Franz Joseph and Sisi ~ did they live happily ever after?

Franz Joseph and Sisi ~ did they live happily ever after?

Once upon a time, a handsome young emperor fell in love with a beautiful young princess.

He carried her off to his castle, where they were married ~ and they lived happily ever after.

It’s the stuff fairytales are made of.
But did the young couple really live happily ever after?

Single, young, attractive, and the ruler of a global empire, Franz Joseph was much in demand on the European marriage market.
His extremely ambitious mother Sophie, already had plans on a bride for her son.

On the occasion of her son’s twenty-third birthday, Sophie arranged a party to which her sister Ludowika was invited ~ along with her nineteen-year-old daughter, Helene.

It was hoped that Joseph would take a fancy to his young cousin.

However, events took a different turn for Franz Joseph, when his gaze wandered to a young girl ~
Helene’s sister, Elisabeth, affectionately known as Sisi.

Sisi was a stunning beauty, radiating a youthful spirit.
Franz Joseph fell in love with her at first sight, and Sisi’s life changed forever.

Every now and then, a single fateful moment in history turned beggars into kings, outlaws into heroes and … a girl from a small Bavarian town into a legendary empress.

Sisi was only fifteen years of age, a stunning beauty, radiating a youthful childlike innocence, and free spirited.

She was only there to accompany her mother and sister on the trip, yet Sisi would walk away as the future empress.

Franz Joseph and Sisi seemed like the perfect couple, and just two days after their first meeting, Franz Joseph asked Sisi to marry him.

Just six months later, in 1854, their ‘dream wedding’ was held in Vienna.
So began a marriage which should have been a happy union for both, ended up as an extremely unhappy arrangement.

From the very first day, the young and spirited empress felt like a caged bird.

Sisi found life at Court extremely hard.
She suffered from the strict protocol, intrigues and her official duties as empress.

While the young emperor spent his days at his desk, Sisi cried her heart out in the park.

In the early years, the young empress did strive to live up to expectations.

Sisi even fulfilled the most important duty of an empress ~ giving birth to the heir, Crown Prince Rudolf.

However, the monotonous protocol and constraints of court life turned into years, and the joy of an adventurous, gilded life never reached Sisi.

Sisi only ever saw restrictions and suffered under the control the imperial court had over her.

She came increasingly into conflict with the rules of the Viennese court, personified by her mother-in-law Sophie.

Franz Joseph was torn between the wishes of his wife, and the demands of his mother.

Sisi withdrew more and more, and increasingly turned her back on both the Court and her husband.

Guided by her independent spirit, she began to rebel. Franz Joseph accommodated his unorthodox and freedom-loving wife, as far as his position and sense of tradition would allow.

It was not far enough.
Sisi fell ill and felt trapped in a golden cage.

From the 1860s, the couple no longer seemed to have a married life together.
Despite their separate lives, Franz Joseph and Sisi maintained a close bond of friendship with each other.

For the rest of her days, Sisi wandered the world in search of her true self.

Restlessly she moved from spa town to spa town, staying only a few weeks at a time before, moving on.

On 10th September 1898, on the banks of Lake Geneva, assassin Luigi Lucheni thrust a sharpened file into Sisi’s heart.

Minutes later, the woman who was to become the most famous of all Habsburgs died at the age of 60. Only a single drop of blood stained her dress.

After Sisis was assassinated Franz Joseph is said to have exclaimed ~

“You have no idea how much I loved this woman”