ORF-E | 2024
English
2 x 43 min
Available worldwide

The historical relationship between the Windsors and the Habsburgs was closer and more intense than many people realize today. Queen Victoria was generous to Empress Elisabeth; on several occasions she lent her private yacht to the young ruler to take her to Madeira for a cure. Victoria’s son Bertie, later Edward VII, came regularly to Austria and was considered a close friend of Crown Prince Rudolph. When the Habsburg monarchy ended in 1918, it was Edward’s son King George V who sent an officer to Eckartsau to guarantee the safety of Emperor Charles I. And it was an English ship that took Charles into exile in Madeira.