#princess Sophie of Prussia

[thecatalogueofroyalfashion]

Princess Sophie of Prussia || Costarellos

[ldagence-royal]

Prince George Friedrich and Princess Sophie of Prussia Attend Wedding of Infanta Maria Francisca 7 October 2023 in Mafra, Portugal

[kaiserrreich]

[ifreakingloveroyals]

9 September 2014 | Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia and his wife, Princess Sophie of Prussia, attend a reception at the Berlin State Parliament building after Queen Margrethe II of Denmark opened an exhibition about the Vikings at Martin-Gropius-Bauon in Berlin, Germany. Queen Margrethe is in Berlin on a two-day visit, during which she will open an exhibition about the Vikings at Martin-Gropius-Bau. (c) Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

[royal-confessions]

“Duchess Sophie of Edinburgh and Duchess Louise Margaret of Connaught have some similarities; both married princes who were far from inheriting the crown and arrived unpretentiously. However, their efforts and dedication to the British monarchy were exceptional, and they stood out for winning not only the respect of their husbands, but also the affection of their illustrious mothers-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria.” - Text & Image Submitted by cenacevedo15

[queenalexandraofdenmark]

prettiest royal woman iyo?

Queen Alexandra

Empress Maria Feodorovna

Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna

Empress Victoria of Germany

Queen Maud of Norway

Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna

Queen Sophia of Greece

Queen Maria Sophie of the Two Siciles

Princess Margaret

Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh, Duchess of Galliera.

[gogmstuff]

Early 1730s dresses and portraits (from top to bottom) -

ca. 1732 The Beautiful Greek (La Belle Grecque) by Nicolas Lancret (Wallace Collection - London, UK). From their Web site 1429X1960, The complex sleeves open at the top like they would in Russian court dresses a century later.

ca. 1732 Watson-Wentworth and Finch Families by Charles Philips (Yale Center for British Art, Yale University - New Haven, Connecticut, USA) persons. From Wikimedia 4902X3094. The décolletage-filling fichu would become prominent in the Louis XVI era, but just about every grown up woman wears one along with a fastened bodice, round skirt, and apron. The heads of every female are covered by a cap, veil, or hat.

1733 Marie-Geneviève le Tonnellier de Breteuil by French school (attributed to Alexis Simon Belle) (auctioned by Sala de Ventas).From invaluable.com/auction-lot/18th-century-french-school-alexis-simon-belle-a-646-c-2074af1b03 1940X3362.Round skirts flourish on both shores of the channel.

ca. 1730-1735 Lady by Joseph Highmore (National Gallery of Art - Washington, DC, USA). From their Web site 1148X1495. The cuffed outer sleeves are stuffed by under-sleeves and the dress lining has a very subdued pink contrasting with the gold color of the other layer.

1734 Princess Sophie Dorothea with Friedrich Wilhelm by Antoine Pesne (location ?). From Wikimedia1633X2611. Textiles with large patterns characterize the early 1700s. Her dress has a square neckline.suggesting French influence.

ca. 1734 Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth by Antoine Pesne (location ?). From Wikimedia 829X11221. The silver brocade over-bodice has a deep V neckline filled in with scoop neckline.

1734 Madame Marie du Tour Vuillard (1695- 1759), née Robin by Louis Michel Van Loo (Tajan - 12-12-12 auction Lot 37), From their Web site; fixed spots & flaws w Pshop 2487X3151.

[tiaramania]

TIARA ALERT: Princess Sophie of Prussia wore Crown Princess Cecilie's Meander Tiara for the ball following the wedding of Prince Ludwig & Princess Sophie of Bavaria at Schleissheim Palace in Munich, Germany on 20 May 2023.

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

🍄: which royal would you go on a date with

I would go with Lady Diana Spencer for sure 100%✨

i already answered this question but i can gladly answer it again because i am in love with like all of the royal women!

Princess Charlotte of Prussia

2. Queen Alexandra of Great Britain

3. Princess Viktoria of Prussia

4. Princess Beatrice of Great Britain

5. Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia

6. Duchess Mathilde Ludovika aka “Spatz” in Bavaria

7. Princesses Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie, and Sophie of Greece and Denmark

Feel free to ask me this question again because i have a lot more people in mind lol!

Thank you for asking!!!

[whencyclopedia]

Catherine the Great

Catherine II of Russia (Catherine the Great) was empress regent of Russia from 1762-1796. She was born in Prussia to Prince Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst (1690-1747) and Princess Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp (1712-1760), and although her family was noble, they were not wealthy. She married the future Russian Tsar, Peter of Holstein-Gottorp (1728-1762), in 1745 in St. Petersburg.

Peter was crowned Emperor Peter III of Russia in 1762, with Catherine becoming empress consort. However, Peter and Catherine's marriage and joint reign were not happy, and Catherine grew to hate all that Peter stood for. It was not long before Catherine began seeking support elsewhere and sought to overthrow Peter. With the Russian army's and her supporters' help, Peter was arrested and forced to sign an abdication form. He was assassinated a short time after, paving the way for Catherine to become the sole ruler of Russia.

Catherine was formally crowned empress regent on 22 September 1762, as Catherine II of Russia. During her lengthy reign, she transformed Russia's education system, the arts and the Russian economy and ushered in the age of the Russian Enlightenment.

Early Life

Catherine was born Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg on 2 May 1729 in Stettin, Prussia (modern-day Szczecin, Poland), to Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst and Princess Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. She had two younger brothers and a younger sister. One of her younger brothers, Wilhem Christian, died at 12 from scarlet fever. Catherine was said to have had a closer relationship with her father than her mother.

Although they did not have much money, Catherine was educated by French tutors and a French governess, as was befitting a child of noble birth. Her governess, Elizabeth (Babet) Cardel, greatly influenced her, with Catherine referring to Elizabeth as the kind of governess that every child should have. Catherine was a happy child with a lot of energy. She played games with the local children and enjoyed taking command. Her childhood was relatively uneventful, with Catherine stating there was "nothing of interest in it."

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[elsalouisa]

"Three children were born after me, Waldemar, Sophie and Margaret. Sophie is now Queen Sophia of Greece. She was always dignified and queenly, and I quite well remember how one of our first nurses used to say: “Mark my words, Sophie will be a queen one day.” Margaret, who is six years younger than myself, is the present Landgrafin of Hesse. remember the day when she was born and lying in her cradle -I wanted to take her into my bed.

My mother, with her many children, was always active and very busy. She was essentially a womanly woman, and was wholly devoted to her family. Her day began at seven. Every morning at that hour whether at the Palace in Berlin or at Potsdam, Sophie, Margaret and myself went to our parents’ rooms whilst they were having their cup of tea and toast in bed. Sometimes, seated on their bed, we used to entertain them with little rhymes we had learnt, one I remember being “John Gilpin”. My parents began their official duties before eight o’clock in the morning, and, as can well be imagined, my mother, as wife of a Crown Prince who afterwards became Emperor, had the day crowded with work of a formal and important character. But she never neglected her children. Every moment that she could spare away from the various duties which devolved upon her was spent with us. She carefully supervised and watched our upbringing both in the nursery and in the schoolroom. My mother being English, it was natural that our first nurse should be an Englishwoman. She was Mrs. (Georgina) Hobbs, who first went to Germany as a maid to my mother when she married. Afterwards she became chief nurse. She was a jolly buxom woman, and we were all very fond of her. Hobby, or Hobbsy, as she was called, taught us English, and our nurseries, I was told later, were arranged in English fashion, and modelled on the nurseries of Queen Victoria. Then we reached the years when lessons had to start, our days were very full. Lessons would begin at eight o'clock. At nine we all breakfasted together with our parents. The rest of the day would be portioned out, chiefly in lessons, or in exercise of one kind or another. According to the time of the year we had skating, swimming, or rowing; in addition to riding, gymnastics, dancing and tennis. We had a great many different teachers, all of course most carefully chosen, for both my parents were intent on giving us a very thorough education and spared no pains in getting us the best tuition possible.

My favourite governess was a Miss Byneg. I was greatly attached to her, and she was like a second mother to me, very kind and patient. I was a difficult pupil, far more interested in outdoor life and sport of every kind than in study. We were a natural jolly crowd of children, brought up simply but carefully, and our governesses and masters became our friends. We gave them pet names or nicknames, and they took it allin good part, and, I think, rather liked it. Miss Byng was “Minnie” to us. She petted me a great deal, and used to call me “Birdie”, and names of that kind. Our German foverness, Fratilein Poppe — soon known, of course, as Poppy — was great fun. We all got on very well with her. When lessons were finished and we went out riding with our riding master, Fraulein Poppe would usually accompany us. She was very musical and fond of singing. She it was who gave me my first singing lessons, teaching me delightful German nursery songs among others. I used to love “Als unser Mops ein Mépschen war, da konnt, er lustig sein” and “Und bald gras, ich am Neckar, bald gras, ich am Rhein.” My brother Henry, a few years older than myself, used to come along to the schoolroom and join us in our singing lessons. They were some of the most enjoyable lessons we had. “Aile Végel sind schon da, aile Vogel aile” and “Bienchen sum, sum, herum” were great favourites with us all".

Princess Victoria of Prussia "My Memoirs"

[thecatalogueofroyalfashion]

Princess Sophie of Prussia || Alessandra Rich

[comtessezouboff]

King Ludwig Ist's Gallery of Beauties.

A retexture by La Comtesse Zouboff — Original Mesh by @thejim07

The Gallery of Beauties (Schönheitengalerie) is a collection of 38 small portraits of the most beautiful women from the nobility and middle classes of Munich, Germany painted between 1827 and 1850 (mostly by Karl Joseph Stieler, appointed court painter in 1820) and gathered by Ludwig I of Bavaria in the south pavilion of Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. Two additional ones were created by Friedrick Drück and one portrait was stolen in the XXth century and remains missing.

The set includes all the 38 portraits, with the original frame swatches, fully recolorable. The portraits are of:

Friederike von Gumppenberg (later Baroness von Gumppenberg).

Amalia von Schintling.

Amalie Maximilianovna von Krüdener (née von Lerchenfeld) Baroness von Krüdener.

Anna Hillmayer.

Anna von Greiner (née Bartelmann)

Antonietta Cornelia Vetterlein.

Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria, Princess of Bavaria.

Auguste Strobl (first version).

Auguste Strobl (second version).

Baroness Mathilde von Jordan.

Carlotta von Boos zu Waldeck (née von Breidbach-Bürresheim) Baroness von Breidbach-Bürresheim.

Caroline Maximiliana Maria von Holnstein (née von Spiering) Countess von Holnstein aus Bayern

Elise List (later Elise Pacher von Theinburg

Eliza Rosanna James (née Gilbert), Known ss Lola Montez.

Helene Kreszenz Sedlmayr.

Irene Pallavicini, Marchioness Pallavicini and Countess von Arco un Steppberg.

Isabella, Countess von Traufkirchen-Engelberg.

Jane Elizabeth Digby, Later Baroness von Venningen.

Josepha Conti (née Reh).

Karolina Lizius.

Katharina Rosa Botsaris in a Traditional Greek Costume.

Lady Theresa Spence (née Renard) as Sapho of Lesbos.

Maria Dietsch (In prayer, first version).

Maria Dietsch (second version).

Marianna Florenzi (née Bacinetti) Marchioness Florenzi.

Marie Friederike Franziska Hedwig of Prussia, Crown Princess of Bavaria.

Maximiliane Borzaga.

Nanette von Kaulla.

Princess Alexandra Amalie of Bavaria.

Caroline von Oettingen-Wallerstein (later Countess von Waldbott-Bassenheim.

Regina Daxenberger.

Rosalie Julie von Bonar (née von Wüllerstorf-Urbair) Baroness von Bonar.

Sophie Friederike Dorothea Wilhemine, Archduchess of Austria (née Princess of Bavaria).

The Actress Charlotte von Hagn-Schwab as Thekla in Schiller's "Wallenstein".

The Actress Friederica Katharina "Willhemine" Sulzer.

The Dancer Antonia Wallinger as Hebe.

The Honourable Emily Mikbanke-Huskisson (née Mansfield)

The Honourable Jane Plumer-Callander (née Erskine)

Found under decor > paintings for 540§

Retextured from the "Portrait of Balsasarre Castiglione" found here

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CC shown here:

Wall paneling, mirror, girandole and floor by @thejim07

Fireplace by @hydrangeachainsaw

Chairs, stools, flower vases, bust, table, fireplace screen and candelabra by @joojconverts

Torchere by @martassimsbookcc

(Btw excuse my sims' reflection having tea)

Drive

(Sims3Pack | Package)

(Useful tags below)

@joojconverts @ts3history @ts3historicalccfinds @deniisu-sims @katsujiiccfinds

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[sonjatwogreyhounds]

Princess Victoria Luise of Prussia

Sophie Koner

Sophie Koner, née Schäffer (13 July 1855, London - 1 June 1929, Berlin) was a German portrait painter.

Her first painting lessons were in Paris, with Carolus-Duran. Back in Berlin, she took lessons from Max Koner, who was very popular in high society as a portrait painter. She eventually became his private student. They were married in 1886.

They painted several portraits of each other. Encouraged by Max, she exhibited one of him at the Academy of Arts in 1888. Between 1893 and 1920, she participated in numerous exhibitions there. In 1896, she was awarded a gold medal at the Große Berliner Kunstausstellung.

By the 1890s, Max was receiving so many commissions for portraits that she became discreetly employed in finishing them; adding some of the clothing and backgrounds. Following his sudden death at the age of forty-six, she began to specialize in portraits of children, to express her own personal talents. She was adept at entertaining small children while they were posing, so that even large families could be portrayed with little fuss. Her work also includes a handful of landscapes.

She died at the age of seventy-three, and was interred next to Max at the Friedhöfe vor dem Halleschen Tor [de] in the Kreuzberg district. Neither grave has been preserved.

the #sighthound#bulletin

[kaiserrreich]

October 22 1858: The Birth of Kaiserin Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein

Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein was the eldest daughter of Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg. Tragedy struck only a week after her birth when her elder brother died from illness. In 1860, her younger sister, Caroline Mathilda, was born. Who was regarded as prettier and a brighter personality than the chubby, serious, submissive Augusta Victoria. Soon Augusta’s mother would give birth to another boy, Gerhard, who died in infancy. Their next male heir and fifth child, Ernst Gunther, was a perfectly healthy baby boy. Augusta would have two other sisters, Louise Sophie in April 1866 and Feodora Adelaide in July 1874.

In her family, she was known affectionately as “Dona.” Augusta’s obedient nature was noted on early in her youth, even by her future mother-in-law Crown Princess Frederick. ‘It is strange how good some children are – and how little trouble they give,’ she wrote to her mother, Queen Victoria, when Augusta Victoria was nine years old.  ‘Ada’s children are patterns of obedience, gentleness – the best of dispositions’. (1)

The thought of a match between Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein and Prince Wilhelm of Prussia was contemplated ever since they were children, as noted by the prince (future Kaiser, ex-Kaiser) later in the future. But was never taken seriously until after the prince was rejected by Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine. Perhaps, Wilhelm was seeking for a rebound in Dona and it was a success. As the couple married on the 27th of February 1881. The marriage has been regarded to be happy but not without struggle. As Wilhelm quickly grew bored at his new wife’s longing for a simple domestic lifestyle, having multiple affairs throughout the years. And in the beginning only saw Dona as a broodmare. It was only after an ear infection gone bad, where Augusta stayed by Wilhelm’s side throughout the duration of it did he start to see her in an adjusted light, but continued to be unfaithful to her.

She bore him seven children:

Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia (1882-1951)

Prince Eitel Friedrich (1883-1942)

Prince Adalbert (1884-1948)

Prince August Wilhelm (1887-1949)

Prince Oskar (1888-1958)

Prince Joachim (1890-1920)

Princess Viktoria Louise of Prussia (1892-1980)

Her days as Empress, she was regarded by the court as a prudish, a stickler for rules who punished anyone for the simplest gesture she deemed to be “immoral.” She was deemed by many as unremarkable and plain with a gaudy and tacky sense of fashion. With Nicholas II remarking to his mother, the Dowager Empress. That she ‘did her best to be pleasant but looked awful in sumptuous gowns completely lacking in taste; in particular the hats she wore in the evening were frightful.’

Though as overbearing and a nuisance as she was in public life and a part of her private life, by some family members, such as Empress Frederick (with whom she had a very heated feud with and who Augusta enjoyed snubbing frequently) who wrote to her daughter, Sophie, she was characterized as: ‘very grand and stiff and cold and condescending at first, but became much nicer afterwards.  Perhaps it was also partly shyness.’ and by her younger sister, Louise Sophie that when she was ‘not bowing to the will of her autocratic husband she was easy and indulgent’. “Her cousin Alice of Albany, who was sometimes mildly critical of her older relations, found her ‘most affable and kind’.”(1)

She was her husband’s biggest supporter throughout everything (for better and for worse) and was crushed when she was stripped of her titles as German Empress and Queen of Prussia after the war. Her health, which was already declining ever since the 1890s (causing her to miscarry twice) went down a rapid decline in the 1920s. And it had worsened when she had heard of the news of the death of her youngest son, Prince Joachim. She passed away on the 11th April 1921, in spite of her personal flaws, she was a beloved Empress by the German people and her popularity outshined her husband’s. Thousands lined up to see her off, where she would be buried at the Temple of Antiquities in the gardens near the New Palais in Postdam. Her husband, the ex Kaiser Wilhelm II was forbidden to cross into Germany to see his wife off for the final time.

Her room in Huis Doorn was soon turned into a shrine dedicated to the late Empress. With Wilhelm ordering for the room to regularly be cleaned with flowers and a cross draped over the bed. “Once a week, for the rest of his twenty years, he would retire there on his own, to go and mourn her memory.“ (1)

Wilhelm adhered to his late wife’s wishes for him to marry someone else when she was gone. When only a year later he would marry Princess Hermine of Reuss. He passed away in June of 1941, at age 82, 20 years after her passing.

Source : The Last German Empress

[archduchessofnowhere]

Who are all of the children of Maximilian in Bavaria and Ludovika in Bavaria? I only know Sisi

Hello! Sorry it took me so long, I’ve been putting together this answer for a while. This is a somewhat basic introduction to the siblings, since I didn’t want this post to be even longer than already is.

Duke Maximilian and Duchess Ludovika had a total of ten children, five girls and five boys. Their second son, Wilhelm Karl, sadly died at a month and half old, and their fourth son, Maximilian, was stillborn. The surviving eight children were (by order of birth): Ludwig Wilhelm, Helene, Elisabeth, Karl Theodor, Marie, Mathilde, Sophie and Maximilian Emanuel.

The eldest, Ludwig Wilhelm, born in 1831, was always known as “Louis” in his family. In 1858 he gave up his position as the future head of the Dukes in Bavaria branch in order to marry his mistress, former actress Henriette Mendel. He seems to have been somewhat difficult, at least judging by something Elisabeth told to her lady-in-waiting Countess Mária Festetics: “It is a good thing that Henriette is his wife, for anybody else would long since have left him, and he is happy with her.” What does this exactly mean I have no idea. Louis and Henriette had two children, Marie (born a year before her parents marriage) and Karl, who died as a baby. As was customary for Wittelsbach princes he did a military career, and in 1866 fought in the Seven Weeks War. We don’t really have much more information about him; many accounts about the Duke and his family that come after the Mayerling affair, in which his daughter Marie Larisch played a key role as the go-between Crown Prince Rudolf and Mary Vetsera, are heavily affected by the negative reputation that had befallen over her. His relationship with his sister wasn’t unaffected by this either, and he and Elisabeth became distant, though Elisabeth’s daughter Marie Valerie still wrote affectionately of her “Aunt Henriette”, so it may have been more out of a sense of awkwardness than Louis being directly blamed for the affair. He went to Elisabeth’s funeral, visibly affected by his sister’s death, and was one of the men who took her coffin to the Capuchin Crypt. A year after his wife’s death in 1891 he married actress Antonie Barth, forty years his junior. This marriage ended up in a divorce in 1913, after she had a child whom Louis claimed wasn’t his (I found some gossip articles about this on newspapers but that’s a whole rabbit hole I haven’t gone down yet). Ludwig Wilhelm died in Munich 1920, aged eighty-nine-years-old.

Born in 1834, the third child an eldest daughter, Helene, nicknamed “Nené” and “Lenza”, is probably the most known of Sisi’s siblings, and also the most misrepresented. She has gone down in history for being the disciplined, exemplary daughter that was groomed for years to become empress only to have “her fiancé” stolen by her younger sister. Except that none of this is true. In her old age Ludovika often complained that Helene had been a troublesome child who had caused her a lot of grievances. And it’s unlikely that Helene had ever expected, let alone been prepared, to become empress years in advance: not only there had been serious attempts to get Princess Anna of Prussia’s hand for Franz Josef in 1852 (why would they have done this if Helene was supposedly waiting in the wings to marry him?), but also when Ludovika was told that the emperor wanted to marry Sisi she became very emotional “for in her great modesty she had always doubted that the Emperor would really think in one of her daughters”.

By late 1857 Ludovika lamented that her daughter had pretty much become a spinster. But in the beginning of 1858 Helene met Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Thurn und Taxis, and soon after he proposed. This marriage wasn’t well received by King Maximilian II, since the Taxis were subjects of the Bavarian king and therefore not equal to marry a Wittelsbach, but eventually King Max gave them the all-clear and they married. Reportedly the marriage was happy, but her husband sadly died only ten years later of an illness, and she fell into a deep grief. When Helene’s father-in-law died in 1871 she became the de facto head of the house of Thurn und Taxis until her son Maximilian reached the majority. Helene was sadly to suffer two more big blows in her life: in 1881 her daughter Elisabeth died of childbirth complications aged only 20-years-old, and in 1885 her son Maximilian died of cardiac problems aged only 24-years-old. Helene’s last years are said to have been very sad, since she never recovered from the untimely deaths of her husband and children. She died in 1890 at the age of 56, likely of cancer. At her deathbed were her two surviving children, Louise and Albert, and her sister Elisabeth.

The fifth child and third son, Karl Theodor, called “Gackl” by his family, was Elisabeth’s favorite brother. He seems to have been a very charismatic man, since everyone that met him had nothing but good things to say about him. In 1865 he married his first cousin Princess Sophie of Saxony, and they had one daughter, Amalie. Sadly Sophie’s health was severely affected by childbirth, and died over a year later of influenza. Like his elder brother he also did a military career starting from a young age, and fougth in the Seven Weeks War. However, afterwards he left active service and went to the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he studied medicine. His studies were interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War, but he got his degree as a doctor in medicine, later specializing in ophtalmology. During this time Karl Theodor had remained a widower, but in 1874, seven years after his wife’s passing, he married Infanta Maria José of Portugal, daughter of the deposed King Miguel I of Portugal and seventeen years his junior. They had five children: Sophie, Elisabeth, Marie Gabrielle, Ludwig Wilhelm and Franz Josef. Gackl became a renowned oculist, and in 1895 he opened the Augenklinik Herzog Carl Theodor (Duke Carl Theodor Eye Clinic) in Munich, which exists to this day. He personally operated thousands of people, assisted by Maria José, and later also by his daughters. Karl Theodor died in 1909, a few weeks after his 70th birthday, from bronchitis.

While Helene is the most known of Elisabeth’s sister solely because everyone and their moms know the (incorrect) story of her being “rejected” by FJ, the sixth child and third daughter, Marie, is the most famous sister for her own merits. She was the last Queen of the Two Sicilies as the wife of King Francesco II, and has gone down in history for leading the resistance during the Siege of Gaeta, the last stand of the Bourbon dynasty in Naples. She was only nineteen when her husband finally surrounded, and lived in exile for the rest of her life. After ten years of marriage Marie and her husband had one child, Maria Cristina, who sadly passed away while still a baby. They tried to have more children, but all her pregnancies ended up in miscarriages. She spent the rest of her life traveling; when WWI broke she settled down in Munich, where she died aged 82 in 1925.

Marie has gotten an interesting reputation: she is either known for being the brave queen who stood up next to her troops until the end, or for being a haughty woman who deeply envied her imperial sister and lived full of resentment. The first is just one, although crucial, brief moment in her life; and the second is literally just what Mária Festetics, one of Elisabeth’s ladies-in-waiting, thought of her. Once I realized how little we actually knew about Marie, how much is just hearsay and speculation, she became fascinating to me, but sadly we still don’t have a good biography about her that uses primary sources instead of relying in gossipy second hand accounts.

Mathilde, called “Spatz” (Sparrow), is the sister we have the least information of. She and Marie were the closest of the sisters; they were always together, and would often even dress the same (as you can see in the Stieler portrait). In 1861 Mathilde married Prince Luigi, Count of Trani, half-brother of Marie’s husband, and joined her sister in Rome, were the Bourbons in exile had settled their court. The marriage turned out to be unhappy, since her husband was an alcoholic and cheated on her, though they did had one child: Maria Teresa, called “Mädi”, born in 1867. Mathilde and Luigi separated eventually, though she did went to his aid and nurse him when he was sick. But the person she dedicated her life was her daughter, who for many years suffered from poor health (likely sclerosis); Mathilde took care of Mädi until her death, aged only 42. She spent the last years of her life with her sister Marie, and died only months after her, in 1925.

The youngest daughter, Sophie, born in 1847, is probably the most “romantic” of the Wittelsbach sisters. Just like Helene she has gone down in history for being a “rejected bride”, though in her case, it’s actually true. She was briefly engaged to her cousin Ludwig II of Bavaria, and it was an absolute disaster: he had no interest in marriage (not really that surprising when you consider that he was gay) and often publicly snubbed Sophie; she in turn was absolutely miserable because she felt he was playing with her. Ludwig kept postponing the wedding until Sophie’s father, Duke Max, send him an ultimatum, to which the king responded by just canceling it. As if these months hadn’t been stressful enough for Sophie, during this time she also had an affair with Edgar Hanfstaengl, the son of the court photographer. I don’t really know much about this liaison, only that she was aided by two ladies-in-waiting in order to meet him in private and that some love letters she wrote to him have survived. But whatever the extent of her feelings, the relationship could never become serious, and one year later she married Prince Ferdinand of Orléans, Duke of Alençon, a grandson of King Louis Philippe I of the French. I don’t know if this marriage was ever a love match or if Sophie simply wanted to settle down for good after all her failed romantic experiences; whatever the case they did have two children, Louise and Emmanuel. The Orléans had been living in exile in England since the deposition of Louis Philippe, and only after the fall of the Second French Empire in 1872 were they allowed to return to France. This probably improved Sophie’s mood, since she had suffered from depression since her children’s birth, and the English weather didn’t make her feel better.

After the death of her former fiancé Ludwig II in 1886, Sophie fell ill and on advice of her brother Gackl she searched for a treatment in Munich under a Dr Glaser. But while he treated her she fell in love with her doctor, who was also married with children. This time Sophie didn’t want to give up her enamored, and did something unthinkable for a woman of her status in the 19th century: she sought for a divorce from Ferdinand. Sadly things didn’t work out for her, because her husband, on the advice of her brother Karl Theodor, retaliated by having Sophie interned in a mental clinic for “moral insanity”, where she suffered the appalling “treatments” for mental illnesses of the time. After seven months she was considered cured, and allowed to leave the institution. She never again tried to divorce.

Sophie dedicated the last years of her life to charity work. In 1897 she was one of the organizers of the Bazar de la Charité, an annual charity event held in Paris since 1885, and was in the place when an accident set it on fire, taking the lives of 126 victims. She was one of the victims of the fire, and although she had the chance to leave she refused she refused to abandon the Bazar until everyone else was out, guiding and helping people to find the exist until her last moments. She had been fifty-years-old.

Lastly the youngest child Maximilian Emanuel, nicknamed “Mapperl”, is the brother we know the least about. Born in 1849, he was only two years and a half younger than his sister Sophie, whom he was the closest to: they were often referred as “die Kleinen” (the little ones). As his eldest brothers he did a military career, and fought both in the Seven Weeks War (aged only sixteen!) and in the Franco-Prussian War. At Sophie’s wedding he met and fell for a cousin of the groom, Princess Amalie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which would have been great… if she hadn’t been already engaged to Prince Leopold of Bavaria. Here’s when things get a bit messy: according Briggitte Hamann, Elisabeth found out about the situation and decided to step in and free Mapperl’s beloved… by introducing her daughter Gisela to Leopold. Which is. Hmmm. A questionable thing to do. However, other authors claim that Elisabeth actually had nothing to do with that, specially considering that Mapperl’s wedding took place three years after Leopold and Gisela got engaged - if the goal was to make Amalie available, he definitely took his sweet time to make his move. One day I’ll look deep into it because I’m genuinely curious as to which is the truth; whatever the case, both couples had happy marriages, so good for them. Max Emanuel and Amalie had three sons: Siegfried, Christoph and Luitpold. Sadly Max Emanuel died quite unexpectedly in 1893 from an ulcer, aged only 43-years-old.

Again, this is only an introduction to the siblings, there’s far more information out there that I could possibly put in a single post. Thank you for your question! The Dukes and Duchesses in Bavaria are really interesting an I think they deserve the spotlight as much as their imperial sister.