Princess Sophie of Bavaria

Sophie Friederike Dorothea Wilhelmine was born 27 January 1805, daughter of Bavaria's King Maximilian I Joseph and his second wife Caroline of Baden, and the identical twin of Maria Anna, who would become Queen of Saxony. She married Archduke Franz Karl of Austria, a union that positioned her at the heart of Habsburg power. Her eldest son Franz Joseph became Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, reigning until 1916. Her second son Maximilian accepted Napoleon III's offer of the Mexican throne in 1864, a doomed venture that ended with his execution three years later. Sophie died 28 May 1872,…