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Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine.

In the latter half of the 19th century, Europe was dazzled by the beauty, charm and sensibility of two empresses.

Eugenie, Empress of the French via her marriage to Napoleon III, and Elizabeth,

better known as Cece, consort to the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph. In this episode,

author Nancy Goldstone speaks to Danny Bird about the lives of these two women, how they broke

boundaries and redefined what a royal

consort could be.

Nancy, you've written about some incredible historical women before, but what was it about

Empress Elizabeth of Austria, aka Cici, and Empress Eugenia of France, that made you want

to tell their stories in tandem?

Well, I remember distinctly when I first came across

Sissy, Empress Elizabeth, she's more commonly known as Sissy. It was at least five years ago

when I was researching a much earlier book about Elizabeth Stewart, actually, the Winter Queen.

We were in Prague, and we just finished touring the castle.

We walked outside to some of the shops, and there was a bookstore. I love going into

bookstores in other countries, so of course we went in and there. There was a little English section

...