Empress of Mexico. Born Princess of Belgium with the name of Mary Charlotte Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, she was the youngest daughter of the King of the Belgians, Leopold I. On July 27, 1857, she married Archduke Maximilian of Austria. After a two years sojourn in Milan, where her husband was Governor of Lombardy-Veneto, the couple retired to private life in the castle of Miramare in Trieste. When in 1863 a Mexican delegation offered to Maximilian the Crown of Mexico, she convinced him to accept without hesitation, and against the advice of the Emperor of Austria. However, after only two years, precisely in 1867, she decided to return to Europe because of the unstable political situation in Mexico. She asked Napoleon III and Pope Pius IX to intervene, but without any avail. After the death of Maximilian, executed by Mexican revolutionaries, she began to show signs of mental instability that lasted for the rest of her life.

Empress of Mexico. Born Princess of Belgium with the name of Mary Charlotte Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, she was the youngest daughter of the King of the Belgians, Leopold I. On July 27, 1857, she married Archduke Maximilian of Austria. After a two years sojourn in Milan, where her husband was Governor of Lombardy-Veneto, the couple retired to private life in the castle of Miramare in Trieste. When in 1863 a Mexican delegation offered to Maximilian the Crown of Mexico, she convinced him to accept without hesitation, and against the advice of the Emperor of Austria. However, after only two years, precisely in 1867, she decided to return to Europe because of the unstable political situation in Mexico. She asked Napoleon III and Pope Pius IX to intervene, but without any avail. After the death of Maximilian, executed by Mexican revolutionaries, she began to show signs of mental instability that lasted for the rest of her life.

Bio by: Lucy & Chris