General Hospital Classic Character Recap: Alexandria Quartermaine

Although she was only seen on-screen for about a year, Alexandria Quartermaine’s arrival on the General Hospital canvas led to the introduction of the soap’s most villainous families — the Cassadines — and ushered in one of the most popular action-adventure capers in all of daytime history.

Who Is Alexandria Quartermaine?

With vivacious and flirtatious personality, it was easy for Alexandria to charm almost any man she set her sights on. And, as the daughter of an all-powerful Quartermaine son, she possessed a business prowess that impressed even her persnickety Uncle Edward.

After her red-hot love affair with Anthony ‘Tony’ Cassadine cooled, Alexandria absconded with two of his family’s most priceless properties. The first was (purportedly) the largest uncut diamond in existence — nicknamed the Ice Princess.

The Plot Thickens
The second was a formula — created by scientist James Duvall — capable of producing a synthetic diamond of the highest quality. Fleeing the Cassadine’s Venezuelan island, Alexandria made her way to Rio de Janeiro where she fashioned her bounty into an odd-looking sculpture.

Now painted jet black and situated on a two-tiered squared base (that housed Duvall’s formula), the Ice Princess was squared away on an ocean liner bound for Port Charles, New York, and its liberator made her own way to The Empire State’s uptown hamlet.

Arrival In Port Charles — and General Hospital
News of Alexandria’s imminent arrival was met with unbridled enthusiasm by Edward and skepticism from Alan, who wondered what scheme his errant cousin could have possibly embroiled herself in.

When Alexandria landed at her destination, she was aghast to discover that the Ice Princess was missing! Upon reacquainting herself with her uncle, Alexandria pitched him her newest venture which she promised would make them millions: they were going into the diamond-making business.

Seeing Dollar Signs
Edward agreed wholeheartedly to provide the capital Alexandria needed, and the two set about forming their new corporation. In the meantime, she hired Luke Spencer to perform some investigative tasks. The most paramount being to locate — and protect her from — the Cassadine family whom she claimed to be competitors living in town under assumed names.

Luke very quickly realized he had plunged headlong into a vast conspiracy and, when Alexandria refused to share pertinent details, he tried to extricate himself from the situation. However, Alexandria’s promise of a big fat cash payoff kept Luke in line — for a time at least.

Go Big or Go Home

Luke’s search for the Ice Princess hit dead-end after dead-in until a buddy of his put him on the trail of cab driver Charlie Lutz, who Luke believed supplemented his salary by boosting merchandise from ships docked in the Port Charles harbor.

Sure enough, Charlie had pilfered the Ice Princess and gifted it to his wife Emma. She, in turn, handed it to Lila Quartermaine for an upcoming auction whose proceeds would go to the betterment of General Hospital.

Over Exposure
The bauble’s photograph made it into the local papers, absolutely infuriating Alexandria Quartermaine, who became resolute in her decision to become the winning bidder. But she faced stiff competition from undercover WSB agent Robert Scorpio and her former paramour Tony Cassadine, who had indeed been in Port Charles living under an alias.

At the charity auction, he and Alexandria met for the first time since her theft and the two realized that the old romantic spark was still there. When the diamond was stolen, they decided to join forces and track it down.

Conspiracies and A Murder
Operating under the assumption that Luke had taken the Ice Princess, Alexandria arranged to have Laura – =working as a secretary at ELQ =- framed for embezzling, certain that the incident would bring Luke out of hiding.

Her hunch was correct. Luke did indeed resurface but he did not have the gem. When Tony became distracted from the mission upon the arrival of his brother Victor, Alexandria pressed on alone. By happenstance, Emma presented her with statuette but upon examining it Alexandria realized the formula was missing!

She set up a meeting with Duvall — at Laura’s apartment — to discuss it but their conversation descended into an argument when he learned Tony was back in the picture. The confrontation became violent, and Alexandria accidentally killed him. Before fleeing, she managed to locate a copy he had scribbled amongst his belongings.

A Chilly General Hospital End

Alexandria — with both the Ice Princess and the formula in tow — boarded the luxury yacht that had served as Tony’s Port Charles abode. Along with Victor, they set sail for the family’s island where the boys’ elder brother Mikkos was awaiting them.

Unbeknownst to the trio, Luke, Laura, and Robert also boarded the vessel. Upon joining Mikkos, Alexandria and Tony were aghast to learn that he planned to use the formula to create a substance known as carbonic snow and freeze sections of the Earth until the government submitted to his whim.

When they snuck out of their rooms to investigate the island compound’s secret plant, Alexandria and Tony fell victim to mad Mikkos’ machinations and found themselves frozen to death inside an experimental ice chamber!

Still A Presence on General Hospital
Despite becoming one of daytime’s first cryogenically frozen characters, Alexandria’s presence was still felt for many years afterward, thanks to a very special bequest she made to her aunt, Lila.

Having never had the opportunity to voice an opinion in her husband’s business dealings, the Quartermaine matriarch was thrilled to receive Alexandria’s voting shares at ELQ. The turn of events horrified Edward, whose more audacious schemes would be halted thanks to the power that his more level-headed wife now wielded. General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes.