Chapter Text
Arranged marriages were normal for Royals, especially when the laws dictated that those who wish to succeed should have a valid dynastic marriage and have as many children as possible.
Niki, or Archduke Andreas Nikolaus Amadeus Leopold Francis Joseph of Austria, was born from such a marriage. His mother had been betrothed to his father in a political arrangement between the Duchy of Parma and the Austrian Empire, and it was a very unhappy union.
At least, according to his mother’s diaries which he was able to read once he was 12 years old. He had no memories of his mother, considering she died when he was 9 months old.
The young Archduke and Crown Prince of Bohemia and Hungary was primarily raised by his paternal grandmother, Maria Theresa, together with his older sister, also Maria Theresa, until she died of pleurisy. He was about to turn 7 when she died, and noticed his father become melancholy as a result.
His grandmother attempted to keep him away as much as possible, but the young Prince wanted to be with his father especially after losing his mother so young.
Once the brown-haired boy turned 14, a bride was searched for the Imperial heir.
His older 1st cousin once removed Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony was considered as an option, as were the 2 youngest daughters of the French Dauphin and his 2nd wife: Princess Marie Clotilde and Princess Élisabeth. A fourth suggestion was Maria Carolina of Savoy, a daughter of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia.
Meetings were arranged between the Austrian and the young girls, the Holy Roman Empress by her own right hoping for her eldest son’s heir to approve at least of one of the girls.
No one could’ve prepared the oldest daughter of Charles VI for her grandson to tell her that he preferred to marry someone else, a Hanoverian British Princess, after having seen her portrait during a diplomatic visit to Württemberg prior to meeting the 4 potential brides.
It was rather surprising, but the Queen of Bohemia and Hungary wasn’t wholly disappointed.
After all, Great Britain had been an ally to Austria during the War of the Spanish Succession at the beginning of the 18th century and again during the War of Austrian Succession in 1740 to 1748. They had only been on opposing sides during the Seven Years’ War just prior to the 15-year-old’s birth.
Thus, Maria Theresa welcomed the match should it flourish into marriage after a visit to Hanover.
Queen Charlotte of Great Britain, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz by birth, was not happy to let go of her first-born daughter, but understood that the Princess Royal could be married off in a political match.
Joanna was a beautiful young woman with long blonde locks and piercing blue eyes, which she had inherited from her very blue-eyed father, but she also had a certain charm to her which made men simply flock to her.
And that flock of men included the young Austrian Imperial heir.
A personal letter from the 15-year-old Archduke had arrived first at the court of the British Royal family, requesting to meet their daughter in-person for the first time after having noticed her portrait. This letter was followed up by a letter from the reigning Holy Roman Empress detailing her grandson’s interest in a formal matter, her letter was in German whereas her grandson’s had been in English.
The Duchess by birth was rather astounded that the Imperial heir of Austria and Hungary was able to write in English considering all Royal families tended to correspond in German. It equally impressed her husband, the first Hanoverian King born on British soil and was a native English speaker.
They decided to reply to the Archduke’s letter, simply to see if this match was even one they should consider at all. They did want to consider their daughter’s feelings about the prospective match.
Joanna dreaded the day that she would potentially be married off in a political match to appease another German Kingdom, like her aunt Sophia Dorothea.
She hadn’t expected one of those potential partners to request a meeting with her rather than simply requesting her parents for her hand. And she did meet with the prospect.
At first glance, Archduke Andreas had not seemed incredibly special. He was a Habsburg after all, and Habsburg men did tend to have a rather awful appearance. But apart from his face which resembled a rodent, he was a man you could fall in love with.
The British Princess was however a little hesitant to give her hand in marriage, as it would mean she would have to convert to Catholicism in order for the marriage to be legal and to allow her to become Holy Roman Empress after the death of Andreas’s grandmother and father.
Plus, she was a convinced Anglican.
It was a difficult decision for her.
If anything, she did not want to end up like her aunt Augusta who had married the Duke of Brunswick and was stuck in a rather unhappy marriage. In that case, converting to Catholicism didn’t seem too bad.
Yet the Princess wanted to be absolutely sure that she was making the correct decision, so she decided to wait it out for a little bit and simply correspond with the Archduke.
Niki had not expected a definitive answer before he left London, although he had hoped on a little bit more of an indication from the Princess herself whether she wanted the match or not. But he could wait a little bit longer, and hopefully receive an answer.
He had not yet turned 16, and he would have a long life ahead of him if he did not fall ill. Yet he knew his grandmother didn’t have much life left in her, and he did wish to marry before her passing.
Luckily for him, he did receive his answer in time for that to happen.
He was going to marry Princess Joanna Charlotte Augusta Albertine of the United Kingdom, and he would be spending the foreseeable future with her.
The wedding date was set on 30 October 1780.
It was the first union between a Habsburg and a British Royal since King Philip II of Spain married Queen Mary I of England, a time when tensions between Protestants and Catholics were at their highest. Those tensions had died down, most of it anyway, and mixed religion couples were becoming a more regular occurrence considering marriage choices were extremely limited for certain dynasties.
It was becoming necessary as there were so few Catholic reigning dynasties left, and the Habsburg dynasty didn’t want the same thing to happen to the Austrian branch as what happened to the Spanish branch: the branch dying out due to suspected hereditary health issues.
The wedding shouldn’t have been planned later, however. One month after the wedding, Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa died on the 29th of November. It meant that Niki’s father was the sole ruler of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
From that day onwards, the Emperor’s sole heir was involved in the decision making. And on his turn, he decided to involve his wife in the decisions too.
Sometimes, an ‘outsider’ perspective was needed.
It paved the way for how the 17-year-old envisioned the future. He wanted to rule together with his wife and set a precedent of how Austria-Hungary should be ruled over in the future.
He had never believed in true absolutism. If anything, he abhorred it. He’d been able to see the tensions rising in France when he was visiting Versailles to meet with the French marriage candidates, and it made him rather fearful of similar events happening in Austria-Hungary.
He knew it wouldn’t be easy to appease everyone. In some cases, that would not be possible at all.
But Andreas had to try and keep such an ethnically and culturally diverse Empire together.