Zita Upd: Biograf

The family fled to Switzerland, and later to the Portuguese island of Madeira. It was there, in 1922, that tragedy struck. Emperor Charles caught a cold that developed into severe pneumonia. Zita, pregnant with their eighth child, nursed him devotedly until his death at the age of 34.

The collapse came in November 1918. As Austria-Hungary disintegrated into new nation-states, Charles and Zita were forced to abdicate (though Charles famously refused to renounce his throne). They were exiled to Switzerland. But Zita, fiercely loyal and politically astute, did not accept the republics. She believed in the divine right of kings and the legitimacy of the Habsburg claim. biograf zita