Saxony part two– the scandal
Saxony’s royal scandal involved the Crown Princess Louise’s (the wife of Friedrich August) flight in December 1902 with André Giron, who had been the French tutor to her three eldest of eventually six children. Louise of Tuscany (2 September 1870 Salzburg–23 March 1947) was born in Salzburg under the name Luise Antoinette Maria Theresia Josepha Johanna Leopoldine Caroline Ferdinande Alice Ernestine Habsburg, Princess Imperial and Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Tuscany. She was a daughter of Ferdinand IV of Tuscany and his second wife Alicia of Bourbon-Parma.
When Louise (Princess of Tuscany) and Friedrich August married in Vienna on 21 November 1891, he was the Crown Prince. She was very popular in Saxony, as she did not follow the etiquette at the court, and her foibles did not endear her to her father-in-law. On 9 December 1902, pregnant with her youngest daughter, (some say Giron’s child) she left Saxony with Giron but without her children. She was divorced 11 February 1903 by royal decree. Her last child was sent to Dresden to live at the court. Allegedly, Louise’s flight from Dresden was due to her father-in-law threatening to have her interned in Sonnestein Mental Asylum for life. Her brother supported her in her wish to escape Saxony. Emperor Franz-Josef of Austria-Hungary did not recognize the divorce. Louise’s Italian father awarded her the title of Countess of Montignoso. The relationship with Giron did not last and on 25 September 1907, she married the musician Enrico Toselli in London. They were divorced five years later. She died in poverty in Brussels in 1947.
Louise and Friedrich Augusthad seven children:
Friedrich August Georg, Crown Prince of Saxony (1893–1943). After becoming a Jesuit priest, he renounced his rights in 1923. He was allegedly assassinated by the SS or Gestapo in 1943.
Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen, Duke of Saxony (1893–1968). Married Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis (1903–1976).
Ernst Heinrich (1896–1971). Married first Princess Sophie of Luxembourg (1902–1941), daughter of Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, in 1921 and second Virginia Dulon (1910–2002) in 1947 (morganatically).
Maria Alix Carola, stillborn 22 August 1898
Margarete Carola Wilhelmine (1900–1962). Married Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern (1891–1965).
Maria Alix Luitpolda (1901–1990). Married Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden (1891–1964).
Anna Monika Pia (1903–1976). Married firstly Archduke Joseph Franz of Austria (1895–1957) and secondly Reginald Kazanjian (1905–1990).
