Father Rudolf, Duke of Croy | Name Princess of | |
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Born 27 February 1856Dulmen ( 1856-02-27 ) Issue Maria Christina, Hereditary Princess of Salm-SalmMaria Anna, Princess of Bourbon-ParmaMaria Henrietta, Princess Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-SchillingfurstArchduchess Natalie MariaArchduchess Stephanie Maria IsabelleArchduchess Gabriele Maria TheresiaIsabella, Princess Georg of BavariaMaria Alice, Baroness von BassenheimArchduke Albrecht Franz, Duke of Teschen House House of Croy (by birth)House of Habsburg-Lorraine(by marriage) | ||
Princess Isabella Hedwig Franziska Natalie of Croÿ (27 February 1856 – 5 September 1931) was the daughter of Rudolf, Duke of Croÿ, and his wife, Princess Natalie of Ligne.
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Marriage and issue
She married Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen on 8 October 1878. They had eight daughters and one son:
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
In the mid-1890s, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria began visiting Isabella and Friedrich's home. At first, it was assumed that he was there to court one of their many daughters. Eventually, it was discovered that in fact he was courting Countess Sophie Chotek, a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella.
Isabella became infuriated that Franz Ferdinand had not singled out one of her eight daughters as his bride and future empress; as a result she engaged in a crusade to thwart the marriage of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. Sophie was dismissed from service, thus beginning an ongoing conflict between Friedrich and Franz Ferdinand, who married Sophie in 1900. The marriage was morganatic; Sophie was subjected to the indignities of a much lower rank at court than that of her husband, and none of their children could succeed to their father's dynastic honours—all chiefly as a result of Isabella's machinations.
A decade later, Archduchess Isabella created a similar furor when her nephew, Karl, 13th Prince von Croÿ, of the House of Croÿ, sought to marry Nancy Leishman, the charming young daughter of United States Ambassador to Germany John George Alexander Leishman, the former president of Carnegie Steel. The Archduchess felt that Nancy, being an American commoner, was not an appropriate spouse for a prince of Croÿ. Karl and Nancy were wed, nonetheless; today their grandson is the present Duke of Croÿ.