The pair met in 1852, apparently F.J. fell in love with her, but the marriage could not take place due to political matters.
Pss Anna eventually married the following year Pr. Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel.
Sophie wanted to marry her son to her niece Helene. Of course she was her sister's daughter, but a "mere" duke's daughter.
Wasn't there any catholic King's daughter available for the all mighty Emperor of Austria ?
The only king's daughter that was linked to F.J. was Pss Sidonie of Saxony whom he met after breaking up with Anna of Prussia.
He was not at all interested in her and poor Sidonia, who was not very favoured by beauty, died of thyphus, aged 27, unmarried, after her father having rejected the marriage proposal to widower womaniser much older king Victor Emanuelle II of Italy.
I read somewhere that when the young Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary was shopping around for a royal bride, his mother (the formidable Archduchess Sophie) was actually open to the idea of a union between her son and a Protestant -- provided, of course, that the hypothetical bride was of equal birth, and was willing to convert to Catholicism.
In fact, it almost happened: he was said to have fallen in love with a lovely young princess who was of the Protestant faith. However, nothing came of the pursuit, as she married someone else, for some reason or another (perhaps she wasn't willing to become a Catholic).
Does anybody know who the lady was?
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