Death
Vetsera and Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria were found dead, an apparent murder suicide, at his hunting lodge.
A common statement...has it that the Prince was shot through the heart and from behind, a view which would coincide with the first statement - namely, that the body had been found lying on the right side. The same tradition holds that Mademoiselle Vesera was shot through the left temple - a view entirely coinciding with the assumption that the window to the left of the couch had been opened, and the sleepers murdered. Dr. Widerhofer was admitted at once to the chamber of the Archduke, where the body was already laid out, that of Mademoiselle Vetsera having been removed to an adjoining room, where it was disposed on a couch and completely hidden with a plain white coverlet, pending the arrival of relatives, who had at once been summoned....Although I entered the girl's death-chamber, I was prevented, from the position of the table, which ran lengthwise with the couch, from closely observing the body."
The facts of the incident are unknown; it has been suggested that she was killed by Crown Prince Rudolf, who then killed himself; that they both killed themselves; that they killed one another; and that the two of them were murdered. Some say she was pregnant at the time of her death while others dispute this claim.
In his book Crime at Mayerling, The Life and Death of Mary Vetsera, Georg Markus claims that what happened at Mayerling was never seriously investigated, and the few investigations that were made were falsified – manipulated by the monarchy.
Read more about this topic: Baroness Mary Vetsera
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“‘Tis no extravagant arithmetic to say, that for every ten jokes,—thou hast got an hundred enemies; and till thou hast gone on, and raised a swarm of wasps about thine ears, and art half stung to death by them, thou wilt never be convinced it is so.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
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—Richard Louv (20th century)
““Promise me solemnly,” I said to her as she lay on what I believed to be her death bed, “if you find in the world beyond the grave that you can communicate with me—that there is some way in which you can make me aware of your continued existence—promise me solemnly that you will never, never avail yourself of it.” She recovered and never, never forgave me.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)