Princesses of Belgium: the complicated destiny of Louise
Philippe remains very much in love with Louise, the couple mend quite well, but two years later, the princess meets Count Géza Mattachich. A love and a reciprocal passion are not long in bursting, new scandal, this time on the European level. It is true that Philip of Saxe-Coburg was granted the predicate of royal highness and received the Golden Fleece from the hands of Emperor Franz Joseph. The couple will soon be shattered.
Louise is summoned to the Emperor who reminds her that she has a husband, advises her to find the right path and to travel for a while, just to be forgotten! With her children, Léopold and Dorothée, she leaves for the South of France… For his part, Philippe challenges Géza to a duel, revolver then sabre. The prince comes out of it slightly injured in the hand while the lover joins his beauty in Nice! The princess continues to spend lavishly, until Philippe decides not to pay the bills anymore…
The princess is declared mad! Leopold II, his wife Marie-Henriette and François-Joseph agree with Philippe: Louise has the choice between locking herself in the Cobourg palace or internment. She will choose: it will be the nursing home. First near Vienna, but quickly, so as not to attach his rank, Philippe decides to place his wife outside the Empire, heading to an institution in Saxony… She will not receive any visitors there.