Even decades after the release of the cult films with Romy Schneider, the story of Sissi continues to fascinate. In 2022, when season 1 of The EmpressGerman fiction was ranked in 88 countries on Netflix! If the enthusiasm is a little less important for season 2, which established itself in the top of only 59 countries, this does not prevent the series from attracting subscribers in France. Arrival number 1 in the top of the most viewed programs of the moment, despite a rather gloomy sequel, The Empress has since fallen in the rankings. This does not stop fans from wondering if a season 3 will see the light of day. If so, Tele-Leisure has already answered the questions we ask ourselves at the end of the second season according to historical facts. And precisely, if the series adapts the life of Sissi, it also takes some liberties with History.
The meeting between Maximilien and Marie did not take place as in The Empress
In the series, Maximilien meets the beautiful Marie Charlotte from Belgium on board a train taking him to Paris. A moment that was changed for the purposes of fiction. It was neither in Paris nor on board a train that Maximilien and his future wife met. After his visit to Paris to see Napoleon III, Maximilian of Austria went to Brussels where he visited King Leopold I, the father of the princess, then aged 16. It was the king himself who, having noticed his attraction to his daughter, would have advised him to ask for her hand. Another inconsistency noted in the series: Marie was not about to marry the King of Portugal at the time of her meeting with Maximilien, she had already refused his marriage proposal.
Sophie separated Elisabeth and her eldest daughter much earlier than in the series The Empress
This second salvo of The Empress corresponds to the birth of Franz and Elisabeth’s second child. A period during which Sophie, Franz’s mother, decides to take the couple’s eldest daughter away. In fact, this would have happened much earlier than we can see in the series. Indeed, Sophie would have, from her birth, taken little Fifi away from her mother, in order to ensure her education.
This whole subplot was invented for the needs of the series The Empress
One of the subplots of the series The Empress concerns the character of Leontine Apafi. A character who was invented for the needs of the series. No historical report proves the presence of a Leontine Apafi at the court of Vienna at this time. This plot was added to the fiction in order to highlight the conflict between the empire and the Austrian people at the beginning of the series.
Alexander von Bach did not resign contrary to what we can see in The Empress
Leontine not having really existed, Minister Alexander von Bach therefore did not resign from his post for the same reasons as in The Empress. In the series, he leaves while learning that Leontine is pregnant, determined to find her. The real Alexander von Bach, Minister of the Interior at the time of Franz’s reign, actually did not resign at all: he was dismissed from his post following defeat in the war against Italy and the France.
