Princess Alice of the United Kingdom papers to and from her government ministers, while the Queen secluded herself from all public life. Alice was aided in this task by her younger sister Princess Louise. Although Princess Helena, Louise's elder sister, would normally have been selected to assist, her inability to go long without crying was held against her. Alice's matrimonial plans were begun in 1860 by her mother. Queen Victoria had expressed her wish that her children should marry for love, but this did not mean that her choice of suitors would necessarily be extended to anybody outside the royal houses of Europe. Raising a British
Beatrice of Montferrat Alix married King Henry I of Cyprus. Beatrice's paternal grandparents were Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat and his first wife Helena del Bosco; her maternal grandparents were Marquess Boniface of Clavesana, Count of Cortemiglia and his wife who is unnamed. On 21 November 1219, at the age of about nine (or possibly younger), Beatrice married Guigues VI of Viennois. Their marriage was recorded in "Aymari Rivalli De Allobrogibus". He was over twenty years her senior and she was his third wife. From 1228 until Guigues' death in 1237, as his wife, she was the Dauphine consort of Viennois as well