21 May

Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, daughter of Leopold II, was born on 21 May 1864. Deeply affected by her parents’ notoriously unhappy marriage, she grew up lonely and neglected, receiving only a superficial education and enduring a strict upbringing that included physical punishment.

When 16-year-old Stéphanie married Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, the union of two young people scarred by difficult childhoods initially seemed hopeful. She bore a daughter, but the couple’s incompatible temperaments soon drove the marriage into ruin. The intelligent and liberal-minded Rudolf found his wife naïve, awkward, and lacking in taste, and quickly grew bored of her. For her part, Stéphanie struggled with Rudolf’s ambiguous personality, unpredictable mood swings, and countless extramarital affairs. A venereal disease contracted from her husband left her unable to bear more children.

Their miserable union culminated in Rudolf’s suicide in 1889, known to history as the Mayerling Incident. Although deeply shaken, Stéphanie later admitted that for her, it marked a release from an unbearable life.

In 1900, she married a Hungarian count, renouncing her royal status. The move enraged her father, King Leopold, who disinherited her daughter and forbade Stéphanie from attending his funeral. Her relationship with her only child also deteriorated. Yet despite these hardships, Stéphanie found lasting happiness in her second marriage, which endured for 45 years.