But as much as the crowds lining the flag and banner-clad route to the Hofburg Palace were hoping to get a glimpse of Their Russian Majesties, many onlookers were more interested in getting a glimpse of their own Empress who had not been seen in public for more than seven years.​

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Fate had yet to plot its course. But this would be the last time Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, “Sisi”, would be seen in public. And the Gala Dinner to be held this night, where the Habsburgs hosted the Romanovs, would be her last court dinner.​

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Since the suicide of her son and heir to the throne Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889, the Empress had retreated from public life spending much of her time in seclusion at her purpose-built palace, Achilleion, on the Greek island of Corfu.​

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But with the crowning and pending visit to Vienna of the new Tsar and Tsarina, Emperor Franz Jospeh wanted his wife by his side. It had been twenty-three years since a Russian Emperor had visited the Habsburg capital, and this was the first foreign visit of Nicholas II since ascending the throne.​

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“Great efforts were required to induce the Empress to appear at the Hoftafel  [Palace table]” recalled Court official, Count de Rességuier, “and when she did appear it was in a dress that loudly proclaimed her grief; black velvet and red poppies; flowers of death and sleep”.​

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The Times more charitably referred to Sisi’s black attire as “melancholy grace”.​

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The day’s festivities started just before 10am when the hurrahing crowds welcomed the arrival of their Kaiser Franz Joseph to the railway station, courteously dressed in the uniform of the Russian Life Guard Regiment. Just behind him came the carriage of “Sisi” and then those of Crown Princess Stéphanie alongside Archduchess Maria Josepha. Then came Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne, also courteously dressed in the uniform of the Russian Dragoon Regiment.​

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Just before 10:30am the orchestra struck up “God Save the Tsar” as the train carrying the Russian Emperor and Empress steamed slowly to a halt at the platform where Franz Jospeh and Elisabeth were waiting to greet their guests. Wearing pale blue silk embroidered in silver, the Tsarina appeared in the carriage doorway as Franz Joseph stepped forward to guide her down the stairs before kissing her hand.​

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The two Empresses then embraced each other as the Tsar emerged from the train in the uniform of the Austrian K. und K. Infanterieregiments No. 2, for which he was a Colonel, and wearing the Star of St. Stephen.  The two Emperors shook hands and kissed each other twice on the cheek.

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In open carriages Franz Jospeh and Nicholas II led a procession back to the Hofburg with Sisi and the Tsarina in the following carriage. Sisi, wearing a black hat with black feathers, held a huge bunch of violets in one hand while characteristically shielding her face behind an embroidered black silk fan in the other hand.​

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“On Saturday we saw the Empress of Austria, and I was perfectly enchanted with her”, the Tsarina wrote to her brother, the Grand Duke of Hesse:​

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“She has a most lovely, tall & thin figure and such a pretty face & soft voice… Nicky [Tsar Nicholas II] drove with the Emperor & I followed with the Empress - I must say I am shy with all these masses of strange faces again. The Empress and I had already seen twice before - she enquired after you”.​

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Once the procession from the railway station had arrived at the Hofburg, ten rooms were placed at the disposal of the Russian imperial couple: each room decorated with an abundance of flowers, marble busts and statuettes carefully selected for the Russian guests; and an assortment of trinkets chosen by Sisi from her travels.​

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From three o’clock in the afternoon, guests started to arrive at the Hofburg for the Gala Dinner to be held in the Ceremonial Hall with its 26 famous double tiered chandeliers. If the hundreds of additional electric lamps at each setting – still being a rare and extravagant form of lighting – didn’t wow the guests, then the illuminated full-sized palms planted between the marble columns would have. Beneath each tree were laid garden beds of carnations, orchids and roses. ​

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Silverware to accommodate 12 courses had been laid at each setting, with each table holding bronze pots and ornate vases overflowing with flowers. The head table, in the shape of a horseshoe, was laid for 140 guests.​

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At 5:15pm, the tempo of the room went up a notch when the Emperor’s personal court officials appeared including the Lord High Steward [Erster Obersthofmeister], Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein; the Oberstküchenmeisters [the Grand Kitchen Master] Count Wolkenstein; and the Director of Ceremonies, the Knight von Loebenstein. Despite his lofty title, the Oberstküchenmeisters was not the chef, but rather he was the director of the kitchens and every morsel of food that passed the Emperor’s lips and those of his guests. ​

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It would be another 30 minutes before the room fell into complete silence as the Court orchestra started to play the overture to Wagner’s opera, Reinzi. It was the telltale sign that Emperor Franz Joseph and his imperial procession were not far from entering the room. ​

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At the overture’s crescendo, the double-doors swung open and Kaiser Franz Joseph appeared, now in the uniform of the Life Guards Kexholm Regiment (of the Russian Imperial Guard). On his chest was the ribbon and Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Andrew; and on his arm was the Tsarina who was shimmering with a high diamond tiara and long pink gown embroidered with more diamonds.​

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The room went down in a sea of bows and curtsies. ​

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Next to enter the room was Tsar Nicholas II with Empress Elisabeth on his arm. He wore the uniform of the Austrian 
Imperial and Royal Uhlan Regiment No. 5 and the ribbon and Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stephen, while Sisi wore a black ribbed silk dress decorated in lace, mantle collar, half length black gloves, long black flowing veil, and the ribbon and star of the Russian Imperial Order of Saint Catherine.​

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The Tsarina’s lady-in-waiting, Baroness Buxhoeveden, remembered how:​

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“Both the Emperor and the Empress fell immediately under the spell of the Empress Elisabeth's romantic personality, and never forgot the picture of loveliness she made at the State dinner at the Hofburg — which took place, by the way, at five p.m., as the Emperor Franz Josef had remained faithful to the hour of his young days”.​

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“The Empress Elisabeth had retained her great beauty. She was all in black, and her glorious thick hair had still kept its deep brown colour. She became very animated when talking to the Emperor and was charming”.​

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Flanked by the two Emperors, the two Empresses sat in the middle of the horseshoe table with the Tsarina sitting to the right of Empress Elisabeth.​

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The dinner started with a chicken and sorrel soup accompanied by small vol-au-vents filled with creamed chicken and truffles, and garnished with chopped foie-gras and truffle slices.​

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After the fourth course, Champagne glasses were filled and Emperor Franz Joseph rose to his feet to propose a toast in French describing the Tsar’s visit as a “renewed pledge of the friendship which unites us”. The orchestra struck-up “God Save the Tsar” before Nicholas II rose to his feet and similarly proposed a toast in French and thanked his Habsburg host for the “charming reception”. The Austrian national anthem then blared through the palace halls.​

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Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were dual monarchs as Emperor and Empress of Austria and King and Queen of Hungary. The Count de Rességuier recalled the toasts as being a small diplomatic scandal:​

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“Her [Empress Elisabeth] behaviour was no less strange. The toasts had been previously prepared by the respective ministers of the two great sovereigns. Francis Joseph rose first and recited his speech word for word, but the Empress, though she rose to her feet, omitted to raise her glass. And great was the sensation, when the Tsar who had noted the fact, said in reply, “I drink to the health of His Majesty the Emperor and King, and to that of Her Majesty the Empress”. Only this and nothing more”.​

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Given the Tsarina had been “perfectly enchanted” by Sisi, the omission of the word “Queen” may have been an accidental oversight rather than a deliberate retort, as the Count had interpreted it - and perhaps dramatised it.​

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By dinner’s end guests had feasted on alpine trout, roast beef and poulardes (spayed hens) and Suprême de perdreaux à la Reine: a dish of sautéed partridge served alongside puff-pastry tartlets filled with creamed partridge and truffles.​

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Emperor Franz Joseph's favourite dish, Tafelspitz, appears on the menu in French as "Pièce de bœuf". This was the famous Viennese simmered beef that was a monotonous almost daily inclusion on the Empero'r's personal menus. The rump cap of a young ox (veal) was boiled for several hours in bouillon with turnip, carrot, celery and onion and served thinly sliced in its broth enriched with marrow bones. Horseradish and stewed apples accompanied the dish which was so tender that the Emperor only needed his fork.

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There was two desserts with both incorporating coffee ice-cream: a known favourite of Franz Joseph.​

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This would be the last time Empress Elisabeth appeared at Court. In the almost ten years from the suicide of her son in 1889 until her own assassination in 1898, this gala dinner with the Russian Tsar and Tsarina was her only Court appearance.