Princess Isabella of Croÿ


Princess Isabella Hedwig Franziska Natalie of Croÿ was by birth member of the House of Croÿ and by marriage member of the House of Habsburg.

Biography

Early life and family

Princess Isabella was daughter of Rudolf, 11th Duke of Croÿ and Princess Natalie of Ligne. Her paternal grandparents were
Alfred, 10th Duke of Croÿ and Princess Eleonore of Salm-Salm. Her maternal grandparents were Eugène, 8th Prince of Ligne and Nathalie de Trazegnies.

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 von Wognin, lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella and daughter of Austrian ambassador Bohuslav, Count Chotek of Chotkow and Wognin.
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, Isabella created a similar furore when her nephew, Karl, 13th Prince von Croÿ, sought to marry Nancy Leishman, the charming young daughter of John George Alexander Leishman, United States Ambassador to Germany, the former president of Carnegie Steel. The Archduchess felt that Nancy, being an American and a commoner, was not an appropriate spouse for a prince of Croÿ. Karl and Nancy were wed, nonetheless, and their grandson became the Duke of Croÿ.

Death

Archduchess Isabella died on 5 September 1931 in Budapest, aged 75. Her body was buried, alongside her husband, in the church of St.Gotthard, Mosonmagyaróvár, Kingdom of Hungary.

Honours

Isabella received the following awards: