Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg

Sophie was born in Stuttgart as the fourth daughter of a Bohemian aristocrat and an Austrian countess. She became a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella, the wife of Archduke Friedrich, head of the Bohemian branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. She met Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, at a ball in Prague in 1894. They fell in love and maintained a secret relationship for several years. Their liaison was discovered by Isabella, who opposed their marriage because Sophie was not of equal rank to Franz Ferdinand. Emperor Franz Joseph also forbade their union, as Sophie did not belong to one of the reigning or formerly reigning dynasties of Europe. However, after Franz Ferdinand agreed to swear an oath that their children would never succeed to the throne, the Emperor reluctantly consented to their morganatic marriage in 1900. Sophie was given the title Princess of Hohenberg, later elevated to Duchess of Hohenberg in 1909. She was not allowed to share her husband's rank or privileges and was often excluded from official ceremonies and events. Despite these restrictions, Sophie and Franz Ferdinand had a happy marriage and four children, three of whom survived infancy. On 28 June 1914, Sophie and Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They were targeted by a group of Serbian nationalist assassins who wanted to end Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and unite it with Serbia. As they rode in an open car through the city, one of the assassins, Gavrilo Princip, shot them both at close range. Sophie was hit in the abdomen and died almost instantly. Franz Ferdinand was hit in the neck and died shortly after. Their bodies were taken back to Vienna and buried in a crypt at Artstetten Castle. Their assassination triggered a series of diplomatic crises that led to the outbreak of World War I a month later.