All fans of the series “The Magnificent Century” wondered: “What happened to Princess Isabella?”
Today I will give you the definitive answer to this question.
Isabella Fortuna is a fictional character in the series, but many believe that she was based on the princess of Castile and Leon, Isabella of Castile. But this is not true, because this woman was 43 years older than Sultan Suleiman. She died when the future Sultan was only ten years old.
The writers came up with the character of Princess Isabella for the brightness and dynamism of the film.
Due to a harsh set of circumstances, the princess became a prisoner of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Accustomed to luxury, respect and unquestioning submission, the woman decided that she was in hell. However, she very soon changed her mind.
If from the very beginning Suleiman and his subjects seemed to her like ill-mannered barbarians, then Isabella quickly realized that they were smarter and nicer than many of her acquaintances. The Sultan's charisma and upbringing captivated the princess, and she fell in love.
The woman managed to interest the padishah, and the sultan transported his captive to the harem. But Hurrem Sultan did not intend to share the Sultan with anyone. In addition, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was greatly irritated by the arrogance of her new rival and her noble origin, which she constantly boasted about.
The Sultana had to make a lot of efforts to get rid of the Princess of Castile. But almost all her attempts failed, except the last one.
We all remember the last scene in the film with Isabella. She sits tied up and scared in the linen room. Near the princess, Hürrem Sultan announces his victory and tells her that she will soon die. Afterwards, Hurrem orders the servants to get rid of the princess. Isabella was not shown again in the film, and fans of the series were left only to guess and make their own assumptions about what happened next to the princess?
There is an answer!
Isabella survived. She was saved at the last moment by Sultan Suleiman. But this scene is not shown to the viewer, and they make it clear in every possible way that the princess was killed on the orders of Hurrem.
How exactly the Sultan saved her, I cannot say. Most likely, Isabella was stuffed into a bag and thrown into the water, and the Sultan and his personal guards pulled the bag out of the water and saved the princess.
The next day, the audience is shown an angry Sultan, who orders that Isabella be found. He is pretending because no one knows about saving the princess except him.
The Sultan knows that Hurrem gave the order, but forgives her because he loves her very much. Princess Isabella didn't mean much to him. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska is happy and, to celebrate, orders halva to be distributed in the harem. According to Muslim custom, halva was always distributed at funerals.
Viewers of the series were even more misled by the scene of the conversation between the Sultan and Ibrahim on the balcony. Ibrahim is sure that Isabella is dead. And he is very surprised when the Sultan informs him that Isabella was kidnapped by the Venetians and taken by ship to Europe. Then she will live in a monastery near the city of Vienna and atone for her sins.
The Sultan confronts Ibrahim with the fact that he knows everything. The Sultan’s phrase: “The waters of the Bosphorus today are more dazzling than ever” suggests that he knows that the princess was drowned. Suleiman makes it clear to Ibrahim that he knows about the murder and who is involved in it. And the version with the Venetians and the ship is the official version for everyone else. And Ibrahim must stick to it.
So what happened to the princess and why are there so many mysteries?
In fact, everything is very simple.
The writers planned to return Isabella to the game after several years of the series. The Sultan saves Isabella at the last moment and settles her in the house of his foster brother Yahya Efendi. He did not love the princess, she was only a passing hobby for him. But he can’t return her home either, since Isabella is pregnant. She gives birth to a daughter, Razia. Everything is kept in strict secrecy for several years. Only Yahya Efendi and the Sultan’s most devoted people are privy to this secret.
The fact that Princess Isabella is alive is confirmed by actress Melike Yalova, who played her. In her interview, she voices the Sultan’s version that the princess sailed away on a ship and hints that soon everyone will find out.
Unfortunately, we did not see these events in the series, since the writers, for some unknown reason, abandoned this idea. In the fourth season, they showed us the character of the Sultan's daughter Raziye, but she was born by another concubine. And the latest historical investigations have completely erased everything. Historians have proven that Raziye’s mother was Mahidevran.
But nevertheless, fans of Princess Isabella can exhale: the princess is alive!