The Romance Turned Tragedy That Some Say Plunged The Whole World Into War
On January 30, 1889, the bodies of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary and his mistress Baroness Marie "Mary" Vetsera were discovered in a tragedy of global proportions. The loss rocked the imperial family to its core, and they, along with the rest of the world, we’re left wondering: what happened? Even decades later, experts still debate why these two high-profile figures died — and if their demise really caused the start of World War I.
No Accident
From the moment the 30-year-old royal and his lover, 13 years his junior, were found dead in bed at his hunting lodge in Mayerling, Austria, everyone was stunned. Not only was his death untimely, but Crown Prince Rudolf was also the heir to the throne. Right off the bat, it was obvious that this was no accident.
Warning Signs
In fact, there were some specifics about the crime scene that painted a complicated story. But there wasn’t time to sort out the details. No matter what had happened, this was a serious scandal for the imperial family, but not necessarily one that had come without warning signs.
Political Black Sheep
Prior to his death, Crown Prince Rudolf wasn’t exactly the royal example that his father Franz Joseph hoped he’d be. The source of the tension? They were total political opposites: the Emperor, a strict traditionalist, was in stark opposition to his son, a critical progressive. Ultimately, Prince Rudolf felt his father disapproved of him, and his lifestyle choices didn't improve matters.
Numerous Affairs
The Crown Prince began seeing Baroness Marie Vetsera in 1888, but there was one glaring problem — he was married. Despite having a wife, Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, and daughter at home, the royal wasn't shy about his rampant playboy lifestyle. He engaged in numerous affairs, though that was only one of his many problems.
Personal Problems
With a revolving door of lovers, Crown Prince Rudolf contracted STDs. It's believed he had either syphilis or gonorrhea, but whichever he passed along to his wife, rendering her infertile. He was also heavily addicted to morphine. It’s no surprise that his extreme and indulgent lifestyle was the mask of a depressed person.
Murky Timeline
As for the young Baroness, her involvement with Rudolf was rather new. Some accounts say their fling lasted three months, while others say three years. Just like the timeline, opinions on the seriousness of Rudolf’s affections vary. This was further complicated by the fact that he was also seeing another woman on the side, an actress named Mitzi Kaspar.
Bloody Scene
So, it was with a great mixture of horror and urgency to control the narrative that the imperial family handled the bloody death scene. At a glance, there were two bodies laying on the bed, appearing to have succumbed to gunshot wounds. But as to how and why Prince Rudolf and Marie Vetsera were killed, there were several theories.
Murdered By Germans Theory
Some people suspected the killings were enacted on behalf of German agents, looking to silence Prince Rudolf for his vocal anti-German position. If this scenario were true, Marie Vetsera was killed simply for her proximity to the royal; a tragic case of the wrong place at the wrong time. However, several factors of the scene contradicted that.
Accident Led To Tragedy Theory
Medical professionals observed that Baroness Marie Vetsera died long before Prince Rudolf. Given that fact, some suggested a rather grim situation played out, where Vestera died as the result of an abortion gone wrong. It's been theorized Rudolf ended his life in a final act of heartbreak. Still, there was one clue on Vetsera's person that was too intentional to ignore.
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Pointed Clue
In the hands of the young woman, they found a wilted blood-covered rose. Had she known the end was coming? Or was that prop added by a murderer? Given the context, the family quickly believed Rudolf and Marie knew they were about to meet their end, and they had a theory of how the tragic end unfolded.
Suicide Pact
Rudolf's other mistress, Mitzi Kaspar, came forward to say he had proposed a suicide pact to her only a month prior! Based on that unsettling information, it’s most widely accepted that he asked Marie Vetsera to do the same. The families scrambled to cover up the PR catastrophe the best they could, hoping to stem any potential backlash.
Clean Up Efforts
As described by author and historian Frederic Morton in his book A Nervous Splendor: Vienna, 1888–1889, there were immediate efforts to remove every trace of the Baroness Marie Vetsera. “While the agent drew up the document, the physician washed caked blood from the corpse. Then it was dressed in coat and hat, in boa, veil, and shoes. It was stood up.”
Hushed Burial
“The two uncles linked arms with their niece and walked her slowly out into the night, past any possible suspicious eyes, through the howling winds, past Rudolf's barking dogs, to Count Stockau's carriage. A hearse would, of course, have given away too much,” Morton's book continued. Instead, Vetsera was quickly buried in a cemetery chosen only for its proximity.
Handling The Crisis
Then there was the matter of explaining how Crown Prince Rudolf died, since the truth of his death drastically complicated matters further. If word got out that it was a suicide, the late prince wouldn’t be allowed a Catholic burial in the imperial vaults, per tradition.
Deranged State of Mind
Eventually, the family came clean about the suspected suicide to the church, claiming the Prince had only done so in a "deranged state of mind." No public mention of Baroness Marie Vetsera's death was made. Her family reburied her shortly after, replacing her hastily chosen wooden coffin for one made of copper, but sadly, her rest would be disturbed several more times.
Graverobbers
Marie Vetsera’s remains were targeted by graverobbers several times throughout the decades, most recently in 1991. After two years, though, the famed "Crypt Thief" Helmut Flatzelsteiner was discovered as the culprit, and her remains were returned to their gravesite. As for more recent attempts, according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, the family has refused all recent investigative endeavors to exhume her body.
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Succession Crisis
Since Prince Rudolf was the heir to the throne, his untimely death posed a major problem for Austro-Hungarian succession. It devastated his parents, Emperor Franz Joseph and particularly Elisabeth of Bavaria, who had long battled depression. While they grieved, they still had to sort out the looming crisis of who would run the empire. Luckily, Emperor Franz had a brother.
Next In Line
The Emperor of Austria’s younger brother, Archduke Karl Ludwig, was the next in line, though his claim to the throne was made murky by false rumors that he’d renounced his position. Sadly, Karl never had the opportunity to really step into his own reign. He died of typhoid seven years after his nephew Rudolf in 1896.
Archduke Assassinated
Next, they looked to Karl Ludwig’s son — Archduke Franz Ferdinand — but that ended just as catastrophically. As you might remember from history class, the assassination of Archduke and his wife in 1914 was a catalyst for WWI. But even after the Austro-Hungarian ruler sparked the war, the families of Rudolf and Marie Vetsera kept quiet about all the evidence surrounding their deaths.
Proof In Letters
It turned out that both families had proof to substantiate the suicide pact for decades. In 1926, letters written by Marie Vetsera to her family were discovered, hidden away in a bank safety deposit box. As the teen wrote plainly in a letter to her mother: "I am happier in death than I was in life."
Just One Part Of The Scandal
Sadly, the high-profile death of Rudolf and the subsequent scandal wasn't the only one to hit the Austro-Hungarian imperial family. For many years, Rudolf's mother, Empress Elizabeth "Sisi" of Austria, was in a crumbling mental health state. Even early on, her friction with her position gave the royals cause for concern.
Living The Dream
Born in 1837, Sisi was from Munich in the German state of Bavaria. Her childhood sounds beautiful — she spent her youth playing in the Bavarian woods with her seven siblings. They would ride horses and climb the nearby mountains. This peace wouldn’t last.
A Big Wedding
On April 25, 1854, she married the 23-year-old Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria when she was only 16. Austria was Europe’s second largest empire at the time, so this union was an important one.
Mismatched
Franz was a kind husband to Sisi. He’d known her from a young age, since the two were cousins and he’d long been interested in her. The feeling wasn't mutual. When they were courting, she was too nervous to eat anything around him.
Out Of Place
As Sisi grew used to living in the Hofburg imperial palace, she drew further inward. She hated being in the court and didn’t have any friends. Franz and his mother, Archduchess Sophie, ignored and abhorred her neglect of her social life, respectively.
Down To Business
Instead she focused on other aspects of royal life, like bearing children. In their first four years of marriage, Sisi gave birth to three children, one dying in infancy. Crown Prince Rudolf and Archduchess Gisela successfully survived.
Unhealthy Obsession
One major part of Sisi’s unhappiness was her obsession with her appearance. She spent three hours a day getting her hair done and another hour cinching her waist. She also followed a strict diet and exercise routine.
It’s Not Enough
This wasn’t healthy either. For a time, Sisi only consumed broth. Later in life, she switched to raw milk, supplied by her personal cow, oranges, and eggs. She was also known for her daily commitment to exercising.
Can’t Sit Still
For hours, Sisi rode horses, fences, hiked, and did circus-based workouts. She even had a space for weightlifting. Her dual exercising and restrictive diet would be diagnosed as anorexia in the modern day.
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Let Me Out
When she wasn’t exercising, she was extremely unhappy. The Empress had a nervous breakdown in 1862, which she blamed on the palace being like a prison. “I want always to be on the move,” Sisi wrote. “Every ship I see sailing away fills me with the greatest desire to be on it.”
Hungry For Hungary
Back in the castle, Sisi grew interested in Hungary. The area was prone to rebellion under her husband’s rule, and Sisi was on the people’s side. She brought Hungarian nationals into her personal staff, angering the Viennese royals.
New Freedom
Finally, Hungary and Austria worked out an agreement, and Franz and Sisi became the king and queen of Hungary. This formed the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1867. Hungarians loved Sisi because of her part in the the Austro-Hungarian Compromise.
Being With The People
Being beloved was something Sisi enjoyed. She often visited to hospitals and charities, only bringing her lady-in-waiting. There, she spoke with the ill, asking them about what they needed and holding hands with dying patients.
Deeper Inward
Sisi fell deeper into her own mental instability just after this time. Marie Valerie, another daughter of her’s, found her mother laughing alone in a bathtub. She constantly spoke of suicide and was desperate for relief. Sadly, tragedy was just around the corner.
A Ruined Future
“Rudolf’s bullet killed my faith,” Sisi told her daughter Marie Valerie. Rudolf was a progressive ruler who she’d hope would carry the Austria-Hungary empire into the future. Now this dream was dead, along with her only surviving son.
Goodbye And Good Riddance
Sisi declared she would “travel the whole world over … until I drown and am forgotten.” She moved through Europe and North Africa alone. At age 51, she got an anchor tattoo. Deep down, she wanted to die.
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Fortuitous Crossing
She would eventually get her wish on September 10, 1898, while she was in Geneva. Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni also happened to be in Switzerland. Luigi planned to assassinate Prince Henri of Orléans to protest the monarchy.
Not Their First
Luigi’s anarchist friends murdered a Russian czar, an American president, two Spanish premiers, a French president, and an Italian king over the course of 30 years. Their idea to add a Swiss prince to the list was spoiled when he canceled his trip to Geneva.
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Silver Lining
Luigi’s disappointment wouldn’t last — soon he’d learn of another noble who was in the city: Sisi. As she walked along the docks to board a ship, he stabbed her with a file. She thought she’d only been punched.
Leaving The World
But Sisi died on that dock, put out of her own misery via internal bleeding. She was still only 51, and she left her remaining children and husband behind. While this Empress gained no pleasure from being noble, others went to incredible lengths to be treated like a royal.
Mysterious Royalty
In 1928, a woman with sunken eyes and a crooked smile arrived in New York. It was clear that she didn’t fit the traditional idea of what "royalty” should be. And yet, when she spoke, she immediately gained the world’s attention. Could she be trusted?
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"I am the lost heir"
“I am the lost heir of the Romanov family,” she announced. But instead of being greeted with gasps, the American press responded with skepticism. After all, she wasn’t the first woman to claim to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov of Russia.
So Many Impostors
In fact, in the ten years since the Romanov family was executed, at least six women — probably more — had come forward falsely claiming to be Anastasia, so when this tattered woman showed up in New York City, people couldn’t help but scoff.
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She Needed Proof
They wanted proof that she was the real deal, something all those other imposters had always failed to do. If this woman really was the lost princess, she had to prove it...which she did, by simply pointing to her jaw.
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Anastasia's Past
She alleged that her jaw had been broken nearly ten years earlier when she made her escape from the Communist soldiers who had murdered her entire family. The way she told this story was so genuine that people believed her...including someone from Anastasia’s past.
Gleb Botkin
The man was Gleb Botkin, the son of the Romanov family’s physician, who was also murdered by the Communist revolutionaries. Gleb had played with Anastasia as a child, and something mysterious about this woman made him believe her story.
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Covered In Scars
Gaining the support of Gleb Botkin, a respected member of high society, convinced the public that she was truly Anastasia. The fact that she was covered in scars, which she claimed to have gotten during her escape, only helped clinch the public’s belief.
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Introducing Anna Anderson
She became known as Anna Anderson, the lost Grand Duchess and a fixture of New York high society. She was no longer tattered and pale, but wrapped up in expensive clothes with access to the best products and services money could buy.
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Met With "Family" Members
As she hopped from one luxurious hotel to the other, she met with many Romanov relatives and former acquaintances of the Romanov family. Most were astounded with how much Anna resembled the young Anastasia they once knew…
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Things Didn't Add Up
Others, however, weren’t so easily convinced. Though she looked like Anastasia, other things just didn’t add up. She had trouble recalling certain details about her childhood, and her grasp on languages that Anastasia had been fluent in was shaky at best.
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Benefit of the Doubt
But still — the lost Romanov, safe and sound in New York City? It was too amazing of a prospect to be fake. She had been through so much, endured such violence and trauma, that some degree of mental illness was to be expected.
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Anna On Display
Anna spent months at a time in the homes of society’s most respected men and women. It didn’t seem to matter that Anna’s accent was decidedly German, and that her behavior was erratic at best. People loved the idea of having Russia’s Grand Duchess in their home…
Anna "Anastasia" Anderson
Inconsistencies aside, Anna’s most ardent supporters all had one goal in mind: to have Anna’s status as Grand Duchess Anastasia legally recognized. Doing so would have benefits that go beyond whatever fortune her family had left — a fortune eyed by many of her supporters.
One Man Wasn't Convinced
Anastasia’s survival would also be a symbol to Russia’s communist leaders of the strength and resilience of Imperial Russia. These both sounded like great ideas to Anna and her supporters, and if one man hadn’t intervened, things would’ve turned out much differently.
Digging Up Anna's Past
The Grand Duke of Hesse, Anastasia’s uncle, was one of the visiting relatives who doubted Anna’s identity. To learn more about her, he hired a private investigator...and what the investigator uncovered left the Duke infuriated.
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Who Is Franziska?
The investigator made a startling claim: Anna, he said, was actually a woman named Franziska Schanzkowska, and she didn’t exactly have royal roots. Franziska was a Polish-German factory worker who had randomly disappeared in 1920.
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What's The Truth?
Franziska not only had a history of mental illness, but a 1916 factory explosion left her covered with scars, both physical and mental. These allegations about Anna made some ripples in the press, but they didn’t amount to much, and Anna continued to be regarded as Anastasia.
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Anna Playing Dress-Up
Not that the court system was quite ready to recognize her as such. Years passed, Anna lost multiple court cases about her identity, and it slowly but surely became public knowledge that Anna probably wasn’t Anastasia. Still, people loved to watch her pretend.
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Anastasia's Enduring Story
They loved it so much that a French play, Anastasia, debuted in 1954, followed by the 1956 film starring Ingrid Bergman. For decades, Anna tried to prove her royal status despite mounting doubts from the public. She died in 1984...seven years before the truth finally came out.
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