Dagmar was very charming and likable. After meeting her, Thomas W. Knox wrote, "No wonder the emperor likes her, and no wonder the Russians like her. I like her, and I am neither emperor nor any other Russian, and never exchanged a thousand words with her in my life." Maria von Bock, the daughter of Pyotr Stolypin, wrote, "kind, amiable, simple in her discourse, Maria Fedorovna was an Empress from head to toe, combining an inborn majesty with such goodness that she was idolized by all who knew her." Meriel Buchanan wrote that she possessed a "gracious and delightful charm of manner." Andrew Dickson White, the U.S. minister to Russia, said that she was "graceful, with a most kindly face and manner" and that she was "in every way cordial and kindly." Nadine Wonar-Larsky, her lady-in-waiting, noted that “her smile cheered everyone and her gracious manner always suggested a touch of personal feeling which went straight to the hearts of her subjects. She also possessed that priceless royal gift of never forgetting a face or name."