Death of an archduchess

Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska and her children: Friedrich &  his wife Isabella, Maria Christina, and Maria Theresia, 1878

February 19, 1903 

 The death of Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria has thrown "the court of Vienna into mourning in the midst of carnival," according to the Marquise de Fontenoy.

 The archduchess was a "one of the most remarkable women of the imperial house of Habsburg, a princess of world-renowned sagacity, and whose knowledge of statesmanship was sufficiently remarkable to lead her cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph, to consult her in many a difficult crisis." Her daughter, Queen Maria Cristina of Spain, relied on her advice and support to help weather "the many storms and cataclysms which she was called upon to encounter during her sixteen years of regency."

The archduchess was often in Madrid or "hastening thither as fast as the railway could carry her." Elisabeth can be described as a treble archduchess. She was born an archduchess, the daughter of the popular Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary. She married her first husband, Archduke Ferdinand, the younger brother and heir of the last duke of Modena. They had one daughter, who is married to Prince Ludwig of Bavaria. 

 After the death of her first husband, Elisabeth married Archduke Carl, by whom she had four children, Queen Maria Cristina of Spain, and Archdukes Karl Stefan, Friedrich, and Eugen.

 Archduchess Elisabeth "will be greatly missed at Vienna, especially by members of the Imperial family." She was able to bring about a "bond between them all and it was her salon that used to be their rendezvous." 

She was a "wonderfully beautiful woman, and even in her old age, she remained a stately and imposing figure, added to which she had a wonderfully soft and melodious voice."