Antique Royal Signed Photo Princess Isabella of Croÿ Signed Photo to Duke Honore
Bibelotslondon Ltd is a UK registered company based in London Bridge dealing in ephemera and curiosities from Britain and around the world. Our diverse inventory is carefully chosen and constantly evolving. We work very hard to offer the highest quality works at competitive prices. Our inventory is listed online, and we strive to keep our website completely up to date, so our customers can easily check availability. We believe in offering clients items that are unique and rare for aficionados of the antique and collector's world. Bibelot is a late nineteenth century word derived from the French word bel 'beautiful', meaning a small item of beauty, curiosity or interest. The word ephemera is derived from the sixteenth century Greek word ephmera meaning a printed or hand written paper not meant to be retained for a long period of time.
She was the daughter of Rudolf, Duke of Croÿ, and his wife, Princess Natalie of Ligne. She married Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen on 8 October 1878 with whom she had eight daughters and one son.
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, a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella.
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, Archduchess Isabella created a similar furor when her nephew, Karl, 13th Prince von Croÿ, of the House of Croÿ, sought to marry Nancy Leishman, the charming young daughter of United States Ambassador to Germany John George Alexander Leishman, the former president of Carnegie Steel. The Archduchess felt that Nancy, being an American commoner, was not an appropriate spouse for a prince of Croÿ. Karl and Nancy were wed, nonetheless; today their grandson is the present Duke of Croÿ.
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