Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress

Sissi enjoys traveling around Hungary and forms a politically valuable friendship with Count Andrássy. When he confesses that he loves her, she decides to return to Vienna to avoid a more intimate entanglement.

Back in Vienna, court life proves rigid and suffocating, with Franz Josef largely absorbed at his desk. His mother Sophie interferes in the upbringing of their daughter, limiting Sissi's influence.

Franz Josef travels to Hungary to fetch Sissi and bring her back to Vienna. The couple then agrees to take a restorative vacation in Bad Ischl.

During the Bad Ischl vacation, Sissi falls ill and is diagnosed with possibly fatal tuberculosis. Doctors warn that her health could deteriorate unless she rests in healthier air and climates.

On doctors' orders, Franz Josef must allow his mother to remove their daughter from Sissi's keeping, deepening the empress's sense of loss.

In poor health and deprived of husband and child, Sissi travels to Madeira and Corfu seeking relief. Ludovika, her steadfast mother, nurses her back to life with care and patient encouragement.

Recovered, Sissi rejoins Franz Josef on an official visit to Milan and Venice, signaling a return to imperial duties in northern Italy.

In Milan, Italian nationalists stage a hostile welcome as the royal party arrives at La Scala. The orchestra begins with Haydn's Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser before a chorus from Verdi's Nabucco is sung by disguised audience members in protest.

After the opera, Franz Josef and Sissi are entertained at a reception where disguised servants are introduced as aristocrats, highlighting the masquerade to the real nobles who shriek in dismay.

In Venice, crowds fall silent during the imperial procession along the Grand Canal while nationalist flags appear behind shuttered windows.

Despite the hostility, emotions surge as Sissi is joyously reunited with her daughter on St Mark's Square, drawing a tender moment amid political tensions.

The empress senses that true nobility lies beyond appearances, and the heartfelt moment with her daughter rekindles her spirit and resolve to endure the challenges ahead.