January 27, 1892: Birth of Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

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Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria, Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies

From the Emperor’s Desk: I could not find a lot of information on Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska so I supplemented information on her parents marriage.

Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria (January 27, 1892 – January 29, 1930) was the eldest daughter of Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria and Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria. Through her mother, she was a granddaughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and through her father she was a descendant of King George II of Great Britain.

Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

Her mother was Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria (April 22, 1868 – September 6, 1924) was the youngest child of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She was usually called Valerie.

In Bad Ischl on July 31, 1890, Archduchess Marie Valerie married her third cousin Archduke Franz Salvator.

Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies

Her father, Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria 21 August 21, 1866 – April 20, 1939) was a son of Archduke Charles Salvator, Prince of Tuscany and Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies, the fifth child and second-eldest daughter of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria.

Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria

He became a cavalry general in the Imperial and Royal (k.u.k.) Austro-Hungarian Army. He received an honorary doctorate in medicine from the University of Innsbruck for his work with the Red Cross during World War I and was a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece and Order of the White Eagle.

Archduke Franz Salvator had met Archduchess Marie Valerie in 1886 at a ball, but Marie Valerie waited several years to be sure that her feelings toward Franz Salvator were strong enough for a successful marriage.

It was hoped by many at court that she would marry someone like the Crown Prince of Saxony (King Friedrich August III of Saxony); the Prince Royal of Portugal (King Carlos I of Portugal); or Prince Alfons of Bavaria as she courted with him.

Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany

Nonetheless, Empress Elisabeth declared that Marie Valerie would be allowed to marry even a chimney sweep if she so desired (in contrast to her other children, who both had to make dynastic marriages).

Marie Valerie chose Franz Salvator, a relatively minor prince from the Tuscan branch of the Austrian imperial family who had no great wealth to offer, and Elisabeth, as promised, supported her favorite daughter.

This caused a deep rift between Marie Valerie and her siblings for a time, but eventually Crown Prince Rudolf reconciled with her when Marie Valerie and Franz Salvator became engaged on Christmas 1888. However, the relationship between Marie Valerie and Crown Prince Rudolph’s wife, Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, remained cold even after Rudolf’s death.

Archduchess Marie Valerie and Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria

Marie Valerie’s solemn renunciation of her rights to the Austrian throne, which was necessary for the marriage to proceed, took place on July 16, 1890 at the Hermesvilla.

The young couple’s festive wedding followed in the parish church of Bad Ischl on July 31. The ceremony was conducted by the Bishop of Linz, Franz Maria Doppelbauer. Afterwards, Valerie and Franz honeymooned in Italy, Switzerland and Bavaria.

Thier daughter, Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria, married at Niederwallsee on September 19, 1912 Georg Count von Waldburg zu Zeil und Hohenems (1878–1955). The marriage was one of love and not a political marriage. Georg von Waldburg had no money or property, and had been hired as a tutor for her brothers.

Archduchess Hedwig (left) and Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

They had four children, three daughters and a son:

1. Countess Marie Valerie von Waldburg-Zeil (1913–2011), married Archduke Georg of Austria, Prince of Tuscany (1905–1952) in 1936. He was the younger son of Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

2. Countess Klementine von Waldburg-Zeil (1914–1941), unmarried and without issue.

3. Countess Elisabeth von Waldburg-Zeil (1917–1979), unmarried and without issue.

4. Count Franz Josef von Waldburg-Zeil (1927 – 2022), married Countess Priscilla of Schönborn-Wiesentheid in 1956. They had seven children.

Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska was a painter for some time. She died, aged 38, of pneumonia on January 29, 1930. Her widower remarried nearly two years later, on December 29, 1931, to his wife’s younger sister Archduchess Gertrud of Austria.

November 3, 1901: Birth King Leopold III of the Belgians. Part I.

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Count of Flanders, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, Duke of Brabant, King Albert I of the Belgians, King Leopold III of the Belgians, Mary Lilian Baels, Prince Philippe of Belgium, Princess Astrid of Sweden, Princess of Réthy, World War I

Leopold III (November 3, 1901 – September 25, 1983) was King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951.

Prince Leopold was born in Brussels, the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of Brabant, heir to the Belgian throne, and his consort, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria. Prince Leopold was born during the lifetime of his grandfather, Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders (March 13, 1837 – November 17, 1905) the third born and second surviving son of Leopold I, King of the Belgians and his wife Louise d’Orléans (1812–1850).

At the time of Prince Leopold’s birth his great uncle, King Leopold II (April 9, 1835 – December 17, 1909) was King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909 and, through his own efforts, the King-Sovereign of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.

King Leopold II was the second King of the Belgians as well as the second but eldest surviving son of King Leopold I and Louise of Orléans. Leopold II succeeded his father on the Belgian throne in 1865 and reigned for 44 years until his death—the longest reign of any Belgian monarch.

Prince Leopold’s mother, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria was the daughter of Prince Charles-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, head of a cadet branch of the Wittelsbach Bavarian royal family, and an ophthalmologist. Duchess Elisabeth was named after her father’s sister, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known as Sisi, wife of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary. Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Empress Zita, the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, and Felix of Bourbon-Parma, husband of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and brother of Empress Zita, were among Elisabeth’s first cousins.

In 1909 Prince Leopold’s father became King Albert I of the Belgians, and Prince Leopold became Duke of Brabant.

In August 1914, when Belgium was invaded by Germany, King Albert allowed Leopold, then aged twelve, to enlist in the Belgian Army as a private and fight in defence of the kingdom. However, in 1915, with Belgium almost entirely occupied by the Germans, Leopold was sent to join Eton College, while his father fought on in France. After World War I, in 1919, the Duke of Brabant visited the Old Mission and Saint Anthony Seminary in Santa Barbara, California.

Princess Astrid of Sweden

On November 4, 1926 (the day after his 25th birthday) Prince Leopold married Princess Astrid of Sweden in a civil ceremony in Stockholm , followed by a religious ceremony in Brussels on 10 November.

Princess Astrid of Sweden was the third child and youngest daughter of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, and his wife, Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland was the third son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, by his wife, Sophia of Nassau. Princess Ingeborg of Denmark was a daughter of King Frederik VIII of Denmark by his wife, Louise of Sweden. Astrid’s father was a younger brother of King Gustaf V of Sweden; her mother was the younger sister of kings Christian X of Denmark and Haakon VII of Norway.

King Albert I of the Belgians died in a mountaineering accident in eastern Belgium on February 17, 1934, at the age of 58, and he was succeeded by his son as King Leopold III of the Belgians. King Albert I is popularly referred to as the “Knight King” (roi-chevalier or koning-ridder) or “Soldier King” (roi-soldat or koning-soldaat) in Belgium in reference to his role during World War I.

On August 29, 1935, while the King Leopold III and Queen Astrid were driving along the winding, narrow roads near their villa at Küssnacht am Rigi, Schwyz, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Lucerne, Leopold lost control of the car which plunged into the lake, killing Queen Astrid.

Mary Lilian Baels, Princess of Réthy

On September 11, 1941 King Leopold III married Lilian Baels in a secret, religious ceremony, with no validity under Belgian law. They originally intended to wait until the end of the war for the civil marriage, but as the new Princess of Réthy was soon expecting their first child, the ceremony took place on December 6, 1941. The marriage is considered Morganatic.

Mary Lilian Baels was born in Highbury, London, England, where her parents had fled during World War I. She was one of the nine children of Henri Baels from Ostend and his wife, Anne Marie de Visscher, a member of the Belgian nobility from Dentergem. Lilian was called “Lily” in her family circle.