Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria - First Marriage

First Marriage

The Belgian royal court considered Elisabeth as a possible bride for Prince Albert, heir-presumptive to the throne of Belgium; but King Leopold II violently disapproved of Erzsi's mother's recent morganatic marriage to Count Lonyay, and he refused to give Albert his permission. Albert's sister Henriette was horrified at her brother's choice, feeling Elisabeth's background was too unstable for the marriage to be a success.

That same year, Elisabeth met Prince Otto Weriand von Windisch-Grätz (1873–1952) at a court ball. Ten years her senior, he was far below her in rank. Nonetheless she importuned Franz Josef to be allowed to marry him; he agreed. By many accounts it was Elisabeth alone who wanted the marriage; Otto was already engaged to another woman and was dumbfounded when his Emperor informed him of his new engagement. Ordered by the Emperor to break his "lesser" engagement to marry his granddaughter, he complied.

In order to avoid future succession issues, the Emperor made the marriage conditional on Elisabeth's renouncing her right to succession, although he allowed her to keep her personal title and provided her with a generous dowry. Although the Habsburgs did not regard Otto's Mediatized House as their equal, unless the marriage was morganatic, his family would have grounds for pressing Elisabeth to become Empress should the succession become interrupted again.

The couple married at the Hofburg on 23 January 1902. They had 3 sons: Prince Franz Joseph (1904–1981), Prince Ernst (1905–1952) and Prince Rudolph (1907–1939). Their last child, a daughter, Princess Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz (1909–2005), was born at Ploschkowitz.

The marriage, however, was troubled, and led to unwelcome reminders for the Emperor of his son's death, and possible further scandal for the family:

"His granddaughter has lately married the Prince Windischgratz; she was the only daughter of the late Crown Prince Rudolph. The marriage was a love match, but when they had been married only about one year they quarrelled on account of an actress at Prague, who was fired at by the Princess. The actress has since died of the wound. The Emperor, in consequence of this event, did not attend the baptism of the son of the Archduchess Princess Windischgratz. The whole affair caused a painful sensation at the Court in Vienna, though it has been hushed up as most events of the kind are."