- my heart opens to your voice -

Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were crowned King and Queen of Hungary by Hungarian Prime Minister Count Andrássy in Budapest on 8 June 1867

The coronation began at four o’clock in the morning with a twenty-one-gun salute from the Citadel of St. Gerhardsberg. At that early hour, people were already streaming from the countryside to the city, to line the streets.

At seven o’clock, the coronation procession set out from the castle. Eleven standard-bearers, chosen from among the high nobility, preceded Gyula Andrássy, wearing on his chest the large cross of the Order of St. Stephen and carrying the holy crown of Hungary. He was followed by gonfaloniers bearing the state insignia resting on red velvet pillows. Then came Franz Joseph.

The undisputed highlight of the procession was the Queen. All the Hungarian newspapers described her appearance in detail; Pester Lloyd, for example, reported, “On her head the diamond crown, the glittering symbol of sovereignty, but the expression of humility in her bowed bearing and traces of the deepest emotion on her noble features—thus she walked—or rather floated—along, as if one of the paintings that adorn the sacred chambers had stepped out of its frame and come to life. The appearance of the Queen here at the holy site produced a deep and lasting impression.”

At the solemn cathedral services, Franz Joseph was anointed King by the Primate of Hungary, but it was Andrássy—representing the palatine—who placed the crown on Franz Joseph’s head. Elisabeth, too, was anointed, but the crown, following an old custom, was held over her right shoulder—by Andrássy.

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