The Deranged Empress Of Mexico

Few things from the annals of history are more bizarre or more tragic than the sordid tale of Empress Charlotte of Mexico. Sent over from colonial Belgium to rule alongside her husband, Charlotte-or Carlota in Mexico-quickly experienced a violent and infamous breakdown. But really, that’s only the beginning of her star-crossed story.
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[@danialeatherman8934]

I am schizophrenic. I thank God I live in a time of good medicine and talk therapy. I am also thankful for my loving husband who has stayed by my side.

[@marymccaffrey48]

❤

[@SueP-D]

Much praise to you and your husband. We are all much more than our diagnoses and your commitment to putting in the work to stay on top of it proves it. You are strong and courageous 💕

[@lydialily846]

@@SueP-D What a beautiful comment .. ❤

[@rhondacribbs5727]

🙏🙏. 💞💞

[@SueP-D]

@@lydialily846 awww 🥹. Thank you. I meant every word 💕

[@veronajean3417]

This is making me think that she probably had schizophrenia. Poor girl.

[@racheeerach]

So, what I'm hearing is that she wasn't crazy because she WAS actually being poisoned or drugged, she knew it, and she didn't trust anyone so she isolated herself.

[@HonestlyYours516]

In such a mental breakdown often the internal suffering that such a personal goes through is far worse than any external suffering that they may exhibit.

[@neideparente1449]

She drank the water from the fountains BECAUSE she knew It wasn't poisoned. The inbreeding was a factor as well as the precarious situation of the couple in a foreign land they knew nothing about and her responsibility for the situation (she was the one who wanted, her husband was more dubious) caused probably her mental breakdown but It is possible that , in a country where one couldn't really distinguish foe from friend she really could have been poisoned. Ultimately the responsibility lies with Napoleon III , a wastrel who used them to enact his childish colonial dreams and , when they didn't turned as glorioso as he imaginei left the couple to their own devices.

[@cynthiaschofield1551]

ok nerd I like u! ty for this information

[@icequeen9417]

NO INBREEDING CHARLOTTE HAS PARENTS FROM TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES 🙄

[@censusgary]

There’s nothing odd about Charlotte being called Carlota in Mexico Carlota is simply Spanish for “Charlotte.”

[@timefoolery]

You are quite correct!! 👍 In Italian it is Carlotta.

[@cynthiaschofield1551]

oh thank god its a real person talking! I like real storytelling the king handed down by generations of story tellers not AI

[@mariasaha8303]

Same!

[@l.plantagenet]

Any idea where the narrator is from?

[@WildWestGal]

@@l.plantagenet It's Scottish, and from Glasgow, if I don't miss my guess. Edinburgh has different inflections, particularly at the end of sentences, Although, what is known as Edinburgh's "morningside" accent is somewhat similar to this young man, again, the inflections... I'm still feeling Glasgow in his speech, and it's my favorite (no offense to Edinburgh intended!).

[@Adasteia]

The poor woman !.To be mentally ill in an era where they only put you away or kept you prisoner ! What happened to the two adopted kids?! She left with them and that is the last they were mentioned .!

[@ABeautfulMess]

Sad..I'm nuts and inherited it from my grandmother that was more nuts..thank God for modern medicine. I can't imagine being married to someone I didn't love..how lonely

[@12thDecember]

Charlotte's intuition probably told her she was being poisoned. She knew something wasn't right. Drug-induced schizophrenia. From the American Journal of Psychiatry: "A bromide psychosis is one which starts during bromide intoxication and clears up fairly soon-usually several weeks, though sometimes longer-after discontinuance of the drug. Four varieties of bromide psychosis are known." The article goes on to explain the effects of bromide poisoning. I can't put a link in a KZbin comment, but it's easy to find the article.

[@a.m.9474]

Schizophrenia with the paranoia and hallucinations both visual and auditory, and grandiose schemes of people needing them to solve something

[@WildWestGal]

I don't know if the young man who narrated this fine script so well is the person who wrote it and edited the video (the subtlety of the music background is beautifully done), but BRAVO to all three elements!!! Very much enjoyed this biography.

[@gwae48]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@Merrymangos]

I’m not surprised at her mental state due to her stages in a sad life 😢

[@wardarcade7452]

I believe that Empress Carlota DID eventually find out that her husband Maximilian had died. Decades later, her niece Princess Stephanie of Belgium married the Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary (yes, Emperor Franz-Josef and Empress Elisabeth's ['Sisi'] only son).It wasn't a happy union and they were somewhat estranged after their birth of their only child a daughter who, thanks the annoying Salic Law, wasn't eligible to inherit the imperial throne. Anyway, Crown Prince Rudolf at age 30 had engaged in a torrid fling with the 17-year-old Baroness Marie Von Vetsera then suddenly both were found dead in his hunting lodge of Mayerling- of an evident murder-suicide in 1889! Anyway, his widow the Crown Princess Stephanie went back to Belgium not to long after this and visited her aunt. Virtually the first thing the Empress Carlota said to her stunned niece was 'They killed HIM, too!' Oh, and it's likely true that her last word was 'Mexico' because her castle in Belgium was surrounded by a moat so they'd have to cross it in a rowboat to have picnics in the surrounding park. Anyway, before she'd get into the rowboat, she'd invariably beam 'Today we sail to Mexico!'

[@rosemaryfranzese317]

Charlotte seemed doomed to unhappiness from her childhood. The loss of her mother and being isolated from her family may have started her problems. Maximilian’s treatment of her would have done her more harm. The Austria royal family would not been particularly nurturing apart from Empress Sophie, Elizabeth “Sisi” was not actually a nice person and may have seen the beautiful young girl as a rival. Charlotte and Maximilian were foolish to have accepted Emperor Napoleon offer and even more foolish not to given up their throne when they still could. This is an extremely informative video and l found it fascinating. Thank for this

[@elizabethborson1739]

I hope science will be able to use stem cell therapy to cure mental health issues in the future. I have depression and am also bipolar. Medicine helps but it doesn’t make you normal, it just gets rid of the worst symptoms.

[@unatwomey7112]

Normal doesn't exist really. Normal is where kindness should exist. Including kindness to one's self.

[@mjpsy7121]

Stem cells aren't going to cure depression or bi polar. I think scientists have bigger tasks at hand when it comes to the things stems cells can/might/will be able to cure.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

Good grief, The Royal Families of Europe were absolutely hatstand!

[@_robustus_]

Hatstand?

[@piperhurtado4945]

@@_robustus_a stand in which one places one’s hat. 🎩

[@TheNester.]

They're all inbred.

[@sheilagravely5621]

Still are.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

@@sheilagravely5621 No arguments from me. I'm from a resolutely spear carrying family. Allegedly a member of the many that history happens too.

[@rulaj1]

she doesn't seem crazy at all. She seemed like a woman who was determined to help her family in a world of geopolitics and intrigue where poisoning is the norm.

[@Goodiesfanful]

In those days little was understood about treating the mentally ill and they were often badly treated. Even royalty, as this case shows.

[@friedaticer3156]

Mental illness is just so awful 😢 😮😢

[@censusgary]

It’s a sad story. But it’s strange that this version treats her drinking water from a cup as one of her more bizarre behaviors. That doesn’t seem especially crazy.

[@user-tq9pv1zw6x]

What was she supposed to drink from?

[@censusgary]

@@user-tq9pv1zw6xIndeed!

[@saschamayer4050]

To be fair, if one of us had the opportunity... Come on, we all would steal the goblet and use it to drink something! How epic! 😄

[@yvettevitacaponigro]

Thank you for the post! ✌🏼😊

[@JJW77]

You are a good storyteller!!!

[@richardshiggins704]

Very good video which clearly explains a relatively obscure period of history . Victoria had much to answer for her matchmaking and the consequent insanity within the Royal families of Europe , not forgetting the pervasive haemophilia .

[@HonestlyYours516]

How unfortunately is was for poor Charlotte of Mexico that she suffered from a serious mental health condition at a time when there were no effective treatments or medications for it.😢

[@BJsEsotericMusings-nq4lr]

The poor woman. How could they not know her mind wasn't right? It's in her eyes, that first adult portrait you started the video with, it's in her eyes. The artist captured it. ✌️🌷😊

[@onceamusician5408]

There is a very good biography of this tragic figure by Prince Michael of Greece, a relative of the British Royal Family ( as they all are nowadays) it is called Empress of Farewells

[@Duquedecastro]

Many Mexican did support the Mexican Empire. Even the city of Puebla was saddened by the loss of the battle by the French and Mexican Imperial forces. So much so that one of Juarez’s generals wanted to wipe it out. Mexico City also did not give up easily. The only reason the empire crumbled was because of their neighbors to the north 🇺🇸.

[@cd3694]

Yeah, all the rich landowners who wanted to maintain the status quo, living in luxury and keep the peons in their place as their virtual slaves.

[@Duquedecastro]

@@cd3694 Not true. The Mexican emperor erased the debts of the poorest in the country, and had policies aimed at reforming the land laws, etc. Don’t just regurgitate lies, actually research

[@cd3694]

@@Duquedecastro I’m referring to the wealthy Mexican landowners. Maximilian might have had good intentions but he was a puppet.

[@ldc5603]

She didn’t act like a schizophrenic nor the timing of her breakdown point to schizophrenia.

[@davidrubin8228]

Thank you for this. And for the sympathy in telling of this sad and tragic woman's story.

[@maryreynolds6188]

Thanks!

[@Mark3ABE]

She insisted upon taking her meals with the Pope. Pius IX was in the same position as her husband. After being deposed by the Revolution of 1848, Napoleon III offered to restore him to power by military force. A French garrison of about 50,000 troops maintained the Pope in government, however, like Maximilian, the Pope was only a puppet ruler. Napoleon III installed a French Governor-General who stripped the States of the Church bare. Finally, on the outbreak of the war with Prussia, Napoleon III withdrew his garrison - King Victor Emanuel II then annexed Rome and Lazio in 1870 and moved his capital to Rome.

[@chuckz2934]

Very nice piece

[@Factinate]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@lindahughes2289]

Poor Lady

[@dreamaker81]

Do we know what happened to the boys they adopted?

[@jrt818]

Still claimants to the the Mexican throne so they must of went on.

[@Schempsey]

From Wikipedia: "Charlotte's two adopted sons, the Princes of Iturbide, followed her to Belgium, but later both were sent to study in England. Agustín de Iturbide y Green later emigrated to the United States, while Salvador de Iturbide y de Marzán remained in Europe."

[@Duquedecastro]

Agustin grew up to be a professor at Georgetown University. His grandmother, the Mexican empress Ana Maria, is buried in Philadelphia. Salvador went to Europe and married a noblewoman there

[@Duquedecastro]

This is not researched well. It was not Napoleon III whose idea it was for Maximilian to be emperor. It was a Mexican plan. Mexicans in Paris caught the ear of Empress Eugènie of France, who was part of the Spanish nobility, as well as a descendant of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II.

[@restock_1731]

Damn, I guess those royals really were something. Lol. Great video. 👍

[@adrienneschugren9790]

There is a brew in Mexico called toloache made from jimson weed, notorious for making people crazy, could it be what she was given?

[@starbuono-ev3md]

I always had heard that Carlota had adopted a Mexican boy . And ALL of Mexico DID NOT hate her ,there were Mexicans fighting on the side of the French . A lot of the French stayed and married Mexican women there are lots of French descendants living in Mexico.

[@robertalpy]

Consumption. It wiped out millions in new england and rhe northeast in rhe 19th century. We always think of The Black Death when we think of diseases that devastated humanity . But Turburculosis has to be a slow burn close second if we discount influenza which still kills in large numbers but seems to lack the certainty of death or the horror of the other two. Even if in the early 1900s it was almost as deadly.

[@heidibee501]

Consumption (a.k.a.) TB is a thing of the past. How do l know? I had it in my teen years. That was decades ago. I'm still fine.

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

@@heidibee501 Yes, TB is both preventable in times 1940's on and simply curable if caught fairly soon. Thanks to Penicillin and other innovations.

[@heidibee501]

@@carlcushmanhybels8159 They used streptomycin, plus pills.

[@robertalpy]

When I said even in the early 1900s it was almost as deadly, I was talking about influenza at that point. Maybe I didn't make that clear. Though the sentence structure suggests it.

[@laurel237]

My great grandfather died of tuberculosis in 1929.

[@anthonytroisi6682]

Charlotte may have been pregnant with a child sired by a lover. Maximilan had to sign away his rights to the Austrian throne. When Maximillan adopted the children, he essentially admitted that ha and Charlotte, although young, were unlikely to have biological children. It is possible that her mental illness was due to guilt over her adultery. Allegedly, Charlotte gave birth to an illegitimate son. The Belgium royal family wanted Charlotte back in order to regain her immense fortune, Idealistic, well-intentioned and obsessed with royal protocol, Maximillan simply was not cut out to be the ruler of turbulent Mexico.

[@Duquedecastro]

Maximilian did great in the time he was in Mexico, and would have done even better had he stayed on the Mexican throne. He was a great leader in Mexico, but the conservatives couldn’t hold back US encroachment.

[@collywogs2258]

The picture around 7:50 is haunting

[@user-kl5jn4ew4p]

She was named for her father's first wife, who died in childbirth.

[@khill6510]

But what happened to the two adopted boys??

[@Duquedecastro]

They went to Europe with Carlota but then were reunited with their family. Agustin became a professor at Georgetown University, and Salvador ended up traveling Europe later, and as a Mexican prince, made many friends with other European royals. He ended up marrying a noblewoman in Venice, if I’m not mistaken.

[@cookshackcuisinista]

This narrator makes my heart race and my jaw drop!

[@miguelalvarado2673]

Royal love story destroyed. She had good reason to think she was being poisoned, she wasn't a total fool. Poison has, to this day, been a favorite tool for elimination. Empress Carlotta was brave. She sailed to & from Mexico, journeyed across Europe pleading her cause. Very courageous to cross ocean, travel in horse drawn carriages. Only to be turned away from her French sponsor, fearing for her life, abused from childhood. Well done, so glad hit the notification bell. No one is really safe in Mexico, President Taft took 3k soldiers when he went to Mexico in 1900. Do you think he felt safe?

[@Duquedecastro]

The Emperor and Empress lived in Mexico for years, what are you talking about? You’re not even Mexican

[@Duquedecastro]

Are you filipino? That is less safe

[@smorgasbroad1132]

Historically, not many of these royal families in various countries, seem to end well at all, whether romantically or politically. In-breeding, in-fighting, back stabbing, jealousy, religion and arrogance seems to be the formula for a royal fall- or worse. Be grateful. It must be an awful life. (Btw, Maximilian was a real jerk. Got his comeuppance. IMO)

[@Duquedecastro]

That’s a ridiculous thing to say about the Mexican emperor. He did many good things and deserved better, as did Carlota

[@skralann123]

What movie or seriesare those clips from? I would love to know, thank you!

[@YoyoBooh]

I was wondering the same 🧐 Please let me know if you find out 🙏🏼

[@laurakenney100]

I thought for sure you were going to say she suffered from tertiary syphilis.

[@denisestinnett4414]

Sounds like she was right, she was being poisoned.

[@Bad-Bru]

Hello friends.... Im not one to type comments normally, But i happento like this video.

[@rebekahtaylor4830]

What happened to the two boys last you spoke of them was when she took them to go talk to napoleon?

[@cynhiacations9879]

What happened to the adopted boys from Mexico

[@Duquedecastro]

The Princes Agustín and Salvador went to Europe with her for a little while (and later received pensions from the Habsburgs), but were quickly reunited with their family in Mexico, or the US in exile, I forget. The entire time, their aunt Josepha was with them at Chapultepec Castle, the imperial residence of the Emepror and Empress in Mexico City. Prince Agustín later became a professor at Georgetown University (their grandmother, Mexican empress Ana Maria, is buried in Philadelphia). Prince Salvador later went back to Europe and, as a Mexican prince, was welcomed in society by other European royalty; he ended up marrying an Austro-Hungarian Baroness, if I’m not mistaken. His descendants are still listed as among the pretenders of the Throne of Mexico 🇲🇽.

[@loum73]

Bien loquita Carlotita, pobrecita.

[@genevievemurray7743]

But what happened to the adopted Mexican princes that she dragged across Europe?

[@Duquedecastro]

The Mexican Princes Agustín and Salvador went to Europe with her for a little while (and later received pensions from the Habsburgs), but were quickly reunited with their family in Mexico, or the US in exile, I forget. The entire time, their aunt Josepha was with them at Chapultepec Castle, the imperial residence of the Emperor and Empress in Mexico City. Prince Agustín later became a professor at Georgetown University (their grandmother, Mexican empress Ana Maria, is buried in Philadelphia). Prince Salvador later went back to Europe and, as a Mexican prince, was welcomed in society by other European royalty; he ended up marrying a Baroness and lived in Venice. His descendants are still listed as among the pretenders to the Throne of Mexico 🇲🇽.

[@bellyarty]

Thanks. I was wondering about the princes and thinking of their poor real mum.

[@Duquedecastro]

@@bellyarty And they were cousins, so there were two moms involved. They made the deal in the first place either way, and the story of “kidnapping” is more of an American invention to malign the Emperor of Mexico.

[@emaulinecox5543]

I do not believe Charlotte was insane in any form… she was scared, resourceful, intelligent, and knew assassination was possibly imminent. Those whom were the convincing “witnesses “ performed their duties in stating she was insane or so called losing it in her “ramblings”…. This video should have a two sided view at the least.

[@EllenMRangel-ew8de]

I'm related to Charlotte and the prince of Austria 🇦🇹 heritage.

[@Duquedecastro]

Are you Mexican? I am related to Carlota as well

[@DAVIDLOGAN-fx3nu]

Chaelotte received syphllis from her husband Maximilian. That' why she had no children. It contributed to her illness.

[@katyshepard6402]

God was kind to her. She went to sleep and awoke in Heaven.

[@donnafalconer8158]

❤🎉

[@marvinellis1517]

F J B...........

[@rodgershort-gl2hd]

The Government is 40 years ahead of the civilian population in health advancements and technological advancement!!! Your tax funds pays for the research and development of those advancements!!!

[@onceamusician5408]

Her life confirms to me that "mental illness" does not exist as a medical reality. she was trapped in unending despair. and such can and does drive people mad - ie frenzied and desperate as I was, and i recovered by rejecting the bogus diagnosis they foisted on me which would have trapped me in a life of dependence on therapy ( which i also now oppose - See Jeffrey Masson's book Against Therapy as to why) and drugs which address no issue but only repress behaviour

[@alphooey]

dangerous tripe

[@lauravillanueva2175]

A reminder for the Age.

[@marisamartin3664]

What happened to those Mexican boys they adopted?

[@yvetteworrall8909]

Interesting story of a 19th century woman as ruler of Mexico. 1n 2024, Sheinbaum emerges as woman president...

[@Duquedecastro]

Too bad they are very different from each other. As a Mexican, My family has always thought we’d be better off with a Mexican monarchy!

[@loum73]

She went to Europe with her 2 children? So she took the 2 Mexican boys with her? What happened to them?

[@tessjones5987]

She could have been Borderline.

[@melissasalazar1436]

How very sad and tragic her life was before and afterwards. May she rest in peace alongside her husband. Royal inbreeding was disgusting but necessary in her time.

[@Duquedecastro]

Carlota and Maximiliano weren’t any closer than 3rd cousins

[@chrisjarvis4449]

she drank the water that's what got her ! car load of what ?

[@_robustus_]

¡Viva la Republica!

[@Duquedecastro]

¡Viva el Imperio Mexicano!

[@actonman7291]

She was batshit crazy.

[@SueP-D]

Mental health struggles ☮️