Even after more than a century, the subject of Mayerling remains controversial. In researching and writing this book, we have tried to remain as close as possible to the few known facts while exploring divergent ideas offering alternative explanations. Despite the rather obvious hurdles involved in tackling an historical affair and two mysterious deaths clouded by decades of controversy, we believe that we’ve been able to reach some new conclusions offering a starkly different take on the liaison between Crown Prince Rudolf and Mary Vetsera.
In retelling the Mayerling story, we have arranged this book into four distinct sections. In part 1, covering events up to January 28, 1889, we set the scene for the tragedy. In part 2 we attempt to give a straightforward account of the tragedy and immediate aftermath, keeping the narrative clean of warring claims and intrusive analysis. Part 3 of the book focuses on the various conspiracy theories that have surrounded the story for more than a hundred years. Part 4 of the book looks back at what has come before, setting in context events in earlier chapters, analyzing psychological motivations, and revisiting controversies with fresh explanations. In the process we reveal what we think actually happened at that snowbound lodge in the early-morning hours of January 30, 1889. Although no one can know with certainty what took place in Rudolf’s bedroom, we believe our reconstruction to be correct, in accord with the facts, supported by psychological analysis, and bolstered by previously overlooked forensic evidence. What emerges is sometimes surprising, even shocking. In a sense Rudolf and Mary were both victims: He, psychologically damaged and likely suffering from serious mental illness; she, used and abused by those around her. Both were caught up in a dangerous and deadly waltz while many of the supporting players—including Baroness Helene Vetsera and Marie Larisch—played sordid, even grim, roles in the tragedy. Mayerling is ultimately a tale of exalted but damaged personalities enacting a terrible folie à deux set against the glittering backdrop of imperial Vienna, and amid mental instability, blackmail, venereal disease, rumors of incest, and political treason. Beyond the sugary romanticism often attached to the story is one even more dramatic than the persistent legend that has enveloped the tragedy for more than a hundred years.
In telling that story we have been fortunate to have the support of many professional colleagues, family, and friends, without whom the task would have been impossible. Several descendants of those most closely involved in the tragedy and its aftermath have shared information and insights, including HRH Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza; HSH Princess Sophie of Hohenberg; and Paul A. Slatin, who generously shared with us the unpublished Abschrift written by his grandfather, Court Commissioner Dr. Heinrich Slatin, about his experiences at Mayerling.
Penny Wilson would like to thank her family for their support: her parents, Edward and Mary O’Hanlon, of Tucson, Arizona; Peter and Lynne O’Hanlon of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands; James and Tricia Manara of Phoenix, Arizona; Jon Phillips of Tucson, Arizona; Peggy, Eric, and Ryan Cartwright of Riverside, California; Barbara Wilson of Riverside, California; and Mary Kelsey and Dominic of Winchester, California. And above all, time and time again, thanks to Tom Wilson for everything he does.
As always, Greg King thanks his father, Roger King, for his continued support and encouragement.
For always keeping the doors open when she was unavailable, Penny Wilson thanks her employees and coworkers at City Gym in Riverside, California: Matthew Crouch, Nicole Flaherty, Gio Gonzalez, Haley Hyland-McIntyre, Ian Melgar, Olivia Mercado, Basil Trenham, Chris Wilkins, Alvin Wright, and Teddy Yelland. Thanks also to longtime friends and gym rats Gino Gonzalez, Eugene Mejia, Clayton Nicodemus, Kristy Orona, Gabby Perez, Jennifer Rider, Jisel Wilson-Schell, and Lupita Wilson. Finally she expresses many thanks to the member of City Gym, particularly Don Lowrey, Chris Schaper, and Donna Zeeb.
Greg King would like to thank Janet Ashton, Paulette Blum, Diane Eakin, Jeannine Evans, Professor Joseph Fuhrmann, Brien Horan, Cecelia Manning, Susanne Meslans, Scott Michaels, Brad Swenson, and Debra Tate for their years of continued support, advice, and friendship.
Penny Wilson thanks Eric and Lisa Hocutt and Austin Hocutt for being the ideal traveling companions on the Big Island of Hawaii, and longtime friend Christopher Kinsman, just for living across the road, brewing beer, and being brilliant. She also thanks—as ever since her first book back in 2003—the good folks at PS Facebook. Too numerous to mention (and because she could not endure the shame of forgetting any names), these are the finest chance-met internet friends anyone ever had, intelligent, kind, supportive, clannish, and unfailingly witty, who make it possible for her to get through the day. Simon Donoghue deserves thanks for simply being the best, and Penny Wilson looks forward to meeting him in person this year for deep philosophical conversation and shenanigans. And she thanks the one-and-only Oscar Shearer for many years of friendship.
We wish to thank our agent, Dorie Simmonds, for her encouragement and advice throughout the research and writing process. Charles Spicer, our editor at St. Martin’s Press, enthusiastically supported this book from the very beginning and helped make it a reality. And April Osborn, associate editor at St. Martin’s, has always been unfailingly gracious in shepherding the work to its completion.
For offering advice on various aspects of the story and providing valuable information, we would like to thank Janet Ashton; Arturo Beéche of eurohistory.com; Coryne Hall; Orla Hickey, Group Public Relations Executive at Claridge’s Hotel in London; Marlene Eilers Koenig; Professor Ilana Miller; Karen Roth; and Katrina Warne.
The friendly and helpful staffs at the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv and the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna have eased the research for this book. We owe a special debt of gratitude to Joan Blacker, Interlibrary Loan Coordinator at the Everett Public Library in Everett, Washington, who worked miracles on our behalf and managed to obtain the most obscure publications related to the Mayerling tragedy for our benefit. She has our unwavering thanks.
Denise C. Clarke and Alfred Luckerbauer sacrificed their time and a sunny Easter day to travel to Mayerling and Heiligenkreuz, helping us bring the story up to date from the time of our previous visits. They also took magnificent photographs for us, although sadly only a few can be included in this book. Oscar Shearer patiently cleaned up and prepared many of our other photographs. Simon Donoghue read through the ever-changing manuscript and offered critical and sage advice on presentation and possible motivations. And Mark Andersen has been unbelievably generous in sharing a wealth of rare and invaluable books, exhibition catalogs, and other materials that have helped us flesh out the story in greater detail.
Assessing and understanding psychological motivations became essential in reexamining the story. We owe an immense debt to Dr. Stefanie Platt, Greg King’s second cousin and the former director of Clinical & Forensic Services at the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma/Family Violence & Sexual Assault Institute of San Diego, California, who reviewed the personalities and evidence in the Mayerling tale. Without actual clinical interviews, it was impossible for Dr. Platt to offer definitive diagnoses of people long dead, but her advice and insight guided us in making educated guesses and positing plausible behavioral explanations for our main characters. While the hypotheses presented here belong only to us, this book would surely have been less compelling without Dr. Platt’s generosity.
Finally we are happy to extend our eternal gratitude to royal author and historian Sue Woolmans. No one has been more enthusiastic about this book, and no one has done more to help us complete it. From reading and rereading different versions of the manuscript and sharing her own research to providing us with dozens of rare books and obscure materials, she has been tireless in her efforts. We thank her for her selfless dedication and are proud to call her our friend.