More on Marie-Christine

In "Ma mère telle qu'on l'a peu connue," an interview published September 26, 2002, in La Libre Belgique, Princess Marie-Esmeralda of Belgium commented on her sister's tragic estrangement from her family:

Elle-même a pris ses distances à partir du moment où, en 1980, elle est partie au Canada pour se marier et aussitôt divorcer. Elle a eu, à ce moment-là, une brouille avec mes parents qui a rejailli sur toute sa vie passée. Une coupure s'est faite en elle. Elle n'est jamais revenue en Belgique. Elle vit actuellement dans le Nevada, est remariée et n'a pas d'enfant. Mon frère et moi avons gardé le contact. Bien que de cinq ans plus jeune, j'étais très proche de ma soeur. Durant toute sa maladie, Maman a espéré un signe. Mais il ne s'est pas fait. Papa attribuait à Marie-Christine, au-delà de la reine Elisabeth, quelque chose du tempérament indépendant, excessif, imaginatif des Wittelsbach, du côté de Sissi, de Louis II...

She herself distanced herself from the moment in 1980 when she left for Canada to get married and then divorced. At that moment, she had a fight with my parents which spilled over her whole past life. There was a break in her. She has never returned to Belgium. She now lives in Nevada, has married again, and has no children. My brother and I have kept in contact with her. Although five years her junior, I used to be very close to my sister. Throughout her illness, Maman hoped for a sign. But it never came. Papa attributed to Marie-Christine, through Queen Elisabeth, something of the independent, excessive, imaginative temperament of the Wittelsbachs, on the side of Sissi, of Ludwig II...

Recently, Jorge raised the issue of Marie-Christine's tragic claim to have been physically molested in her youth and deeply wounded and disappointed by her family's reaction. According to Marie-Christine, she was raped as a teenager, by one of her cousins, no less, and when she told her mother, Lilian did not believe her and severely punished her. If the story is true, it is heartbreaking and I can understand why Marie-Christine would be very hurt. I have to say, though, that I cannot help wondering a bit about this story, since Marie-Christine has herself admitted she was always a liar (Michel Verwilghen, Le mythe d'Argenteuil, 2006, p. 54). I also cannot help wondering whether a real rape victim would use such a terrible trauma for publicity. In any case, though, the princess is obviously a very troubled lady, and I feel sorry for her.