The portion of the Alexiad that I read was Book III, which describes the accession of Alexius, as well as interfamily power struggles. In it, the author talks about the Comneni gaining control of the palace and sending over the niece's spouse, Michael, over to the emperor. Later, the emperor (Botaniates) was urged to endure tonsure to prevent a possible revolt from happening. The emperor refused and was very hesitant to pursue such a route. Lastly, the queen Maria chose to stay at the palace because she was in a foreign country without any family or friends.