The Real Life Runaway Princess Bride

The innocent Bavarian beauty

who became the Empress of Austria

and Queen of Hungary

was actually a tormented

free spirit who never

adapted to life at court...

Beautiful Empress 

Elizabeth of Austria

24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898

Although her husband, the

Emperor Franz Joseph I,
 loved his 

young wife dearly,
 their marriage

was deeply affected by his

meddlesome mother,

Princess Sophie, who

called Sisi,

"a silly young mother"

 and actually took control over

the upbringing of the 

couples' daughters, even forbidding

young Elizabeth to breast feed

her children.

As a result,

Elizabeth greatly suffered,

 for many years from

bouts of depression.

She internalized her

emotional pain by

becoming vain about

her appearance,

through starving herself

and vigorous bouts of exercise

to stay thin.  She even

resorted to wearing corsets

in order to maintain a

sixteen inch waistline.

However, 

after Elizabeth

 gave birth to

a son, Rudolph,

her standing in

the Austrian court seemed to

improve, but, she was often

too restless for 

the restrictive atmosphere.

Sisi developed

a lasting kinship with the

people of neighboring Hungary,

which she often liked to visit.

Perhaps the carefree lifestyle

of the Rom, or Gypsy folk of

Hungary,

not to mention her

eccentric father's

 love of following

after traveling circuses

when she was a child,

  contributed to

the Empress' own wanderlust.

After the sudden death of her son,

Elizabeth withdrew from 

court duties and traveled widely

around Europe.

It was while

visiting Geneva in 1898,

that Sisi's own life ended
through a senseless tragedy.

The Empress was stabbed to

death by an Italian anarchist.

Empress Elizabeth of Austria

Postage Stamp

(2010)

The Empress Sisi 
Barbie Doll
(1996)