Archduchess Mathilde of Austria was an Austrian noblewoman.
Background
She was the second daughter of Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen and Princess Hildegard of Bavaria (1825–1864). Her forenames were derived from her mother"s sisters, Mathilde, Grand Duchess of Hesse (1813–1862), Adelgunde, Duchess of Modena (1823–1914) and Princess Alexandra of Bavaria (1826–1875), with whom Hildegard had a very close relationship.
Career
Albrecht and his family usually spent the summer there, where Archduchess Hildegard especially found of its renowned public baths. Because of his charity, he was popularly named Engelsherz (Angel"s Heart). During the winter, the family lived in Vienna.
A distant cousin, Archduke Ludwig Salvator (1847–1915), of the Italian Habsburg line, fell in love with Mathilde and sought to marry her, but they never became engaged.
Mathilde was intended to become Queen of Italy as the wife of Umberto of Savoy (1844–1900) in order to improve the already tense relations between Austria-Hungary and Italy. Mathilde died at the age of 18 in Schloss Hetzendorf, the Viennese home of Empress Elisabeth, on 6 June 1867.
The archduchess had put on a gauze dress to go to the theatre. Before leaving for the theatre, she wanted to smoke a cigarette but shortly thereafter her father, who had forbidden smoking, approached her, and she hid the cigarette behind her dress, immediately setting light to its very flammable material and giving her second and third-degree burns.
Her death was witnessed by her whole family.