Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia was a daughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia and sister of emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I. She married Archduke Joseph of Austria, Palatine of Hungary. Her marriage was the only Romanov-Habsburg marital alliance to date.
Birth
Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna was born in Tsarskoye Selo as the third child and eldest daughter of Tsesarevich Paul and his second wife Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The gender of the child disappointed her paternal grandmother, Catherine the Great. She wrote:The Empress' secretary Alexander Khrapovitsky wrote that the Empress considered the newborn Grand Duchess Alexandra very ugly, especially compared with her older brothers. The comparison with her younger sister Elena, was also unfavorable to her: the Empress noted that the six-month-old Elena was much smarter and more charming than the two-year Alexandra. However, as a gift for the birth of Alexandra, Catherine II gave her son Gatchina Palace.
Gradually the Empress started to have better feelings about her granddaughter. On 12 March 1787, she wrote to her:
In turn, Alexandra was particularly attached to her grandmother. Catherine II noted:
Education
She received the usual education of Russian princesses and was taught French and German as well as music and drawing. Alexandra was very close to her younger sister Elena, and they were often painted together.Alexandra's upbringing, as well as her sister's, was entrusted to Charlotte von Lieven, who acted as Governess.
File:Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia in Russian dress by anonim.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A little Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna dressed in kokoshnik and sarafan, 1790s.
The older Grand Duchess was a very diligent student. In 1787, her mother proudly wrote about her four-year-old daughter, that "she continues to be diligent, making notable advances and begins to translate from German". Alexandra was fascinated by drawing and "I think she has a great talent in this art", and the music and singing, and "in these arts has found remarkable abilities".
In 1790, in her letter to the Baron von Grimm, Catherine II gave a description of her granddaughter:
Gustav IV
In 1794, the Empress began to think about the future of the Grand Duchess. Alexandra Pavlovna was eleven years old, and "that summer a girl should be considered an adult." In the letters of those years Catherine II expresses the idea of bringing to Russia "landless princes", who after marrying her granddaughters would get the position and means for life in their new homeland.But the fate of Alexandra turned out differently. In 1792, news arrived at the Russian court regarding the murder of King Gustav III of Sweden and the accession to the throne of his 14-year-old son Gustav IV Adolf. Reportedly, the desire of the late Swedish monarch was to make an alliance with the Russian Imperial family by marrying his only son to one of the granddaughters of the Empress; however, according to another version, the idea of marriage belonged to the Empress, and even became one of the secret conditions of the Treaty of Värälä. The idea of this alliance was supported by the Swedish regent, the new King's uncle Charles, Duke of Södermanland.
In October 1793, on the occasion of the marriage of the Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich with Princess Louise of Baden, Count Stenbock arrived in St. Petersburg with congratulations from the Swedish court, and started the official talks about marriage. Alexandra began to learn the Swedish language, as well as to prepare to think about her future husband.
Negotiations went with varying success. In January 1794, Catherine II wrote to her first-cousin, the Duke of Södermanland:
But on two issues the parties could not reach an agreement: The religion of the future Queen and the fate of Count Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, member of the conspiracy against the Swedish regent, who took refuge in Russia. In retaliation, the regent began to negotiate a marriage between Gustav IV Adolf and Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Pretending to ignore the machinations of the Swedish regent, the Empress wrote in April 1795 to Baron von Grimm:
On 1 November 1795 the Swedish court officially announced the engagement between Gustav IV Adolf and Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and in the official church prayer in Sweden the intended bride began to be mentioned. Catherine II stood to protect her granddaughter:
But the Empress was not limited to just words: she refused to accept the ambassador who came with the message of the engagement's announcement. Count Alexander Suvorov was sent to the Swedish border for "exploring the castles", and in Stockholm Major General Count Andrei Budberg was instructed to prevent the marriage. While the Swedish court was waiting for the arrival of the bride, the King suddenly changed his mind and broke off the engagement. In April 1796, talks about the "Russian marriage" were resumed by Catherine II, who invited Gustav IV Adolf to visit her in St. Petersburg.
Gustav IV Adolf and his uncle the Duke of Södermanland arrived incognito for a meeting with the bride. A series of brilliant parties were arranged in their honor. The Swedish sovereign and Alexandra fell in love at first sight. The passion of Gustav IV Adolf for the Grand Duchess was evident: he danced with her constantly and had intimate conversations with her.
On 25 August 1796, Gustav IV Adolf asked the Empress for permission to marry the Grand Duchess. The negotiations with Sweden were led by Counts Platon Zubov and Arkady Morkov. However, they were concerned with the question of the faith of the future Queen. The procurator-general Alexander Samoylov wrote:
Only on 2 September Gustav IV Adolf agreed that Alexandra would keep her Eastern Orthodox faith. Four days later, on 6 September, the Swedish embassy formally requested the hand of the Grand Duchess. The groom and the bride's father visited some military maneuvers, and poet Gavrila Derzhavin wrote a "Concert for the engagement of the King of Sweden with Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna". The official engagement was scheduled to take place on 11 September in the Throne Room of the Winter Palace. However, when Counts Zubov and Morkov were to sign the marriage contract in the morning of that day, they found that there was no article about the freedom of religion of the Grand Duchess, which was erased by order of the king. Despite the pleas of the Russian envoys, the King was firm that he would never give his people an Orthodox queen, and locked himself in his room. The Empress, her court and Alexandra, who was dressed as a bride, waited for him for more than four hours. Following the announcement of the final rejection of the king, the Empress had a small attack of apoplexy, and a grief-stricken Alexandra, in tears, locked herself in her room; the Swedish embassy declared that the engagement was canceled due to illness of the King. On 12 September Gustav IV Adolf was present at the ball on the occasion of the birthday of Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna, wife of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, but he was given a cold reception. Alexandra wasn't present at the ball, and the Empress had spent a little more than 15 minutes there, citing illness. Although the engagement didn't take place, talks about a marriage continued for a while. On 22 September 1796 the Swedish King had left Russia, with the Empress warning her son: "They're just your sons and their wives, but your four daughters should all be ill with colds."
Catherine II died two months later, on 17 November, and the marriage negotiations were continued by Alexandra Pavlovna's father and new Emperor Paul I of Russia. But in spite of all attempts, the main issue, the religion of the Grand Duchess, was not settled, and the marriage negotiations were finally stopped.
Soon, the Imperial family suffered another blow. In October 1797 Gustav IV Adolf married Princess Frederica of Baden, a younger sister of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Alexeievna, Alexandra's sister-in-law. Empress Maria Feodorovna blamed both her daughter-in-law for intriguing in favor of her sister and her husband the Emperor for "allowing himself these sharp and biting antics against her daughter".
Marriage
In 1799, three years after her failed betrothal with the King of Sweden, another marital project originated for Alexandra. Previously in 1798, Dukes Ferdinand Augustus and Alexander Frederick of Württemberg who were the brothers of the Empress Maria Feodorovna, arrived in St. Petersburg to serve in the Imperial Russian Army. They expressed the interest of Austria to join with Russia in a coalition against the rising power of the French Republic and Napoleon, and to cement this alliance, it was decided to arrange a marriage between Alexandra and Archduke Joseph of Austria, Palatine of Hungary and younger brother of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor.Archduke Joseph personally came to Russia to see his bride. The meeting between them was successful. In mid-February, the betrothal ball was held. Later, a marriage contract was signed in which Alexandra would be allowed to kept her Russian Orthodox faith. In October, Count Fyodor Rostopchin wrote:
On 25 September, a decree was published about the royal title of Alexandra. In Russia, she was referred to as "Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess the Archduchess of Austria" with the French prefix of "Palatine d'Hongrie". The wedding took place on 30 October at Gatchina Palace, one week after the wedding of her sister Elena. To celebrate both events, poet Gavrila Derzhavin wrote the ode "the wedding celebrations of 1799".
On 21 November, the couple went to Austria. Countess Varvara Golovina remembered that Alexandra was sad to leave Russia, and her father Emperor Paul I "constantly repeated, would not see her since her sacrifice."
File:Family of Paul I of Russia.jpg|left|thumb|383x383px|Family portrait of the House of Romanov in 1800, with Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna in yellow at the very right, next to her sister Elena Pavlovna, by Gerhard von Kügelgen. Both Alexandra Pavlovna and her father would die the next year.
According to Alexandra's confessor, Andrei Samborski, Alexandra was given a cold reception in Vienna. However, other sources offer a different view. Queen Maria Carolina of Naples and her daughters arrived in Vienna in August 1800 for a long stay. Maria Carolina's daughter, Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, wrote in her journal that on 15 August the Queen and her daughters were introduced to Alexandra, whom she described as "very beautiful". Maria Amalia and Alexandra became friends during this time; and the Princess of Naples wrote in her journal that the Russian Grand Duchess and her husband had a friendly relationship with the rest of the imperial family and took part in the family gatherings, parties and balls in Vienna, which contrasts with the version given by Andrei Samborski. For instance, in January 1801, Maria Amalia wrote in her journal that the imperial family used to attend balls in Archduke Joseph's residence in Vienna, where "beautiful Alexandra, always serious and sad, has a magnificent household."
When she was presented to Emperor Francis II, she reminded him of his first wife Elisabeth of Württemberg, who was her maternal aunt; this caused the jealousy of Empress Maria Theresa, Francis II's second wife, who was also envious of Alexandra's beauty and fine jewelry. Imperial confessor Andrew Samborski wrote:
Once, Alexandra turned up to a ball beautifully dressed, with magnificent jewellery. The Empress was incensed at being upstaged by the Archduchess, and ordered her to remove her jewellery and also told her that she could no longer wear them. Heeding her instructions, Alexandra only decorated her hair with flowers when she attended a play some time later. The flowers highlighted her beauty, leading her to be applauded and being given a standing ovation, making Maria Theresa even more furious. Archduke Joseph could not protect his wife from these attacks. Furthermore, her Eastern Orthodox faith aroused the hostility of the Roman Catholic Austrian court, who urged her to convert.
Pavlovna was popular among Hungarians, both the nobles and the commoners. According to the legend, it was her suggestion to add the color green as the third color to the flag of Hungary. Hungarians had been using red and silver, then red and white as their national colors for centuries at the time. However, in the late 18th century, a third color was proposed to be added to the flag, to follow the style of the French tricolor. Pavlovna suggested green as a symbol for hope. By the mid-19th century, the red-white-green Hungarian tricolor became widespread.