The Bostonian Singer Who Married a Portuguese King and Had Her Inheritance Taken From Her
Lisbon owes much of its tourism today to her
It reads like a typical chapter of Portuguese history — by which I mean it reads like a melodramatic soap opera replete with intrigue, betrayal, the good guys being duped, and the bad guys walking off with all the loot.
Welcome to Portuguese History 101.
Her name was Elise Friedericke Hensler, later to be created Countess of Edla solely for the purpose of marrying Dom Ferdinand II, King of Portugal, in 1869.
King Ferdinand’s reign had ended in 1853, due to the death of his wife, Queen Maria II of Portugal, but he had retained his title.
A King could not marry a commoner — and an unmarried mother at that! Their upcoming wedding was a scandal.
Elise was born on May 22, 1836, in Switzerland, and relocated with her family to Boston when she was still very young.
Accounts differ on her age at the time of her relocation— she was either two, or nine, or twelve. The first thing you must know about Portuguese history is that finding accurate historical records is extremely difficult.
