Princess Sophie of Bavaria



Sophie Friederike Dorothee Wilhelmine, Princess of Bavaria (27 January 1805 – 28 May 1872) was born to King Maximilian I of Bavaria and his second wife, Karoline of Baden.

On 4 November 1824, she married Franz Karl, Archduke of Austria. They had four sons and a daughter, Francis Joseph (later Emperor of Austria), Maximilian (later Emperor of Mexico), Karl Ludwig, Archduke of Austria, Marie Anna Caroline Pia and Archduke Ludwig Viktor.

Her ambitions to place her oldest son on the Austrian throne was a constant theme in Austrian politics. At the time she was called "the only man at court". During the Revolution of 1848 she persuaded her somewhat feeble-minded husband to give up his rights to the throne in favour of Franz Joseph. After his accession to the throne, Sophie became the power behind the throne. Sophie is also remembered for her bad relationship with her daughter-in-law, Elisabeth of Bavaria alias "Sissi", which has been a theme in a long running musical about Elisabeth's life and in several media works that, at times, describe Sophie practically as an evil, ruthless villainess set out almost exclusively to ruin Elisabeth's life in any possible way.

Sophie kept a detailed diary most of her life which reveals much about Austrian court life. She withdrew from public life after the execution of her son, Maximilian, from which she never recovered. She died of a brain tumor in 1872.

After the death of Napoleon II, there were rumors of an affair between the two, although the rumours were never proven. However, it is certain that they were very good friends and that his death affected her very much. She is said to have turned into the cold, ambitious woman described in fiction after he died. Her second son, Maximilian I of Mexico is even rumoured to have been fathered by Napoleon.