Politically incorrect Archduchess Zita

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 September 14, 1915


Archduchess Zita of Austria, the wife of Archduke Karl, heir to the throne, recently visited the wounded at a hospital in Innsbruck.   According to an Italian newspaper, Idea Nazionale,  Zita stopped at the bed of a wounded Italian soldier.  She spoke to him in Italian, and the "officer answered courteously," but not knowing who she was,  he asked the archduchess "Are you Italian?" 

This question apparently annoyed Zita, who responded: "I was born in Italy, where I lived until I was married, but as an Austrian, I have nothing in common with a country which has lost her honor."

The young officer pulled himself up, and exclaimed: "We had enough honor left to declare war on Austria!"

Not long afterward, the officer was reprimanded for "having been disrespectful to the wife of the Austrian heir apparent."   Undeterred, the Italian officer replied: "The Archduchess was disrespectful to the Italian nation, which was worse."