Queen Marie of Naples-Sicily, was a sister of Empress Elisabeth and the daughter of Duke Max Joseph in Bavaria and his wife Ludovika of Bavaria.
At the age of 17, on 8 January 1859, she was married to Crown Prince Franz (1836-1894), the eldest son of King Ferdinand II. Within the year, with the death of the king, her husband ascended to the throne as Francis II of the Two Sicilies, and Maria Sophie became queen ot the Two Sicilies.
With the fall of Gaeta and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Maria Sophia and her husband went into exile in Rome. Her wealth and privilege were, to a certain extent. During her life, she generated an almost cult-like air of admiration even among her political enemies. Gabriele d'Annunzio called her the "stern little Bavarian eagle" and Marcel Proust spoke of the "soldier queen on the ramparts of Gaeta". She and her sister Elisabeth were considered amongst the great beauties of their age.
Above in the picture Queen Marie in full splendour, wearing a large diamond riviere necklace and an enormous extremly naturalstic floral diadem and bouquets of flowers made of jewels with leaves, scrolls.
Together with an diamond devante de corsage brooch, which was from the jewels of the House Bourbon Two Sicilies.
When she lived in Paris, she presided over somewhat of an informal Bourbon court-in-exile.
Source:wikipedia;www.hdbg.de/goetterdaemmerungII; Archive Ursula Butschal;
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