On the 30th January 1889, Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria committed suicide at the amazing age of 30 years old at Mayerling with his young mistress at the time Baroness Mary Vetsera. aged just 19 years.

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Rudolf was born at Schloss Laxenburg – a beautiful castle near Vienna.

On 10th May 1881 he married Princess Stephanie of Belgium (who incidentally was the daughter of King Leopold 11 of Belgium)  It was a politically valiant marriage

The couple drifted apart after the birth in Vienna of their only child, Elisabeth, who was born on 2nd September 1883.

Rudolph was renowned for having huge extra-marital affairs which caused him to contract syphilis in addition to the already diagnosed gonorrhoea. Unfortunately, Princess Stephanie also contracted gonorrhoea which abruptly put a stop to her fertility and left her unable to have more children.

Crown Prince Rudolph died on 30th January 1889.

How and why did the Crown Prince Rudolph commit suicide?  – Quite the question.

Crown Prince Rudolph’s health deteriorated very quickly. More than likely due to mental problems caused by his physical conditions, and also probably due to his ongoing political problems.

In 1886, he ended up buying Mayerling, and it was here that he and his young seventeen-year-old mistress, Marie von Vetsera, committed suicide.

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This really put a bomb under the royal family – The next in line to the throne after the suicide of Crown Prince Rudolph was Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria  – and of course his wife, Sophia, Duchess of Hohenberg. There were to be huge dramatic changes to Archduke Franz and his wife’s life.

Archduke Franz and his wife, Sophia, were destined to become rulers of Austro-Hungaria, only because the heir presumptive, Crown Prince Rudolf, committed suicide at his lodge in Mayerling in 1889, and also Archduke Franz’s father, Karl Ludwig, died of typhoid fever in 1896.

Sophia and Franz had been married on 1st July 1900 much to the dismay of the royal family – (goodness gracious me – can you believe it Sophie was not from a royal line! How awful – not) – at that time the ruler had been Franz Joseph and of course he and his family wouldn’t attend the wedding. They wouldn’t have had any idea at that time that Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria would have become ruler.

This was quite a revelation to me, being an Aussie, I had no idea that Franz Ferdinand, once he had become the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, found time for extensive travel between 1892 and 1893 around the world, including good old Australia. In this time he had travelled to Noumea, New Hebrides, Sarawak, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, USA, Colombia and a few more – well done!

On Sunday, 28th June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophia, Duchess of Hohenberg, arrived in Sarajevo for an official reception. 

One Colonel Dimitrijevic of the Serbian Army organised seven men to go to Sarajevo to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It was important to him that the assassins did not tell anyone who had organised this. Obviously, he desperately wanted to stay in the background.

Why did they want to assassinate the Archduke? Because they sought to unite Bosnia and Serbia.

They were known as the “Black Hand” but little did they realise that their underhanded and secretive mission in all of this plotting to assassinate the Archduke would start the beginnings of the 1st World War.

And so on 28th June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophia, Duchess of Hohenberg, were both assassinated by 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, who shot them both as they entered the vehicle to see their people who had been injured by a bomb blast at the local hospital.

The bomb blast was again organised by the”Black Hand”. 

As reported by Count Harrach – Franz’s last words were “Sophie, Sophie! Don’t die! Live for our children!”

Archduke Franz Ferdinand died there while his wife, Sophia, died on her way to the hospital.

After Franz and his wife were so brutally killed his nephew Charles 1 took over – Franz and Sophia’s children could not ascend to the throne as Sophia was not recognised as royalty – pretty sad really!

Throughout history, there have been many people just like our above-mentioned assassins who have been fooled by some common misconception. These misconceptions can cause irrevocable damage and have often changed history just like above.

You can personally discover practical insights for discerning truth and debunking myths. With prayer and discretion, you can begin to live a life based on God’s truth.

What does prayer actually do? Great question!

Our God is amazing, and He is with us constantly – we are so blessed to have Him with us 24/7, regardless of what is happening in our lives.

Do you have any desires and questions about God? If you do, then now is the time to give your life over to Him simply by asking Him to come into your life and take control. He will and He can change your life around.

Simply pray a prayer like this:- “Dear Lord, I know I am a sinner – Please come into my life and change me. I accept you as Lord of my life – I really want you to take control and lead me in the right ways. Thank you, Jesus. Amen”

God bless, and thank you for reading this blog.