Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg

Born Sophie Chotek on 1 March 1868 into Czech nobility, she served as a lady-in-waiting at the Habsburg court — where she fell in love with Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the empire's heir. The match was forbidden: she lacked the royal blood required for an archduchess, and Franz Ferdinand had to renounce their children's claim to the throne to marry her in 1900. She became Duchess of Hohenberg, not empress-in-waiting, and endured constant slights at court. On 28 June 1914, she accompanied her husband on a state visit to Sarajevo. A Bosnian Serb nationalist shot them both dead in their car. Four we…