Born in December of 1837, Elisabeth came from a notoriously eccentric line of the royal family, and her life certainly reflected that, from her rise to the throne to her untimely end.<\/span><\/p>\n The Empress\u2019s opening season covers the first part of her life as Queen, so read on for everything you need to know about the real-life Elisabeth von Wittelsbach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As much as the circumstances which led to Elisabeth\u2019s engagement to the Emperor seemed straight out of a Disney movie, they were for the most part true to life. While it is unclear whether there was a woods-based love at first sight moment, as featured in the Netflix series, the pair did meet as Franz Joseph visited his cousin Helene, who he was expected to marry.<\/span><\/p>\n But after meeting Elisabeth he fell head over heels for her, informing his mother that if he could not marry Elisabeth, then he would not marry at all. Five days later, their wedding was announced.<\/span><\/p>\n Even the farcical moment where the family ended up only having funeral clothes to wear because their other suitcase didn\u2019t arrive in time was detailed in the show. However, one detail not mentioned is that in reaction to his proposal, Elisabeth\u00a0<\/span>supposedly said<\/span><\/a>\u00a0: \u201cOh, if only he were a tailor!\u201d before adding, \u201cOne doesn\u2019t turn down an emperor!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While the show doesn\u2019t explicitly say much about the age of its leading lady, it does obfuscate one of the key details about her life \u2013 her age when she met the emperor. When Franz Joseph first visits the von Wittelsbach family, he was 23 while she was 15. In the series, it\u2019s made clear that she is younger and more immature, but since the actors are both adults in their 20s (Devrim Lingnau is 24 and Philip Froissant is 28), the difference is less than obvious.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In <\/span>The Empress,\u00a0<\/span>we see that Elisabeth was a prolific poet from a young age, using this to release her innermost thoughts. This once again sticks very closely to what we know of her real life, where her work provided an escape. One of the most prominent parts of her work is a central repeating motif of the show:<\/span><\/p>\n O\u2019er thee, like thine own sea birds<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019ll circle without rest<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n For me earth holds no corner<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n To build a lasting nest.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n One thing the show doesn\u2019t get into is how Elisabeth had a poetry alter ego. She would often sign off her work as \u2018Titania\u2019, who was the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In <\/span>The Empress<\/span>, Elisabeth is shown to be loved by the people with an almost religious fervour; her mere presence in certain places is enough to spark riots. This popularity was very much true, with her being seen to have a part in several charitable ventures. She also has a significant cultural footprint, too, with her renowned youthful beauty and self-destructive thinness being lauded. Long after her death, she has inspired a wealth of adaptations based on her life, from operas and literature to ballet and more.<\/span><\/p>\n A second season of the Netflix series hasn\u2019t been confirmed as of yet, but if it comes, there is much more yet to be explored in the complex life of Elisabeth von Wittelsbach.<\/span><\/p> The Empress is available to stream now on Netflix<\/a>. Check out more of our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Oluwatayo Adewole Published: Thursday, 06 October 2022 at 12:00 am Based on a true story, The Empress is a Netflix series which follows the love story between Austria\u2019s Empress Elisabeth von Wittelsbach (Devrim Lingnau) and Emperor Franz Joseph (Philip Froissant), and the impact their romance had on the royal court and society. Born in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":23280,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/the-empress-true-story-who-was-elisabeth-von-wittelsbach-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/the-empress-true-story-who-was-elisabeth-von-wittelsbach-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/the-empress-true-story-who-was-elisabeth-von-wittelsbach-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/the-empress-true-story-who-was-elisabeth-von-wittelsbach-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/the-empress-true-story-who-was-elisabeth-von-wittelsbach-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/the-empress-true-story-who-was-elisabeth-von-wittelsbach-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/the-empress-true-story-who-was-elisabeth-von-wittelsbach-2048x1366.jpg",2048,1366,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Oluwatayo Adewole Published: Thursday, 06 October 2022 at 12:00 am Based on a true story, The Empress is a Netflix series which follows the love story between Austria\u2019s Empress Elisabeth von Wittelsbach (Devrim Lingnau) and Emperor Franz Joseph (Philip Froissant), and the impact their romance had on the royal court and society. Born in…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/23279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Empress true story<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Elisabeth von Wittelsbach and Franz Joseph\u2019s\u00a0fairy-tale meeting<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/10\/the-empress-wedding-7b235d2.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Elisabeth von Wittelsbach\u2019s age<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Elisabeth von Wittelsbach\u2019s p<\/strong>oetry<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/10\/The-Empress-Netflix-9538be1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Elisabeth von Wittelsbach\u2019s r<\/strong>elationship with the people<\/b><\/h3>\n
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