Duchess Sophie Charlotte Augustine in Bavaria
Encyclopedia
Duchess Sophie Charlotte Augustine in Bavaria (23 February 1847 – 4 May 1897) was a granddaughter-in-law of King Louis-Philippe of France
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...

, the favourite sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and fiancée of King Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes called the Swan King and der Märchenkönig, the Fairy tale King...

..

Biography

Sophie Charlotte was born at the Possenhofen Castle
Possenhofen Castle
Possenhofen Castle is located in the town of Possenhofen on the western shore of Lake Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany.-History:The castle was built in 1536 by Jakob Rosenbusch, was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War, then rebuilt...

, the residence of her paternal family, Dukes in Bavaria. She was a daughter of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria (1808–1888) and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. The ninth of ten children born to her parents, she was known as Sopherl within the family.

She was also a sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Elisabeth of Bavaria
Elisabeth of Austria was the spouse of Franz Joseph I, and therefore both Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. She also held the titles of Queen of Bohemia and Croatia, among others...

 and Queen Maria Sophia of the Two Sicilies. After the marriage of her older sister, Duchess Mathilde Ludovika in Bavaria
Duchess Mathilde Ludovika in Bavaria
Mathilde Ludovika, Duchess in Bavaria was the fourth daughter of Maximilian, Duke in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria...

 to 1861 to the Neapolitan Prince Luis of the Two Sicilies
Prince Louis, Count of Trani
Prince Louis Maria of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Count of Trani was the eldest son of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and his second wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria....

, her parents then looked for a suitable husband for Sophie Charlotte.

She was engaged to her cousin King Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes called the Swan King and der Märchenkönig, the Fairy tale King...

. Their engagement was publicised on 22 January 1867, but after having repeatedly postponed the wedding date, Ludwig finally cancelled it in October. For details of the situation see the article on Edgar Hanfstaengl.

Other proposed husbands included the renowned homosexual Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria
Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria
Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria from the House of Habsburg was the youngest son born to Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and Princess Sophie of Bavaria...

, brother of both Franz Josef I of Austria and Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...

, as well as the future Luís I of Portugal
Luís I of Portugal
|-...

. Another candidate was Duke Philipp of Württemberg
Duke Philipp of Württemberg
Philipp of Württemberg was a duke of Württemberg. He was the son of Alexander of Württemberg and of Marie d'Orléans....

, the first cousin of her eventual husband.

She refused all the candidates. She was sent to stay with her aunt, Amalie Auguste of Bavaria
Amalie Auguste of Bavaria
Amalie Auguste was a Princess of Bavaria and Queen of Saxony.-Biography:Amalie was the fourth child of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his second wife Karoline of Baden. She was the identical twin sister of Elizabeth Louise, later Queen of Prussia as wife of Frederick William IV of Prussia...

, then the Queen of Saxony as wife of John of Saxony. It was in Saxony Sophie Charlotte met Ferdinand d'Orléans (12 July 1844 – 29 June 1910), Duke of Alençon and grandson of the late Louis Philippe I
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...

 (d.1850). Soon after, on 28 September 1868 she married the Duke of Alençon, son of Louis d'Orléans
Louis, Duke of Nemours
Prince Louis of Orléans was the second son of the future King Louis-Philippe I of France, and his wife Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Under the reign of his father from 1830–1848, he was styled as Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours.-Childhood:He was born at the Palais Royal, in Paris...

, at Possenhofen Castle
Possenhofen Castle
Possenhofen Castle is located in the town of Possenhofen on the western shore of Lake Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany.-History:The castle was built in 1536 by Jakob Rosenbusch, was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War, then rebuilt...

 near Starnberg
Starnberg
The city of Starnberg is in Bavaria, Germany, some 30 km south-west of Munich. It lies at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the district of Starnberg...

.

She had a good relationship with her husband as well as with her sister-in-law Marguerite Adélaïde d'Orléans, wife of Władysław Czartoryski.
Her mother in law, Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary, cousin of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

, had died in 1857. Sophie Charlotte did not have an overly good relationship with her father-in-law, the widowed Duke of Nemours
Louis, Duke of Nemours
Prince Louis of Orléans was the second son of the future King Louis-Philippe I of France, and his wife Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Under the reign of his father from 1830–1848, he was styled as Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours.-Childhood:He was born at the Palais Royal, in Paris...

.

The year after their marriage, the ducal couple moved to Teddington
Teddington
Teddington is a suburban area in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London, on the north bank of the River Thames, between Hampton Wick and Twickenham. It stretches inland from the River Thames to Bushy Park...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 England, where Sophie Charlotte gave birth to her first child, Louise d'Orléans, at Bushy House
Bushy House
Bushy House is a former royal residence in Teddington in South West London, on the site of the National Physical Laboratory, overlooking Bushy Park....

.

Sophie died in a fire at the Bazar de la Charité
Bazar de la Charité
The Bazar de la Charité was an annual charity event organized by the French Catholic aristocracy in Paris from 1885 onwards. It is best known for the fire at the 1897 bazaar that claimed 126 lives, many of them aristocratic women, the most notable of whom was Her Royal Highness the Duchess of...

 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 on 4 May 1897. She had refused rescue attempts, insisting that the girls working with her at the bazaar be saved first.

Issue

  • Louise Victoire Marie Amélie Sophie d'Orléans (19 July 1869 – 4 February 1952) married Prince Alfons of Bavaria
    Prince Alfons of Bavaria
    Prince Alfons of Bavaria was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach and a General of Cavalry.-Early life:Alfons was born in Munich, Bavaria...

     (1862–1933) and had issue; (the line ended in dynastical sense in 1990 in male line, with cognatic descendants still present).
  • Philippe Emmanuel Maximilien Marie Eudes d'Orléans, Duke of Vendôme (18 January 1872 – 1 February 1931) married Princess Henriette of Belgium
    Princess Henriette of Belgium
    Princess Henriette of Belgium was the daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen...

     and had issue (the line ended dynastically in 1970 in male line, with cognatic descendants still present).

Ancestry



Titles and styles

  • 23 February 1847 – 28 September 1868 Her Royal Highness Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria
  • 28 September 1868 – 4 May 1897 Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Alençon

See also

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