with her younger sister Elena Pavlovna, with whom she was very close. She was a diligent student and talented in the arts. She had been intended to marry King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden who did not go to the engagement party where then-thirteen-year-old Alexandra Pavlovna was waiting in a bridal dress. The Russians insisted that the future queen be allowed to keep her Orthodox religion, which the Swedish refused to accept, and the engagement came to nothing. Joseph asked for Alexandra Pavlovna's hand in marriage from her parents on 22 February (O.S.) in her presence, and they gave their blessing. On the betrothal ceremony, the bride wore and the engagement rings were exchanged by the emperor himself. He spent another month in Saint Petersburg and left on 20 March to assume a role of military leadership. A faction headed by Baron Johann Amadeus von Thugut conspired to replace Archduke Charles with Joseph, which he himself did not support. These plans came to nothing as Emperor-King Francis was too indecisive to enter an open conflict with his popular brother. Thus, Joseph was eventually not appointed, nullifying his reason for leaving Russia so soon and evoking the distrust of Emperor Paul, who would have liked to have seen his future son-in-law lead the Imperial Army. Joseph arrived in Buda on 13 May and started to prepare for his wife's arrival, re-decorating the apartments of Buda Castle and gathering female courtiers. He urged his brother the emperor to designate a day for the wedding, but Francis did not answer any of his letters until 19 August. Meanwhile, Emperor Paul seemed to have become disillusioned with the alliance, so Joseph was sent back to Russia to sway him, and the wedding date was finally announced as 30 October. Arriving on 15 October in the Great Gatchina Palace, he was initially welcomed warmly, but after news of lost battles arrived (which were blamed on Baron von Thugut), the emperor refused to talk to him. The Viennese court further complicated the situation by demanding that the Roman Catholic wedding precede the Orthodox one, and be celebrated by the archbishop of Lemberg (today Lviv, Ukraine) who was not yet in Russia. The emperor was angered by the idea of postponing the ceremony, and everyone was greatly relieved when the archbishop arrived on 26 October. The Austrians then had to accept that the Orthodox ceremony will be