was solemnized in Vienna, and Sisi became the
empress of Austria.Crushed by the Court
The young couple had little time to enjoy their
union. Although Franz Josef professed to be very
much in love with his new bride, his imperial
responsibilities left him with little time for her.
Six years before, in 1848, Europe had been rocked
by revolutions. Although Austria had brutally
crushed dissent in Hungary, Franz Josef’s ter-
ritories were increasingly bedeviled by problems.
The conclusion of the Crimean War had in-
creased tensions with Russia, and tensions were
rising in the Balkans.
If Franz Josef felt daunted by having to return
to the practical realities of power, any fairy-tale
notions Sisi may have had quickly evaporated
too. Her life was carefully controlled and moni-
tored. She had little privacy. The morning after
she consummated her marriage, the whole court
was informed.
Once settled at Vienna’s imperial palace, she
was stricken with homesickness, especially
when she remembered the carefree life she had
enjoyed in the Bavarian countryside. Her un-
orthodox upbringing was at strong odds withromance. She appeared very much a child, still
dressing simply and wearing her hair in two
braids. She was so shy that she had trouble eat-
ing in the presence of the Austrians. She seemed
a bit player in a drama reserved for Helene.
Soon after the three women arrived, eagle-
eyed courtiers could not help but notice how
the young emperor’s attention was directed not
at Helene but at her younger sister. Her aunt,
Archduchess Sophie, recalled in her diary her
son’s outpourings of praise: “Oh, but how sweet
Sisi is... what a magnificent crown of hair frames
her face! What lovely soft eyes she has, and lips
like strawberries.” Efforts were made to steer his
attentions to the older sister. When it became
clear Franz Josef preferred Sisi to Helene, his
mother and aunt decided to support the match.
Sisi was overcome with apprehension. She
wrote, plaintively: “I love the emperor. If only
he were not the emperor.” But her feelings were
not to stand in the way of her family’s will, or her
mother’s pragmatic injunction that “one does
not simply send the Emperor of Austria pack-
ing.” The pair were first cousins, but this obstacle
was quickly overcome by papal dispensation to
marry. On April 24, 1854, the marriage between
Emperor Franz Josef and Elisabeth of Bavaria
ROYAL
ENTOURAGE
Court life provided
little privacy. This
1861 photograph
shows the
empress Sisi
with her back
to the camera,
surrounded by
some of her
ladies-in-waiting.
AUSTRIAN ARCHIVES/SCALA, FLORENCE62 MAY/JUNE 2019