I thought that the two descriptions were very close in time- as in, days apart only, and in the 1860s- but I could (very well) be mistaken. I do tend to lose track of time in novels that have a long time span.

Yes, that's the book about Sisi. It was a pleasant read, but not stunning. I had conflicted feelings about Sisi as a person and as a ruler, and, other than the assassination, the book has little of the grand drama that you'd expect from a book about royals. It was sort of 'and then this happened'.