Christina and her sister and brother followed their parents into exile in April of the same year, to Veere in Zeeland, the Netherlands, and were raised by the Dutch regents, their grandaunt and aunt, Margaret of Austria and Mary of Hungary.

[1] Her aunt, believing the princess too young to consummate a marriage, delayed Christina's departure until 11 March 1533 by informing the Milanese envoy that she was ill and taking her to another part of the Netherlands for "serious affairs".

[2][3] On 23 September 1533 in Brussels, Christina was married by proxy to Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan, through his representative Count Massimiliano Stampa.

[4] Christina's relationship with Francesco was reportedly good, and she was very popular in Milan, where she was regarded as a symbol of peace and hope for the future after decades of war, and her beauty was much admired.

When she was given her own court, her chief lady in waiting was Francesca Paleologa of Montferrat, spouse of Constantine Arianiti Comnenus, titular Prince of Macedonia, who was to become one of her most intimate lifelong friends.

[4] Francesco II Sforza was at that time very weak, as his health had never recovered after he survived a poison attempt years before, and there was concern that he would never be able to have children, and die without heirs.

[4] As a way to save Milanese independence, Stampa suggested that she marry the heir to the throne of Savoy, prince Louis of Piedmonte, but the plan failed because of his death shortly thereafter.

[4] In October 1537, Christina went to live at the court of her aunt, the Governor of the Low Countries, Dowager Queen Mary of Hungary, by way of Innsbruck, visiting her sister at the Palatinate before arriving in Brussels in December.

[4] The regent Mary condoned the courtship unofficially, but she gave no official comment because she wished for her brother the emperor to state whether he needed Christina for a political marriage before she allowed her to enter a love match.

After consulting Archbishop Carondelet, the president of the council, and Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle, Dorothea and Christina sent the following official petition to the Emperor: "My sister and I, your humble and loving children, entreat you, as the fountain of all justice, to have compassion on us.

Open the prison doors, which you alone are able to do, release my father, and give me advice as to how I may best obtain the kingdom which belongs to me by the laws of God and man.

In August, Christina and Francis reached Pont-à-Mousson, in Lorraine, where they visited the dowager duchess Philippa, and continued to the capital in Nancy escorted by the Guise family.

In November 1541, Christina, her spouse, and father-in-law visited the French court in Fontainebleau, where they were forced to cede the fort of Stenay to France.

In February 1544, Christina and her sister Dorothea visited the Emperor at Speyer, reportedly to implore him to make peace with France, though without success.

In August, the Emperor ordered that the residence of the Guise family in Joinville be spared by the Imperial army on Christina's request, as she had asked him for this favor out of consideration of Anne of Lorraine.

The same month, Charles V asked Christina to prevent Francis from visiting the French court, as he would take this as a sign of peace negotiations, but she replied that he had already left.

His will was contested by a party headed by Count Jean I de Salm (d. 1560), who regarded Christina as a puppet of the emperor, and so wished to place her brother-in-law as her co-regent.

Christina tried to ally herself with the Guise family, sent warnings to the Emperor, and asked both him and Mary of Hungary for assistance in defending Lorraine, as she had noted French war preparations along the border.

This scene was described as touching by the courtiers present, but the king merely replied that Lorraine was too close to the enemy border for him to leave her son, and escorted her out.

In May 1552, her brother-in-law Vaudemont informed her of his wish to open the gates for the Imperial army, and letters from her were intercepted, after which Henry II of France ordered her to leave Lorraine.

Christina received marriage proposals from King Henry of Navarre, Adolf of Holstein, the prince of Piedmont, and Albert of Brandenburg.

She was present at the abdication of Emperor Charles V in Brussels in October 1555, followed by the ceremony when her aunt Mary of Hungary stepped down from the regency of the Netherlands.

The French monarch pointed out in 1556 that her son would be declared of legal majority, and her claim to regency moot in any case in another year.

She was invited to his wedding in Paris in 1559, but declined as she was by then in mourning for her foster-mother, Mary of Hungary, and because she had by then accepted the task of presiding at the peace conference between France and Spain.

However, her advantages did in fact not work in her favor in the eyes of King Philip of Spain, as he regarded her popularity with the Dutch and especially her friendship with Prince William of Orange with suspicion, and in June, Margaret of Parma was appointed instead.

In February 1563, she referred to herself as "Christina, by the grace of God Queen of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, Sovereign of the Goths, Vandals, and Slavonians, Duchess of Schleswig, Dittmarsch, Lorraine, Bar, and Milan, Countess of Oldenburg and Blamont, and Lady of Tortona.

[4] In 1566, Christina struck a medal referring to herself with the title Queen of Denmark, with the motto: Me sine cuncta ruunt (Without me all things perish).

[4] However, Emperor Ferdinand was against the plan because the destructive effect it would have of the power balance in Germany, where Saxony, being strongly allied with Denmark, opposed Christina's claims.

[4] The planned marriage alliance between Lorraine and Sweden was finally terminated when Eric XIV married his non-noble lover Karin Månsdotter in 1567.

[4] In 1569, Christina still entertained hopes to press her claims to the Danish throne, but was met with the reply from Cardinal Granvelle, that the Netherlands would never turn against Denmark; that the Emperor would oppose it, and that Spain was occupied elsewhere.