Archduchess Sophie of Austria - Aftermath

Aftermath

Sophie's body was brought back to Vienna and buried in the Imperial Crypt, in Ferdinandsgruft (literally, Ferdinand's Vault), within the southwest pier.

The death of her oldest child would haunt Empress Elisabeth for her entire life. Elisabeth was held indirectly responsible for Sophie's death by Princess Sophie of Bavaria. She suffered a breakdown and would lock herself in her apartments for days at a time or go riding until she reached a state of exhaustion, just to avoid having to think. Sophie's death also settled who got the children. Princess Sophie of Bavaria indisputably took the children as soon as they were born. One of Elisabeth's ladies-in-waiting, Marie Festetics, commented in her diary that the Empress did not even take the time to attend Gisela's wedding preparations. Elisabeth also behaved in a similar manner to her only son, Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria. For the rest of her remaining days, Elisabeth would wear a bracelet with a likeness of her dead daughter and kept a portrait of her in her apartments.