Louis-Guillaume, duc en Bavière (en allemand Ludwig Wilhelm Herzog in Bayern / Munich 1831-1920), fils aîné de Maximilien en Bavière, duc en Bavière et de Ludovica de Bavière, était le frère aîné de l'impératrice Élisabeth d'Autriche, la célèbre Sissi, et de Sophie-Charlotte, la fiancée du Roi Louis II.
Passionné de théâtre, Louis-Guillaume en Bavière fit la connaissance de la comédienne Henriette Mendel (1833-1891), dont il eut deux enfants illégitimes, Marie-Louise étant l'aînée. Bravant les conventions de son milieu, le duc épousa en union morganatique la mère de ses enfants en 1859. Leurs enfants furent reconnus légitimes mais non dynastes. Marie-Louise de Wallersée devint la confidente de Sissi qui lui fit épouser le Comte Larisch, un riche aristocrate de Bohême.
Après l'assassinat de l'impératrice en 1898, Marie écrivit ses mémoires (dont le titre original est My Past) avec l'aide d'un journaliste anglais , -des mémoires qui seront contestées quant à leur véracité-, pour se justifier notamment de son rôle d'entremetteuse dans l'affaire de Meyerling. La Cour de Vienne lui demande de renoncer à les publier contre contribution d'une pension à vie, mais elle trahira ses engagements et ses Mémoires paraîtront en 1913. On les trouve en français sous le titre Le drame de Meyerling.
L'épisode qui nous intéresse ici concerne la rencontre secrète de Sophie-Charlotte, la fiancée de Louis II de Bavière, avec le compositeur Richard Wagner, dans la maison de Louis-Guillaume, auquel le Roi avait demandé assistance et complicité. Louis-Guillaume avait accepté de prêter sa maison. Dans ses mémoires (My Past, pp. 32 à 34), la Comtesse Larisch raconte l'épisode plutôt comique de l'arrivée de Wagner dans la maison de son père, où elle l'accueille. Nous en retranscrivons le texte dans l'original anglais:
One of my most interesting experiences as a
young girl was my first meeting with Richard
Wagner, who, as is well known, owed his ultimate
recognition as a genius to the kindness and
patronage of Ludwig II. The King, who was
very fond of papa, one day asked him whether
his fiancde, my aunt Princess Sophie of Bavaria,
could meet Wagner at our house. Papa, of course,
assented, and a meeting was arranged, but owing
to some contretemps everybody excepting myself
was out when the great man arrived. I had
devoted my solitude to ransacking my mother’s
wardrobe to “ dress up,” so when I had tried on
her largest crinoline, her silk dress, and her hat
and jacket, I seized a small green silk-fringed
umbrella, and pirouetted complacently in front of
the long mirror. Suddenly the bell rang, and conjecturing the
arrival was my governess, I made for the door,
opened it, and came face to face with Wagner,
although I did not then know who he was. I
remember him so well as a little man with
a big nose who said politely, in a broad Saxon
accent, “Is it here that the Duke of Bavaria lives? ” I bowed, and said gravely, " Please to
come in.”
Wagner seemed rather nervous, and no wonder, for I looked extraordinary in my huge
crinoline, and clothes which were far too large
for me ; but perhaps he reflected, that as our
family was famed for its eccentricities, he had
chanced to meet one of the “odd” members, so
he followed me meekly into the drawing-room
where I left him.
An hour passed, and when my governess re-
turned I informed her that Papa’s tailor was
sitting in the salon, but she merely replied, “ Let
him wait,” and directed her energies to scolding
me for dressing up and telling me to “ get on
with my lessons.”
There was no sound from where Wagner sat
possessing his soul in patience, but when my
mother came back and I imparted the interesting
news to her that “ Papa's tailor was in the salon.”
she straightway went to see for herself and
nearly expired when she recognised Richard
Wagner. Mamma was really distressed to think
that he had been treated in such an offhand manner,
and was profusely apologetic. Wagner, however,
was highly amused, and remarked, “ Some one
told me to wait, and I have waited, you see.”
Soon afterwards my aunt arrived with her lady-
in-waiting, and I believe a very pleasant interview took place. I was not allowed to renew my
acquaintance with Wagner, and in the outer
darkness of my schoolroom I writhed under the
maternal anger, but I have a shrewd suspicion
that it was the fact of my “ dressing up ” which
annoyed my mother most, and that Wagner’s long
wait was as nothing compared to her creased
gown and roughly handled crinoline.
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