A Husband for Grand Duchess Alexandra

The Grand Duchess Alexandra, born August 30, 1842, was the eldest child of Alexander II and Marie Alexandrovna of Russia.
She died on June 28, 1849 due to tubercuar meningitis.
Suppose Alexandra lives. To whom might she be married to?
 
The Grand Duchess Alexandra, born August 30, 1842, was the eldest child of Alexander II and Marie Alexandrovna of Russia.
She died on June 28, 1849 due to tubercuar meningitis.
Suppose Alexandra lives. To whom might she be married to?

There are the two British princes, sons of Victoria:
- Prince Albert Edward (OTL Edward VII)
- Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (who in OTL married her sister, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia)

Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders (Son of Leopold I, King of the Belgians and heir presumptive to the thrown)

There are also two Danish Princes, both sons of King Christian IX
Prince Christian (OTL King Frederick VIII of Denmark)
Prince William (OTL George I of Greece)

Prince Freidrich of Prussia (OTL Frederick III)

Two Wild Cards ;)
- Franz Joseph I of Austria, Alexandra is 12 years his junior but would be use to royal court unlike his OTL wife, Elisabeth of Bavaria.
Also how would an Austro-Russian Alliance in 1854 affect the world eg no world war one?

- Prince Francesco of Two S icilies (OTL King Francis II) would the Russians help in the unification of Italy?
 
Is it too much to hope she marries Pedro V of Portugal? And they actually get an Heir?

Probably.

Did Portugal permit its Queen Consorts to retain their faith, if not Catholic? Assuming of course that any previous Queen had not been Catholic. Alexandra would not have converted, at least not for the purposes of the marriage. How would the Vatican view a non-Catholic Queen of Portugal?
 
Both sound remarkably low ranking for a Grand Duchess.

I'm inclined to agree.

The pressure on Russian Grand Duchesses to make grand matches was not so great because of their huge personal wealth, which allowed them more freedom, however it is hard to believe that the daughter of the Tsar would marry someone not from section I of the Gotha.

Alexandra's survival does impact I think on the marriage of her sister Marie. Marie married Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria's second son, very much against Victoria's wishes it must be said, she hated the Russians. Marie's wealth has always been explained as the reason why Alfred was prepared to disobey his mother.

Marie's chief asset was her wealth, which was even written about by Alfred's sister the Crown Princess of Prussia.

Marie was widely labelled the wealthiest heiress in Europe, the sole daughter of the Tsar. Its possible with an elder sister, she would have had to share the spoils and the jewels and she may have been less attractive to Alfred.

Of course she would still have been wealthier than just about any European princess around, except perhaps Lovise of Sweden, later Queen of Denmark, so maybe not.
 
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The most obvious husband for Alexandra from a foreign relations point of view would actually be the man who married her cousin Olga - George I of Greece.

George waited several years to marry after arriving in Greece and even then he married a 16 year old, Alexandra was a few years older than George and could have easily married him in 1864.
 
Is it too much to hope she marries Pedro V of Portugal? And they actually get an Heir?

Excellent idea! Grand Duchess Alexandra to wed Pedro V of Portugal.
Alexandra Alexandrovna converts to Roman Catholicism.
She and Pedro marry in 1858 or 1859. They live for many years.
 
Excellent idea! Grand Duchess Alexandra to wed Pedro V of Portugal.
Alexandra Alexandrovna converts to Roman Catholicism.
She and Pedro marry in 1858 or 1859. They live for many years.

She wouldn't have converted. At least not at the time of the marriage, she might have been inspired to convert after years of living in Portugal.
 
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