When the Tokugawa shogunate offered the lawful marriage of the 14th shogun Iemochi TOKUGAWA with Kazunomiya Chikako to seek Kobu-gattai (the reconciliation between the shogunate and the imperial court), Saneakira and his sister Kangyoin (Tsuneko HASHIMOTO) bitterly opposed the plan; however, at last, Kazunomiya Chikako herself gave way to the shogunate's insistent demands and married Iemochi.
橋本実麗は、公武合体政策の一貫として、姪の和宮親子内親王が14代将軍・徳川家茂との婚姻対策が持ち上がった時には妹で和宮親子内親王の生母・観行院（橋本経子）とともに反対したが、度重なる江戸幕府の要求に和宮親子内親王が折れ、和宮親子内親王と徳川家茂との婚姻が成立。