Queen Marie Henriette dead

September 19, 1902

Belgian's Queen Marie-Henriette died today after a long illness. None of her family was present nor her doctors when she was "seized with an attack of syncope." She died at 7:30 p.m. Known as the "queen of Sorrows," Marie-Henriette was born August 23, 1836, the daughter of Archduke Joseph, palatine of Hungary, and Princess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg.

Marie Henriette was only a child when her father died. She and her sister, Elisabeth, were raised simply by their mother. The archduchess was only 17 when she first met the Duke of Brabant and his father, King Leopold I, when they traveled to Vienna. It was said that the duke - the future Leopold II -- fell in love with the young archduchess. A marriage was soon arranged between the two families. Their wedding was "celebrated with great pomp and magnificence" on August 10, 1853 in Vienna. Twelve days later, a second religious ceremony was was performed in Brussels. The marriage seemed a "happy one for the time." Eventually, Leopold and Marie-Henriette led largely separate lives.
Marie-Henriette's eldest daughter, Louise, married off to a brutal prince, Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, spent time in a mental hospital (as did Leopold's sister, Charlotte), before escaping and running off to Paris with her lover. The second daughter, Stephanie, was a teenager when she was married off to the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Rudolf. This, too, was a sad and tragic marriage. Stephanie was unable to give her husband a son after the birth of their only child Elisabeth. Rudolf had infected his wife with with a venereal disease, and had numerous affairs before getting involved with Maria Vetsera. IN 1888, in a suicide pact at Mayerling, Rudolf most likely killed Vetsera before putting the gun to his own head.
Marie-Henriette's daughter, Clementine, has not yet married.
Sadly, her only son, the Count of Hainault, died at age ten, leaving Belgium with out a direct male heir. King Leopold's brother, Philippe, Count of Flanders, remains the heir presumptive.
For the last five years of her life, Marie Henriette has lived away from Brussels, preferring her dogs and horses to court life. It was said the she "suffered from a broken heart."