“I was born a King’s daughter. I shall die a King’s daughter.” Louise Marie Amélie of Belgium was born on 18 February 1858 as the eldest child of King Leopold II of Belgium and his wife, Marie Henriette of Austria. She was not the longed-for male heir, but a little brother named Leopold was born [read more]
Read part one here. Read part two here. Stéphanie awoke on 30 January 1889 to a gloomy winter day. She had a singing lesson as was usual, but she felt anxious. The lesson was interrupted by her chief lady-in-waiting, who privately gave her the bad news from Mayerling. Stéphanie immediately realised what happened and sobbed, [read more]
Read part one here. After the formal ceremony, Stéphanie and Rudolf changed into their travelling clothes. She said goodbye to her beloved Toni, her parents and her sister. They travelled to Laxenburg where they were to spend their honeymoon – the carriage ride was completely silent. They arrived in rooms that had not been done [read more]
At the time of Stéphanie’s marriage to Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, the Austrian court was one of the most brilliant in Europe. The following tragedies plunged it into a sadness from which it never recovered. Princess Stéphanie of Belgium was born on 21 May 1864 as the daughter of King Leopold II of Belgium [read more]
Marie Henrietta of Austria was born on 23 August 1836 as the daughter of Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary, and Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg. Dorothea de Ficquelmont described the young Archduchess as “having been raised as a boy.” Marie Henrietta was a happy girl, who learned to speak German, French, English and Italian. She was musically gifted and [read more]
Most of us know the tragic story of Crown Prince Rudolf and his mistress Mary Vetsera. They probably made some sort of murder-suicide pact, which cost both of them their lives on 30 January 1889. I visited Mayerling Hunting Lodge where the event took place and the Imperial Crypt where Rudolf is buried last year. [read more]
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