Marie Henriette of Austria
Encyclopedia
Marie Henriette of Austria (Marie Henriette Anne; 23 August 1836 – 19 September 1902) was the queen consort
of King Leopold II of Belgium
.
Marie Henriette also had two half-siblings from her father's second marriage to Princess Hermine of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym:
of Belgium, the heir to the throne, on 22 August 1853. Leopold was the second-surviving son of Leopold I of Belgium
and his French wife, Louise of Orléans
; Marie Henriette was the sister-in-law of Charlotte of Belgium
, future Empress of Mexico and a cousin by marriage to Victoria of the United Kingdom
and Maria II of Portugal.
The marriage was arranged to strengthen the status of the Belgian Monarchy: as the former Protestant monarch of a newly established monarchy, the Belgian King wished his son to marry a member from a Roman Catholic and prestigious dynasty, and the name Habsburg was one of her more important qualities.
Henriette was a vivid and energetic person interested in riding. Madame de Metternich wrote that theirs was a marriage "between a stable-boy and a nun, and by nun I mean the Duke of Brabant
". Henriette is said to have had a terrible temperament. The marriage became unhappy and the couple lived more or less separate lives. She became Queen in 1865. After the death of their son in 1869, the couple separated completely after having made a last attempt to have another son, which, however, resulted in their daughter Clementine. She gave her daughters a very strict upbringing. Her main interest was in her Hungarian horses. She lived most of her life unhappy and discontent. In 1895 she retreated to Spa
to live out the remainder of her days; her youngest daughter Clementine replaced her as First Lady at the Court in Brussels for the remainder of her husband's life.
Marie Henriette died at the Hôtel du Midi in Spa; she had bought the house 1895 after separating with her husband. She was buried in the Royal Crypt at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken
in Brussels
. Her husband later married (though illegally under Belgian law) his mistress Caroline Delacroix.
She was the 607th Dame
of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa. Marie Henriette also held the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert
.
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Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of King Leopold II of Belgium
Leopold II of Belgium
Leopold II was the second king of the Belgians. Born in Brussels the second son of Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the throne on 17 December 1865 and remained king until his death.Leopold is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free...
.
Family
Marie Henriette was one of five children from the marriage of Joseph, archduke of Austria and palatine of Hungary, and Maria Dorothea of Württemberg. Marie Henriette's was the most important union. Her siblings were:- Franziska Marie Elisabeth, archduchess of Austria (31 July 1820, Buda – 23 August 1820 Buda)
- Alexander, archduke of Austria (6 June 1825, Buda – 12 November 1837, Buda)
- Elisabeth FranziskaArchduchess Elisabeth Franziska of AustriaElisabeth Franziska Maria, Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia ....
, archduchess of Austria (17 January 1831, Ofen, Hungary – 14 February 1903, Vienna, Austria). Elisabeth Franziska first married Ferdinand Karl ViktorArchduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-EsteFerdinand Karl Viktor was Archduke of Austria-Este and Duke of Modena.-Biography:Born in Modena, he was the second son of Francis IV of Modena and his wife Maria Beatrice of Savoy...
, archduke of Austria-EsteAustria-EsteArchduke of Austria-Este and Habsburg-Este are a title and a surname which have been used by several cadet branches of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to denote a connection with the extinct Italian princely and feudal family of Este and the Duchy of Modena ruled by them...
(1821–1849), and later Karl FerdinandArchduke Karl Ferdinand of AustriaArchduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria-Teschen was the second son of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg, and the maternal grandfather of King Alfonso XIII of Spain.A son of the "hero of Aspern" he started a military career in Infantry Regiment 57 in Brno...
, archduke of Austria-Teschen (1818–1874). - Joseph Karl, archduke of Austria (2 March 1833, Preßburg (now BratislavaBratislavaBratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, SlovakiaSlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
) – 13 June 1905, Fiume (now RijekaRijekaRijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
, CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
)
Marie Henriette also had two half-siblings from her father's second marriage to Princess Hermine of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym:
- Hermine Amalie Marie, archduchess of Austria (14 September 1817, Buda – 13 February 1842, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
) - StephenArchduke Stephen, Palatine of HungaryPalatine Stephen of Hungary or Archduke Stephen Francis Victor of Austria was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.-Biography:...
, archduke of Austria and palatine of Hungary (14 September 1817, Buda – 19 February 1867, MentonMentonMenton is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Situated on the French Riviera, along the Franco-Italian border, it is nicknamed la perle de la France ....
)
Marriage and issue
When she was 16, she married 18-year-old Prince LeopoldLeopold II of Belgium
Leopold II was the second king of the Belgians. Born in Brussels the second son of Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the throne on 17 December 1865 and remained king until his death.Leopold is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free...
of Belgium, the heir to the throne, on 22 August 1853. Leopold was the second-surviving son of Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I was from 21 July 1831 the first King of the Belgians, following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands. He was the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
and his French wife, Louise of Orléans
Louise of Orléans
Louise of Orléans was born a Princess of Orléans and was Queen consort of the Belgians as the wife of King Leopold I...
; Marie Henriette was the sister-in-law of Charlotte of Belgium
Charlotte of Belgium
Charlotte of Belgium is remembered today as Carlota of Mexico as empress consort of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, ex-Archduke of Austria.-Princess of Belgium:The only daughter of Leopold I, King of the Belgians by his second wife,...
, future Empress of Mexico and a cousin by marriage to Victoria of the United Kingdom
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....
and Maria II of Portugal.
The marriage was arranged to strengthen the status of the Belgian Monarchy: as the former Protestant monarch of a newly established monarchy, the Belgian King wished his son to marry a member from a Roman Catholic and prestigious dynasty, and the name Habsburg was one of her more important qualities.
Henriette was a vivid and energetic person interested in riding. Madame de Metternich wrote that theirs was a marriage "between a stable-boy and a nun, and by nun I mean the Duke of Brabant
Duke of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was formally erected in 1183/1184. The title "Duke of Brabant" was created by the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I, son of Godfrey III of Leuven . The Duchy of Brabant was a feudal elevation of the since 1085/1086 existing title of Landgrave of Brabant...
". Henriette is said to have had a terrible temperament. The marriage became unhappy and the couple lived more or less separate lives. She became Queen in 1865. After the death of their son in 1869, the couple separated completely after having made a last attempt to have another son, which, however, resulted in their daughter Clementine. She gave her daughters a very strict upbringing. Her main interest was in her Hungarian horses. She lived most of her life unhappy and discontent. In 1895 she retreated to Spa
Spa, Belgium
Spa is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liège. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountain chain, some southeast of Liège, and southwest of Aachen. As of 1 January 2006, Spa had a total population of 10,543...
to live out the remainder of her days; her youngest daughter Clementine replaced her as First Lady at the Court in Brussels for the remainder of her husband's life.
Marie Henriette died at the Hôtel du Midi in Spa; she had bought the house 1895 after separating with her husband. She was buried in the Royal Crypt at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken
Church of Our Lady of Laeken
The Church of Our Lady of Laeken is a neo-Gothic Roman Catholic church in Laeken, Brussels. It was originally built in memory of Queen Louise-Marie, wife of King Leopold I to the design of architect Joseph Poelaert....
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. Her husband later married (though illegally under Belgian law) his mistress Caroline Delacroix.
She was the 607th Dame
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa. Marie Henriette also held the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert
Royal Order of Victoria and Albert
The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert was a British Royal Family Order instituted in on 10 February 1862 by Queen Victoria, and enlarged on 10 October 1864; 15 November 1865; and 15 March 1880. No awards were made after the death of Queen Victoria....
.
Issue
- Princess Louise Marie of Belgium (1858–1924) married to Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Prince Léopold, Duke of BrabantPrince Leopold, Duke of BrabantPrince Leopold of Belgium, Duke of Brabant, Count of Hainaut , was the second child and only son and heir-apparent of Leopold II of Belgium and his wife, Archduchess Marie Henriette of...
(1859–1869); died young; - Princess Stéphanie of BelgiumPrincess Stéphanie of BelgiumStéphanie was a Belgium princess by birth, and then made Crown Princess of Austria through her marriage to the heir of the Habsburg dynasty, Archduke Rudolf...
(1864–1945) married to Prince Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, son of Franz Joseph I of AustriaFranz Joseph I of AustriaFranz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
and Elisabeth of BavariaElisabeth of BavariaElisabeth 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...
; - Princess Clémentine of BelgiumPrincess Clementine of Belgiumalign="right"|Clementine of Belgium was a member of the Belgian Royal Family and the wife of Napoléon Victor Bonaparte, Bonapartist pretender to the throne of France.-Early life:Princess Clémentine was born at the Royal Castle of Laeken in...
(1872–1955) married to Prince Victor, Prince Napoléon
Ancestry
Titles and styles
- 23 August 1836 – 22 August 1853 Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria
- 22 August 1853 – 17 December 1865 Her Imperial and Royal Highness The Duchess of Brabant
- 17 December 1865 – 19 September 1902 Her Majesty The Queen of the Belgians
Honours
- Dame of the Royal Order of Victoria and AlbertRoyal Order of Victoria and AlbertThe Royal Order of Victoria and Albert was a British Royal Family Order instituted in on 10 February 1862 by Queen Victoria, and enlarged on 10 October 1864; 15 November 1865; and 15 March 1880. No awards were made after the death of Queen Victoria....
External links
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