Friday, April 13, 2012

Which Count Georg is it?





April 13, 1912

There seems to be a bit of confusion about the identity of Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska's fiance, Count Georg of Waldburg, reports the Marquise de Fontenoy.

The 20-year-old archduchess, the eldest child of Archduke Franz Salvator and Archduchess Marie Valerie, is said to be one of Emperor Franz Josef's favorite grandchildren.  Her engagement was officially announced earlier this week in Vienna.

There are two Counts Georg of Waldburg.  One of them is 18-year-old Count Georg von Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldsee, son of the Württemberg-based Prince Maximilian.  He does not fit the description of "an officer of dragoons who has been attached in that capacity as military governor and ADC for the last three years" to Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska's 20-year-old brother.

The archduchess's future husband is 34-year-old Count Georg Julius Kaspar Konrad von Waldburg-Zeil-Hohenems, younger son of Count Klemens and his wife, Princess Klementine zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg.

The count has been serving in the dragoons for fourteen years and has been attached to Archduke Franz Salvator's household for the past three years.

The Archduchess "occupies probably a warmer place" in her grandfather's heart than any of his other grandchildren.    She is the "eldest of the brood of youngsters" of his youngest child, Archduchess Valerie, who after the tragic death of her mother, Archduchess Elisabeth, moved into Schönbrunn with her husband and children. 

Franz Josef has watched Elisabeth Franziska and her younger brothers and sisters grow up "under his very eyes."

This marriage is not a misalliance, as the Waldburgs are among former reigning houses that were mediatized by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. 

A date for the wedding has not been announced.

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