Duchess Sophie Charlotte Auguste in Bavaria (22 February 1847 – 4 May 1897) was a granddaughter-in-law of King Louis Philippe of France, the youngest sister of

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Elisabeth (born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; 24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898), nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and List of Hungarian consorts, Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austri ...

and fiancée of

King Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke ...

Life

Sophie Charlotte was born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, the residence of her paternal family, the

Dukes in Bavaria Duke in Bavaria () was a title used among others since 1506, when primogeniture was established, by all members of the House of Wittelsbach, with the exception of the Duke ''of'' Bavaria which began to be a unique position. So reads for instance ...

. She was a daughter of

Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria (4 December 1808 – 15 November 1888), known informally as Max in Bayern, was a member of a Duke in Bavaria, junior branch of the royal House of Wittelsbach who were Kings of Bavaria, and a promoter of Bavarian f ...

and

Princess Ludovika of Bavaria Princess Ludovika of Bavaria (Marie Ludovika Wilhelmine; ''Mary Louise Wilhelmina''; 30 August 1808 – 25 January 1892) was the fifth child of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his second wife Caroline of Baden. She was the mother of Empress ...

and the ninth of ten children born to her parents.

Marriage

Upon the 1861 marriage of her elder sister Duchess Mathilde Ludovika to the Neapolitan prince Louis of the Two Sicilies, her parents looked for a suitable husband for Sophie Charlotte. Sophie then was engaged to her cousin

, and their engagement was publicised on 22 January 1867, but after having repeatedly postponed the wedding date, Ludwig finally cancelled it in October as Ludwig had homosexual tendencies (he was never again engaged to be married), and also because it seemed Sophie had fallen in love with the court photographer

Edgar Hanfstaengl Edgar Hanfstaengl (15 July 1842 – 28 May 1910) was a chief clerk, commercial purchaser and art publisher. He was significantly the son of a famous Bavarian court photographer who was connected with the circle of Ludwig II and became a close con ...

. Other proposed husbands included the renowned homosexual

Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria Archduke Ludwig Viktor Joseph Anton of Austria (15 May 1842 – 18 January 1919) was the youngest child of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and Princess Sophie of Bavaria, and the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I. He had a military ...

, brother of both

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

and

Maximilian I of Mexico Maximilian I (; ; 6 July 1832 – 19 June 1867) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian archduke who became Emperor of Mexico, emperor of the Second Mexican Empire from 10 April 1864 until his execution by the Restored Republic (Mexico), Mexican Republ ...

, as well as the future

Luís I of Portugal Dom (title), ''Dom'' Luís I (; 31 October 1838 – 19 October 1889), known as "the Popular" (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''o Popular'') was King of Portugal from 1861 to 1889. Luís was a member of the ruling House of Braganza. The second ...

. Another candidate was

Duke Philipp of Württemberg Philipp, Duke of Württemberg (30 July 1838 – 11 October 1917) was a German prince, head of the Roman Catholic cadet branch of the dynasty which ruled the Kingdom of Württemberg. Biography He was the son of Duke Alexander and of Princes ...

, the first cousin of her eventual husband. She refused all the candidates, and was sent to stay with her aunt Amalie Auguste, then the Queen of Saxony as wife of King John. It was in Saxony Sophie Charlotte met Prince Ferdinand of Orléans, ''Duke of Alençon'', the son of

Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours Prince Louis of Orléans, Duke of Nemours (Louis Charles Philippe Raphaël d'Orléans; 25 October 1814 – 26 June 1896) was the second son of King Louis-Philippe I of France, and his wife Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Life Childho ...

and grandson of the late King Louis Philippe. Soon after, on 28 September 1868, she married him at Possenhofen Castle, near

Starnberg Starnberg is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, some southwest of Munich. It is at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the Starnberg (district), district of Starnberg. Recor ...

Duchess of Alençon

She had a good relationship with her husband as well as with her sister-in-law Princess Marguerite Adélaïde of Orléans, wife of Prince Władysław Czartoryski. Her mother-in-law,

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Victoria Franziska Antonia Juliane Luise); 14 February 1822 – 10 November 1857) was the daughter of Ferdinand, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, and Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábr� ...

, cousin of

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than th ...

, had died in 1857. Sophie Charlotte did not have an overly good relationship with her father-in-law, the widowed

Duke of Nemours Duke of Nemours was a title in the Peerage of France. The name refers to Nemours in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. History In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Lordship of Nemours, in the Gâtinais, France, was a possession of th ...

. The year after their marriage, the ducal couple moved into

Bushy House Bushy House is a Grade II* listed former residence of King William IV and Queen Adelaide in Teddington, London, which George Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax had constructed for his own enjoyment on the site of a previous house Upper Lodge, Bushy ...

in the

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

area of Southwest London, where Sophie Charlotte gave birth to her first child,

Princess Louise of Orléans Princess Louise Françoise Marie Laure of Orléans (24 February 1882 – 18 April 1958) was a Princess of the Two-Sicilies and paternal great grandmother of King Felipe VI of Spain. Louise was the youngest daughter of Philippe d'Orléans (1838� ...

Later years and death

Sophie Charlotte wrote her last will and testament on 4 October 1896, seven months before her death: she died in a fire at the

Bazar de la Charité The ''Bazar de la Charité'' was an annual charity event orchestrated by the French Catholic aristocracy in Paris beginning in 1885, when it was first organised by Englishman Henry Blount, the son of banker Sir Edward Blount, a financier of ra ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 4 May 1897, where she had been helping to raise funds for charity. She refused to be rescued, insisting that the girls, visitors and nuns working alongside her at the bazaar be saved first. A Dominican nun who had managed to escape from the fire explained that she saw the Duchess get down on her knees and start praying. Identifying Sophie Charlotte's remains was not easy; her personal maid was unable to recognise the body, as it had been severely disfigured by the fire. The Duchess's dentist, M. Lavanport, was called in. After two hours examining various bodies, he identified Sophie Charlotte on the basis of her gold fillings. Thus she became one of the first people whose remains were identified by

forensic dentistry Forensic dentistry or forensic odontology involves the handling, Inspection, examination, and evaluation of dentistry, dental evidence in a criminal justice system, criminal justice context. Forensic dentistry is used in both criminal and civil ...

. She was buried at the

Chapelle royale de Dreux The Royal Chapel of Dreux () situated in Dreux, France, is the traditional burial place of members of the House of Orléans. It is an important early building in the French adoption of Gothic Revival architecture, despite being topped by a dome. ...

Issue

* Louise Victoire Marie Amélie Sophie d'Orléans (19 July 1869 – 4 February 1952); married

Prince Alfons of Bavaria Prince Alfons of Bavaria (; 24 January 1862 – 8 January 1933) was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach and a General, General of Cavalry. Early life and family Alfons was born in Munich, Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free ...

and had issue. The family line ended in dynastical sense in 1990 in male line, with

cognatic Cognatic kinship is a mode of descent calculated from an ancestor counted through any combination of male and female links, or a system of bilateral kinship where relations are traced through both a father and mother. Such relatives may be know ...

descendants still present. * Philippe Emmanuel Maximilien Marie Eudes d'Orléans, ''Duke of Vendôme'' (18 January 1872 – 1 February 1931); married

Princess Henriette of Belgium Princess Henriette of Belgium (30 November 1870 – 28 March 1948), was the daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern. She was the younger twin sister of Princess Joséphine Marie of Belgium, who died at th ...

and had issue. The family line ended dynastically in 1970 in male line, with

descendants still present.

Ancestry

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sophie Charlotte In Bavaria, Duchess 1847 births 1897 deaths Nobility from Munich Duchesses of Alençon Princesses of France (Orléans) House of Wittelsbach Duchesses in Bavaria Burials at the Chapelle royale de Dreux Deaths from fire Accidental deaths in France French Roman Catholics Lay Dominicans