Austria's Princess: Does She Exist?

Austria has had several princesses, including Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria, Duchess of Modena, Archduchess Adelheid of Austria, Archduchess Anna of Austria, Princess Anna of Saxony, Archduchess Assunta of Austria, Princess Astrid of Belgium, and Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria. One of the most famous princesses of Austria was Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria, who became Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary when she married Franz Joseph I of Austria.

Princesses of Austria were also members of the House of Habsburg

The House of Habsburg, also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most prominent and important dynasties in European history. The name is derived from the castle of Habsburg, or Habichtsburg (“Hawk's Castle”), built in 1020 by Werner, bishop of Strasbourg, and his brother-in-law, Count Radbot, in the Aargau overlooking the Aar River, in what is now Switzerland.

The House of Habsburg produced numerous princesses, who usually held the higher title of Archduchess. These included Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Countess of Chambord, and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1762-1770), to name a few.

The princesses of Austria were members of the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg, which ruled from the 15th to the 20th century. The family's custom was to vest the government of its hereditary domains not in individuals but in all male members of the family in common. However, difficulties arose when it came to succession, and often, the family had to divide its territories among different branches.

The House of Habsburg produced several monarchs, including Holy Roman Emperors, Kings and Queens of Hungary and Bohemia, Emperors and Empresses of Mexico, and Kings and Queens of Spain, among others. The dynasty was known for its patronage of the arts, with many members being ardent collectors and generous patrons.

Princess Elisabeth of Austria was also known as Sisi

Princess Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi, was born on the 24th of December 1837 in Munich, Bavaria. She was born into the Ducal royal branch of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach and was the third child and second daughter of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria.

Princess Elisabeth, or Sisi, was known to have enjoyed an informal upbringing. She often skipped her lessons to go riding in the countryside and was described as having grown up in an "unrestrained, unstructured environment". She was also known to have been shy and introverted by nature, which made it difficult for her to adapt to the rigid protocols and strict etiquette of court life after marrying her first cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I, at the age of 16.

Sisi was known to have a deep kinship with Hungary and played a role in bringing about the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867. She was also known for her obsession with maintaining her youthful figure and beauty, her interest in writing poetry, and her love of the sea, which led her to get a tattoo of an anchor on her shoulder.

On the 10th of September 1898, at the age of 60, Princess Elisabeth was assassinated by an Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni while travelling in Geneva, Switzerland. She was stabbed in the heart with a sharpened needle file and died shortly after.

Archduchess Eleonore of Austria is also a Princess of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia

Archduchess Eleonore of Austria, also known as Eleonore von Habsburg, is a princess of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia. She is the daughter of Archduke Karl von Habsburg and Baroness Francesca von Thyssen-Bornemisza, and her great-grandparents were the last Emperor and Empress of Austria, Charles I of Austria and Zita of Bourbon-Parma.

Eleonore is a jewellery designer and has previously worked as a model for Dolce & Gabbana. She married Belgian racing driver Jérôme d’Ambrosio in a surprise civil ceremony in Monaco in July 2020. The couple first met on a flight to Nice three years prior and announced their engagement in March 2019. They welcomed their first child, a son named Otto, in October 2021.

Eleonore has expressed her happiness at not being as high profile as the British royal family, stating that her private life is very important to her and she is glad to have the freedom to move without being recognised. She also emphasised her pride in being a Habsburg and her desire to represent the name with dignity, while also being seen as a modern Habsburg.

Archduchess Margaret of Austria lived from 1567 to 1633

Archduchess Margaret of Austria was born on the 25th of January, 1567, in Wiener Neustadt. She was the fifteenth child and fifth daughter of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria of Spain. Margaret was deeply influenced by her mother's strict Catholicism from an early age. In 1582, Margaret's mother returned to her homeland of Spain, taking Margaret with her. Margaret was promised to marry Philip II of Spain, but she refused. Instead, she took the veil under the name of Sister Margaret of the Cross as a Poor Clare nun in the Monastery of Santa Clara de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid. Margaret died in 1633, aged 66, and was buried in her convent.

Margaret had a total of 15 siblings, eight of whom survived infancy. Her parents were Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria of Spain, daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Isabella of Portugal. Margaret's ancestry can be traced back to Philip I, King of Castile, and Joanna, Queen of Castile, on her father's side, and Manuel I, King of Portugal, on her mother's side.

Another notable Archduchess Margaret of Austria lived from 1536 to 1567. She was the daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and co-founded the Ladies' Convent of Hall with her sister, Archduchess Magdalena of Austria.

Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria was the daughter of Holy Roman Empress Maria

Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria was the daughter of Emperor Joseph I and Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. She was born in the Hofburg in Vienna in 1701, eleven weeks after the death of her infant brother Leopold Joseph, her parents' only son. Maria Amalia was given a strict Catholic upbringing by her mother, but was described as having a more vivid and extroverted personality than her sister, Maria Josepha.

Maria Amalia's father, Emperor Joseph I, died of smallpox when she was nine years old. During his reign, he and his brother, Charles VI, signed the Mutual Pact of Succession, which gave precedence in the order of succession to Joseph's daughters over Charles' daughters. However, this was replaced by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, which put Maria Amalia and her sister behind Charles' future daughters.

Maria Amalia was initially proposed as a bride for Victor Amadeus, the heir to the Kingdom of Sicily and the Duchy of Savoy. However, this plan did not come to fruition as the groom died of smallpox in 1715. In 1717, she met her future husband, Charles Albert, Hereditary Prince of Bavaria, when he visited Vienna. They met again in 1718, and Charles Albert asked to marry her elder sister, Maria Josepha, but she was already engaged.

After renouncing her right to the throne, Maria Amalia married Charles Albert on 5 October 1722 in Vienna. She received a substantial dowry, and the wedding was celebrated with an opera performance. The couple lived in the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich and had seven children. In 1727, after the birth of their heir, Maximilian Joseph, Maria Amalia was gifted the Fürstenried Palace as her own residence.

Maria Amalia and Charles Albert's relationship was described as moderately happy, despite his infidelity and illegitimate children. They shared similar personalities and interests, enjoying court life, pomp, and festivals. They made the Bavarian court a cultural centre, and Maria Amalia's apartments are considered a notable example of Rococo interior design. She supported churches and convents and had a close relationship with her sister-in-law, Maria Anna Karolina, a Poor Clare.

Despite renouncing her claims to the Habsburg monarchy, Maria Amalia's husband, Charles Albert, claimed them in her name during the War of the Austrian Succession. In 1741, she was crowned Queen of Bohemia in Prague, and the following year, she became Holy Roman Empress following her husband's coronation as emperor.

Maria Amalia's husband died in 1745, and she mainly resided at Fürstenried Palace as a widow. In 1754, she established the first modern hospital in Munich, managed by nuns of the Order of Saint Elisabeth. She died in 1756 at the age of fifty-five in the Nymphenburg Palace.

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