Bourbon-Parma Zita

Zita of Bourbon-Parma (Camaiore, May 9, 1892-Zizers, March 14, 1989) was the last empress and queen consort of Austria-Hungary (1916-1918) as wife of Charles I of Austria and IV of Hungary. Among her closest ancestors were several kings of the ruling houses of Spain, Portugal and France. She was declared a servant of God by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

Ancestry

Zita's father, Robert, Duke of Parma (1848-1907), was the last Duke of Parma after her father's assassination in 1854. As she was only six years old, her mother, Louise Marie of Artois, acted as regent. But in 1859, Italy was immersed in a unification process and after the Austrian defeat in the Second Italian War of Independence, the Duchy of Parma, along with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Duchy of Modena, became part of the united provinces. of unified central Italy, which after a plebiscite held in 1860, were annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860. Upon losing the throne, they had to go into exile in Austria, where Roberto grew up. Despite being an uncrowned monarch, the duke maintained rich properties that allowed him and his family to live a comfortable life.

From his first marriage to Princess María Pía de Borbón-Two Sicilies, twelve children were born, six of whom suffer from mental disabilities and three of them died young. Duchess María Pia died in childbirth, and the Duke remarried in 1884 to the Infanta María Antonia de Braganza (1862-1959), daughter of King Michael I of Portugal and his wife, Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein. Wertheim-Rosenberg. With her he had twelve other children; the fifth was Zita, and that was the seventeenth of Duke Roberto.

Zita's brother Javier de Borbón-Parma became head of the Carlist movement after the extinction of this branch of the Spanish Bourbons in 1936. In 1952 he claimed the Spanish crown, thus establishing the second Carlist dynasty as Javier I.

Childhood and youth

Zita of Bourbon-Parma was born on May 9, 1892 in Villa Bourbon del Pianore, a large estate in Camaiore, near Lucca. Her name is a tribute to Saint Zita of Lucca, a servant who lived in Tuscany in the 13th century . She grew up with her siblings speaking several languages, since the language in her house was French, but with her father they used to speak Italian and with her mother, sometimes German. The first half of the year was spent in Pianore, the second in the castle of Schwarzau am Steinfeld, in Lower Austria. They traveled in a train of sixteen cars, specially equipped to accommodate her family, suite, and property. The empress later recalled:

"We grew up in an international environment. My father considered himself mainly French and spent a few weeks a year with his older children in the castle of Chambord, his main property in the Loire. One day I asked him how we should describe ourselves. He replied, "We are French princes who reigned in Italy." In fact, of the twenty-four children, only three, including me, were born in Italy.

From 1903 to 1908 she attended the school of the Salesian nuns' convent in Zangberg, in Bavaria, where there was a strict regime of study and religious instruction. There she finished perfecting her German; Thanks to which, being empress, she mastered the language perfectly, both oral and written. In addition to modern languages, which she already practiced at home, she was taught mathematics, geography, history, natural history and music. She also included activities such as sewing, embroidery and physical education. She left the convent in the fall of 1907, when she was called back home by the death of her father.

Later, she would be sent, along with her sister Francisca, to the British Isle of Wight, to the Benedictine abbey of Saint Cecilia (where the French monks of the Solesmes Abbey take refuge, who are expelled by the anti-clerical laws of the French government.). At the time, the prioress of the monastery was Princess Adelaide of Lowenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, her maternal grandmother. In this strict monastery, she devoted herself to theology and philosophy and perfected her English. She was taught Gregorian chant and began playing the organ. Raised in a strong Catholic faith, the children of Parma regularly perform charity work for the poor. In Schwarzau, the family transforms leftover fabric into clothing. Zita and Francisca personally distribute food, clothing and medicine to those in need in Pianore. Three of Zita's sisters, including Francisca, enter the Benedictine order and become nuns of Solesmes Abbey. The teenage princess also plans to follow this path, but during this period Zita's health deteriorates. Her aunt, Archduchess Maria Theresa, who was visiting her mother, is dismayed by her pale appearance and takes her to Bohemia, to the Franzensbad spa with her cousin Maria Annunciada. Her grandmother died shortly after.

In Bohemia, Zita establishes a relationship with Archduke Charles. Both had known each other since childhood, as Carlos was the grandson of Archduke Carlos Luis of Austria, married for the third time to Zita's aunt, Archduchess María Teresa; The archduchess is, therefore, the stepmother of Charles's father, Archduke Otto of Austria. In 1909, Charles's dragoon regiment was stationed in Bohemia, in Brandeis an der Elbe, going from there to visit his grandmother in Franzensbad. It is during one of these visits that Carlos and Zita meet again.

Marriage

The wedding of Archduke Charles was a matter of first order for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its emperor, Franz Joseph. Since his son Rodolfo died, his heir is the son of his late brother Carlos Luis, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. But to everyone's dismay, he marries a woman far below his rank, Countess Sofia Chotek, in a morganatic union that, although it allows him to be emperor, leaves his children off the throne and keeps his wife deferred within the throne. protocol of the rigid Viennese court. The other son of Carlos Luis is Archduke Otón, who died in 1906, and father of Archduke Carlos, who is the great-nephew of the emperor and nephew of Franz Ferdinand. So if Charles did not die before Franz Ferdinand, the young archduke would become emperor upon his death.

The emperor urges his second heir to marry a woman of his rank. A member of the House of Bourbon, Zita is therefore a good consort for the future emperor and king. Zita will later remember:

"Of course, we were glad to see each other again and there was a closeness. For my part, the feelings gradually developed over the next two years. However, he seemed to have decided much faster, and it was even more when, in the autumn of 1910, the rumor came that he had committed me to a distant cousin, Don Jaime, Duke of Madrid. In hearing this, the Archduke rushed to leave her garrison to Brandeis, and addressed her grandmother, the Archduke Maria Teresa, who was also my aunt and the natural confidant for such matters. He asked if the rumor was true and when she told him no, he said, "Well, I better hurry anyway, or she will commit to another person."

On June 13, 1911, the engagement of the 19-year-old princess to the 24-year-old archduke was made official, in the paternal villa of Pianore in Lucca, where Archduke Charles went to ask for her hand. Later, Zita will remember that after her engagement, Charles had expressed her fears about the fate of the Austrian Empire and the challenges to the monarchy. Charles and Zita were married at Schwarzau Castle on October 21, 1911, in a ceremony celebrated by Cardinal Gaetano Bisleti, the pope's butler. Emperor Franz Joseph, Charles's great-uncle, is present and in good spirits, relieved to see one of his heirs enter into a suitable marriage. He even toasted the couple. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was also present, acting as godfather.

Archduchess Zita quickly became pregnant, giving birth to the first of her eight children, Archduke Otto on November 20, 1912 at Villa Wartholz, near Reichenau an der Rax. In 1913 the emperor gave them Hetzendorf Palace, in Meidling, as a residence in Vienna, so that Charles could be closer to him and the heir to the throne.

Heirs to the throne

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, are assassinated in Sarajevo by Bosnian Serb nationalists. Carlos and Zita received the news by telegram the same day. She will say of her husband: "Even though it was a beautiful day, I saw her face pale in the sun." It was Archduchess Maria Teresa who took care of the three children of the murdered couple.

Charles automatically became heir to the throne. The emperor was almost 84 years old and suddenly, it was a fact that Carlos and Zita would be at the head of the empire decades earlier than previously thought. The two were now under constant public attention. Following the declaration of war, which led to the First World War, in August 1914, Charles was promoted to general of the Austrian army and took command of the XX Corps for an offensive in Tyrol. Meanwhile, the archduchess ensured her succession, giving birth to three children during the four years that the conflict lasted. The war was a severe blow to the archduchess, as many of her brothers fought on both sides of the conflict: Princes Felix and René joined the Austrian army, while Princes Sixtus and Xavier, who lived in France before the war,, they joined the Belgian army. In addition, her native Italy joined the war against Austria in 1915 and comments about "Zita the Italian" began to circulate. At the request of Emperor Franz Joseph, the Archduchess and her children leave her residence in Hetzendorf to settle in Schönbrunn Palace. Zita spent many hours there with the old emperor formally and informally, and he confided her fears for the future of the Empire. She was also given a mission to visit hospitals on the Romanian front.

Empress and queen

Emperor Franz Joseph died of bronchitis and pneumonia at the age of 86, on November 21, 1916. According to the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles automatically became emperor. "I remember the dear plump figure of Prince Lobkowitz coming towards my husband," she will say later, "and making the sign of the cross on Charles's forehead with tears in his eyes. Upon doing so, he said: "God bless His Majesty." It was the first time we heard the imperial title addressed to us."

Charles and Zita were crowned king and queen of Hungary in Budapest on December 30, 1916, by Cardinal Primate János Czernoch. The ceremony was followed by a banquet, but the festivities ended there, because the emperor and empress did not consider it respectable to prolong them in time of war. At the beginning of his reign, Charles was often away from Vienna, so he established a telephone line from Baden (where his headquarters was located) to the Hofburg. He calls Zita several times a day when they are apart. Zita had some influence over her husband and she discreetly attended audiences with the prime minister or military meetings. She was particularly interested in social policies. On the other hand, military affairs are the exclusive domain of Carlos. Energetic and willing, Zita accompanies her husband to the provinces and to the front while she undertakes charity work and visits the war wounded.

Zita has been credited with significant influence over the emperor, which was perceived as unusual in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy: Empress Elizabeth, apart from her commitment to Hungary, stayed away from the court; and no one remembered any empress before 1848. The assessment of Zita's influence on Charles I/IV has remained controversial to this day. The positive reading assumes that Zita was influential by consolidating Carlos's often fluctuating willpower. In any case, according to her memoirs, her husband informed her in detail about all important political issues and incidents. The young empress not only possessed energy and tenacity, but she was also perceived as a woman of character, calm and beautiful, socially committed.

Scandal of Sixto de Borbón

As the war enters its third year, in the spring of 1917, to prevent the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Charles I is encouraged by his wife to carry out secret negotiations for a peace agreement with the Entente powers. without the participation of the German Empire, its closest ally. Charles began contacts with his brother-in-law, Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma, who served in the Belgian army of Prince Erdödy, who moved to Switzerland. Zita also wrote a letter to his brother inviting him to Vienna, which was delivered by their mother, the widowed Duchess Antonia of Parma, who was, in turn, maternal aunt of the Queen of the Belgians.

Sixtus arrived at the talks with the conditions established by France: the return to France of Alsace-Lorraine (annexed by Germany after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870), the reestablishment of the independence of Belgium and Serbia and the transfer from Constantinople to Russia. Carlos agreed with the first three points, and wrote Sixto a letter dated March 25, 1917 to give the French president, Georges Clemenceau, "the secret and unofficial message that I will use all means and all the influence I have at my disposal, and I will endeavor to support the just French claims about Alsace-Lorraine" ("Justes vindications françaises family à l'Alsace Lorraine"). This attempt at dynastic diplomacy fails because Germany refuses to negotiate Alsace-Lorraine and, seeing a Russian defeat on the horizon, rejects the idea of abandoning the war. Sixto continues his efforts; He even meets with Lloyd George in London to discuss Italian territorial claims to Austria included in the Treaty of London, but the Prime Minister is unable to convince his generals that it is necessary to make peace with Austria-Hungary. During this period, Zita managed to stop the German plan to send planes to bomb the palace of the king and queen of the Belgians on the feast day of her patron saint. Prince Sixtus returned to Vienna on May 6, 1917, and Charles gave him a second letter, but the situation remained deadlocked.

In April 1917, after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Count Ottokar von Czernin, Austrian Foreign Minister, gave a speech presenting Georges Clemenceau as the main obstacle to peace. Clemenceau, furious, publishes the letter of March 25, 1917. For a time, Sixtus's life was threatened, and some feared that Germany would occupy Austria. Attacks against the imperial family further resumed within the high aristocracy and the Pan-German press. The German ambassador in Vienna, Count Otto Wedel, wrote to Berlin: "The empress descends from an Italian princely family... People do not trust the Italian and her family." Czernin, who had been made out to be a liar, persuaded Charles to give his word of honor to Germany, that Sixtus had not been given permission to show the letter to the French government, that Belgium was not mentioned there, and that Clemenceau had lied in the mention of Alsace-Lorraine. Throughout the affair, Czernin was in contact with the German embassy, and wanting to persuade the emperor to abdicate, he went to Baden to meet with him. But since Carlos was ill at the time, Czernin negotiated for more than an hour with Zita. After his failure, Czernin resigned.

After the affair, it was said of Zita that she was an Italian traitor and of Carlos that he was a asshole devoted to the orders of a woman. Chief of the General Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, who was relieved by the emperor in 1917, later criticized Austria-Hungary's defeatism in his memoirs and wrote:

Particularly dangerous in this respect were the machinations that the Empress Zita made from the hand of her brother Sixtus and in which the weak emperor was manipulated, and did not get rid of the discomfort of putting in a difficult position with Germany. A school example of where it comes from when women, although carried by the best intentions, are involved in important political or military matters.

The end of the Empire

The end is near for the emperor. The court was moved to Baden bei Wien, near the headquarters, where it was easier to protect. On April 13, 1918, a union of Czech deputies swore an oath to a new Czechoslovak state independent of the empire of Austria-Hungary; In August, the prestige of the German army suffers a serious blow at the Battle of Amiens; and on September 25, King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria separated from his allies and requested a separate peace. The empress is with the sovereign when she receives the telegram informing her of the fall of Bulgaria. She recalls that "it became even more urgent to start peace talks with the Western powers, as long as there was something to discuss." On October 16, 1918, the emperor published the People's Manifesto, proposing a federal restructuring of Cisleithania, in which each nationality would benefit from its own state; but it is too late: the Slavic nations (Czechoslovakia and the state of the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs) proclaim their independence. The Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary are effectively dissolved.

Leaving their children at Gödöllő Palace, the imperial and royal couple moved to Schönbrunn Palace. The ministers have already been appointed by the new German Republic of Austria, and for November 11 they have prepared with the emperor's spokesman a manifesto that Charles will sign. Zita, rejecting the possibility that Carlos abdicated, says: "Never, a sovereign can abdicate, he can be deposed, deprived of his rights." By force. [...] But abdicate, never, never. He would rather die with you. Then Otto would succeed us. And even if we all fall, there are still other Habsburgs.' Without abdicating, the young sovereign decides to step back from power and gives his permission for the document to be published. The imperial family left Schoenbrunn on the afternoon of November 11, moving to the Eckartsau Palace in Marchfeld, near Vienna. The next day, the Provisional National Assembly proclaims the German Republic of Austria. On November 13, 1918, Charles signed an exemption for Hungary in Eckartsau.

Exile

After a few difficult months in Eckartsau, the imperial family receives unexpected help: that of King George V of the United Kingdom. It seems that this was a request for help from Prince Sixtus to help the Habsburg-Lorraine (his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II, the Tsarina and her five children had been executed by the Russian revolutionaries a few months earlier) and he promises: &# 34;We will immediately do what is needed."

Several British Army officers are sent to transport Charles and his family from Austria, including Lieutenant Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt, grandson of Lord Belper. On March 19, 1919, the War Office ordered them to "leave Austria to take the Emperor without delay." Strutt manages to charter a train to Switzerland, allowing the emperor to leave the country with dignity and without having to abdicate. Carlos, Zita and their children leave on the night of March 23.

On April 3, 1919, the National Constituent Assembly of the German Republic of Austria adopted a law declaring political privileges void and seizing the properties of the imperial family

The first residence of the exiled family is Wartegg Castle in Rorschach (Switzerland), a property near Lake Constance, which belonged to the Bourbon-Parma family since it was purchased by Duke Robert in the 1860s. However, the possible consequences of the presence of the Habsburg-Lorraine near the Austrian border worried the Swiss authorities, who pressured them to settle in the west of the country. Then they go the following month to Villa Prangins, near Lake Geneva, where they resume their family life. This period of tranquility ended in March 1920, when Miklós Horthy was elected regent of the Kingdom of Hungary after a period of instability. In theory Charles was still King Charles IV of Hungary, but Horthy sends an emissary to Prangins to advise him not to go to the restored kingdom until the situation has calmed down. After the Treaty of Trianon, Horthy increases his ambitions. Concerned, Carlos sought the help of Colonel Strutt to go to Hungary. He tried twice to regain power, in March and October 1921, without success. Zita considered recovering the throne a duty imposed by God, and encouraged Charles in each of his attempts and not to give up, even accompanying him on that dramatic train trip to Budapest. The monarch's two failures prompt the regent, influenced by the Allies, to adopt a law that restores the elective nature of the Hungarian crown.

Carlos and Zita temporarily reside in Count Móric Esterházy's castle in Tata, then are imprisoned in Tihany Abbey. Switzerland refuses to welcome them back, and they must find a new place of exile. The possibility of settling on the island of Malta is considered, but Lord Curzon rejects this option, and French soil is also excluded, so that Zita's brothers do not intrigue in favor of Charles. Finally, the Portuguese island of Madeira is chosen. On October 31, 1921, the former imperial couple took the train from Tihany to the Danubian port of Baja, where the British monitor HMS Glowworm was waiting for them. They finally arrive in Funchal on November 19. The exiled couple rents Villa Victoria, a house surrounded by a small park, then in Quintado do Monte on a hill above the city, less expensive and safer. In fact, the £20,000 annual pension approved by the Conference of Ambassadors will never be given to them, as member countries refuse to pay. Their children were still at Wartegg Castle, under the care of Charles's grandmother and Zita's aunt, Archduchess Maria Theresa. Zita gets permission to go to Zurich when his six-year-old son Roberto undergoes surgery for appendicitis. The children will join their parents in Madeira in February 1922.

Widowhood

Carlos's health had been bad for quite some time. On March 9, 1922 he contracted bronchitis when he returned to the village after buying toys for the birthday of his youngest son Carlos Luis, who was turning 4 years old. Without professional care, bronchitis quickly degenerates into pneumonia. Many of the children and staff were also affected, and Zita, who was eight months pregnant, helped treat them. Weakened, Carlos died on April 1. His last words to his wife were "I love you very much." After his funeral, a witness said of Zita: "This woman really should be admired." She didn't, for a second, lose her composure...she greeted people everywhere and then spoke to those who had helped with the funeral. Everyone was under her spell. Zita, widowed at 28, decides to mourn Carlos for the rest of her life, becoming guardian of the new suitor Otón.

After the death of Charles, King Alfonso XIII of Spain approached the British Foreign Office through its ambassador in London. An agreement allows Zita and her seven children to move to Spain. Alfonso sends the warship Infanta Isabel to Funchal and takes them to Cádiz. They are then escorted to the Pardo palace, near Madrid, where Zita gives birth to her youngest daughter, Archduchess Isabel. The king of Spain proposes to the Habsburg-Lorraine the use of the Uribarren palace in Lequeitio, Vizcaya. This pleases Zita, who did not want to be a heavy burden on the state that welcomed her. For the next six years, she Zita lives in Lekeitio, where she raised her children. Her financial means were limited; coming mainly from land revenues from Austria, the vineyard of Schloss Johannisberg and voluntary contributions from the faithful. However, other exiled members of the dynasty demanded some of this money, and former imperial officials regularly requested financial assistance.

In 1929, some of their children were approaching university age and the family sought a more suitable educational environment than Spain. In September, they move to the Belgian village of Steenokkerzeel, near Brussels, where they are closer to some members of their family. Zita maintained his political initiatives in favor of the Habsburg-Lorraine, even contacting Mussolini's Italy. A possibility of Habsburg restoration was seen under the Austrian chancellors Engelbert Dollfuss and Kurt Schuschnigg, with Crown Prince Otto visiting Austria on numerous occasions to negotiate the return of expropriated assets. These rapprochements ended abruptly with the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938. The Habsburg-Lorraine attempted to take the reins of resistance to the Nazis in Austria, but this failed due to opposition between monarchists and socialists.

After the German invasion of Belgium on May 10, 1940, Zita and her family became war refugees. They were nearly killed by a direct attack on the castle by German bombers and fled to Prince Xavier's castle in Besson. A few days later, the Habsburgs flee to the Spanish border and continue to Portugal, where the United States government grants them visas on July 9. After a boat trip, they arrive in New York on July 27; They have family in Long Island and Newark (New Jersey). At this time, Zita and many of her children live in Tuxedo Park, a town in northwest New York.

The imperial refugees eventually settle in Quebec, which has the advantage for Zita of being a French-speaking place (the younger children don't speak much English yet). They were housed in a house provided by the Sisters of Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, Villa Saint-Joseph, in Sillery (now part of Quebec City) and the children studied at Laval University. Because they are cut off from all their European funds, their finances are more limited than ever. Zita even has to prepare salads made from dandelion leaves. However, some of his children become involved in the war effort, while others look after the family's interests. Otto promotes his family's role in postwar Europe and meets regularly with Franklin D. Roosevelt; Roberto is the representative of the Habsburgs in London; Carlos Luis and Félix enlist in the United States Army; Rudolph was engaged in Austria during the final days of the war to help organize the resistance. In 1945, Empress Zita celebrated her birthday on the first day of peace, May 9. She spent the next two years touring the United States and Canada to raise funds for war-torn Austria and Hungary.

After a period of relative calm and rest, Zita regularly returns to Europe for her children's weddings. She also provided documentation for Charles's beatification process, open since 1928. Finally she decided to return to the old continent in 1952 and settle permanently in Luxembourg, to care for her elderly mother. Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg is both the niece and daughter-in-law of the widowed duchess, as she married one of Zita's brothers in 1919. Maria Antonia died at the age of 96 in 1959. The Bishop of Chur proposed that Zita move to a residence he managed (previously a castle of the Counts of Salis) in Zizers, in Graubünden, Switzerland. Since the castle had enough space for visits by his large family and a nearby chapel (a necessity for the devout Zita), he readily accepted.

In 1966, Otto of Habsburg was able to return to Austria after a decision by the Administrative Court ruled in his favor. He had already renounced on May 31, 1961 - against the will of the 'Matriarch' - his personal rights to the throne and affiliation to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine so that he could allowed to enter Austria again.

Zita spent the last years of her life with her family. Although restrictions on the return of the Habsburg-Lorraine to Austria had been lifted, this only applied to those born after April 10, 1919. Zita was therefore unable to attend the funeral of her daughter Adelaide in 1971, which It was very painful for her. She was also involved in the beatification process of her deceased husband. In 1982, the restrictions were finally lifted and she was able to return to Austria for the first time in 60 years thanks to a diplomatic passport issued by King Juan Carlos of Spain, and Socialist Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. She received a triumphant welcome in Vienna on November 13, 1982. In the following years, the Empress returned several times to her former country and even appeared on Austrian television. In a series of interviews with the Viennese tabloid Kronen Zeitung, Zita expressed her opinion that the death of Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria and his mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera in Mayerling in 1889, was not a double suicide, but a murder carried out by French or Austrian agents.

Death

After a memorable 90th birthday surrounded by her large family, Zita's health begins to deteriorate. She develops an inoperable cataract in both eyes. Her last big family gathering took place in Zizers in 1987, when her children and grandchildren gathered around her to celebrate her 95th birthday. During a visit to her daughter in the summer of 1988, she developed pneumonia and spent most of the fall and winter bedridden. Finally, she calls Otón in early March 1989 to tell him that she is dying. He and the rest of her family went to her side and took turns keeping her company until her death in the early hours of March 14, 1989. She was then 96 years old.

Her funeral took place in Vienna on April 1, 67 years to the day of her husband's death. The Austrian government authorized them to be carried out in Austria on the condition that the cost would be paid by the Habsburgs themselves. Zita's body was carried to the Capuchin crypt in the same carriage that carried the coffin of Emperor Franz Joseph, behind which, in 1916, she led the procession with her husband and her eldest son. Zita was buried there, next to the bust of her husband, as the latter's remains remained in Madeira (a relic has since been deposited in the Basilica of Saint Evre in Nancy). Following an ancient custom, Zita had requested that her heart, kept in an urn, remain in the Loreto Chapel of Muri Abbey, Switzerland, where her husband's heart was kept preserved.

More than 200 members of the Habsburg-Lorraine and Bourbon-Parma families gathered at the funeral and more than 6,000 people attended the religious ceremony, including many political figures and foreign representatives, in particular a representative of Pope John Paul II. On April 3, a large crowd attends a requiem mass in memory of the former queen empress, celebrated by the Hungarian cardinal primate in Matthias Church in Budapest, in the presence of Archduke Otto, eldest son of the imperial couple.

Cause of beatification and canonization

On December 10, 2009, Bishop Yves Le Saux, Bishop of Le Mans, France, opened the diocesan process for Zita's beatification. Zita had the habit of spending several months a year in the diocese of Le Mans in the Abbey of Santa Cecilia, Solesmes, where three of his sisters were nuns.

The actor is the French Association for the Beatification of Empress Zita; the postulator of the cause is Alexander Leonhardt; the vice-postulator of Hungary, the Catholic theologian Norbert Nagy; the court judge, Bruno Bonnet; and the promoter of justice, François Scrive. [1] Pope Benedict XVI declared the Queen a Servant of God and the cause for her beatification is still ongoing.

Offspring

She married Archduke Charles of Austria, grandnephew of Emperor Franz Joseph, on October 21, 1911 in Vienna. The couple had eight children, five boys and three girls:

• Archduke Otto of Austria, Crown Prince (1912-2011); married to Princess Regina of Saxony-Hildburghausen and Meiningen (1925-2010), with descent.

• Archiduquesa Adélaida of Austria (1914-1971), never married or descended.

• Archduke Roberto of Austria-Este, Duke holder of Modena (1915-1996); married to Princess Margarita Isabel de Saboya-Aosta (1930-2022).

• Archduke Felix of Austria (1916-2011); married to the princess and duchess Ana Eugenia of Arenberg, with descent.

• Archduke Carlos Luis of Austria (1918-2007); married to Princess Yolanda de Ligne (1923), with descent.

• Archduke Rodolfo of Austria (1919-2010); married to Countess Xenia Chernysheva-Besobrasova (1929-1968) and then to Princess Ana Gabriela of Wrede (1940), with descent from both marriages.

• Archiduquesa Carlota of Austria (1921-1989); married to Duke Jorge de Mecklemburg (1899-1963).

• Archiduquesa Elizabeth of Austria, posthumous daughter of Emperor Charles I (1922-1993); married to Prince Henry of Liechtenstein (1916-1991).

Orders and charges

Orders

Austro-Hungarian Empire

• Grand Master of the Order of the Starry Cross.
• Grand Master of the Order of Isabel. (Austro-Hungarian Empire).
• Protector of the Order of Isabel Teresa (Austro-Hungarian Empire).

Foreign

Charges

Military

• Owner of the Imperial and Royal Regiment of Húsares No16 of the Imperial and Royal Army.

Others

• Protective Lady and Director of the Institution of Ladies Nobles Maria Schul in Brunn.
• Protective Lady of the Innsbruck Noble Ladies Institution.

Gallery

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  Zita, sitting at the right end, with her parents and seventeen of her brothers, 1906.

• 

  The Marriage of Zita and Carlos, October 21, 1911.

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  Zita de Borbón-Parma, about 1910.

• 

  Zita de Borbón-Parma, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary.

• 

  Detail of the tomb of the Empress Zita
  (1892-1989).

Ancestors