Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Stephanie and her count are on their honeymoon

April 14, 1900

The new Countess Lonyay and her husband, the Count Lonyay, arrived today at the Martin Hotel in Monte Carlo. They are, according to the New York World, "typical honeymooners, the countess always leaning on the count's arm." The newly married couple "constantly exchange glances of the tenderest meaning."
The former Archduchess appears to be "transfigured into absolute beauty by her happiness."
They dine in the public dining room, but always at a private table. The countess "always enters and leaves the room clinging to her husband's arm," and she appears "oblivious to the attention bestowed on her."
The Count Lonyay is handsome, "but somewhat weak looking." He is "evidently vain at the notice he excites," when he enters a room with his wife, who seems to "do most of the talking." Her laughter "occasionally is unrestrained."
The Countess was born HRH Princess Stephanie of Belgium, second daughter of King Leopold II of the Belgians. She was born in 1864. She was several weeks short of her 17th birthday when she was married on May 10, 1881 to Archduke Rudolf, the Crown Prince of Austria. Less than eight years later, in January 1889, Rudolf and his 17-year-old mistress, Mary Vetsera, were found dead at Mayerling, apparently the result of a suicide pact.
Stephanie, as the widow of the Crown Prince, grew largely isolated at the Austrian court. She and Rudolf were the parents of a daughter, Archduchess Elisabeth, known as Erszi, but no sons. Thus, Stephanie's importance decreased. She was not the mother of the future emperor. Stephanie also had a difficult relationship with her father, Leopold II. Neither he nor Franz Joseph approved of her second marriage, which took place on March 22, 1900 at Miramare.

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