An Empress of hearts shot by an anarchist

She was still a shy teenager when she married into a royal family that never fully accepted her but she won the hearts of all classes with her beauty, charm and kindness. She suffered from an eating disorder and was made unhappy by a faithless husband but she broke free and asserted her independence and individuality.

Her sudden, violent death provoked mass grief and she became the stuff of legend, as feminists, historians, critics and marketing experts argued over her legacy.

Elisabeth, Empress of Austria, known as Sisi, was shot dead by an Italian anarchist 100 years ago next month. While the rest of the world prepares to mark the first anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, the German-speaking peoples are remembering Sisi, the people's empress.

Two exhibitions, three CDs and a dozen websites commemorate the centenary and Sisi fans can stock up on marmalade, instant coffee and hairbrushes bearing the empress's image. Meanwhile, a cluster of new books and television documentaries have been re-evaluating Sisi, often comparing her to Diana.

The similarities between their two biographies are striking and, as victims of the same destiny, they have become universal symbols of suffering.

Born on Christmas Eve, 1837, Sisi was the daughter of a Bavarian duke but enjoyed a relaxed, rural upbringing in her family's lakeside palace. When the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph came to woo her elder sister, Helene, he fell in love with the 15-year-old Sisi and they married in Vienna a year later, in 1854.

The royal wedding created a sensation in Austria and the Viennese public were entranced by their beautiful, young empress. But Sisi's mother-in-law, the formidable Archduchess Sophie, decided that the Bavarian teenager was an unsuitable partner for her son. She did all she could to create discord between the young emperor and his empress and to limit Sisi's influence - even over the upbringing of her own children.

Despite her misgivings, Sophie knew that Sisi was a useful asset for the Hapsburg dynasty, providing an oppressive, unpopular monarchy with an attractive, human face. For her part, Sisi sought to influence Franz Joseph's policies in specific areas, notably relations with Hungary.

She persuaded the emperor to make Hungary a partially autonomous kingdom and the pair were crowned King and Queen of Hungary in 1867. Sisi learned to speak Hungarian fluently and brought up her youngest daughter in Budapest.

But Franz Joseph's philandering and Sophie's intriguing finally became too much for Sisi and she left Vienna to start a new life of travel and adventure as an independent woman.

She travelled to Spain, the Middle East and England, where she visited the Spencer family seat at Althorp many times. Already a skilled horsewoman, she learned to fence and studied classical and modern Greek.

Like Diana, Sisi understood the power of the media and took care to control what photographs of her were made available. As she got older, she hid from the paparazzi of the time and, like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, tried to ensure that the public would only see images of her youthful beauty.

After the suicide of her only son, Rudolf, in 1889, Sisi wore only black and retreated almost entirely from public life. On September 10th, 1898, Luigi Lucheni shot her dead outside a Geneva hotel - although his intended victim was a visiting French aristocrat. When she was taken to a nearby hospital, surgeons were shocked to find an anchor tattooed on her shoulder.

By 1899, two biographies of the dead empress had already been published in England and the cult of Sisi has grown steadily ever since. Romy Schneider portrayed her in a trilogy of films that have become key elements in Europe's canon of high camp.

Sisi's image is everywhere this month and Japanese tourists can be seen wearing T-shirts proclaiming that she is "the empress of hearts". For anyone tired of the constant stream of tributes to Diana, the message is clear. One year on, the cult of the dead princess is far from over - if Sisi is anything to go by, it has only just begun.