, the episode became one of the series' most-watched episodes with an estimated viewership of 4.51 million which topped the previous number of 3.55 million for a separate special episode involving United States President Barack Obama. Meanwhile, in 2022, Alexandra herself appeared in the Netflix documentary Rise of The Lionesses as an integral former member of the England women's national team that won the 2015 and 2019 Women's World Cups and the UEFA Women's Euro 2017, England's first few international honours for the women's national team.
In addition to that, Alexandra has also appeared as herself in the popular GQ: Actually Me series, in which she, via impromptu accounts created on popular social media sites including Instagram, Quora, and Youtube, would reply to online questions asked by internet users, as well as in WIRED's autocomplete interviews where she would reply to a random autocomplete question on the search engine Google. Furthermore, Alexandra also made a celebrity appearance as herself in the long-running automotive show Top Gear where in a special episode of the show's twenty-seventh season, she, along with her half-brother William Smith participated in a two-lap race around the Top Gear test track using their favourite personal vehicles, with Alexandra's being her McLaren GT and her half-brother's being the latter's own McLaren 570S. In the end, Alexandra herself narrowly won the race against her half-brother with a recorded time difference of 0.60 seconds.
In both 2015 and 2019 respectively, Alexandra was featured on the UK version of EA Sports' FIFA 15 and FIFA 19 video games, becoming one of the first few female footballers to be featured on the cover of any EA Sports games alongside the likes of Christine Sinclair, Alex Morgan, and Steph Catley, as well as the first siblings pair to be featured on the cover along with her half-brother William Smith who was regularly featured on the UK version of previous editions owing to his talent and popularity.
Titles & Honours
Professional Football
Arms
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| Coat of Arms of Alexandra, Princess of the Welsh (1997 - 2017) |
Coat of Arms of Alexandra, Queen of the British (2017 - Present) |
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| Coat of Arms of Alexandra, Princess of Orange (1997 - 2017) |
Coat of Arms of Alexandra, Queen of the Dutch (2017 - Present) |
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| Coat of Arms of Alexandra, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (1997 - 2017) |
Coat of Arms of Alexandra, Grand Duchess of the Luxembourgers (2017 - Present) |
Ancestry
| Ancestors of Alexandra of the United Kingdom and of the Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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