7. One of Elisabeth’s Daughters Died in Infancy
While Sisi was pregnant, the royal court expected her to go out in public, something that she detested, especially while pregnant. After her first two children were born, in the year 1857, Emperor Franz Josef decided to go on a state trip to Hungary to help strengthen relations between Hungary and the Austrian Empire. Sisi went with him, thrilled at the opportunity to gain some respite from her stifling life and possibly charm the nobility of Hungary. Archduchess Sophie wanted the two young princesses to stay with her, but Sisi insisted that they accompany them on the trip to Hungary.
Sisi thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Hungary; however, her joy quickly turned to horror when both of her daughters fell ill, possibly with typhus. Princess Sophie, the oldest one, was only two years old, and Princess Gisela was not yet a year old. Gisela recovered, but sadly, Sophie died. The tragedy was one from which Elisabeth would never recover and made her increasingly impossible life even more difficult. The depression that set in after her daughter’s death never lifted for the rest of her life. Her mother-in-law, who was already tormenting her, used the princess’s death as evidence that Sisi was an unfit mother.