I DEDICATE
THIS BOOK TO
the Great Man, to the Great King, who was
MY FATHER

CONTENTS

CHAPTERPAGE
1.Why I Write this Book[1]
2.My Beloved Belgium; my Family and Myself;
Myself—as I Know Myself		[7]
3.The Queen[17]
4.The King[27]
5.My Country and Days of my Youth[36]
6.My Marriage and the Austrian Court—the Day
after my Marriage		[54]
7.Married[63]
8.My Hosts at the Hofburg—the Emperor Francis
Joseph and the Empress Elizabeth		[82]
9.My Sister Stéphanie Marries the Archduke
Rudolph, who Died at Meyerling		[100]
10.Ferdinand of Coburg and the Court of Sofia[116]
11.William II and the Court of Berlin—the
Emperor of Illusion		[132]
12.The Holsteins[142]
13.The Courts of Munich and Old Germany[154]
14.Queen Victoria[165]
15.The Drama of my Captivity, and my Life as a
Prisoner—the Commencement of Torture		[171]
16.Lindenhof[189]
17.How I Regained my Liberty and at the Same
Time was Declared Sane		[197]
18.The Death of the King—Intrigues and Legal
Proceedings		[211]
19.My Sufferings during the War[231]
20.In the Hope of Rest[245]
Index[253]

LIST OF PLATES

The Princess Louise of Belgium(Photogravure)[Frontispiece]
Queen Marie Henriette of BelgiumFACING PAGE
[22]
King Leopold II of Belgium[32]
The Countess Lonyay (Princess Stéphanie of Belgium)[48]
Prince Philip of Saxe-Coburg[70]
Princess Victor Napoleon (Princess Clémentine of Belgium)[86]
The Archduke Rudolph[102]
Duke Gunther of Schleswig-Holstein[150]
The Duchess Gunther of Schleswig-Holstein[234]

My Own Affairs

CHAPTER I
Why I Write this Book

As the eldest daughter of a great man and a great King, whose magnificent intelligence has enriched his people, I owe nothing but misfortune to my royal origin. Ever since I was born I have suffered and been deceived. I have idealized Life too much.

In the evening of my days I do not wish to remain under the cloud of the false impression which is now prevalent concerning me.

Without desiring to allude too much to the past, and to retrace the road of my Calvary, I should like at least to borrow a few pages from my memories and reflections, inspired by events which have destroyed thrones in whose proximity I once lived. The Emperor of Austria, the German Emperor, the Tsar of Bulgaria were all familiar figures to me.