Thank you for the quote - but I think you picked a rather peculiar example.<p>Queen Victoria simply could not marry ANYBODY in the world of equal social standing - because by English law, whoever married the Queen would still only be a Prince of Wales.<p>I think the only real example you can draw on would be aristocratic families who lost their fortune and had to marry off their offspring to a child of rich bourgeois. This way the two family combined pedigree and wealth - but they sort of came on equal footing due to the varying assets each brought to the table.