31 May

Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony, a distant Habsburg descendant on both her father’s and mother’s sides, was born on 31 May 1867.

Her marriage prospects began under less than ideal circumstances. Two prominent Habsburgs — Crown Prince Rudolf and Archduke Franz Ferdinand — had previously rejected her elder sister as a potential bride, an insult that deeply humiliated the royal family of Saxony. In an effort to repair the damaged relationship, the Habsburg court arranged a match between Maria Josepha and Archduke Otto Franz, the younger brother of Franz Ferdinand.

Unsurprisingly, the marriage proved unhappy. Otto Franz, widely considered handsome by the standards of the time, was an infamous womaniser with little regard for family life. Maria Josepha suffered quietly and sought solace in religion and charitable work. Although she maintained a close friendship with a gentleman companion, there is no evidence of a romantic affair. Her relationships with her two sons — one of whom would become Karl, the last Emperor of Austria — remained formal and emotionally distant.

Over time, Maria Josepha’s dynastic position shifted dramatically due to a series of family deaths. The loss of Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889, her father-in-law Archduke Karl Ludwig in 1896, and her husband (who died of syphilis) in 1906 successively elevated her status: first as daughter-in-law, then sister-in-law, and ultimately as the mother of the heir to the throne.

After the fall of the monarchy and the declaration of the Austrian Republic, Maria Josepha followed her son’s family into exile. She died in Germany in 1944.