WI Queen Victoria marries Prince Alexander of Netherlands?

In 1836 King William IV disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, favoured Prince Alexander, second son of William II King of Netherlands as a ptential husband for his niece and Heir presumptive Victoria. Victoria was well-aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. She wrote of Albert, "He is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful." Alexander, on the other hand, was "very plain".
WI King William IV overruled his niece's wishes and forced her to marry Prince Alexander?
How is that altering History? Any thoughts?
 
Quite an interesting idea. Alexander IOTL died in February 1848, and might have died earlier with the British climate, especially with Victoria's holidays in Scotland! If Victoria goes into mourning at all, that means she's disappeared from public life during the Revolutions of 1848- IOTL she complained about Palmerston's handling of them. Though her copmplaints didn't do much, if Palmerston was given more free rein could some of the revolutions have been more successful?

Also, Albert was apparently involved in the Trent Incident, so ITTL the risk of a Trent War goes up. Finally, could the Royal Family have remained more political ITTL? Could that have resulted in an eventual republic?
 
Alexander died of TB, a contagious disease, easy enough to butterfly away.

Now, butterfly in his older brother's (the heir apparent) untimely demise and you suddenly have a personal union on your hands.
 

Susano

Banned
Alexander died of TB, a contagious disease, easy enough to butterfly away.

Now, butterfly in his older brother's (the heir apparent) untimely demise and you suddenly have a personal union on your hands.

Not really. Either parliament or maybe both will make it so that there wont be a personal union. This isnt the 17th and 18th century were talking about.
 
At the very least, the rebellious Queen Victoria has an entirely different husband, so Albert's moderating influence that made her a Constitutional Monarch (as opposed to the frightful cow seen in OTL) won't be found here. How was Alexander, personality-wise?
 
At the very least, the rebellious Queen Victoria has an entirely different husband, so Albert's moderating influence that made her a Constitutional Monarch (as opposed to the frightful cow seen in OTL) won't be found here. How was Alexander, personality-wise?
Not much is known about him; he was nicknamed Sasja (which is rather normal for Russians, of which his mother was one), and was an accomplished horseman who was a member of the cavalry. He's mostly a free-form character, if you want to turn this into a TL.
 

HJ Tulp

Donor
IIRC there was a really cool tv-serie about Alexander actually surviving in secret. Alot of intrige and stuff, Offcourse this doesn't help you one bit ;)
 
IIRC there was a really cool TV-series about Alexander actually surviving in secret. A lot of intrigue and stuff, Of course this doesn't help you one bit ;)

That was about his nephew, Willem Alexander Karel Hendrik Frederik (1851-1884). Willem III's 3rd son.
 
I think that the most important change in this case would be a change in the Anglo-Dutch relationsship. An personal union, how interesting that might be I consider unlikely. The Dutch probably don't want a British king. I think they would rather go republican than have a foreign king. Still, a personal union in the 19th (or even early 20th) century aren't as interesting as they were in the 17th or 18th century. Both the Netherlands and Britain were turning into democracies and the power of the king was being reduced. So an Anglo-Dutch personal union hardly means an Anglo-Dutch unification.
In the end the most likely result would be better relations between these countries. I think it might be too late for a proDutch British intervention during the war of Belgian independence, but there might be a better peace for the Netherlands. All of Flanders becoming Dutch is probably unlikely, but maybe the Dutch border could be more to the south, maybe a Dutch Antwerp? More likely may be all of Luxembourg or all if Limburg becoming Dutch (or in the case of Luxembourg in personal union with the Netherlands). I don't know any other interesting changes. Maybe there is an earlier British Greenlight for the Atjehwar.
As Alexander (at least according to wikipedia) was a sickly fellow, he still might die early. Victoria remarries and life goes on. The good British-Dutch relation will slowly fade away to normal relations.
 
Well, there should be some big changes to Victoria's personality if she's married twice, per previous statements.

However, there are some weird butterflies: is there any cooperation between the DEIC and the HEIC? Does the marriage affect Boer views of the British?
 

HJ Tulp

Donor
Well, there should be some big changes to Victoria's personality if she's married twice, per previous statements.

However, there are some weird butterflies: is there any cooperation between the DEIC and the HEIC? Does the marriage affect Boer views of the British?

The VOC had been bankrupted well before the POD so I doubt that makes a difference. The Boers were ethnically connected to the Dutch and the Germans but didn't care at all about things like royal houses and such.
 
Top