The following is the introduction from the website Elisabeth of Wittelsbach, Sissi – a very interesting site, which unfortunately seems to have disappeared. If it resurfaces, I will post a link back here.
Born as a simple Duchess in Bavaria, she became, at age sixteen, the first lady of one of the largest empires in Europe: the Austrian Empire ruled by the Habsburgs. Despite the tender love given by her husband Franz Joseph I, she could not stand the overwhelming presence of her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, the “real Empress” as the nobles would call her. Physically ill by the constant quarrels about the imperial children, she was said to have tuberculosis and only an immediate departure could save her from a certain death. She came back of course, almost two years later, more beautiful than ever. But happiness could stay for long as the Habsburgs’ royal court chased her once again.
Running away from the tragedies that filled her life (the death of cousin Ludwig II of Bavaria, the suicide of her only son, Crown Prince Rudolph, and the death of her sister Sophie d’Alençon to name only a few) she became l’Impératrice de la solitude, the lonely empress. After years of wandering, on September 10 1898, she was assassinated by an Italian anarchist.
For more on the real Empress, visit some of the sites in my Elisabeth links.