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Was What Happened at Mayerling Really a Murder-Suicide?
Mystery clings to the deaths of Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf and Baroness Marie Vetsera
On the morning of January 30, 1889, the discovery of the bodies of Austria’s Crown Prince Rudolf and his seventeen-year-old mistress Baroness Marie (Mary) Vetsera at his hunting lodge in the Vienna Woods sent shockwaves around the world. Details of their deaths were even more shocking: the body of the baroness was naked, both had written goodbye notes, it appeared that Rudolf had shot his lover and then himself. But did he?
The official story
The Imperial family’s version of the incident at Mayerling was that Rudolf died of a heart attack. They quickly amended that as details leaked to the press. To convince church officials to allow the lovers Christian burials despite their demise's suicidal nature, a doctor stated that they had been temporarily insane at the time.
On the surface, the deaths would seem to be the result of a suicide pact between lovers. Rudolf was married with no possibility of divorce. Mary’s family would soon insist she marry…
