ARCHDUCHESS MARIA ANNA OF AUSTRIA’S TIARA

ARCHDUCHESS MARIA ANNA OF AUSTRIA’S T IARA

Meet Maria Anna, the Austrian

archduchess who got to wear Marie

Antoinette’s jewels...and had one hell

of a collection of her own.

FILE UNDER: TIARAS

W ANT ME TO READ THIS POST TO YOU?

CONTENTS: Meet the Parents | Growing Up Royal |

Put a Ring On It | Married Life | The War to End all

Wars | Post-War Drift | Who Inherited This Tiara?

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G I R L I N T H E T I A R A . C O M | A R C H D U C H E S S M A R I A A N N A O F A U S T R I A ’ S T I A R A

N NOVEMB ER 13 , 2018, SOTHEB Y’S

auctioned off over 100 jewels from the Bourbon-

Parma family. One diamond tiara had been a wedding

present from Emperor Franz Josef of Austria to his great-

niece, Archduchess Maria Anna. It sold for 250,000 CHF

to a buyer who was not me.

The star of the show that night was Marie Antoinette’s

pearl and diamond pendant, which sold for a mind-

boggling 36,427,000 CHF. But I found myself

wondering more about Maria Anna. Who was she? Why

hadn’t I seen any pictures of her if she had such a

fantastic jewel collection at her disposal?

So I did what any self-respecting royal researcher would

do. I told everyone else to get lost until I had an answer.

THE T IARA

MARIA ANNA’S TIARA W AS CREATED by

Köchert, the Austrian court jeweler, around 1900.

Emperor Franz Josef gave it to her when she married

Prince Elias of Bourbon-Parma.

It’s kind of a weird looking tiara, to be honest:

O


I M A G E : S O T H E B Y ’ S . C O L O R E D B A C K G R O U N D : Y O U R S T R U L Y .

According to the auction catalog, these are circular-cut

diamonds pave- and collet-set into a foliate scroll

setting. The central cluster and side motifs are

detachable, in case you’re too busy to do your hair but

still want to rock an assload of diamonds. Snap those

puppies off, pin ‘em to a lapel, and you’re good to go.

In her jewel ledger, Maria Anna called it “a small

diamond tiara or bandeau” (Sothebys.com). Even she

didn’t know what to make of it, apparently.

This tiara appears in an extremely rare book of Köchert

jewelry designs. This design is dated 1901, with a note

that it was made for Franz Josef. But Maria Anna and

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/royal-jewels-bourbon-parma-family-ge1809/lot.76.html


Elias didn’t get engaged until 1902, so we know this

tiara definitely wasn’t designed for Maria Anna. We

don’t know if it was made as soon as it was designed, or

if the drawing sat around until Franz Josef (or, let’s be

real, someone on his staff) picked it out for Maria Anna.

If you want a copy of that Köchert book, be prepared to

cash in some stock options. They only printed 150

copies, and the one on eBay will set you back $4,800

plus $20 for shipping. (Side note: You can’t get free

shipping on a book that costs almost five grand?

Seriously?) Before you sell a vital organ, there are

copies in the Getty Research Institute, the Library of

Congress…and, of all places, the Cleveland public

library.

You’re welcome.

MEET MARIA ANNA

NOW THAT YOU’VE SEEN THE tiara, let’s see

what we can dig up about its owner.


Maria Anna was born on January 6, 1882 in Linz, a city

in northern Austria. The astronomer Johannes Kepler had

once been a teacher there, and a few hundred years later,

Adolph Hitler would spend his childhood here. He liked

the place so much he later decided to build his

Führermuseum there. Eww.

Mom and Dad had been crossing their fingers for a boy,

but Maria Anna joined her older sister Maria Christina in

the nursery while her parents went back to the baby-


making drawing board…er, bed. Let’s meet them, shall

we?

MEET THE PARENTS

MARIA ANNA’S D AD , ARCHD UKE Friedrich,

was the heir to the duchy of Teschen and a crap-ton of

property in Hungary. Never heard of the duchy of

Teschen? That’s okay; I hadn’t either. It was a Habsburg

possession in Eastern Europe. Today, the city of Cieszyn

(Teschen) straddles the borders of modern-day Poland

and the Czech Republic.

M A P G E N E R A T E D V I A M A P S . W I K I M E D I A . O R G . L A B E L S & C O O L S H A D I N G B Y Y O U R S T R U L Y .

Friedrich’s Uncle Albrecht, the duke of Teschen, had no

sons to inherit his lands and properties. Friedrich knew


an opportunity when he saw one. His own father had

died relatively young at the age of 56 in 1874, so he

dropped a massive hint that Albrecht should adopt him

and make him his heir. Albrecht agreed. In an instant,

Friedrich stood poised to inherit a fortune that would

make him richer than the emperor. Nice work if you can

get it, right?

But this dude wasn’t all work and no play. It goes

without saying that every Austrian archduke joined the


army. But his parents had also insisted he take up a

trade, so he learned carpentry. In his spare time, he

played five instruments and wrote love songs. With those

mutton chops, it’s like he’s a ready-made hipster, if

hipsters owned, like, half of Hungary.

C R OŸ M E A R I V E R

In 1878, Friedrich went to Belgium to visit his cousin,

the queen. There, he met Princess Isabella of Croÿ-

Dulmen. According to the Marquise de Fontenoy, he fell

in love so fast he proposed just a few days after meeting

her. Most accounts describe theirs as a true love match.

Later, however, in a New York Times article, Frederick

Cunliffe-Owen (the Marquise de Fontenoy’s husband)

would call Isabella “the most designing young woman at

King Leopold’s Court” (3 January 1926).


I M A G E B Y F R I T Z L U C K H A R D T , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

Whether Isabella set out to seduce Friedrich or not, the

point is that it happened. And once it did, she knew she

was Samantha Baker getting noticed by Jake Ryan.

There was just one problem.

The Croÿs were noble but not royal. Oh, they’d tell you

they were descended from a handful of medieval kings

and saints, but as Janet Jackson said, “What have you


done for me lately?”

This was a HUGE DEALBREAKER for the Habsburgs,

who routinely married cousins because no one with a

different last name could measure up. Brides had to be

royal, period, no exceptions, final sale, no refund.

But Friedrich had an ace up his sleeve. He called his

fairy godfather, Uncle Albrecht, who convinced Emperor

Franz Josef to unclench for, like, five seconds. Long

story short, Friedrich got his way. In 1878, he married

Isabella in the Croÿ family’s Chateau de l’Hermitage,

shown below.

Oh, they’d tell you they were

descended from a handful of

medieval kings and saints, but as

Janet Jackson said, “What have you

done for me lately? ”


I M A G E B Y J É R É M Y J Ä N N I C K , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

This marriage did not go over well with the rest of the

Austrian royal family. They hated the fact that Isabella—

a freaking nobody—was now one of the highest-ranking

women in the empire. So they talked smack and dissed

her in public every chance they got.

It was a humiliation Isabella absorbed to the very

marrow of her bones. Before long, she channeled Dee

Snider and decided she wasn’t gonna take it anymore.

When Friedrich’s military command took him to

Pressburg (now Bratislava), Isabella flipped Vienna the

bird. The couple rented Grassalkovich Palace and never

looked back. Pressburg would remain their primary


residence until 1905. Today, that palace is where the

president of Slovakia throws all his shindigs.

I M A G E B Y F O R T E P A N / B U D A P E S T F O V Á R O S L E V É L T Á R A , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

GROWING UP ROYAL

W HIL E IN P RESSB URG, F RIED RICH ROSE

through the military ranks and Isabella rose through

society’s ranks. She hosted visiting dignitaries, local

nobility, and royals, including Friedrich’s sister Maria

Christina, the queen of Spain.

She also started popping out babies. The first, Maria

Christina, arrived a year after the wedding in1879.

When Maria Anna arrived in 1882, Friedrich and Isabella

were probably a little disappointed, but a second


daughter wasn’t the end of the world.

What probably did feel like the end of the world was the

third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth daughters

that arrived next.

Isabella must have been losing her ever-loving mind. But

she and Friedrich kept calm and got their groove

on…and at age 41, she finally produced their longed-for

son, Albrecht, long after everyone else had given up.

He joined Maria Christina, Maria Anna, Maria Henrietta,

Natalie, Gabriella, Isabella, and Maria Alice. Another

sister, Stephanie, had died at age four in 1890. One year

later, Natalie would die at age 14, leaving Albrecht with

six living sisters. Here they are in 1898:

What probably did feel like the end

of the world was the third, fourth,

fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth

daughters that arrived next.


UNREL ATED NOTE: Look at Maria Anna’s hair

(second from left)…this girl has a head of hair like no

one’s business, perhaps rivaled only by Crown Princess

Cecilie of Prussia. There’ll be more pictures later. Stay

tuned.

Growing up, the girls probably didn’t see their father

very often. Friedrich spent lots of time with the army

instead of with his family. Sources hint this was often by

choice, since Isabella wasn’t the easiest person to get

along with. One lady-in-waiting later described her as


“self righteous” and “not easy to serve” (King &

Woolmans, 41).

I don’t know if the kids noticed how hard their mom was

on everyone, or wondered why their dad was gone so

often.

If they did, they seem to have taken it in stride. They all

looked happy and comfortable in the photos I saw in Ein

Photoalbum aus dem Hause Habsburg. For example,

there’s a picture of a family afternoon in the music room,

with Fred on the drums and Isabella on the zither. They

were outdoors a lot, too, hiking and hunting and boating.

Of course, growing up royal didn’t mean you were

completely sheltered from the outside world. Sometimes,

something so earth-shattering happened that there was no

hiding it, even from kids.

On January 30, 1889, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria,

the heir to the throne, committed suicide after killing his

Did the kids notice how hard their

mom was on everyone, or wonder

why their dad was gone so often?


teenage mistress, Baroness Mary Vetsera, in a suicide

pact.

While the effect on Maria Anna and her family was

minimal at the time, this was one of those “butterfly

effect” moments that would change the course of world

history.

THE SOPHIE CHOTEK SCANDAL

IN 1888, MARIA ANNA’S MOM, Isabella, added

a new lady-in-waiting to her staff: an impoverished

Bohemian aristocrat named Sophie Chotek.

A few years later, when her oldest daughter was just

hitting the marriage market, Isabella decided she wanted

Sophie to help Maria Christina land a husband. And not

just any husband…Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to

the Austrian throne.


I M A G E B Y C A R L P I E T Z N E R , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

Isabella invited the tubercular, mustachioed Franz

Ferdinand to a string of hunting parties at their country

houses, where he was supposed to fall head over heels

for the teenage Maria Christina.

There was just one problem.

Franz Ferdinand fell in love with Sophie instead.


Isabella must have been waiting for the infatuation to

burn itself out, at which point Franz Ferdinand would

realize what a good little empress Maria Christina would

make.

But that’s not what happened—not by a long shot.

One day in 1899, Isabella’s servant handed her some

stuff Franz Ferdinand had left behind after a recent stay.

One of the items was a pocket watch, the kind men often

used to hold pictures of their beloved.

Isabella couldn’t resist.

She opened it, expecting to see her daughter’s face

looking back at her.

Nope.

It was Sophie.

Isabella went into beast mode. All the humiliation she’d

felt as a bride came rushing back to her…except this

time, it was on behalf of her daughter. In her mind,

Maria Christina had been cruelly snubbed by that

dickwad Franz Ferdinand.


Supposedly, she called a staff meeting and ripped into

Sophie in front of everyone. At the end, she pulled a

Donald Trump and told Sophie, “You’re fired.”

But firing Sophie wasn’t enough to make her feel better.

She needed to destroy her. Remember those old cartoons,

where Bugs Bunny gets mad and says, “Of course you

know this means war”?

That’s what happened here.

Franz Ferdinand married Sophie in 1900. For the next

fourteen years, Isabella would do everything in her

power to belittle and ostracize her. For possibly the first

time in her life at court, Isabella was at the cool kids’

table, joining with the other archduchesses in tormenting

the new arrival.

Isabella went into beast mode. All

the humiliation she’d felt as a bride

came rushing back to her…except

this time, it was on behalf of her

daughter.


I M A G E B Y U N K N O W N P H O T O G R A P H E R , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

Maria Anna was sixteen when the scandal broke. She

must have known what was happening, especially since

it involved her own sister. I leave it to you to decide

what effect that would have on a teenager.


THE HOFBALL : IMPER IAL V IENNA ’S BFD

ON JANUARY 6, 1900, MARIA ANNA turned

eighteen, the traditional age for girls to “come out” into

society.

I M A G E B Y U N K N O W N P H O T O G R A P H E R , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

She made her debut at the yearly court ball (hofball), the


first since Empress Elisabeth had been assassinated in

1898. When you debuted, you were presented to the

empress (or, if she was assassinated, the senior ranking

woman of the family), after which you could mix and

mingle in polite society. It’s like the debutante ball in

Gossip Girl times a thousand.

That year, there were three very important debutantes:

Elisabeth (the dead Rudolph’s daughter), Margaret (the

Duke of Tuscany’s daughter), and Maria Anna.

Unlike other balls, the hofball included people who

weren’t royal (gasp). Invitations went out to diplomats,

nobles, churchmen, politicians, and soldiers of the

Vienna garrison. As a non-royal, it was your one shot to

give your friends the vapors by telling them you’d love

to Netflix and chill, but you had to swing by the Hofburg

first.


That night, Maria Anna and 2,000 other party guests

descended on the palace’s great ballroom, the

Redoutensaal. It had been retrofitted for electric lights,

illuminating the giant mirrors that ran the length of the

ballroom. Today, this room holds 750 people, so I’m

guessing that with 2,000, you were basically in a fancy

mosh pit sans deodorant.

As a non-royal, it was your one shot

to give your friends the vapors by

telling them you’d love to Netflix

and chill, but you had to swing by

the Hofburg first.

https://www.hofburg.com/en/rooms/mezzanine/hofburg_redoutensaele/grosser_redoutensaal


T H E R E D O U T E N S A A L . I M A G E B Y W I E N E R H O F B U R G O R C H E S T R A , C C B Y - S A 3 . 0 V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

Here’s how it worked.

The doors opened at 8pm for the non-royal guests, who

mingled freely until the imperial family arrived. Maria

Anna and her parents waited with the rest of the imperial

family in an antechamber until the Grand Master of the

Court (Obersthofmeister) told the emperor that everyone

had arrived. Then the family lined up in order of

precedence and said a few words of welcome to the

gathered diplomatic corps—this chitchat took about an

hour.

At 9:30 pm sharp, Grand Master Flash (I’m calling him

that and you can’t stop me) led the royals into the

ballroom. Again, they marched two by two, in order of

precedence. On this night, Emperor Franz Josef escorted

the Duchess of Cumberland (Thyra, sister of Russian

empress Maria Feodorovna and Britain’s Queen

Alexandra).

Once the royal procession was over, musicians began to

play. You were meant to dance, but it was hard to bust a

move without bumping into anyone. If you were a

cardinal or a diplomat, you might skip the dancing and

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wiener_Hofburg_Orchester_Hofburg_Redoutensaal1.jpg


head straight for the emperor to say hi or try to ask for a

favor.

“ H O F B A L L I N W I E N ” B Y W I L H E L M G A U S E , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

All the young ladies coming out were presented to the

senior ranking archduchess, Maria Josepha, who sat on a

red satin sofa surrounded by palm trees.

Some of those lucky ladies scored an invite to take tea

with Maria Josepha, while the others were free to dance

or nosh at the buffet.

Oh, yes, there was a buffet, set up for your snacking

pleasure from 10 pm to midnight. If you weren’t hungry


and could find the space, you kept on dancing—

Archduchess Elisabeth danced for three hours that night.

But, as the poet said, nothing gold can stay.

At midnight, most of the imperial family left, which was

the signal for everyone else to start wrapping things up.

By 1 am, the party was over and your carriage turned

into a pumpkin again.

Everything from the dancing to the food to the

conversation was beautiful and delicate and gentle,

choreographed within an inch of its life. Such was the

glory and the paralysis of imperial Vienna.

ALL THE S INGLE LADIES

F OR MARIA ANNA AND THE other debutantes,

the hofball presented a bit of a problem. It’s hard to

move, let alone flirt, when you’re surrounded by 2,000

other people. That’s why there was a second shindig at

By 1 am, the party was over and your

carriage turned into a pumpkin

again.


the Hofburg in February, called the ball at court (not to

be confused with the court ball).

This time, the guest list was limited to royalty and

nobility…just you and 700 of your closest friends,

dancing in the Knights Hall (Rittersaal), with a sit-down

dinner instead of a buffet.

Maria Anna was there, as were all the single

archduchesses over age 18. Why? Because there was a

very special guest, one reportedly looking for a wife:

Prince Max of Baden. Dude was bae all day—handsome,

smart, and connected, thanks to his Russian

grandmother, the daughter of a tsar.

https://www.hofburg.com/en/rooms/mezzanine/hofburg_festsaele/rittersaal


I M A G E B Y V O I G T T H , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

But Maria Anna’s dance card didn’t include Max, it

seems. She waltzed with Count Hans Larisch and Count

Alfons Boor, danced a bolsa with Count Moriz

Rumersfirch, and danced the quadrille with Prince

August Lobkowicz; she was also seen chatting with

Prince Alois Liechtenstein.

Five bucks says Isabella was watching her daughter’s


every move, waiting for one of these guys to hold her

hand just a little too long...a sign, any sign, that Maria

Anna had already landed a potential suitor.

It didn’t happen.

But there were more plenty more parties, balls, soirees,

and special dinners for the imperial family on the

schedule. Maria Anna attended them for two and a half

years before we get even a hint of a relationship

developing.

In the fall of 1901, big sister Maria Christina got

engaged to Prince Emanuel of Salm-Salm. A British

newspaper said it was a love match – the “bride is one of

the best known and most popular of the Austrian Grand

Duchesses” (Dundee Evening Post, 6 Nov 1901). I hope

that’s actually true. It makes me happy, especially after

all the fuss Isabella caused over Franz Ferdinand.


M A R I A C H R I S T I N A B Y W I L H E L M F Ö R S T E R , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

PUT A R ING ON IT

IN JUNE OF 1902, ISAB EL L A took Maria Anna

and Albrecht to Carlsbad for some R&R. Carlsbad was a

popular hangout spot for royalty traveling incognito. It

was a spa town, so you went there to relax, take the

waters, socialize, and generally de-stress from your high

society life.

It’s possible Maria Anna met someone there, because

that August, a headline broke in two different Austrian

newspapers: Archduchess Maria Anna was engaged.

The lucky groom? Dom Pedro d’Alcântara, Prince of


Grão Pará.

I M A G E B Y M A R I A N O P R O C Ó P I O , J U I Z D E F O R A , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S

If you’re scratching your head and going “Who?”, you’re

not alone. I’d never heard of him either.

Here’s the deal: Pedro’s grandfather was the exiled king

of Portugal, Dom Pedro II. Young Pedro grew up in

France, and was a lieutenant colonel in the Austrian

army. Interestingly, it seems he had a condition much

like Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II—his left shoulder

muscles had been damaged during birth, and despite lots


of medical treatments, his left hand and arm were much

weaker than his right.

But you don’t need to remember any of that because

there was no wedding.

Maybe this was fake news, made up by a reporter on

deadline. It’s also possible there was an engagement that

fell apart. All I can offer is one small clue: Pedro had

already met the woman he would later marry, a

Bohemian countess named Elisabeth Dobrzensky de

Dobrzenicz (below). Maybe they were on a break?

U N K N O W N P H O T O G R A P H E R , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

It doesn’t look like Maria Anna lost any sleep over it.


Three months later, she was engaged—for real, this time.

That November, Friedrich and Isabella hosted a hunt in

Klausenburg (Cluj-Napoca), the capital of Austro-

Hungarian Transylvania. One of the guests was Prince

Elias of Bourbon-Parma, a lieutenant in the 7th Regiment

of Austrian Dragoons.

By the end of the month, he’d proposed to Maria Anna

and she’d said yes. What did they bond over? I wish I


knew. Maria Anna seems to have loved horses—later,

society journals document her attendance at numerous

derbies and show-riding competitions. Also based on

later events, Elias seems to have loved cars and hunting.

Maybe they connected over a love of animals, the

outdoors, or the shared experiences of growing up in a

large family.

In any case, Elias met Franz Josef in a special audience

in early December to ask the emperor’s permission to

marry Maria Anna; it was granted. With that formality

out of the way, the news went public the next day.

Later that December, there was an official engagement

ceremony in Pressburg, and a dinner at Elias’s parents’

home, Schwarzau Castle, in Lower Austria.

On January 6, the mayor of Pressburg led a deputation to

the palace to offer their congratulations and serenade

Maria Anna with a military band. I find this unbelievably

charming.

MEET EL IAS

L ET’S TAKE A QUICK STEP backward to meet

Elias and his family. After all, they’re the ones who


inherited Marie Antoinette’s jewels that Maria Anna

would get to wear after the wedding. Plus, some crazy

stuff went down in this family that you’re not gonna

believe.

But first things first.

Prince Elias was born on July 23, 1880. His father was

Duke Robert of Parma, who’d been deposed during the

unification of Italy. Robert never lost hope that one day,

unified Italy and the house of Savoy would fall and he’d

be invited back to rule Parma. It didn’t happen. In the

meantime, he raised his family at Schwarzau Castle in

Austria, with summers spent at the Villa Pianore in Italy.

Elias’s mom was Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon Two-

Sicilies. Here is an absolutely adorable picture of the two

of them:



Now, despite being deposed, Robert left Parma with a

crap-ton of wealth in the form of art, jewels, and

properties. Where’d he get it all? Short version: the

French royal family (his mom was King Charles X’s

granddaughter).

Elias’s mom had a total of 12 kids, but she died giving

birth to the last one. Not all of them survived, but of the


ones who did, six (her two oldest sons and four of the

daughters) were mentally handicapped. This was likely

the result of generations of royal inbreeding. Maria Pia’s

family tree didn’t have nearly enough forks; cousins

married cousins and uncles married nieces on the

regular.

Two years later, Duke Robert married again—this time,

to Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal, who also gave him

12 kids. Are you doing the math here? THIS DUDE

HAD 24 KIDS. Here’s a family portrait with 18 of them

from 1906:

Maria Pia’s family tree didn’t have

nearly enough forks; cousins

married cousins and uncles married

nieces on the regular.


We don’t know what Maria Anna and her parents knew

about genetics, or if they stopped to think about why so

many of Elias’s siblings were handicapped. If they

suspected, it didn’t stop her from accepting his proposal.

Elias and Maria Anna picked a classic date for their

wedding: May 25, 1903. Earlier that month, Franz Josef

had delivered her present, this tiara, in person at the

Palais Albrecht, her parents’ Vienna home.


MY B IG FAT HABSBURG WEDDING

THE VIENNESE COURT W AS KNOW N for its

protocol, and an archduchess’s wedding was no

exception. Maria Anna couldn’t elope to Vegas, like I

did. Nope. You had to get through an exhausting

weekend full of ceremonies and parties.

Here’s what had to happen before Maria Anna could call

herself Mrs. Elias of Bourbon-Parma.

SAT U R D AY

That morning, Maria Anna had to formally renounce her

claim to the throne. Every archduchess had to do it, and

for whatever reason, they usually wore pink. By noon,

the boring ceremony was over and it was time to party.

That night, there was a soirée for 600 people in the

Hofburg’s Ceremonial Hall (Zeremoniensaal), shown

below.

https://www.hofburg.com/jart/prj3/hofburg/main.jart?content-id=1380097681223&rel=en


I M A G E B Y A R T Ú R L A J O S H A L M I , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

S U N D AY

On Sunday night, there was a smaller dinner for the

imperial family at 6 pm, where Maria Anna sat in the

place of honor on Franz Josef’s right. If there were

bachelor and bachelorette parties later that night, the

Austrian newspapers tactfully refrained from mentioning

them.

M O N D AY

Just like a hofball, a royal wedding required the imperial

family to line up in order of rank and walk together to

the Hofburg’s Pfarrkirche. Family members arrived


between 11:00 am and 2 pm, when the procession began

its march. A cardinal met the emperor and the bridal

couple, escorting them to the altar. Here’s what it looks

like today:


I M A G E B Y D E N N I S J A R V I S F R O M H A L I F A X , C A N A D A , C C B Y - S A 2 . 0 V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

The cardinal made a speech, blessed the rings, and read


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Austria-02876_-_Augustinian_Church_(32117815293).jpg


the vows. After Elias and Maria Anna exchanged rings,

there was a Te Deum. Then, the imperial family left the

church and headed for the Alexander Apartments, where

Franz Josef greeted the newly married couple.

“Hope yours turns out better than mine,” he said.

Just kidding. He probably didn’t say that, but I bet he

was thinking it.

MARRIED L IFE

SO W HAT’S IT L IKE when you come from a rich

non-reigning family and marry into a rich non-reigning

family? In a nutshell, you have no work, little

responsibility, and you can buy anything you want.

“Hope your marriage turns out

better than mine,” Franz Josef said.

Just kidding. He didn’t say that, but I

bet he was thinking it.


U N K N O W N P H O T O G R P A H E R , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

Despite giving up her claim to the throne, Maria Anna

was still a member of the imperial family, and her name

shows up in the lists of attendees for various state

occasions, balls, and gala dinners at the Hofburg right up

until the end of World War I. For example, she met the

future King George V and Queen Mary of Great Britain

in 1904 on their state visit to Austria.


There was a never-ending whirl of family events like

weddings, funerals, christenings, and vacations to Ischl,

in addition to society events like art exhibitions, fashion

shows, horse races, and military ceremonies. By the way,

if you’re wondering what she and Elias gave his half-

sister Zita when she married Archduke Karl, it was a

table centerpiece and two silver candelabra. Yeah, I go

looking for details like that because I’m nosy.

In 1905, Maria Anna’s family moved from Pressburg to

Vienna when her dad took over the job of Inspector

General of the army. They moved into the sumptuous

Albrecht Palace, where Maria Anna and Elias were

frequent visitors.

If you’re wondering what Maria

Anna and Elias gave his half-sister

Zita when she married Archduke

Karl, it was a table centerpiece and

two silver candelabra.


I M A G E B Y J O S E F L Ö W Y , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

In 1906, Elias and Maria Anna took a little time to

travel. They showed up in Egypt, traveling from Cairo to

Khartoum, where they went to a garden party thrown by

Sir Reginald and Lady Wingate.

In 1907, Elias’s father, Robert of Parma, died. He left

Elias half of his estate, with the other half in trust for the

remaining 17 kids. Elias also became his handicapped

siblings’ legal guardian.

It’s hard to overstate how huge this inheritance was. A


British newspaper estimated Robert’s fortune at

£8,000,000 (Daily Telegraph & Courier, 18 Nov 1907).

In today’s money, that would be north of $1 billion. Part

of that inheritance included Marie Antoinette’s jewels.

Maria Anna created an inventory with notes and pictures,

which she later updated in 1932.

Less than four months later, his stepmom petitioned the

Austrian court to declare Elias’s six full siblings

mentally incompetent. This cleared the way for Elias to

take possession of the fortune and begin distributing it

(or not) as he saw fit. Unfortunately, this really pissed

off some of his half-siblings.

It’s not hard to see why, when the inheritance at stake

included the amazing Chateau de Chambord in France.

It’s hard to overstate how huge this

inheritance was. A British

newspaper estimated Duke Robert’s

fortune at £8,000,000. In today’s

money, that would be north of $1

billion.


Put a pin in this issue; we’ll come back to it later.

FAMILY T IES

MARIA ANNA AND EL IAS HAD N’T just been

traveling and partying in the decade since their marriage.

They’d also been raising a family.

Their first daughter, Elisabetta, was born in 1904. A boy,

Carlo, was born in 1905. Maria Francesca followed in

1906, Robert in 1909, and Francesco in 1913. Three


more kids would follow, Giovanna in 1916, Alice in

1917, and Maria Christina in 1925. Here’s Maria Anna

with her oldest, Elisabetta. LOOK AT THAT HEAD OF

HAIR, YOU GUYS. I can’t even.


M A R I A A N N A W I T H E L I S A B E T T A . I M A G E F R O M G R A N D L A D I E S S I T E , R E C O L O R E D I N P H O T O S H O P .

But in 1912, Maria Anna’s firstborn son, seven-year-old

Carlo, died of meningitis. It was the beginning of a run

of crap luck for this family and, oh, the entire freaking

world.

There were signs that all was not well.

Signs the whole world should have seen, like the dick-

swinging dreadnoughts Germany and Britain launched

with frat-boy swagger. Like the tangled web of European

foreign alliances that created a virtual Rube Goldberg

device guaranteed to trip the panic switch if anything

upset their delicate balance.

And more obvious signs, like a medium telling you,

“Hey, morons, wake up—shit’s about to hit the fan.”

That’s what happened in 1912, if you believe a write-up

in the Neue Freie Presse published twenty years after the

fact (15 May 1932).

According to the story, Maria Anna’s mom, Isabella, had

invited Countess Bianca Beck-Rzikowsky to her Vienna

salon and asked her to give a few predictions for the

future. The countess, who hadn’t yet rebranded herself as

http://www.gogmsite.net/THE-BELLE-EPOQUE-1890-1914/SUBALBUM-MARIA-ANNA-OF/MARIA-ANNA-DUCHESSE-DE.HTML

http://www.gogmsite.net/THE-BELLE-EPOQUE-1890-1914/SUBALBUM-MARIA-ANNA-OF/MARIA-ANNA-DUCHESSE-DE.HTML


Madame Sylvia, went into a trance. Then, she said

something along the lines of, “I understand your feelings

about Franz Ferdinand and his wife, but you should be

nicer to them because in two years, they’ll be dead.”

Someone asked how they would die. The countess

replied, “By the same bullet.” She prophesied that “a

huge red patch” would spread over Europe as a result of

the event…but that it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

That wouldn’t happen until later, she said, in another

disastrous global war.

DARK CLOUDS

MARIA ANNA AND HER F AMIL Y were busy

The countess went into a trance.

Then she said something along the

lines of, “ I understand your feelings

about Franz Ferdinand and his wife,

but you should be nicer to them

because in two years, they’ll be

dead.”


during the spring and summer of 1914.

In April, Maria Anna and Elias took their last trip to the

Chateau de Chambord. At a party where they entertained

friends and local nobility, neither the hosts nor the

guests suspected they would soon be enemies.

By early June, they were back in Vienna. Maria Anna

attended the annual derby and show-jumping

competition, sitting in the imperial box along with her

mom, dad, two sisters…and Franz Ferdinand and Sophie.

No one knew it was probably the last time they would all

be seen together.

On June 28, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife,

Sophie, were assassinated in Sarajevo, sparking the

ultimatum that led to declarations of war between

Austria-Hungary, Serbia, Germany, Great Britain,

France, and Russia. Here they are, walking to their car in

Sarajevo, about five minutes before the assassination:


B E T T M A N N / C O R B I S , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

The assassination changed everything. Elias’s half-sister,

Zita, would now be the next empress of Austria. Her

husband, Archduke Karl, replaced Franz Ferdinand as

heir to the throne. You’d think this would mean smooth

sailing for Maria Anna and her family, right? Nope, not

so much. Isabella and Friedrich didn’t get along with

Karl and Zita any better than they had with Franz

Ferdinand and Sophie. Plus, Zita’s full brothers were

still pissed at Elias for bogarting the Parma inheritance.

The stage was set for war…and a family drama of

continental proportions.


EVENT HORIZON

W HEN W AR W AS D ECL ARED , EMP EROR

Franz Josef was too old to lead the army himself, so he

put Maria Anna’s dad, Friedrich, in nominal charge as

commander-in-chief in the east.

But Friedrich wasn’t the right guy for the job.

According to the army’s head press honcho Edmund

Glaise-Horstenau, Friedrich took orders by phone from

Isabella on everything, including which uniform to wear

(336). Some even called Isabella “the real field marshal”

(Herwig, 203). Here’s Friedrich with his good buddy,

Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1915:


B A I N N E W S S E R V I C E , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

It wasn’t just the officers who mocked him. Friedrich’s

soldiers nicknamed him “Archduke Bumbsti,” which

roughly translates to Archduke Kaboom

(Habsburger.net).

http://ww1.habsburger.net/de/kapitel/erzherzog-bumbsti


That’s what he said when they showed him a film of a

30.5cm mortar exploding. Kaboom. Not, “Hey this is a

pretty cool weapon, let’s think about how to use this,” or

“Mother of God, we’re going to blow ourselves to bits

and lose all essence of humanity.” Just…kaboom.

The war went badly for Austria from the get-go.

No one had expected the Russians to pose a real threat,

but that’s exactly what happened. After heavy early

losses, Friedrich and General Conrad withdrew their

headquarters behind the front, to Friedrich’s palace in

Teschen (Cieszyn). There it stayed until 1916.

On the home front, not much changed for our royal

women. There were still society events to

attend…although these took on a decidedly patriotic

flavor. In early 1915, Maria Anna went to a lecture on

It wasn’t just the officers who

mocked him. Friedrich’s soldiers

nicknamed him “Archduke

Bumbsti,” which roughly translates

to Archduke Kaboom.


“The Wife as Nurse.” That November, she went to the

second concert of the brand-new Budapest Philharmonic.

Outside the palace, however, there were rumors about

Maria Anna’s dad. Despite inflation that ran to 100% by

1915 and another 50% by 1916, Archduke Friedrich was

making more money than he had before the war, thanks

to his contracts for food, supplies, and ammo (Herwig,

225). Later, Cunliffe-Owen would describe him as “one

of the most successful and greedy profiteers of the great

war” (New York Times, 3 Jan 1926).

Ouch.

We don’t know what Maria Anna felt about her father’s

role in the war, or his image as a profiteer.

A HOUSE D IV IDED

W ORL D W AR I CAUSED A big problem for Elias

Later, the New York Times would

describe Maria Anna’s father as “one

of the most successful and greedy

profiteers of the great war.”


and his siblings. Elias and his half-brothers Rene and

Felix were in the Austrian army; his half-sister Zita was

married to the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Karl

(show below). Clearly, they were on Team Central

Powers, with Germany and the Ottoman Empire.


But Elias’s full sister Beatrice and half-brother Louis


were married to Italians. Plus, his half-brothers Sixtus

and Xavier had married Frenchwomen, and enlisted in

the Belgian army. Both the Italians and Belgians fought

for Team Allied Powers, with the French, British, and

Russians.

This was not going to end well.

In Austria, Elias requested not to be sent to France,

where he might end up facing one of his half-siblings

across the battlefield. Army bigwigs approved his

request and he fought in Serbia and Romania instead.

But his position in the Austrian army cost him, big time.

In 1915, the French government requisitioned the

Chateau de Chambord.

To them, it was inconceivable that a national historic

landmark like Chambord should belong to someone

fighting for the enemy. So they made like the otter in

But his position in the Austrian army

cost him, big time. In 1915, the

French government requisitioned

the Chateau de Chambord.


that meme. “I need dis,” they said, and took it.

THE WAR TO END ALL WARS

ON JUNE 4 , 1916, MARIA Anna’s father Friedrich

celebrated his birthday with a gala dinner at army

headquarters. Isabella had come for the occasion, too.

That’s when Conrad got the terrible news: the soldiers of

the Brusilov offensive had overrun the Austrian Fourth

Army.

“Minor setback,” he said. “Party on, Wayne.”

But it wasn’t a minor setback.

It was the death knell of the imperial Austrian army.

F R I E D R I C H & C O N R A D A T H E A D Q U A R T E R S . B A I N N E W S S E R V I C E , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

As Austrian losses mounted, Germany began to pay


closer attention to its bumbling ally. Conrad chafed

under German oversight. So did Franz Josef, but he

could read the writing on the wall: “How on earth can we

pursue even a tolerable foreign policy when we fight so

badly?” he said (Herwig, 107).

Then, that November, Emperor Franz Josef died at the

age of 86.

Maria Anna’s cousin Karl was the new emperor. This

spelled trouble because Karl was no fan of Friedrich or

Isabella (he called her “the beast”) (Herwig, 226-7).

One of the first things he did was demote Friedrich and

move army headquarters out of Teschen. That must have

made the next family gathering, the coronation, a teensy

bit awkward. Here’s Maria Anna in court dress, similar

to what she would have worn to the coronation in 1917:


I M A G E F R O M G R A N D L A D I E S S I T E , R E C O L O R E D I N P H O T O S H O P .

It didn’t matter how good Karl’s intentions were.

Nothing he could do could save the empire. When the

Entente powers finally defeated Austria-Hungary and

Germany, revolutions toppled both monarchies.


Friedrich and Isabella were stripped of their titles and

lost their Austrian properties—gone was the beautiful

Palais Albrecht, with the attached Albertina museum and

its priceless art collection. All in all, Friedrich’s

sequestered property was estimated to be worth $200 -

$400 million (New York Times, 31 Dec 1936).

Friedrich and Isabella hitailed it to Lucerne, Switzerland.

My guess is they wanted to put some distance between

themselves and the new Austrian government…you

know, in case things went sideways like they had in

Russia, where the Bolsheviks were killing Romanovs

right and left.

My guess is they wanted to put

some distance between themselves

and the new Austrian

government…in case things went

sideways like they had in Russia,

where the Bolsheviks were killing

Romanovs right and left.


You know who joined them there? Maria Anna’s oldest

sister, Maria Christina. Her husband, the prince of Salm-

Salm, had been killed at the Battle of Pinsk in 1916.

In 1921, when it was safe, Friedrich and Isabella

resettled at Féltorony castle in Hungary with their two

daughters still living at home, Gabriella and Maria Alice.

Because Maria Anna was married and no longer

considered a Habsburg, she didn’t have to give up her

personal possessions in Austria. Elias had fought

honorably in the Austrian army, earning a promotion to

Colonel along with four decorations, so he was safe, too.

Aside from short stays in Paris, they remained residents

of Austria.

EL IAS ’S FAMILY POST-WAR

W HEN W E L AST L EF T THE beautiful Chateau de

Chambord, it had been seized by the French government.

Elias protested, as did his half-brothers Sixtus and

Xavier. Their tug-of-war started a years-long legal battle

in France.


In 1920, Elias hit upon a solution…or thought he did. He

called up King Alfonso XIII of Spain and said he needed

to prove he wasn’t Austrian. “I got this,” said Alfonso,

who granted him Spanish nationality on April 18, 1920.

“Ha!” Elias said to the French government. “I told you I

wasn’t Austrian.”

But the French legal courts were like, dude, you can’t

use your friends as job references.


So the case dragged on.

Finally, the Orleans Court of Appeals put an end to the

siblings’ bickering. They ruled that Elias had been the

rightful owner, which also meant the government seizure

had been valid and lawful. As the rightful owner, he now

had a decision to make: take back the chateau, or leave it

with the French government and ask for compensation.

Elias asked for the money.

The French government wanted Chambord so badly they

agreed to pay him 11 million francs. As a result, since

April 13, 1930, the chateau has belonged to France

(Pelluard, 61).

As the rightful owner, he now had a

decision to make: take back the

chateau, or leave it with the French

government and ask for

compensation.


EL IAS & MARIA ANNA POST-WAR

THERE AREN’T A L OT OF headlines about these

two post-war. Apparently, people had bigger concerns

than writing about former archduchesses. As a family,

they stuck close to Vienna. That’s where Maria Anna

had her last baby, Maria Christina, at the age of 43 in

1925.

I did find a few interesting stories, however.

T H E G E N T L E M A N B U R G L A R

On January 16, 1922, police arrested a burglar in Paris.

That burglar, Serge de Lenz, claimed to steal only from

the rich. He operated by a strict set of rules: always work

alone, dress the part, don’t call attention to yourself, and

only steal during lunch hour when no one’s paying

attention to you.

His system worked. Until, that is, he failed to recall the

timeless advice of the real Grandmaster Flash (not the

Austrian master of ceremonies): white lines – don’t do it.

According to the French newspaper Le Gauloise, De

Lenz became a coke addict and it made him sloppy.


He got caught on the way out of a robbery when a

bystander asked him an innocent question. He looked so

freaked out that she called the police.

Later, in court, he told the judge an interesting story.

“One time, at band camp,” he said, “I went to Prince

Elias of Bourbon-Parma’s apartment on the Avenue

Bois-de-Boulogne. I only took one tiny thing to remind

me of my visit—a small silver plate with an image of

Franz Josef on it. I could have taken more, but I don’t

roll like that.”

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

FA M I LY L I F E

It looks like Maria Anna and Elias were able to give

their kids the same sort of life Maria Anna had while

growing up – lots of time outdoors, lots of travel and

excursions.

According to the French newspaper

Le Gauloise, De Lenz became a coke

addict and it made him sloppy.


They divided their time between Schloss Schwarzau

(below) and a hunting estate called Glashütte, with

occasional visits to Paris and Maria Anna’s family’s

great hunting estate Bellye (Bilje) in Hungary. Their

daughter Alice’s fondest memories included her time

with Elias, hunting at Glashütte during their long

summers there. She was quite the hunter, bringing home

her first trophy deer in 1929 at age 12 (Cazavision.com).

I M A G E B Y S T E I N D Y , C C B Y - S A 3 . 0 V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

In the 1920s, Maria Anna still made the Austrian society

pages…but now, she wasn’t attending events with her

mom and sisters. She was with her daughters. The events

were also more low-key; there would be no hofball for

https://www.cazavision.com/noticia/caza-mayor/adios-dona-alicia-infanta-cazadora-170329


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schwarzau_am_Steinfeld_-_Castle_(01).jpg


the next generation. Maria Anna and Elias attended

parties at the home of the French ambassador, Count

Clauzel—a soirée in honor of Prince Gustaf Adolf of

Sweden, for example, and a dinner dance in honor of the

Association of Recognized Automobile Clubs.

I M A G E F R O M G R A N D L A D I E S S I T E , R E C O L O R E D I N P H O T O S H O P

AS THE WORLD TURNS

INEVITAB L Y, AS HER KID S GREW up, Maria

Anna’s parents aged and eventually passed away.

Isabella died of pneumonia in Budapest in 1931,


shattered after her only son, Albrecht, made a

morganatic marriage and destroyed her hopes of a

Habsburg restoration in Hungary. All the kids had

obeyed her summons to come see her one last time—

even the disgraced Albrecht (below).

P H O T O H A B S B U R G C O R V I N A - V E R L A G , B U D A P E S T , P U B L I C D O M A I N V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .

Maria Anna’s dad, Friedrich, outlived his wife. He died

in Magyaróvár, Hungary on December 30, 1936 of a

heart attack following a severe flu.


But Friedrich was still alive when his granddaughter,

Alice, had married earlier in the year. She’d grown into

an expert hunter and horsewoman, never happier than

when she was out with her horses and dogs.

On April 16, at age 18, she married Infante Alfonso, the

nephew of the deposed King Alfonso XIII. The wedding

took place in Vienna, at the Church of the Minorites.

Because of Spanish royal etiquette, Alice couldn’t wear

any jewels during the ceremony; she wore a simple long

veil crowned with orange blossoms. The couple settled

in France, but later moved to Switzerland and then Spain

in 1941.

I M A G E B Y M A T T I A S H I L L , C C B Y - S A 4 . 0 V I A W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S .


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minoritenkirche_Vienna.JPG


Alice was Maria Anna’s only child to marry and have

kids of her own. If you find that odd, you’re not alone. I

can’t help but wonder if they saw what had happened to

many of Elias’s half-siblings, and thought, “Nope. Gene

pool needs to be drained.”

Imagine meeting someone, falling in love…and not

being able to marry them because you’ve personally

sworn not to reproduce…and this being before the era of

readily available birth control.

Of course, there’s another perspective I have to mention.

In a 2017 article, Christophe Vachaudez, a royal jewel

historian who knew the family, wrote that five of Maria

Anna’s eight children were “autistic, as one says

euphemistically” (Eventail.be). Unfortunately, I don’t

have any information about what sort of lives they lived

I can’t help but wonder if they saw

what had happened to many of

Elias’s half-siblings, and thought,

“Nope. Gene pool needs to be

drained.”

http://www.eventail.be/passion-plaisir/eutrepreneuriat/2305-disparition-de-la-princesse-alice-de-bourbon-parme


to show how capable (or incapable) they were. We may

never know, and that’s okay.

DEATH

IN 194 0, MARIA ANNA W ENT to Lausanne,

Switzerland for the baptism of Alice’s second daughter,

Inés. She died there suddenly on February 25, at the age

of 58. She was spared the chaos and horror of World

War II.

Elias died in 1959 at the age of 78. Before his death, he

sold Schloss Schwarzau to the Austrian government. It is

now a women’s prison.

Elias and Maria Anna are buried in the crypt of the

chapel near the hunting lodge on the Glashütte estate,

Thalberger Schwaig.

Their only direct descendants are Alice’s children,

grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Alice’s only son,

Carlos, was hand-picked by the Count of Barcelona to

room with his son, the future King Juan Carlos of Spain,

at a special Spanish boarding school created with

Francisco Franco’s approval. Today, Carlos’s son Pedro

(Maria Anna’s great-grandson) manages the family’s


estate, La Toledana.

WHO INHERITED THIS T IARA?

IN THE L ONG RUN, AL ICE . I’m not sure if she

inherited it as soon as Maria Anna died, or if it went to

one of her siblings, whom she then outlived and

inherited it from them in turn.

• Elisabetta died unmarried in 1983.

• Maria Francesca died unmarried in 1994.

• Giovanna was killed in a shooting accident on her

sister Alice’s property in Spain in 1949.

• Maria Christina lived until 2009. She loved opera,

history, and jewels, was friends with the Queen of

Thailand, and never married. Alice’s kids called her

“Aunt Putz.” That is so cute.

In 2017, at age 99, Alice died in Madrid. She was the

last sibling standing, and the only one with kids, so

presumably Maria Anna’s entire jewelry collection had

come to her, one way or another.

After Alice’s death, the family auctioned off many of her

jewels, including this tiara and pieces that had belonged


to Marie Antoinette. Alice had never worn many jewels

– she just wasn’t the type. All her life, she remained a

devoted hunter, preferring her horses and dogs and the

outdoors.

We don’t know who bought this tiara in the 2018 at

auction. Was it you?

The End

LO O S E E N D S & Q U E ST I O N S

• There is so much more information I want to share

about this family, but holy crap, this post is already

over 8,000 words long. Maybe this will become a

short book. I have more to tell you about Isabella,

Maria Anna’s siblings, and the family’s strong

Spanish connection. Another time…

• Nora Fugger’s memoir, The Glory of the

Habsburgs, has a slight twist to the story of

Friedrich and Isabella’s courtship, as well as the

story of how the Franz Ferdinand/Sophie Chotek

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affair was discovered. I didn’t include her

Franz/Sophie story here because it’s the only one

that says the big reveal/firing happened in Abbazia;

the overwhelming majority of sources say it

happened at Isabella’s house. When it comes to

Friedrich and Isabella, she implies they met in

Vienna. How would she know? Because she said

Isabella was a frequent guest at her mom’s house

(her mom married Isabella’s cousin once removed).

Fugger doesn’t come out and say that’s how they

met, just that everybody knew Friedrich was in love

with Isabella. Radziwill noted that Friedrich fell

fast, proposing just days after meeting her.

Cunliffe-Owen wrote that they met in Belgium,

while he was visiting his cousin. Is C-O wrong? Is

Fugger right? If you know, please contact me.

• A portrait of “Archduchess Maria Anna” painted by

Joseph Bernard (real name: Hans Zatska) sold at

auction in 1979. Is this a painting of our Maria

Anna? Are there any photos of it?

• A portrait of Maria Anna and Maria Henriette by

Laszlo appeared in an exhibit in the painter’s studio

in 1905. It’s not currently listed in the catalog


raisonné online, but the Laszlo Foundation is

adding to it all the time. Are there any photos of

this painting?

• Does anyone have any information about Giovanna,

killed in a hunting accident on her sister Alice’s

property in Spain?

S O U R C E S

Newspapers

Daily Telegraph & Courier

Dundee Evening Post

The Freeman’s Journal

Le Gauloise

The New York Times

Neue Frie Presse

The Pall Mall Gazette

The San Francisco Examiner

Sport & Salon

The Washington Post

Wiener Salonblatt

Books & Articles


• The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and

the Murder That Changed the World by Greg King and

Sue Woolmans

• Ein General Im Zwielicht: Die Erinnerungen Edmund

Glaises Von Horstenau by H.E. von Glaise

• Ein Photoalbum Aus Dem Hause Habsburg by

Archduchess Isabella, Vilmos Heiszler, Margit Szakács,

and Károly Vörös

• The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary

1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig

• The Glory of the Habsburgs by Princess Eleonora (Nora)

Fugger

• La famille de Bourbon-Parme Chambord, enjeu d'un

procès de famille by J. Pelluard, accessed via

gallica.bnf.fr

• Prelude to Blitzkrieg: The 1916 Austro-German

Campaign in Romania by Michael B. Barrett

Online Sources

• ABC.es: La Infanta Doña Alicia «era una mujer de

https://amzn.to/2TCD0Mb

https://amzn.to/2TCD0Mb

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?cm_sp=SearchF-_-topnav-_-Results&sts=t&tn=Ein%20General%20im%20Zwielicht

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?cm_sp=SearchF-_-topnav-_-Results&sts=t&tn=Ein%20General%20im%20Zwielicht

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?cm_sp=SearchF-_-topnav-_-Results&sts=t&tn=Ein%20Photoalbum%20Aus%20Dem%20Hause%20Habsburg

https://amzn.to/2F0A6qy

https://amzn.to/2F0A6qy

https://amzn.to/2UbmWk3

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9611701p/f55.image.r=la%20famille%20de%20bourbon-parme%20chambord?rk=21459;2

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9611701p/f55.image.r=la%20famille%20de%20bourbon-parme%20chambord?rk=21459;2

https://amzn.to/2O3Do0c

https://amzn.to/2O3Do0c

https://www.abc.es/estilo/gente/abci-infanta-dona-alicia-mujer-campo-siempre-coqueta-y-puntual-201704010047_noticia.html


campo, siempre coqueta y muy puntual»

• Cazavisión.com: Adiós a Doña Alicia, la Infanta

cazadora

• Dinastias.forogratis.es: Muere doña Alicia de

Borbón, la infanta-decana

• L’Eventail.be: Disparition de la princesse Alice de

Bourbon-Parme

• Habsburger.net

o The Subtle Distinction between a Court Ball

and Ball at Court

o “Erzherzog Bumbsti”

• Hofburg.com:

o Redoutensaal

o Zeremoniensaal

o Rittersaal

• Sothebys.com: Diamond tiara, Köchert, circa 1901

YO U M I G H T A L S O E N J OY

• 5 Types of Kokoshnik Tiaras

https://www.abc.es/estilo/gente/abci-infanta-dona-alicia-mujer-campo-siempre-coqueta-y-puntual-201704010047_noticia.html



http://dinastias.forogratis.es/muere-dona-alicia-de-borbon-la-infanta-decana-t4405-24.html

http://dinastias.forogratis.es/muere-dona-alicia-de-borbon-la-infanta-decana-t4405-24.html



http://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/subtle-distinction-court-ball-and-ball-court

http://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/subtle-distinction-court-ball-and-ball-court

http://ww1.habsburger.net/de/kapitel/erzherzog-bumbsti

https://www.hofburg.com/en/rooms/mezzanine/hofburg_redoutensaele/grosser_redoutensaal

https://www.hofburg.com/jart/prj3/hofburg/main.jart?content-id=1380097681223&rel=en

https://www.hofburg.com/en/rooms/mezzanine/hofburg_festsaele/rittersaal

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/royal-jewels-bourbon-parma-family-ge1809/lot.76.html

https://girlinthetiara.com/5-types-of-kokoshnik-tiaras/


P O ST TA G S

Austria

C R E D I T S

• MUSIC, P OST AUD IO: “Viennese Spirit” by

Johann Strauss, Jr. via Musopen.org.

A F F I L I AT E D I SC L A I M E R

This post contains affiliate links in the Sources section,

which means I may receive a small commission at no

cost to you on any purchase you make through the

Amazon link in this post. Thank you for supporting

TGITT!

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ARCHDUCHESS MARIA ANNA OF AUSTRIA’S TIARA