The Poetry of Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte

I did not know that the daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette wrote poetry during her captivity. Here are some simple but poignant excerpts.

Portrait of Empress Elisabeth

A floral portrait of Sisi. (Via History's Untold Treasures).

Wedding of Prince Amedeo

I am happy to announce the news of the wedding of Prince Amedeo of Belgium and Elisabetta Maria Rosboch von Wolkenstein.  The bride is the daughter of Italian nobility.  The couple were married in Rome on July 5.  Here is a video of the couple, announcing their engagement.  Here are photographs of the marriage ceremony. 

An Appeal for Peace

Here is an appeal for peace launched by King Leopold III of the Belgians on August 23, 1939, along with the responses of other world leaders.  King Leopold was speaking on behalf of the Oslo Group of Powers, namely the Scandinavian and Benelux countries, assembled in conference in Brussels.  

Have not the small Powers reason to fear that they will be victims in a subsequent conflict into which they will be dragged against their will in spite of their policy of indisputable independence and of their firm desire for neutrality? Are they not liable to become the subject of arrangements reached without their having been consulted? 

Even if hostilities do not begin, the world is menaced by economic collapse. Mistrust and suspicion reign everywhere. Beneath our very eyes the camps are forming, armies are gathering and a fearful struggle is being prepared in Europe. Is our continent to commit suicide in a terrifying war at the end of which no nation could call itself victor or vanquished, but in which the spiritual and material values created by centuries of civilisation would founder? 

War psychosis is invading every home, and although conscious of the unimaginable catastrophe which a conflagration would mean for all mankind, public opinion abandons itself more and more to the idea that we are inevitably to be dragged into it. It is important to react against so fatal a spirit of resignation. 

There is no people-we assert it with confidence-which would wish to send its children to death in order to take away from other nations that right to existence which it claims for itself. 

It is true that all States do not have the same interests, but are there any interests which cannot be infinitely better reconciled before than after a war? 

The consciousness of the world must be awakened. The worst can still be avoided, but time is short. The sequence of events may soon render all direct contact still more difficult. 

Let there be no mistake. We know that the right to live must rest on a solid basis, and the peace that we desire is the peace in which the rights of all nations shall be respected. A lasting peace cannot be founded on force, but only on a moral order. (Read full article)

Miniature of Queen Elisabeth

Here is a striking miniature of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians.  With her dramatic red and gold dress, she almost reminds me of the Firebird.

Néné

A portrait of Duchess Helene in Bavaria, one of the aunts of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians.  Helene, affectionately known as Néné, was the older, steadier sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the legendary Sisi, and the first to be considered as a possible bride for Sisi's future husband, the Emperor Franz Joseph.

The Palace in Wartime

Brand Whitlock gives a moving account of the early days of World War I in Brussels.  Here is a description of an audience with Queen Elisabeth and one of her ladies in the royal palace, transformed into a hospital for the wounded.  

We had to wait,  and talked for a long time-- about the war, of course, the Countess was very much moved, her eyes filling with tears every few minutes.  But after a while, accompanied by the good Doctor le Boeuf who had done so much for the Red Cross, we were conducted down the long red-carpeted corridor to the Queen's private apartments, and shown into the little blue drawing room.  And presently the Queen entered.  She wore a simple blue gown with transparent sleeves, and a white, low, girlish collar; not a jewel, only her wedding-ring on her hand, and her hair dressed in delicate simplicity.  She was calm, with a certain gravity, and her blue eyes were wistful in the little smile that hovered about her lips.  There was no ceremony in this rather unusual presentation. 

We were walking down the long state apartments, with their glittering chandeliers, all vastly different than from their aspect when last I had seen them, thronged with men in brilliant uniforms at a court ball.  They were filled that day with with long lines of hospital cots, the white coverlets already drawn back--waiting for the wounded.  At the foot of each cot a little Belgian flag was fastened.  

"The children put them here," said the Queen. 

Up and down through those long apartments we passed in that model hospital into which, all within eight days, the Queen had transformed her palace.  Gone the old stateliness and luxury; nothing now but those white cots, operating rooms, tables with glass tops, white porcelain utensils, even X-ray apparatus--with all their sinister implication.  Now and then a nurse would appear, dropping a curtsey as the Queen passed.  (Everybody's Magazine, Vol. 38, March 1918, p. 17)

The Grandchild of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

I had never heard until a few days ago on Elena Maria Vidal's blog that Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Duchesse d'Angoulême, the daughter of the tragic King and Queen of France, did indeed become pregnant at one point during her exile in England.  Sadly, she suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth, and was never able to have another child.

Still, it is touching to think that Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette did have a grandchild.  I wonder if the baby was a son or a daughter.  Becoming a mother would have meant so much to Marie-Thérèse, in either case,  I am sure, but especially so if the child had been an heir to the throne.

Meanwhile, in an ironic twist of fate, Marie-Thérèse's cousin, Marie-Amélie of Naples, Duchesse d'Orléans, married into the rival branch of the royal family, was blessed with baby after baby, including the first Queen of the Belgians, Louise.  Marie-Thérèse became  Louise's godmother.

On the Tea at Trianon Forum, there is a discussion of the tragic pregnancy of the Duchesse d'Angoulême.  There is a horrible suggestion that she may have been raped in prison during the Terror and suffered damage, impairing her ability to bear children.  While I hope and pray that this was not the case, I would not put much past the depravity of her captors.

Defending Leopold III

 History and Other Thoughts remembers the greatly maligned monarch with sympathy and affection.

I have a thing for misunderstood and mistreated historical figures, such as King Leopold III of Belgium, who also happens to be my favourite king ever. Although still a teenager when World War I broke out, Leopold, willing to do his part like everyone else, insisted to fight as a private soldier. After the war, he met Princess Astrid of Sweden. The two fell deeply in love, got married and had three children together. Then, tragedy struck. One day, while the royal couple was vacationing in Switzerland, Astrid lost her life in a car accident. Leopold, who had been driving, was inconsolable.  

Politically, Leopold, who wanted what was best for Belgium, often clashed with politicians, who were more interested in furthering their careers than anything else. When World War II broke out, the government fled, but Leopold and his family stayed behind, sharing the privations and struggles of his people, and becoming prisoners of Hitler. During this time, he also married, Lilian Baels. Unfortunately their marriage, which produced three children, was spun, by Leopold's political enemies, in a way that portrayed him as a villain, thinking only of his happiness while his people were suffering.  

The royal family was eventually moved to Germany were they were almost killed by the Nazis. After the war ended, the socialists and revolutionaries, eager to establish a republic, tried to prevent their comeback. Only after a referendum in his favour, was Leopold allowed back, but the political situation was so tense that he was forced to abdicate. I feel very sorry for him. He was a honest, upright and brave man who always strove to do his duty and put his people first. And yet, he had such a difficult life, marred by tragedy and attacked by political opponents who didn't hesitate to fabricate lies about him to gain power for themselves. It's a shame he has mostly been forgotten. He deserves everyone's admiration and respect. (Read more)

Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg and the Belgian Royal Family

Yesterday was a sorrowful centennial, marking a hundred years since the murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo.  As is known all too well, the killing triggered the First World War.  Above is a lovely pastel painting of the assassin's less well-known victim, the Archduke's beloved, morganatic wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.  Below is a photograph of the couple with their three surviving children.  Sophie died along with her husband, just a few days before their fourteenth wedding anniversary.   Here is an article on their tender courtship, loving marriage, and tragic deaths.   Here is an interview with a great-granddaughter of the couple.

I cannot help noting that there are a number of connections and similarities between the lives of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie and those of the Kings and Queens of the Belgians.  The Archduke and his wife were married on July 1, 1900, only three months before the wedding of Prince Albert and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium on October 1, 1900.  The terrorist actions that claimed the lives of Franz Ferdinand and his wife led to horrific suffering for the people of Belgium, dragged as innocent bystanders into the world war.  The King and Queen of the Belgians and their children suffered bitterly through the war with their people. The double tragedy of the loss of husband and wife reminds me of the shock of the traumatic deaths of King Albert I and Queen Astrid in rapid succession.  Like many of the Belgian royal family, the Archduke and his wife seem to have been decent, devout people, with a loving marriage and family life.  Like Princess Lilian of Belgium, Sophie bore the humiliations of her status as a morganatic bride with dignity.  Like Queen Astrid, she was rumored to have been pregnant at the time of her death.