With the spring of 1867 comes a big surprise. The engagement of His Majesty with Sophie, sister of the Austrian Empress Elisabeth is announced. Hectic preparations are being made. Engagement pictures of the two are circulated, commemorative papers and coins are produced, but soon it is revealed that all these wedding activities were in vain. After the king had postponed the wedding date several times, he finally breaks the engagement. With relief Ludwig II. notes in his diary:

"Sophie written off, the gloomy thoughts are gone. I long and thirst for freedom."

King Ludwig II. and his fiancée Sophie, Duchess of Bavaria

Of course Elisabeth, the sister of the scorned bride, sees it in a different light. She writes:

"There is no excuse for such behavior. I am only glad that Sophie does not take it too hard. God knows she would not have been happy with such a man."

Still, Ludwig and his cousin Elisabeth, who is eight years older than he, share a close bond. Like he she loves horses and long riding excursions. Sissi, as she is called, is caught in a dream world, like he is. Until Ludwig's death the two of them were involved in an euphoric, platonic friendship.

Since Ludwig II., as sovereign, has to set an example for his subjects and it is therefore not strange when he maintains the morals of the time. Only pure and spiritual love is allowed. He regards sexual love and sensual pleasure as a sin and he fights a constant battle with himself. As with "Tristan und Isolde" he searches for a way out of his metaphysical yearning for love. Only in another world alone can the lovers finally be united.

"So we die without parting,
Forever together without end,
Without wakening,
Without Sorrow,
Nameless, surrounded by love,
Promise each other to only live for love.

During the course of his life Ludwig II. had series of friendships, as with his aid-de-camp Paul von Thurn und Taxis. Many times these friendships result in exuberant feelings and they usually end as suddenly as they begin. However, some, as with stable chief Hornig, lasted a longer time. Ludwig II. first met Hornig, who was four years his senior, in May 1867. It was said that Hornig was not an uneducated man. The stable master enjoys the king's exceptional trust and is allowed to act in the capacity of a court secretary.

Several segments of Ludwig's diary point to Richard. In no way does he refer to Richard Wagner when the king writes in March 1872:

It is two months less than five years when we met on this blessed 6th day of May in 1867, to never part again and never let go of each other until death." Right before it reads: "Sworn upon our friendship, absolutely not again before the 3rd of June..."

Only the word "Ludwig" and the entwined letters "L" and "R" were written by the king. Next to it in a different handwriting stands "Richard" with an entwined "L" and "R". Richard Hornig learns about Ludwig's devotion but also his lust for power. He falls out of graces frequently but it is never long lasting. The "noble and fine" Richard, as Ludwig calls him, continues to receive mounts of presents and is even given a villa on Lake Starnberg.

One year before Ludwig's death Richard Hornig is ordered to leave the king. He has completely fallen out of favor.

In spite of this and other relationships Ludwig II. never had a true and genuine friend.

"A Man who gained the highest throne but has no friends, is an unfortunate man." This is what Ludwig supposedly wrote on a wall at Castle Berg.

A double celebration takes place one day after the premiere of Meistersinger" in 1868 and Ludwig II. and Richard Wagner drink not only to the successful theater performance but also to the composer's 55th birthday.

In the fall of the same year severe tension breaks out between the king and Wagner, because Ludwig just now finds out about the true relationship between the composer and Cosima von Buelow, a married woman. For several months all of Wagner's letters to Ludwig remain unanswered. They won't see each other for another eight years.

From the age of 24 Ludwig II. devotes most of his time to his castles. In the summer of 1869 follows the groundbreaking for the royal house on the Schachen. One year later construction on Linderhof Castle begins.