 She was also close to Empress Consort Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, who last visited her, along with Emperor Nicholas II, in 1909.On the outbreak of World War I, she donated her steam yacht "Thistle" to the British Navy.She funded a military hospital at Farnborough Hill as well as making large donations to French hospitals, for which she was conferred the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1919.