of Colonies Jean Chrétien Baud, objected, and in the end Alexander did not receive the commission. Marriage prospects In the late 1830s, William IV of the United Kingdom wished to marry Alexander to his niece Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent (and future Queen of the United Kingdom). Nothing came of this however, as Victoria remarked to her uncle Leopold I of Belgium, "The Netherlander boys are very plain and have a mixture of Kalmuck (Mongol) and Dutch in their faces, moreover they look heavy, dull, and frightened and are not at all prepossessing. So much for the Oranges, dear Uncle." It was suggested in 1840 that Alexander should eventually marry Isabella II of Spain when she came of age, allowing him to become regent. However, opposition from other crowns and King William’s objection to her religion (she was Catholic) prevented any marriage between the two. Alexander never married, as Princess Sophie wrote to Lady Malet on 4 May 1847, "but I am in pleasant company with Prince Alexander[...]It is not that he courts me, for he does not yet know what a woman is, but he gives me all friendship he is able to give." He had no issue. Declining health and death Charlotte Disbrowe, daughter to the British diplomat Sir Edward Cromwell Disbrowe (1790–1851), recalled how in November 1836 eighteen-year-old Alexander suffered a serious accident that could easily have cost him his life. During a frightening storm, "he and his eldest brother were returning from Leiden, where they went most days to pursue their studies. The road through the wood was so entirely blocked that they were obliged to abandon their carriage and proceed on foot. As they reached the part of the wood nearest to The Hague the trees were falling on all sides [...] one fell from a direction from which they did not expect it. The Baron seized hold of the Hereditary prince who was walking right next to him and pulled him out of danger, but Prince Alexander was caught by the branches and thrown down. It was some time before help was obtainable to extricate him, for it had to be done by digging away the ground." After the branches had been removed, Alexander, bleeding and unconscious, was carried back to the palace. "At first," wrote Disbrowe, "he was not much hurt, but after some hours fever and delirium set in, and he was