14. She And Her First Cousin Were Particularly Close
King Ludwig was Elisabeth’s first cousin and the king of Bavaria. Following a nightmare as a child, Sisi supposedly wrote, “Then he came in. I immediately noticed that his cloth was drenched, to the extent that he left puddles behind him. His hair was stuck by water on his blotchy face. But it was Ludwig. He had reached the foot board and we looked at each other in silence for a very long time.” In an era when cousin marriage was not at all uncommon and often expected, especially among royals, one should not be surprised that the two may have had a love interest in each other.
Indeed, King Ludwig became engaged to Sophie Charlotte, Sisi’s sister and also his first cousin. However, the king called off the wedding, and many believe that the reason was that he was homosexual. Ludwig never did marry and was eventually deposed in a coup d’etat after bankrupting Bavaria on his personal, lavish spending. When he died three days later, Elisabeth faced one of the tragedies that came to mark her life. She remained distraught over the loss of her cousin, confidante, friend, and possibly childhood lover for the rest of her life.