Princess Louise Marie of Belgium

Princess Louise
Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry
Duchess in Saxony
Spouse Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Issue
Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Princess Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Full name
Louise-Marie Amélie
House House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Father Leopold II
Mother Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria
Born 18 February 1858(1858-02-18)
Brussels, Belgium
Died 1 March 1924(1924-03-01) (aged 66)
Wiesbaden, Germany
Belgian Royalty
House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Leopold I
Children
   Crown Prince Louis-Philippe
   Leopold II
   Philippe, Count of Flanders
   Charlotte, Empress of Mexico
Grandchildren
   Prince Baudouin
   Princess Joséphine Marie
   Princess Henriette, Duchess of Vendome and Alençon
   Joséphine Caroline, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
   Albert I
Leopold II
Children
   Louise-Marie, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
   Leopold, Duke of Brabant
   Stéphanie, Crown Princess of Austria
   Clémentine, Princess Napoléon
Albert I
Children
   Leopold III
   Prince Charles
   Marie-José, Queen of Italy
Leopold III
Children
   Joséphine-Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
   Baudouin
   Albert II
   Prince Alexander
   Princess Marie-Christine
   Princess Maria-Esmeralda
Baudouin
Albert II
Children
   Philippe, Duke of Brabant
   Astrid, Archduchess of Austria-Este
   Prince Laurent
Grandchildren
   Princess Elisabeth
   Prince Gabriel
   Prince Emmanuel
   Princess Eléonore
   Princess Louise
   Prince Nicolas
   Prince Aymeric

Louise Marie of Belgium (18 February 1858, Brussels – 1 March 1924, Wiesbaden), princess of Belgium, was the eldest daughter of Leopold II, king of the Belgians, and his wife Marie Henriette, archduchess of Austria.

Contents

Marriage and issue

Born Louise Marie Amélié of Belgium, Louise-Marie married Philipp, prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, her second cousin, in Brussels, on 4 February/4 May 1875 and had two children:

The marriage was disliked by her father, who regarded it as a unwelcome alliance with Prussia, but her mother approved of it because Philip lived in Hungary. The relationship between Louise and Philip was not happy: Philip is said to have been authoritarian, though he did introduced her to pornography, and Louise responded to his authoritarianism by living a lavish lifestyle at the court of Vienna, where she attracted much attention. In 1880, she suggested the marriage between her sister Stephanie and Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria.

Scandal and divorce

In 1895, Louise-Marie became romantically involved with Géza Mattachich (1868–1923), stepson of Oskar Keglevich, count of Buzin. Mattachich was a lieutenant in a Croatian regiment of the Austrian army. They met in the Prater in Vienna.

In January 1897, she scandalized Vienna by permanently leaving her husband, Prince Philipp, for Mattachich and taking her daughter with her.[1] They traveled first to Paris, then Cannes, living in other destinations in the south of France and the rest of Europe. Her son became estranged from her, because he felt her actions had ruined his chance for inheritance. Her daughter soon left her mother at the advice of her fiancé, the duke of Schleswig-Holstein.

In 1898, Prince Philipp and Mattachich fought a duel in Vienna, first with guns, then with swords, in which the prince was injured.[2]

Mattachich had been arrested in Zagreb and imprisoned for four years for forgery, because he was not the stepson of Oskar Keglevich.[3]

Louise-Marie and Prince Philipp were finally divorced in Gotha on 15 January 1906, almost eight years after Louise had begun divorce proceedings.

Later life

Estranged both from her father, her husband, and her children, Louise-Marie's extravagant expenses brought her deeper and deeper in debt. Despite being daughter of arguably the wealthiest King of the age, she was forced to claim bankruptcy after it became known that Mattachich had forged the signature of Louise-Marie's sister, Princess Stéphanie, on promissory notes for jewelry worth approximately $2,500,000.[4] As a result of this episode she was institutionalized in May 1898 for six years. Mattachich was sentenced to four years in prison for forgery. Once his sentence was over, he helped Louise-Marie escape from the asylum in which she was interned in 1904; they were together until his death in Paris. After Mattachich's death she was given a home by Elisabeth, the wife of her cousin, Albert I, king of the Belgians.

Controversy

A renowned flirt before her marriage, it is suspected that her lovers included her future husband's brother Ferdinand, tsar of Bulgaria, and Rudolf, crown prince of Austria and the future husband of her sister, Stephanie.

Ancestry

Louise-Marie's ancestors in four generations

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Duchess Sophie Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Leopold I of Belgium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18. Heinrich XXIV, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19. Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Leopold II of Belgium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Louis-Philippe of France
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Louise d'Orléans
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Maria Amalia of Naples
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23. Maria Carolina of Austria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Princess Louise-Marie of Belgium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Maria Theresa of Austria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 26. Charles III of Spain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Maria Luisa of Spain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 27. Maria Amalia of Saxony
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Marie Henriette of Austria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Duke Louis of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg (1780-1857)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau
 
 
 
 
 
 

Notes

  1. ^ "Princess Louise of Belgium Elopes". The New York Times. 1 February 1897. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FB0C13F93E5811738DDDA80894DA405B8785F0D3. 
  2. ^ "PRINCE PHILIP IN A DUEL.; Wounded in the Arm by Lieut. Mittachich in Vienna.". New York Times. 19 February 1898. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40610F8355D11738DDDA00994DA405B8885F0D3. Retrieved 2008-08-08. 
  3. ^ Leopold II of the Belgians: King of colonialism, Barbara Emerson, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1979.
  4. ^ "PRINCESS LOUISE'S FORGERIES.; Her Creditors Bring Action in an Attempt to Recover $2,500,000". The New York Times. 12 June 1898. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F00E10F6355D11738DDDAB0994DE405B8885F0D3. 

Sources

External links