Archduchess Louise of Austria: Difference between revisions
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'''Louise of Tuscany''' (2 December 1870 in [[Salzburg]] – 23 March 1947 in [[Brussels]]), was by marriage Crown Princess of Saxony as the wife of the future King [[Frederick Augustus III of Saxony|Frederick Augustus III]]. |
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==Life== |
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In Vienna on 21 November 1891, she married Prince [[Frederick Augustus III of Saxony|Frederick Augustus]] of Saxony, who later became Crown Prince on the death of his childless uncle, King Albert I, and the accession of his father, King George, in June 1902. They had seven children: |
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The two eldest sons, Friedrich August and Friedrich Christian, were born in the same year, 1893, but were not twins. Friedrich August was born in January, while Friedrich Christian was born in December. |
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Louise was born on 2 December 1870 as the second child of [[Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Ferdinand IV, the last Grand Duke of Tuscany]] and his second wife, [[Princess Alice of Parma (1849–1935)|Princess Alice of Bourbon-Parma]]. Her full name and titles are: ''Luise Antoinette Maria Theresia Josepha Johanna Leopoldine Caroline Ferdinande Alice Ernestine, Princess Imperial and Archduchess of Austria, Princess of [[Tuscany]], [[Hungary]] and [[Bohemia]]''. Through her mother, she was a great-great-granddaughter of [[Charles X of France]]. |
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The 17-years-old princess attracted the attention of potential suitors, like [[Prince Pedro Augusto of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] (grandson of Emperor [[Pedro II of Brazil]]) or [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria]], but any of them found favor in the eyes of the spoiled Louise. Finally, in the summer of 1887 at [[Pillnitz Castle]] she met [[Frederick Augustus III of Saxony|Prince Frederick Augustus of Saxony]] (eldest son of [[George, King of Saxony|Prince George]], who became in King of Saxony in June 1902). They married at [[Vienna]] on 21 November 1891, in a lavish ceremony which cost the groom the sum of 20,000 marks. In return, Louise fulfilled her royal duties, and bore him six children; however, she did not follow [[etiquette]] at the strict Dresden court, which resulted in arguments with her father-in-law, the Interior Minister Georg von Metzsch-Reichenbach and especially with her sister-in-law [[Princess Mathilde of Saxony (1863–1933)|Princess Mathilde]]. |
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Luise was very popular in [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]]. However, she did not follow [[etiquette]] at the court, which resulted in arguments with her father-in-law, King [[George of Saxony]]. |
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As her popularity among the people by far exceeded the rest of the Saxon Royal Family, they made her life difficult with big and small intrigues. Soon rumours began to circulated that Louise had an affair with a dentist named O'Brian and with French tutor of her children, André Giron. When in desperation, she sent a telegram to Giron, this was intercepted by the secret police and it turned out that she actually begun an affair with him. This was raised by her biographer Erika Bestenreiner, who described the French tutor as a slender black-haired man with a small dark mustache, of a lively nature, perfect manners and good taste for clothes. |
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On 9 December 1902 Luise fled from Dresden due to her father-in-law threatening to have her interned in [[Sonnestein Mental Asylum]] for life. Her brother supported her in her wish to escape Saxony. She left Saxony without her children, but pregnant with Anna. For a while, she lived with her children's French tutor, André Giron, who was wrongly believed to be the father of her youngest daughter, Anna. |
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===The scandal=== |
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She was divorced from her husband on 11 February 1903 by the royal decree of her father-in-law. [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Emperor Franz Josef]] did not acknowledge the civil divorce. |
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Threatened by her father-in-law to being interned at [[Sonnestein Mental Asylum]] for life, on 9 December 1902 and with the help of two of her maids, sisters Sidonie and Maria Beeger –daughters of the royal court architect Eduard Beeger–, Louise (pregnant with her seventh child) fled from Dresden towards [[Lake Geneva]], where André Giron was waiting for her. At first, in the Saxon court was believed that this trip was for recreation, but in fact there she met with her older brother [[Archduke Leopold Ferdinand of Austria]], who began a liason (and shortly after married with) Wilhelmine Adamović, a [[prostitute]] and daughter of a postman. Three days after their arrival, the Beeger sisters leave Geneva. In the meantime, André Giron (who was with Louise' brother) contacted a notary in [[Brussels]] to made a false track to the Belgian capital; however the siblings where already identified at Geneva a few days later. |
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The escape of the Crown Princess of Saxony was the first scandal of the German nobility in the 20th century, especially hurtful for the Saxon Royal Family, who were deeply Catholic. The conservative Baroness Hildegard von Spitzemberg noted in her diary: |
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On 25 September 1907, Luise married the Italian musician [[Enrico Toselli]] in London. They had one son, Carlo Emanuele Toselli (7 May 1908 – 1969), and were divorced five years later. |
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{{quote|"They were all met as we of the horrific scandals at the Saxon court, which really to repulsiveness unparalleled! Five children, a husband, a throne, all leaving with only 32 years, in the hope that the tutor provide these children - it's downright dreadful!... Thus, when the royal women forget themselves and whatever else was considered for decent, noble and catholic, then they take themselves the right of existence."}} |
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It was only after her second marriage that, Emperor Franz Josef, as head of the [[House of Habsburg]], stripped her of her imperial titles and dignities. Her father created her '''Countess of [[Montignoso]]''', as sovereign of the former [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]]. After protracted negotiations, Anna was sent to [[Dresden]] to live with her siblings and be raised as a member of the Saxon royal house. Luise had tried to return to Dresden, but was prevented from seeing her children by her husband's ministers. She was allowed to see them on a private visit to a Saxon embassy. None of her children ever spoke out against their mother in their memoirs. |
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Without consulting his son, King George of Saxony officially declared the civil divorce of the Crown Princely couple on 11 February 1903 by a special court, which he had set up on 31 December 1902. One year later, on 15 October 1904, the Saxon monarch died after obliged his son and new King Frederick Augustus III to forbade the return of Louise to the Dresden court. In Geneva, the former Crown Princess led a happy life and even dared to show up with her lover in public, but unexpectedly a few days before the divorce was declared she separated from Giron for unknown reasons. |
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However, remained unclear the paternity of her daughter Anna Monika Pia, born on 4 May 1903 at [[Lindau]]. The Saxon court sent the director of the Dresden maternity hospital, Dr. Leopold, to Lindau to examine the newborn and established her true parentage. Due to her physical appearance and the bright color of eyes and hair, he declared that the Crown Prince was the father of the child. The doctor, however, refused to admitted further medical opinions. In consequence, Anna Monika Pia was recognized by Frederick Augustus as his own. King George gave Louise an allowance and granted her the title of '''Countess of [[Montignoso]]''' (in allusion of her Tuscan ascendancy) on 13 July 1903; in turn, he demanded that Anna Monika Pia must be send to Dresden to be raised with the other royal children, but Louise adamantly refused. |
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Louise lived firstly at Ramo Castle near Lyon, then in 1903 at [[Ventnor]] Castle in the [[Isle of Wight]]. In 1904 she moved with her family seat Wartegg Castle on [[Lake Constance]], and later to [[Florence]]. On 21 December 1904 she tried to see her older children at the Dresden [[Taschenbergpalais]], but her attempts were unsuccessful because the police had surrounded the building. Later, she traveled in the company of her new lover, Conte Carlo Guiccardi, who lived separately from his wife but was still married. |
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Now, both Louise and her lover wanted to get rid from the 2-years-old Anna Monika Pia. They negociated with the Saxon court an increase of her allowance from 30,000 to 40,000 marks for the child, but at the end Louise changed her mind and refused to send her daughter to Dresden. |
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In [[London]] on 25 September 1907 Louise married the Italian musician [[Enrico Toselli]], 12 years younger than her. They had one son, Carlo Emanuele Filiberto (7 May 1908 – 1969). Shortly after her wedding (26 October 1907), King Frederick Augustus III finally located Anna Monika Pia, who was send to Dresden to live with her siblings and be raised as a member of the Saxon royal house. In 1908 Louise separated from Toselli, and they divorced on 1912; their son remained with his father. |
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[[File:Luise von Toskana as Marie-Antoinette.jpg|thumb|175px|right|Luise as [[Marie-Antoinette]].]] |
[[File:Luise von Toskana as Marie-Antoinette.jpg|thumb|175px|right|Luise as [[Marie-Antoinette]].]] |
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In 1911, |
In 1911, Louise broke her silence and published a memoir blaming her disgrace on her late father-in-law and Saxon politicians, whom she claimed feared that when she became queen, she would use her influence to dismiss them from office. Throughout the book, she claimed that her popularity exceeded that of her father-in-law, King Georg of Saxony, and her husband, the future king. There is strong evidence to support this. Louise implied that her popularity had alienated her from the royal family and politicians. She was indeed popular with the Saxon people. She ascribed her popularity to her insistence on ignoring the etiquette of the Saxon court and, perhaps to cast herself as a victim, compared herself to her Habsburg relative, [[Marie Antoinette]], who disliked court rituals at [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]] and, like Louise, had avoided the noble courtiers who depended on those rituals to affirm their places at court. |
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After the Habsburg monarchy collapsed in 1918, Louise called herself "''Antoinette Maria, Comtesse d'Ysette''"; after some time in [[Mallorca]] with her uncle [[Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria]], she moved to Brussels, where she initially lived in the suburb of [[Ixelles]]. Stripped from her imperial titles and dignities after her second marriage, she could no longer bear the surname of Habsburg. After the German invasion ended with the little support that she received from some relatives, she suddenly became penniless. She died in poverty as a flower seller on 23 March 1947. Her urn was deposited in the Hedingen monastery in [[Sigmaringen]], the burial place of the [[House of Hohenzollern]], where a number of her children are buried nearby, including her son Prince Ernst Heinrich. Her estate is found in the Central State Archive of Dresden. |
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==Children== |
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After the Habsburg monarchy collapsed in 1918, Luise called herself "Comtesse d'Ysette", a title with even less legitimacy than the one her father had given her. Her former husband, the ex-King of Saxony, never remarried, as he believed in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church that he was still married to Luise. |
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From second marriage: |
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She died in [[Brussels]] and her urn is in the Erdlinge Church in Sigmaringen. A number of her children are buried nearby including her son Prince Ernst Heinrich. |
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* Carlo Emanuele Filiberto Toselli (7 May 1908 – 1969). |
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==Ancestry== |
==Ancestry== |
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Revision as of 02:25, 1 October 2016
| Luise of Austria | |||||
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| Crown Princess of Saxony | |||||
 Luise of Tuscany (about 1911) | |||||
| Born | 2 December 1870 Salzburg | ||||
| Died | 23 March 1947 (aged 76) Brussels | ||||
| Spouse | Frederick Augustus III of Saxony Enrico Toselli | ||||
| Issue | Georg, Crown Prince of Saxony Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen Prince Ernst Heinrich Princess Maria Alix Karola Margarete Karola, Princess of Hohenzollern Maria Alix Luitpolda, Princess of Hohenzollern-Emden Princess Anna | ||||
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| House | Habsburg-Lorraine | ||||
| Father | Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany | ||||
| Mother | Alice of Bourbon-Parma | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
Louise of Tuscany (2 December 1870 in Salzburg – 23 March 1947 in Brussels), was by marriage Crown Princess of Saxony as the wife of the future King Frederick Augustus III.
Life
Crown Princess of Saxony
Louise was born on 2 December 1870 as the second child of Ferdinand IV, the last Grand Duke of Tuscany and his second wife, Princess Alice of Bourbon-Parma. Her full name and titles are: Luise Antoinette Maria Theresia Josepha Johanna Leopoldine Caroline Ferdinande Alice Ernestine, Princess Imperial and Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, Hungary and Bohemia. Through her mother, she was a great-great-granddaughter of Charles X of France.
The 17-years-old princess attracted the attention of potential suitors, like Prince Pedro Augusto of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (grandson of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil) or Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria, but any of them found favor in the eyes of the spoiled Louise. Finally, in the summer of 1887 at Pillnitz Castle she met Prince Frederick Augustus of Saxony (eldest son of Prince George, who became in King of Saxony in June 1902). They married at Vienna on 21 November 1891, in a lavish ceremony which cost the groom the sum of 20,000 marks. In return, Louise fulfilled her royal duties, and bore him six children; however, she did not follow etiquette at the strict Dresden court, which resulted in arguments with her father-in-law, the Interior Minister Georg von Metzsch-Reichenbach and especially with her sister-in-law Princess Mathilde.
As her popularity among the people by far exceeded the rest of the Saxon Royal Family, they made her life difficult with big and small intrigues. Soon rumours began to circulated that Louise had an affair with a dentist named O'Brian and with French tutor of her children, André Giron. When in desperation, she sent a telegram to Giron, this was intercepted by the secret police and it turned out that she actually begun an affair with him. This was raised by her biographer Erika Bestenreiner, who described the French tutor as a slender black-haired man with a small dark mustache, of a lively nature, perfect manners and good taste for clothes.
The scandal
Threatened by her father-in-law to being interned at Sonnestein Mental Asylum for life, on 9 December 1902 and with the help of two of her maids, sisters Sidonie and Maria Beeger –daughters of the royal court architect Eduard Beeger–, Louise (pregnant with her seventh child) fled from Dresden towards Lake Geneva, where André Giron was waiting for her. At first, in the Saxon court was believed that this trip was for recreation, but in fact there she met with her older brother Archduke Leopold Ferdinand of Austria, who began a liason (and shortly after married with) Wilhelmine Adamović, a prostitute and daughter of a postman. Three days after their arrival, the Beeger sisters leave Geneva. In the meantime, André Giron (who was with Louise' brother) contacted a notary in Brussels to made a false track to the Belgian capital; however the siblings where already identified at Geneva a few days later.
The escape of the Crown Princess of Saxony was the first scandal of the German nobility in the 20th century, especially hurtful for the Saxon Royal Family, who were deeply Catholic. The conservative Baroness Hildegard von Spitzemberg noted in her diary:
"They were all met as we of the horrific scandals at the Saxon court, which really to repulsiveness unparalleled! Five children, a husband, a throne, all leaving with only 32 years, in the hope that the tutor provide these children - it's downright dreadful!... Thus, when the royal women forget themselves and whatever else was considered for decent, noble and catholic, then they take themselves the right of existence."
Without consulting his son, King George of Saxony officially declared the civil divorce of the Crown Princely couple on 11 February 1903 by a special court, which he had set up on 31 December 1902. One year later, on 15 October 1904, the Saxon monarch died after obliged his son and new King Frederick Augustus III to forbade the return of Louise to the Dresden court. In Geneva, the former Crown Princess led a happy life and even dared to show up with her lover in public, but unexpectedly a few days before the divorce was declared she separated from Giron for unknown reasons.
However, remained unclear the paternity of her daughter Anna Monika Pia, born on 4 May 1903 at Lindau. The Saxon court sent the director of the Dresden maternity hospital, Dr. Leopold, to Lindau to examine the newborn and established her true parentage. Due to her physical appearance and the bright color of eyes and hair, he declared that the Crown Prince was the father of the child. The doctor, however, refused to admitted further medical opinions. In consequence, Anna Monika Pia was recognized by Frederick Augustus as his own. King George gave Louise an allowance and granted her the title of Countess of Montignoso (in allusion of her Tuscan ascendancy) on 13 July 1903; in turn, he demanded that Anna Monika Pia must be send to Dresden to be raised with the other royal children, but Louise adamantly refused.
Later life
Louise lived firstly at Ramo Castle near Lyon, then in 1903 at Ventnor Castle in the Isle of Wight. In 1904 she moved with her family seat Wartegg Castle on Lake Constance, and later to Florence. On 21 December 1904 she tried to see her older children at the Dresden Taschenbergpalais, but her attempts were unsuccessful because the police had surrounded the building. Later, she traveled in the company of her new lover, Conte Carlo Guiccardi, who lived separately from his wife but was still married.
Now, both Louise and her lover wanted to get rid from the 2-years-old Anna Monika Pia. They negociated with the Saxon court an increase of her allowance from 30,000 to 40,000 marks for the child, but at the end Louise changed her mind and refused to send her daughter to Dresden.
In London on 25 September 1907 Louise married the Italian musician Enrico Toselli, 12 years younger than her. They had one son, Carlo Emanuele Filiberto (7 May 1908 – 1969). Shortly after her wedding (26 October 1907), King Frederick Augustus III finally located Anna Monika Pia, who was send to Dresden to live with her siblings and be raised as a member of the Saxon royal house. In 1908 Louise separated from Toselli, and they divorced on 1912; their son remained with his father.
In 1911, Louise broke her silence and published a memoir blaming her disgrace on her late father-in-law and Saxon politicians, whom she claimed feared that when she became queen, she would use her influence to dismiss them from office. Throughout the book, she claimed that her popularity exceeded that of her father-in-law, King Georg of Saxony, and her husband, the future king. There is strong evidence to support this. Louise implied that her popularity had alienated her from the royal family and politicians. She was indeed popular with the Saxon people. She ascribed her popularity to her insistence on ignoring the etiquette of the Saxon court and, perhaps to cast herself as a victim, compared herself to her Habsburg relative, Marie Antoinette, who disliked court rituals at Versailles and, like Louise, had avoided the noble courtiers who depended on those rituals to affirm their places at court.
After the Habsburg monarchy collapsed in 1918, Louise called herself "Antoinette Maria, Comtesse d'Ysette"; after some time in Mallorca with her uncle Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria, she moved to Brussels, where she initially lived in the suburb of Ixelles. Stripped from her imperial titles and dignities after her second marriage, she could no longer bear the surname of Habsburg. After the German invasion ended with the little support that she received from some relatives, she suddenly became penniless. She died in poverty as a flower seller on 23 March 1947. Her urn was deposited in the Hedingen monastery in Sigmaringen, the burial place of the House of Hohenzollern, where a number of her children are buried nearby, including her son Prince Ernst Heinrich. Her estate is found in the Central State Archive of Dresden.
Children
From first marriage:
- Friedrich August Georg, Crown Prince of Saxony (15 January 1893 – 14 May 1943). A priest, he renounced his rights in 1923.
- Friedrich Christian (31 December 1893 – 9 August 1968). Married Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis and had issue.
- Ernst Heinrich (9 December 1896 – 14 June 1971). Married first Princess Sophie of Luxembourg and second Virginia Dulon (1910–2002) in 1947 (morganatically). Had issue with Sophie.
- Maria Alix Karola (stillborn 22 August 1898).
- Margarete Karola Wilhelmine Viktoria Adelheid Albertine Petrusa Bertram Paula (24 January 1900 – 16 October 1962). Married Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern.
- Maria Alix Luitpolda Anna Henriette Germana Agnes Damiana Michaela (27 September 1901 – 11 December 1990). Married Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden.
- Anna Monika Pia (4 May 1903 – 8 February 1976). Married firstly Joseph Franz, Archduke of Austria and secondly Reginald Kazanjian.
From second marriage:
- Carlo Emanuele Filiberto Toselli (7 May 1908 – 1969).
Ancestry
Bibliography
- Louise of Tuscany, Former Crown Princess of Saxony, My own Story, London 1911
- Erika Bestenreiner, Luise von Toskana, Piper 2006 (A German book)
External links
- Works by or about Archduchess Louise of Austria at Internet Archive
- Luise, Crown Princess of Saxony
- Archduchess Louise of Austria, ThePeerage.com
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