Alexandra of Denmark, the wife of king Edward VII, was so beautiful and fashionable that women all over England copied her dresses, hair styles and even the way she moved. When Alexandra was left with a pronounced limp after some complications in childbirth, her dedicated followers suddenly developed the same hobble in their walk. To the bafflement of many men, the women of 1860s London even went as far as to alter their shoes to aid their imaginary affliction. A bemused John Farmer called the Alexandra limp a 'fit of semi-imbecility' by 'a crowd of limping petticoated toadies'.
