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 (renamed Maria Feodorovna after her wedding).

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".

[2] In 1790, in her letter to the Baron von Grimm, Catherine II gave a description of her granddaughter: The third is a portrait of Grand Duchess Alexandra.

She speaks four languages, had a good writing and drawing, playing with the harpsichord, singing, dancing, learning easily and show a great gentleness of character.

"[1] 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.

[1]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.

Pretending to ignore the machinations of the Swedish regent, the Empress wrote in April 1795 to Baron von Grimm: The girl can wait patiently for my decision of her fate until the adulthood of the King, as she is only eleven years old.

I can safely say that it is difficult to find an equal to her beauty, talent and kindness, not to mention the dowry, which for a poor Swedish itself is the subject of importance.

In April 1796, talks about the "Russian marriage" were resumed by Catherine II, who invited Gustav IV Adolf to visit her in St. Petersburg.

I think my girl doesn't feel aversion for the aforementioned young man; she no longer has a confused look and talks freely with her partner.

The procurator-general Alexander Samoylov wrote: They said that as honest men they are obliged to announce to me that Sweden's laws require that the Queen profess the same religion of the King.Only on 2 September Gustav IV Adolf agreed that Alexandra would keep her Eastern Orthodox faith.

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".

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.

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.

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".

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.

In October, Count Fyodor Rostopchin wrote: Believe me, that's not good started to strengthen the alliance with the Austrian court by ties of blood... Of all the sisters she will be given the least successful marriage.

In Russia, she was referred to as "Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess the Archduchess of Austria" with the French prefix of "Palatine d'Hongrie".

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."

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.

Imperial confessor Andrew Samborski wrote: Remembering the happy cohabitation with her led him (the Emperor) in extreme confusion of mind which afflicted the heart of the Empress, his present wife.

The doctor, following the orders of Empress Maria Theresa, was "more skilled in intrigues than in medicine, and moreover, with rude manners"; in addition, the cook prepared meals that she could not eat.

Imperial confessor Andrew Samborski wrote: When the midwife noticed that the natural forces of the Grand Duchess left her, then she presented it to the Palatine and talk to him about the exhaustion of his wife and received from His Highness the consent to use tools, which he pulled out a child who lived only a few hours.A daughter, Archduchess Alexandrine of Austria, was born on 8 March 1801, but died within hours.

Hungarian historian Sándor Domanovszky related the event as follows: On 8 March at 3 a.m. and after a long hesitation saw the light the daughter of the Archduchess, but she was so small and weak that she died on the same day.

Because the Austrian court refused her burial in any Catholic cemeteries, Alexandra's remains remained unburied at Víziváros monastery until 1803, when her widower built a mausoleum dedicated to her in Üröm near Pest, following the late Archduchess' wishes, and after her definitive burial in this place, an Eastern Orthodox service was held in her memory.

In 1809, during the invasion of Napoleon's troops, Archduke Joseph ordered that the coffin with his wife's remains must be placed in Buda Castle for precaution, with a special Orthodox chapel prepared for this purpose.

On 26 April 1981 the Üröm Mausoleum was invaded by thieves, who profaned Alexandra's remains and coffin which was completely looted, taking clothing and jewelry.

In the ceremony were present members of the Habsburg and Romanov families, Cardinal Péter Erdő and the leaders of the Orthodox Churches in Hungary.

[9] Alexandra's letters to her sister-in-law Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily are preserved in the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv in Vienna, Austria.