Marie Henriette of Austria

Marie Henriette of Austria
Queen of the Belgians
Tenure 10 December 1865 – 19 September 1902
Spouse Leopold II of Belgium
Issue
Louise Marie, Princess of Kohary
Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant
Stéphanie, Crown Princess of Austria
Clémentine, Princess Napoléon
House House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father Archduke Joseph of Austria, Palatine of Hungary
Mother Maria Dorothea of Württemberg
Born 23 August 1836(1836-08-23)
Buda Castle, Budapest
Died 19 September 1902(1902-09-19) (aged 66)
Hôtel du Midi, Spa, Belgium

Marie Henriette of Austria (Marie Henriette Anne; 23 August 1836 – 19 September 1902) was the queen consort of King Leopold II of Belgium.

Contents

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:

Marie Henriette also had two half-siblings from her father's second marriage to Princess Hermine of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym:

Marriage and issue

When she was 16, she married 18-year-old Prince Leopold 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.

Issue

Ancestry

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

Honours

External links

Marie Henriette of Austria
Cadet branch of the House of Lorraine
Born: 23 August 1836 Died: 19 September 1902
Belgian royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Louise of Orléans		 Queen consort of the Belgians
1865–1902		 Vacant
Title next held by
Elisabeth in Bavaria