The future Empress of Russia was born in Copenhagen in September 1847 and was named Sophia-Frederica Dagmar, by her parents, the King and Queen of Denmark. Her childhood was a simple and happy one and she grew into a charming young girl whom, by common consent, the Russian and Danish sovereigns intended for the Czarevitch. However, the latter had previously fallen in love with a young Russian girl and lacked both the strength to break this liaison and the courage to abide by the law in force which made it his duty to marry a princess of the blood royal or of royal descent. Faced with this cruel dilemna, his reason gave way and he sought oblivion in the South of France, where he died.