Unbeknownst to the jilted lover, the whole thing had been orchestrated by Empress Elisabeth, who introduced her daughter to the prince in order to distract him. For her own youngest (and favorite) brother, Duke Maximilian Emanuel in Bavaria, had also fallen for the charms of Amalie. He confided his feelings to his sister, who was determined to secure his happiness by removing his rival from the picture. Apparently her scheme worked: after a year, the empress brought her brother and the princess together; and the two evidently enjoyed a happy marriage.
I know very little about Leopold, who was only a fringe member of the Bavarian royal family. I've often wondered about the exact nature of his and Gisela's marriage. According to a YouTube video, he was an unfaithful husband who was never in love with his wife, and who repeatedly cheated on her with numerous extramarital affairs -- just like King Constantine II of the Hellenes. They had a long marriage (57 years) which lasted until his death. But it could hardly be characterized as a passionate love affair: his wife, like Anne-Marie today, simply put up with him.
Anyhow, I was just wondering about the circumstances in which Leopold got involved in a relationship with his early love, Amalie (who became an aunt by marriage to Gisela). I know that Prince Ferdinand-Philippe of Orléans (a double cousin of hers) married in 1868 her husband's sister, Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria -- another jilted bride. The latter is famous for having been a one-time fiancée of Leopold's famous cousin, King Ludwig II. But the latter kept on getting cold feet and postponing the wedding, throughout their rocky courtship in 1867, until finally calling it off altogether.
In an act of chivalry, however, Mad Ludwig of Bavaria offered to renew their engagement, should she be unable to find herself another husband within a year. But Sophie decided not to press the issue any further, and chose instead to settle on someone else -- with whom she seems to have enjoyed a basically good marriage. So certainly Ferdinand was more than just a *consolation* prize.
It seems, then, that the jilted brides rejected by their original suitors got better deals later on. Come to think of it, Sophie's eldest sister, Duchess Helene in Bavaria, had been the intended bride of the Austrian emperor, who instead chose her sister Elisabeth. But Helene got a better deal with Hereditary Prince Maximilian of Thurn and Taxis -- rich and titled. One seldom hears of the young lady Prince Charming passes over in favor of another woman. But this was another case where the rejected bride enjoyed a happy marriage with someone else -- and in fact, was much happier with her husband, than was the sister with the man who had originally been intended for her. By all accounts, Sissi was extremely unhappy with the emperor ...
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