Charlotte, Empress of Mexico, Princess of Belgium |
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BORN 7 Jun 1840, Brussel: Laken - DIED 19 Jan 1927, Meise, Vlaams-Brabant: Bouchoute castle BIRTH NAME Charlotte Amélie Auguste Victoire Clémentine Léopoldine GRAVE LOCATION Brussel: Église Notre Dame de Laeken, Laeken (Crypt) |
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Charlotte, often called Carlotta, was the only daughter of the first Belgian king, Leopold I. Her mother was Louise d'Orléans, a daughter of king Louis Philippe of France. She was named after Leopold's first wife Charlotte, the daughter of George IV of England. In 1857 she married Maximilian of Austria, a younger brother of emperor Francis Joseph. When he accepted the crown of Mexico she became empress. In 1864 they left for Mexico, but after the French troops left Mexico the imperial couple was soon threathened by a rebellion. They refused to give op the throne and Carlotta left for Europe to ask for help. When she spoke to Napoleon III and empress Eugénie on August 11th, 1866 suddenly some refreshments were brought in. Carlotta refused to drink them, perhaps because she was surrprised, but it is also possible that she thought the emperor might want to poison her. Napoleon felt guilty about the situation in Mexico but told her that he could do nothing for her husband. Two days later she came again and this time she shouted curses to members of Napoleon's government. On August 21th, Napoleon formally refused to keep the French troops in Mexico. Carlotta now travelled to Rome to ask the pope to force Napoleon III to help her. After she met Pope Pio IX on August 27th, she said at dinner that somebody wanted to poison her. On August 30th she drank water from a fountain to be sure that she wouldn't be poisoned. She wrote a farewell letter to Maximilian on October 1st, because she was sure she would be killed. The pope even allowed the confused empress to spend a night at the Vatican, where normally no woman was allowed to sleep. A week later she was picked up by her brother. She was placed under house arrest at her estate in Miramare. Meanwhile, Maximilian was executed in Mexico. Her madness was permanent and she brought back to Belgium, unaware of her husband's death. She lived at Bouchoute Castle in Meise, just north of Brussels. Carlotta insisted on calling herself empress of Mexico for the rest of her long life. Family • Husband: Maximilian of Austria, emperor of Mexico (1857-1867) Related persons • visited Napoleon III Bonaparte • was painted by Winterhalter, Franz Xaver Events |
| 13/7/1866 | Empress Charlotte leaves Mexico for France. She went to France to ask for support for her husband, Emperor Maximilian. [Maximilian of Austria, emperor of Mexico] |
| 8/8/1866 | Empress Charlotte arrives unexpectedly in France. She had come from Mexico ask Napoleon III for support for her husband's throne. But Napoleon truthfully told her that was in bad health and that it would be better if she visited her native Belgium first. Possibly he also wanted to win time. But Charlotte had already decided not to visit Belgium because she did not like the attitude of the government. She stayed in Paris for 13 days and she saw Napoleon five times and Eugénie six times. [Napoleon III Bonaparte] |
| 11/8/1866 | Empress Charlotte pleads with Napoleon III and refuses refreshments. Just when she was asking the tired Napoleon III for military support to protect he husband's throne of Mexico, refreshments were served. Charlotte refused to drink them. Empress Eugénie was as surprised as Charlotte and it was suggested later that she wanted to poison her. But Charlotte probably refused the drinks because she was irritated. [Napoleon III Bonaparte] |
| 13/8/1866 | Empress Charlotte insults French ministers in the rooms of Empress Eugénie at Saint-Cloud. She had asked Napoleon III for support for Mexico for the second time. Napoleon was ill and felt guilty that he could not support Charlotte's husband Maximilian any further. Empress Eugénie finally persuaded Charlotte to come to her rooms to proceed in talks with the French ministers. Carlotta then burst into hysterical abuse. The ministers were shocked, and Eugénie burst into tears. [Napoleon III Bonaparte] |
| 20/8/1866 | Napoleon III has to listen to new proposals by Empress Charlotte. At the Grand Hotel in Paris where she was staying, he visited her very reluctantly. She wanted a loan of 90 million francs for Mexico, and if the delegates refused, he should send them home and ask the people for support. According to her, Mexico's well-being meant France's well-being, and France needed Mexico. He tried to interrupt her several times, but she persisted. Finally, he managed to speak up and said that no money was forthcoming and that further illusions were pointless. Then he bowed coolly and left. [Napoleon III Bonaparte] |
| 21/8/1866 | Napoleon III formally refuses further support to Mexico. He informs Empress Charlotte, who is staying in Paris, and her husband Maximilian of this by letter. Charlotte sends a telegram to Max with the text "Todos es inutil" (everything is meaningless). [Maximilian of Austria, emperor of Mexico][Napoleon III Bonaparte] |
| 23/8/1866 | Empress Charlotte leaves Paris after failed mission to ask support for Mexico. She had been unable to secure support from Napoleon III. She was completely distraught and now hated Napoleon fiercely. She wrote a confused letter to her husband, Emperor Maximilian, calling Napoleon the devil with hell within him and Paris Babylon. She suffered from paranoia and feared that Napoleon III would burn her to ashes. She was happy to leave the region where "Napoleon poisoned the air with his villainy." Those around her were still willing to assume that her strange behavior was due to disappointment. In reality Napoleon was ill and stricken by guilt that he could not afford to help Maximilian. [Maximilian of Austria, emperor of Mexico][Napoleon III Bonaparte] |
| 25/9/1866 | Empress Charlotte arrives in Rome. She was in Europe to gain support for Mexico and wanted to persuade the Pope to force Napoleon III to do something for Mexico. But the Pope was in no position to force Napoleon to do anything, and Carlotta was exhausted from her disastrous visit to France. She suffered from paranoia and declared that both her parents, as well as her Royal Consort Albert of England, had been poisoned. She looked as pale as a corpse and was dressed in mourning. [Napoleon III Bonaparte] |
| 27/9/1866 | Audience of empress Charlotte with Pope Pio IX. The content of their conversation has not been disclosed, but the elder Pius IX likely refused her concrete support for Mexico. This dashed her last hope of European support. This blow was so severe that her already unstable mental state definitively descended into insanity. That evening, she attended a dinner, where she declared that it was clear someone wanted to poison her. |
| 29/9/1866 | Pope Pio IX visits empress Charlotte. Two days before she had visited him and now he returned the visit. He had brought a cardinal with him because he was aware that Charlotte was mentally instable. Nothing special happened, allthough Charlotte remarked that she was convinced that Napoleon III's agents observed her in Rome. |
| 30/9/1866 | Empress Charlotte drinks water from a fountain in Rome. She was going completely mad and convinced they were trying to poison her. She explained that at least now she knew for sure it wasn't poisoned, and that she was terribly thirsty. |
| 1/10/1866 | Empress Charlotte writes a farewell letter to her husband Maximilian. She was convinced she would be murdered within days. In Rome, it was announced that a woman (she) had spent the night in the Vatican; this overshadowed the news that the Empress of Mexico (also she) had gone mad. [Maximilian of Austria, emperor of Mexico] |
| 8/10/1866 | Philip Duke of Flanders visits Rome to fetch the empress Charlotte of Mexico. Pope Pio IX had sent Charlotte's family in Brussels a telegram that stated that she was mentally instable. A few days before she had burnt her hand when she took a piece of meat from a hot pan during a visit to an orphany. She thought that somebody was trying to poison her an only ate food that was not prepared for her. Philip, her brother, took her to Trieste. |
| Images | ||
 The graves of prince Louis-Philippe, princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold Emmanuel in the crypt of the Notre-Dame in Laeken, Brussels. Picture by Androom (28 Apr 2007) |
 The grave of princess Charlotte in the crypt of the Notre-Dame in Laeken, Brussels. Picture by Androom (28 Apr 2007) |
 Charlotte, empress of Mexico. [Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division] (c1864) |
Sources • Aronson, Theo, De Coburgs van België, Becht, Amsterdam • Vincent, Benjamin, Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, and Universal Information, Ward, Lock & Co, London, 1906 • Haslip, Joan, Imperial Adventurer: Emperor Maximilian of Mexico and his empress, Cardinal, London, 1974 • Ridley, Jasper, Napoleon III and Eugénie, Constable, London, 1979 • Charlotte de Belgique - Wikipédia (FR) |
