The Tragic Story of Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) of Austria.

The Tragic Life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

• 

Empress Elisabeth of Austria (24th December 1837 - 10th September 1899) was the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary by her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I. She is famous for being the longest reigning Austrian Empress, with a reign of 44 years and for her  beautiful youthful appearance, which she fought hard to preserve. 

Empress Elisabeth was born into the Royal Bavarian House of Wittelsbach, where she was known as Sisi for a lot of her childhood. It is believed that Sisi enjoyed her informal and relaxed upbringing before she married Emperor Franz Joseph I at only 16 years old. Much like many people who marry into royalty, her life changed drastically. She was thrusted into the much more formal Habsburg court life, which as a shy-natured child, was unprepared for. As the marriage and crown had a large impact on her health, the Empress often enjoyed her visits to Hungary, where she could enjoy a much more relaxed way of life. As well as this, she also had a large involvement in creating the dual-monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867. 

Although she lived a very luxurious life, it came with a high price to pay for her mental health. Her Mother in Law, the Archduchess took control of her first born child Archduchess Sophie of Austria (1855–1857) and often referred to Elisabeth as a "silly young mother" after she fell pregnant shortly after the wedding. She even took control of breast feeding duties. When her second daughter, Archduchess Gisela of Austria (1856–1932), was born a year later, the Archduchess took the baby away from Elisabeth as well. However, after both her daughters fell ill and only Gisela survived, Elisabeth fell into a heavy depression which haunted her for the rest of her life. She began to neglect her second born and their relationship never recovered from it. 

 To make matters worse the Empress' role in the palace was becoming more unclear when she failed to create a male heir to the throne and was faced with many abusive letters from the palace, reminding her that her duty was to create a new future Emperor. In December 1857, she fell pregnant for the first time and to her family's delight was able to produce a male heir to the throne, Rudolf Crown Prince of Austria. It was only after the birth of her son, that she gained the respect from the court. 

 In 1889 Elisabeth was faced with the death of her only son and his mistress in a murder-suicide at his hunting lodgein Mayerling. This was a blow from which she never recovered from. As well as this, she lost her sister in a fire at the "Bazar de la Charité" in Paris. From then onwards, Sisi withdrew from her court duties and chose a life of travel, leaving her family behind and escaping to the greek island of Corfu, where she built a house. Her 3 hour long, strenous daily beauty and hair routine, also allowed Elisabeth to become unhealthily obsessed with her looks. There are no portraits of the Empress after her 32nd birthday as she feared that her looks at been compromised. 

Elisabeth's story is very relatable to that of many others who married into The British royal family today. I sympathise greatly with her and it made me think about the issues that Prince Albert of Saxe-Couberg, Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Diana of Wales and perhaps the more recent,  Duchess of Sussex, Megan Markle had when they married into the royal family. It is sad to know that not much has changed throughout the years, when it comes to marrying into royalty.