"Biscuitcoin" Digital drawing by Lars Heiberg
Mariekiks is named after the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, who was the daughter of Alexander II of Russia and married to Duke Alfred, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria of England. She was so popular that London bakery Peek Frean decided to make a new biscuit to celebrate that she married into the British royal family in 1874. [2] The royal compound explains the ladybug's decorative pattern on the top. [3] The biscuit was a great success and shortly after it was produced in several other countries. In Spain, mariekiks (or María, as it is called there) became part of the country's culture and a symbol of the economic upswing after the Spanish Civil War, when bakeries mass-produced the biscuit due to profits and low wheat prices. Then the biscuit was produced with a picture of the Virgin Mary on the front, which was later removed after protests from the Catholic Church, and all cafes had a plate of lady biscuits on the counter.