In multiple biographies and fiction describing Elizabeth’s life, Sophie is often portrayed as a controlling and power-hungry tyrant, ruthlessly submitting her daughter-in-law to her own will. The relationship between Elizabeth and her mother-in-law Sophie progressively spiraled down, as the latter was convinced that the young and free-spirited Empress could not provide an adequate upbringing to the royal children. The engagement proposal itself was made in a much more formal way – through Archduchess Sophie, who approached her sister and arranged the agreement between the families to marry Elizabeth and Franz Joseph. Even the bold "two cotillions in a row" move Franz Joseph allowed himself at the ball, inviting Elizabeth one dance after another (which was a telltale sign of an upcoming engagement), was discussed between Franz and his mother prior to the ball. The romanticized version of their encounter depicted in The Empress – in the woods – is one of many myths circling Elizabeth and her life. Back then Elizabeth was too young to spark the interest of the future Emperor who was too busy dealing with revolutionary events that threatened to collapse the monarchy. Technically, the first meeting between Elisabeth and Franz Joseph happened in June 1848 when Duchess Ludovika with children visited her sister, Archduchess Sophie, in Innsbruck. The celebration in Bad Ischl was not, in fact, the first time Franz Joseph saw his cousins.
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