Saddest Royals

[cute_girl]

Originally Posted by monaco70s

I wasn't aware of all this Soraya/Shah information. Soraya had a very sad life because I believe when she fell in love again in the late 60s, I think her partner died in an accident, not sure.

Soraya was the Shah's first love while Farah was also his mature love and the mother of his children and support in the hard moments.

he 2nd husband died in a helicopter crash and about Farah,though she claims of a passionate love between herself and the shah,several of shah's mistresses have published their diaries nowadays saying that the couple didnt live together after having the 4th child,even farah's cousin Mr. Ansari writes in his book that he knew of a relation between farah and one of her gaurds and had warned her on brakdown of her marriage several times.

[EmpressRouge]

Originally Posted by monaco70s

I wasn't aware of all this Soraya/Shah information. Soraya had a very sad life because I believe when she fell in love again in the late 60s, I think her partner died in an accident, not sure.

She was involved with Italian director Franco Indovina and appeared in I Tre volti (The Three Faces of a Woman) directed by him. They lived together until his death in 1972 in a plane crash.

[Piewi]

As she had bad moments she had good ones...:)

[monaco70s]

Both Caroline & Stephanie looked devastated on Rainier's funeral, seeing them made me sadder. It's good to see they're starting to smile again.

[monaco70s]

Oh thanks for the info everyone, it would really be cool to see that film, although I'm not a big Soraya fan, I find her as one of the most beautiful women from her time esp. in the 60s/70s she had wonderful eyes.

The marriage crisis of the Shah and Farah is something new to me.

[cute_girl]

Originally Posted by monaco70s

Oh thanks for the info everyone, it would really be cool to see that film, although I'm not a big Soraya fan, I find her as one of the most beautiful women from her time esp. in the 60s/70s she had wonderful eyes.

The marriage crisis of the Shah and Farah is something new to me.

I've heard that shah collected all the copies of the film so there's not one copy available,it was also said that he was involved with the helicopter crash because he was jealous of Franco.

[monaco70s]

Oh very interesting yet sad :(

[sara1981]

how about Princess Diana mourning her father in 1992 and mourning her Grandmother in 1993 but i think she mourning her father in 1992 and Grandmother both?

Sara Boyce

[Marengo]

For me one of the saddest royals is Empress Charlotte of Mexico. She is the daughter of the belgian King Leopold I and she married Archduke Maximilian of Austria.

This ambitious Coburg was not satisfied with her role as one of the many archduchess and most of the times she was outshined by her sister-in-law Sisi, so she encouraged her husband to start the mexican adventure, to accept the imperial crown of Mexico (while his entire family was against it).

When the couple was in Merxico it became clear that the coutnry was very much devided and that most people were against their emperor. A guerilla started and Charlotte went to Europa, to plea for help from the man who send them to Mexico in the first place, emperor Napoleon III of France. I

[Marengo]

sorry, the posting went wrong, here is the rest of my text:

In Europe it seemed that everybody abandoned her and nobody wanted to help her cause. In the mean while it became evident that her husband was shot by rebel leader Juarez.

As a consequence of all this Charlotte became mad. In the end, her brother King Leopold II locked her up in a castle in Belgium and he condisquated her money and jewelry for his own cause (the belgian Congo). Her family abandoned her, accept for Queen Marie-Henriette of Belgium (her sister-in-law). Apparently Charlotte was pregnant when her husband was shot, the child was taken away from her and was raised by a french family. The baby would grow up to be the famous french general Weyland, one of the french heros of WWI.

[Australian]

I still think Queen Victoria was the saddest, she was in mourning herwhole adult life (mostly)

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Apparently Charlotte was pregnant when her husband was shot, the child was taken away from her and was raised by a french family. The baby would grow up to be the famous french general Weyland, one of the french heros of WWI.

At Miramar where she was kept by the Habsburgs, her doctor gave orders that Charlotte was not to be told of her husband's death. However, the doctor did succeed in curing Charlotte of her obsession of her husband wanting to poison her. By this stage the ex-Empress was quite mad: she would ask why Emperor Maximilian was late for dinner.

There were protracted negotiations between the Emperor of Austria and the King of the Belgians over the private property of Charlotte and Maximilian as the King was determined that the Habsburgs would not get the Coburg inheritance. When the negotiations were completed, Charlotte was taken to Belgium.

It is generally accepted that General Weygand's father was Colonel (later General) Alfred Van der Smissen, a compatriot to whom the Empress turned during the crisis in Mexico.
.

[Marengo]

I was told that this acceptance was not so clear and that the chance that he was the son of Charlotte and Maximilian was higher. Because of the problems it would give (heir to the mexican throne, what about his habsburg titles, mad mother, inheretance which then could not benefit his uncles projects etc etc) it was decided that he was placed by a foster family. But I have it onlky from hear-say, so I stand corrected if you have better sources :)

Anyway, it is certain that he was Charlottes son, he was quite aware of that himself as well.

[Boris]

I absolutely agree with putting Princess Diana on top of the list when it comes to recent Royals, for obvious reasons stated above. I have little tolerance for the current 'Diana bashing' that goes hand in hand with going ga-ga over Prince Charles' second marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles-Mountbatten-Windsor.

But when it comes to looking back at history, the absolutely fascinating Empress Elisabeth 'Sissi' of Austria tops my list. A highly intelligent though quite neurotic woman and one of the most legendary beauties of her time, she was married off at age 16 to a husband who had little understanding of her, moving from being born a Princess of a poor but loving Bavarian family branch into one of the most affluent but coldest, most anciently protocolled Royal Courts of its time - the Habsburgs.

She was forever controlled by a most domineering mother-in-law who practically took her two first children away from her.

After just a few years of marriage, she desperately tried to gain some independence and tried to stay away from Austria and the Imperial court as much as possible. Interestingly enough, her love for horses & hunting made her a frequent guest of the then Earl Of Spencer at Althorp which of course is Princess Diana's family home!

The suicide of her only son and heir, Prince Rudolf, who shot first his mistress and then himself, was the final straw that threw her into more depression and withdrawal.

She wrote poems that she had sealed in a Swiss vault for decades after her death. She considered Switzerland a safe place as she did believe that a republic like Switzerland would outlive any monarchy. One of her poems describes the Habsburg dynasty as 'Nothing But A Skeleton Of Splendour Gone Long Ago'. She became a total anti-monarchist in later years, dressed strictly in black and hid her face from any photographer as she remained obsessed with her appearance and didn't want her picture taken after her legendary beauty had faded. She succeeded in this.

The worst of all sad ironies ever in any Royal biography: She was finally stabbed to death at age 61 by another anti-monarchist whose opinions she most probably would have shared!

I recommend to everyone her biography 'Elisabeth - Empress against her own will' by Brigitte Hamann. There are many more fascinating though very sad details about the life of Elisabeth, the last but one Empress Of Austria.

[EmpressRouge]

Originally Posted by Boris

The worst of all sad ironies ever in any Royal biography: She was finally stabbed to death at age 61 by another anti-monarchist whose opinions she most probably would have shared!

The assassin's intended target (another royal, Spanish maybe) did not show up at Lake Geneva, so he turned to a second choice, Sisi becz as he said, "I wanted to kill a royalty. It did not matter which one. "Ironically, Sisi had wanted to die painlessly to put her out of her misery. She got her wish. (source: wikipedia)

[Boris]

You're right in detail as I've also read that the assassin's Luigi Lucheni's original target was not the Empress.
But I can't imagine at all why you believe that being stabbed by a small knife that inflicts a wound which wasn't taken too seriously at first, but then resulted in The Empress slowly bleeding to death internally, could ever be labelled a 'painless' death...?!
Therefore, I fear that 'Sisi' didn't get her wish at all. A terrible and senseless end to a fascinating but troubled and sad life.

[EmpressRouge]

Originally Posted by Boris

You're right in detail as I've also read that the assassin's Luigi Lucheni's original target was not the Empress.
But I can't imagine at all why you believe that being stabbed by a small knife that inflicts a wound which wasn't taken too seriously at first, but then resulted in The Empress slowly bleeding to death internally, could ever be labelled a 'painless' death...?!
Therefore, I fear that 'Sisi' didn't get her wish at all. A terrible and senseless end to a fascinating but troubled and sad life.

I've read in several sources that Sisi's death was painless because she never realized what had happened to her. Here's a detailed account of her death from Sissiweb.net (great site w/lots of info):
And so, without the slightest hesitation, he ran toward Elisabeth and brutally stabbed her in the heart. He then rapidly ran away. Elisabeth had fallen on her back, the fall being somewhat lessened by her heavy mass of hair. She quickly sprang up, thanking everybody who came to her rescue in French, English and German. She then continued her way to the steamboat, perfectly unaware that she was mortally wounded. But as the two ladies were embarking on the boat, Elisabeth held tight to the Countess Sztaray before fainting. Still, nobody realized what had happened until the Countess unlaced her dress to discover a tiny blood stain on her corset. Elisabeth had been assassinated! The Countess alerted the captain and revealed Elisabeth's identity. They managed to wake her, but not for long. She didn't understand what had just happened to her and before she could find out, she collapsed again. They brought her back to the Hotel Beau-Rivage where she died peacefully. http://www.sissiweb.net/ew.html

[morgaine]

Another sad Story is the one of Sophie Dorothea of Hannover. She lived from 1666 until 1726. She had a happy loving Childhood and was loved and spoiled as an only Child of Georg of Hannover and Eleonore Olbreuse. On November 18 1682 was she forced to marry her Cousin, the future George I of England, then still in Hannover. They didnt like each other but did their Duties and had two Children: George II was born 1683 and daughter Sophie Dorothea 1687. The Future Georg I had many Mistresses and treated his wife bad. In this Situation she fell in Love with the dashing Phillip of Königsmarck and they began writing sweet letters to each other. Mostly sure no more happened between them but unfortunately one letter was caught and shown to her husband. George I was in rage and filed for divorce. Phillip Königsmarck was soon afterwards gone and its for sure that he was murdered. Sophie Dorothea was divorced and put to the cold castle Ahlden wwhere she was held as a prisoner from 1695 until gher death in 1726. She was never allowed to see her children or any member of her family again except her mother who was allowed to vist her only a few times in her prison. Her Husband became 1714 George I of England and brought with him to England his two Mistresses.

I think this a very sad and unfair story.

[morgaine]

Here are some Pics:

1. George I of England
2. Phillip von Königsmarck
3. Sophie Dorothea
4. Sophie Dorothea with Children

[morgaine]

I think Jane Grey fits here too. She had the most unhappy childhood, was married to a man she did not love. Then her Father in law forced her to take the english crown after Edward VI died so young . She knew it was not her right to do so, but had no choice. She was Queen of England for 9 Days until Mary I won over. Jane spendet the rest of her young Life in Prison and was beheaded at the age of 17.