Sisi & Eugénie: the empresses who redefined royalty

In the latter half of the 19th century, Europe was dazzled by the beauty, charm and sensibility of two empresses: Eugénie, Empress of the French via her marriage to Napoleon III; and Elisabeth (or 'Sisi'), consort to the Austrian emperor, Franz Joseph. Author Nancy Goldstone speaks to Danny Bird about the lives of these two women, revealing how they broke boundaries and redefined what a royal consort could be.

(Ad) Nancy Goldstone is the author of The Rebel Empresses: Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France, Power and Glamour in the Struggle for Europe (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebel-Empresses-Nancy-Goldstone/dp/139960399X/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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