Twilight of Empire: The Tragedy at Mayerling and the End of the Habsburgs

by Greg King, Penny Wilson

On a snowy January morning in 1889, a worried servant hacked open a locked door at the remote hunting lodge deep in the Vienna Woods. Inside, he found two bodies sprawled on an ornate bed, blood oozing from their mouths. Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary appeared to have shot his seventeen-year-old mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera as she slept, sat with the corpse for hours and, when dawn broke, turned the pistol on himself.

A century has transformed this bloody scene into romantic tragedy: star-crossed lovers who preferred death together than to be parted by a cold, unfeeling Viennese Court. But Mayerling is also the story of family secrets: incestuous relationships and mental instability; blackmail, venereal disease, and political treason; and a disillusioned, morphine-addicted Crown Prince and a naïve schoolgirl caught up in a dangerous and deadly waltz inside a decaying empire. What happened in that locked room remains one of history’s most evocative mysteries: What led Rudolf and mistress to this desperate act? Was it really a suicide pact? Or did something far more disturbing take place at that remote hunting lodge and result in murder?

Drawing interviews with members of the Habsburg family and archival sources in Vienna, Greg King and Penny Wilson reconstruct this historical mystery, laying out evidence and information long ignored that conclusively refutes the romantic myth and the conspiracy stories.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, European History, True Crime, Mystery, 19th Century

331 pages, Hardcover

First published November 14, 2017

About the author

Greg King (born 1964) is an American author, best known for his biographies of prominent historical figures.

He is the author of eleven internationally published works of royal and social history, specializing in late Imperial Russia and Edwardian-era royalty, including The Fate of the Romanovs, The Court of the Last Tsar, and the UK bestseller The Duchess of Windsor. A frequent onscreen expert and commentator for historical documentaries, his work has appeared in Majesty Magazine, Royalty Magazine, Royalty Digest, and Atlantis Magazine.

Source: wikipedia.com & us.macmillan.com

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Several months back I read The Radetzky March, and realized how little I knew about the Hungarian, Austrian empire. The March was about the end of this huge empire, but told from a military standpoint, soldiers fighting for the empire that could see the end coming. This book shows the inner imploding of the empire and the beginning of the end of power of the Habsburgs. When the crown prince Rudolf is found dead, alongside his seventeen years old mistress, leaving the empire without a direct heir, the end of this powerful house is near. These deaths would cause gossip, speculation and conspiracy theories that have reverberated through the decades. What really happened at Mayerling?

I love nonfiction that is not dry, told in an easy but through way, additionally I enjoyed how this book was arranged. In four distinct parts, the author takes us through the royal family, how Rudolf was raised, his marriage, his partying, drinking and his frustration with his life. The second section sets the stage for what was found at Mayerling, and how it was handled, covered up, things hidden. Then we hear about the conspiracies suspected, world reaction to the event, and different interpretations about the event. We learn what happened to those directly or indirectly and indirectly involved, and lastly the interpretations of all the evidence to date, which conclusion makes the most sense and seems to fit the best.

Quite well done. It covers much more than just the deaths, it also looked inside the inbreeding of the royal family. The state of their marriages and family. The political background of the time, and what was going on in this empire. Blackmail, a mother selling her daughter for entry into higher echelons of influence, and s young girl caught in the middle of these machinations. Quite sad, but fascinating.

[Jill H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The myth of Mayerling.....oh, the romance of the murder/suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf and Countess Marie Vetsera, such tragedy, such drama, such nonsense. The authors' objective with this book is to attempt to set the record straight and they do a great job of blowing the romance of the Mayerling incident sky-high.

Crown Prince Rudolf, was to say the least, a very disturbed man....unloved by his cold and distant parents,in an unhappy marriage, suffering from venereal disease, addicted to morphine and alcohol and probably a victim of the incestuous ties that were the hallmark of the European royalty........he had nothing to do as his father, Emperor Franz Joseph, refused to assign him any royal tasks or prepare him for his eventual role as head of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He fell into a life of carousing and womanizing and was constantly courting scandal. His liaisons with various women, married and unmarried, never lasted long and he often shared with them his thoughts of suicide.

His last inamorata, Countess Marie Vetsera was a teenager who was swept up with the glory of being the mistress of the Crown Prince. She was a silly, immature young woman with a questionable reputation who liked to flaunt her relationship publicly much to the horror of society. And when Rudolf decided that he wanted to move on to another relationship, she was not about to be shunted aside so easily and would do anything to keep him.

There were various undercurrents that preceded the Mayerling incident which are fascinating but I don't want to give away the whole story in a review. Needless to say, the Emperor and his government went to ridiculous ends to create a story which was nothing close to the truth and the myth of Mayerling grew over the years as a tragically romantic affair. The authors have done excellent research and their conclusions appear to answer all the questions that the history buff may have. I highly recommend this book....it is fascinating reading.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed many books by Greg King and Penny Wilson (including “The Assassination of the Archduke,” about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, “Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy and the end of the Edwardian Age,” and “The Resurrection of the Romanovs: Anastasia, Anna Anderson and the World’s Greatest Royal Mystery”) and so I was delighted to receive their latest volume to review.

Subtitled, “The Tragedy at Mayerling and the End of the Hapsburgs,” this is an in-depth examination of the death of Rudolf, Crown Prince and Archduke of Austria-Hungary, and his teenage mistress, Mary; or, to give her full name; Marie Alexandrine von Vetsera. This is often viewed as a rather romantic, if tragic, suicide pact. As with all such things though, this is a far more complicated story than it seems.

Prince Rudolf, later seen by his grieving father, Emperor Franz Josef I, as the perfect son, was actually often in conflict with his father and his ministers. His marriage to Stephanie, Princess and Archduchess, was an unhappy one; although the couple had a daughter, there was no hope of any more children and Stephanie also had an unhappy relationship with her husband’s family. In fact, this is a twisted tale of families who intermarried too often, of neglectful parenting, a lack of communication on all sides and thwarted ambition.

To make matters even worse, the death of Prince Rudolf and Mary Vetsera was covered up by the Hapsburgs; making an unhappy situation even more complicated and giving voice to endless speculation, gossip and conspiracy theories about what really happened. Did Prince Rudolf make a suicide pact with his beautiful, young, indiscreet mistress, or was he already bored with her? If so, why did she die alongside him?

Although I felt for many of the characters in this book, it was Mary that I felt the most sympathy for ; along with her ambitious mother, Helena. Mary was a young girl, who enjoyed the intrigue and romance of an affair with the Prince. She was pushed forward by her mother, whose family reputation was so notorious that, at first, she could not get her daughter’s disappearance taken seriously. So keen were the Hapsburg’s to cover up what happened, that Mary, and her family, were really treated outrageously by those in power (even, shockingly, after her death)- as indeed was Rudolf’s young widow.

Overall, this is an intriguing read for anyone who enjoys well written history, with a wonderful background and a fascinating cast of characters. The authors are excellent at plucking characters from history, whose full story is often glossed over, and really bringing them alive. Another wonderful read and history at its most enjoyable. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

[Lili Kyurkchiyska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Намирам тази история за много лична, но не по начина, който бихте очаквали. Като дете дълбоко се възхищавах на майката на Рудолф, Сиси. Ала не истинската Сиси, а образ, натъкмен за детска анимация*. Смела, грижовна, интелигента, вярна на семейството си, отстояваща принципите си под натиск на властимащите - без съмнение любимка на феминистите (не го казвам с ирония!) - тя си остава достоен пример за подражание за всяко момиче. Но както обикновено се случва, порастваш и научаваш, че истината е по-сложна. И че в тази история Сиси определено не е положителен герой.
В ранното утро на 30 януари 1889 г. кронпринц Рудолф се самоубива, след като 6 часа по-рано е убил бившата си любовница 17-годишната баронеса Мари Ветсера. Деянието му е кулминацията на дълги месеци депресия, подхранена с големи количества опиати, целящи да облекчат последствията от гонореята, съсипала брака и мъжеството му, и още по-големи количества алкохол, целящи да притъпят разочарованието от неспособността да разгърне способностите си. А всичко това е предшествано от 30 години в сянката на катастрофалния брак на родителите си - отчуждеността на майката, на която толкова прилича, смазващите очаквания на бащата, на когото се възхищава. С всяко изречение ти се струва, е е бил обречен... Ако не бе наследил характера на Сиси**, ако Франц бе проявил повече нежност и по-малко брутална дисциплина...
Идеален материал за мелодрама! Само че не това са имали като идея Грег Кинг и Пени Уилсън, когато са седнали да пишат тази книга. Те съвестно са претеглили всеки факт, обърнали са внимание на всяка конспирация, преценили са достоверността на всяко твърдение, създавайки съвестно написан наратив, който бори романтичните фантазии и теориите на конспирацията. Контекстът на епохата е предаден пестеливо, което намирам за недостатък и все пак последното не развали удоволствието от четенето. Препоръчвам!


*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes...
**Има голяма вероятност и двамата да са страдали от недиагностицирани психични заболявания. Лудостта е често явление както в рода на Хабсбургите, така и в този на Вителсбах.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

' "There is no doubt," Queen Victoria wrote of Rudolf after Mayerling, "that the poor Crown Prince was quite off his head." '

And, actually, Victoria might not have been far wrong: infected with venereal disease, unstable from years of self-administered morphine injections topped up with copious amounts of alcohol, adrift socially with no real political role or purpose and, possibly, involved in rebellious conspiracies, it's hard not to see Crown Prince Rudolf as on a pathway to destruction from very early in his life.

King has penned a very readable account of Rudolf and the notorious Mayerling incident when the prince and his mistress, 17-year old Mary Vetsera, were found dead at his hunting lodge in the Vienna Woods. The romantic reading has been a lovers' suicide pact drawing on Tristan and Isolde (think MacMillan's wonderful ballet), but other theories have been around since the event happened in 1889: murder, assassination, accident, even natural causes.

King's book does a fine job of conjuring up Vienna in the last decades of the nineteenth-century: the authoritarian and reactionary Hapsburg Empire ruled over by Franz Joseph; the social frivolity of the aristocratic class; the ambition of an emerging 'middle class'; the dysfunctional royal marriages; the louche sexual atmosphere. This is gossipy social history with little attention to politics. The reconstruction of Vetsera's affair is done with gusto (her assignation with Rudolf wearing just a fur coat over her nightgown), and the days at Mayerling recounted in detail.

More controversial is the final section where King puts forward his own explanation of what happened: ideas are floated of Vetsera being Rudolf's half-sister through Franz Joseph's affair with her mother, and of the Emperor, hearing that the incestuous siblings have conceived a child, forbidding the affair. The problem is, there's no evidence for any of this and the story already told has made it obvious that everyone in Vienna had known about the affair for years, and that Rudolf has already decided to end things with Vetsera out of his own disinterest. Equally, there is no evidence that Rudolf was bipolar or that he shot Vetsera while in the middle of a manic episode as is finally claimed. The offered solution doesn't really tie up dangling ends: that the valet lied for no good reason about hearing/not hearing the shots; that the coachman knew the prince was dead before the bodies were found and told another servant but did nothing further. That both the prince and Vetsera left multiple suicide letters (surely handwriting analysis could confirm whether these were forgeries or authentic?) Even the six hour gap between the deaths of Vetsera and Rudolph himself.

It's always difficult to build up a theory based on missing medical evidence as is the case here, or on 'psychological analysis' (King's term) when all that is left is other people's stories, memoirs and occasional letters from the subjects being 'analysed'. Despite some qualms, though, about the ultimate explanation, this is an engrossing popular account of a sensational royal scandal involving sex and death. It's unlikely to be the final word on the Meyerling affair but in highly readable and hugely enjoyable.

[Bren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very excited to read this book but was ultimately let down.

The first half of the book or so focuses on the events leading up to the suicides at Mayerling. This part of the book is entertaining and informative and doesn't shy away from the salacious details or ugliness related to sexual infidelities and the diseases that ensue. For readers looking for the facts on what happened leading up to the event and a general breakdown of the lunacy that was the Habsburgs, this part of the book proves valuable.

The next part of the book gets a bit repetitive as the authors go over the events again in a justified attempt to disprove some of the more erroneous claims that have surfaced over the years. This is well researched and convincing despite its repetition.

The real let down in this book comes in the last quarter or so of the book when the authors try and convince the readers of their own theory on what really happened at Mayerling. This was a real disappointment for me because it came immediately after they disputed (rightfully so) all of the other ridiculous theories that have arisen over the century. It would have been one thing if the authors said something to the effect of "we aren't saying this is what we definitively believe but we feel it is a possibility." Or "this is another possible explanation of what may have happened." Instead they wholeheartedly endorse their rather unfounded claims including a pregnancy and their
belief that it was not a suicide pact after all. They also claim (without much if any real medical legitimacy) that Rudolph was bi polar and make other psychological assessments despite not being qualified to do so. The authors readily discredit the honesty or trustworthiness of people at the scene in Mayerling or related to the concerned parties for much of the book. But when it suits the narrative that the authors are themselves putting forward, they use the quotes and statements of these very same people.

I was looking forward to a good history of what happened at Mayerling as well as before and after. I did get that from this book. And I was hoping with the help of modern forensics to have a new take on what may have happened. But instead the authors present essentially no new facts but instead new assumptions that are not scientifically founded. Much of this book comes across as just another money grab by the authors hoping to lure in suckers like me with the promise of new findings on a centuries old and endlessly enticing tale.

[Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is so morbidly fascinating. Interesting to see how all the official obfuscation, clumsy as some of it was, in some way eventually worked, since the fairly simple-seeming truth of this was still subject to debate for more than a century.

Also, I realized that this Marie Larisch, who facilitated the affair between Rudolf and Mary, is THE Marie of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land!!! (I feel like I maybe learned this already somehow especially since I studied The Waste Land in college but it's finally clicked who exactly she is. How did they even know each other? It makes this history seem not-so-distant as well, if Marie Larisch was hanging out with T.S. Eliot and then later working as a maid in New Jersey.)

Another also: I noticed that, at least when I saw the small display at Mayerling a decade or so ago, including Mary Vetsera's busted-up coffin, they failed to mention that it was actually the Soviets who robbed her grave, whereas that's made quite clear here. Interesting.

Anyway this is really good, especially if you don't know anything of this story.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the interest of transparency, my name appears in the acknowledgements, although I had nothing to do with the conclusions reached by Twilight of Empire.

My knowledge of Mayerling was fairly perfunctory before reading this book. If I thought about Mary Vetsera and the Crown Prince, it was because of Mayerling, a fairly turgid 1960s movie that featured Catherine Deneuve and Omar Sharif as the doomed couple. Like most people, I thought they had killed themselves for love.

Greg King and Penny Wilson present a far more sordid story, and while there are conclusions reached that can never be completely proven absent DNA analysis, the bulk of their account seems self-evident. They use letters by Vetsera that only surfaced in 2o15, as well as interviews with surviving family members who have strong views about what was going on during the run up to the murder/suicide. In their description of the act itself, they blow the dreamy sequence so beloved by screenwriters (there was another version with Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux in 1937) to smithereens. It is likely that Rudolph took Mary by surprise during a "serious" discussion when he suddenly shot her in the head. The forensic evidence does not support the idea that the girl was sleeping on her back when her lover released her from suffering. And that is only the start of the revelations contained within Twilight of Empire. The authors painstakingly uncover the probable timeline for the affair, the attempts by Rudolph to disengage from it, the absolutely disgusting behaviors of Helene Vetsera (Mary's mother) and Marie Larisch (Rudolph's illegitimate first cousin and, there is no other word for it, pimp). Everyone in this story, including the star-crossed couple, behaves badly. Mary has the excuse of a bad upbringing and extreme youth. Despite the modest career as a demi-mondaine that seems to have started when she was 16, she behaved throughout with Rudolph like a 19th century Mean Girl. She floated through receptions at which the Crown Prince and his wife were present in low-cut evening gowns, mocking Archduchess Stephanie both to her face and behind her back. Stephanie, who was thrown at Rudolph without warning, was beside herself at the girl's impudence. She also had to deal with the gonorrhea Rudolph passed along as a souvenir of his shabby sexual exploits. The disease ensured that she would never be able to have another child. King and Wilson make an excellent case that Rudolph, deep in plans to become the King of a more-or-less independent Hungary, was trying to unload his Belgian wife. They also find Mary Vetsera's rumored pregnancy probable, and it would have been just like the young lady to have assumed that Rudolph was going to marry her once he had shed Stephanie.

Aside from Helene, who thrust her daughter at Rudolph despite the fact that she herself had slept with him a decade earlier, and Larisch, who makes Helene look like Mother Teresa, the other two players who emerge covered in shame are Franz Josef and Elisabeth, Rudolph's parents. Again, King and Wilson point out that the Hapsburgs and Wittelsbachs were hotbeds of mental illnesses (Ludwig II, anyone?), and that Rudolph himself was exhibiting all the signs of bipolar disorder. Franz Josef seems to have been a petty vindictive dope who cared more about wearing correct uniforms than fatherhood. Elisabeth, or "Sisi" as her devoted followers call her even now, is one of the monumentally annoying royal divas, right up there with "Sunny" Romanov and Marie Antoinette --- although in fairness, what Antoinette and Elisabeth have in common was their extreme youth when they married. Still, each managed to do some severe damage to those around them, and as Rudolph careens through his adolescence and 20s, it is difficult not to blame his parents. There was one chilling passage: as a child he drew violent, gory scenes more or less incessantly. And no one noticed?

This is a compelling story, and King and Wilson ultimately make a case for its importance --- although perhaps if Rudolph had lived the Empire would have crashed sooner than it did.

[Truitt_T · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Twilight of Empire was a disappointment. It’s potentially a very interesting subject, and one about which I have read only a little. The writing isn’t bad, but the authors engage in some poor scholarly practices.

They begin by setting the historical, political, and familial stage in the years before the Mayerling incident, with increasing detail as 1888-1889 approaches. Then, the most generally accepted explanation of the event - a murder-suicide pact between the thirty year old Ruldoph and the seventeen year old Mary Vetsera - is produced. To this point, I was reasonably happy with the book, although none of the individuals were particularly admirable or likable, and I occasionally suffered from intellectual whiplash as the authors seemed unable to decide if they wanted the reader to sympathize with or despise Rudolph.

The real trouble begins when the authors discuss a host of theories about the incident and go to great lengths to explain why the theories are false and that the sources used to support them are unreliable. In the years after the incident there were many published accounts by individuals who were in some way involved, but the authors go to some effort to explain how these accounts were self-serving, and/or motivated by money or politics. In the following chapter, however, they present their own theory and use the sources they just derided and discredited to support it. I found this very disturbing, as I found their tendency to postulate something, and then continue forward referring to it as if their idea were an established fact.

The authors really didn’t need to work so hard to convince me that Rudolph was mentally unstable - diagnosing him as bi-polar more than 125 years after the fact was unnecessary. Their theory is perfectly plausible, and I would have appreciated less manipulation in their attempt to convince me.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so filled with information on the death of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Baroness Mary Vetsera that it’s like a reference book. The good news is that it is highly readable.

The first part covers the background of people and events. You sympathize with Rudolf for his cold parents and over disciplined childhood. You cheer his modern thinking but he is much too young, naïve and emotionally stunted to be dabbling in politics. Mary is a similar victim of the dynastic views of childrearing prevalent at the time. Both are their family’s chess pieces and neither is trained for the role.

The next part is the deaths. The authors show how and why both Rudolf and Mary went to Mayerling. There are details of what they did, what the others at Mayerling did, the room they died in, how the bodies were discovered, who was notified and how they were notified, and how the bodies were examined, moved and buried.

The authors cover the reaction of the families and interested/involved parties. They cover the many conspiracy theories, for which they have given you enough facts that you can challenge them as the authors do. They examine possible dimensions the most prominent are those of the foreshadowing interest in suicide, Mary’s possible pregnancy, Mary potentially being Rudolf’s half sister; the Emperor’s last words to his son and the role of a pro-Austria vote by the Hungarian parliament.

The book begins with a Dramatis Personae and there are b & w photos which include most if not all listed.

If you have interest in the Hapsburgs this is a must read. The story is well written and layered in a way that reads quickly.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and researched account of the Mayerling story, dissecting factual details and debunking the many conspiracy theories surrounding the events. So much incest, mental illness, and STDs swirling round Vienna, alongside the glorious Strauss waltzes...

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should've just deferred to Roman Clodia's review and skipped this, because everything she said was dead on. Excellent atmosphere, well-told when stuck to actual facts...and then went off the rails at the end where people who have previously been dismissed as gossipy self-serving liars are suddenly beacons of reliable facts when they back up your pet theory.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world loves a good Romeo and Juliet story because the average person tends to forget that Romeo was in love with Rosalind and Juliet was all of 13. Odds are, if they had married, Romeo would have had a mistress and Juliet would have died in childbirth.
Shakespeare has much blame to bear considering our fascination with star crossed lovers.
This fasciation extends to the Incident at Mayerling, though the name might not be familiar to you. If you have flipped through a catalog from PBS, Acorn or BBC America, you might have seen the ad for a mini-series about Sissi, Empress Elizabeth, or the movie about her son and his lover. That’s the incident at Mayerling. The crown prince of the Habsburg empire killed himself and his lover.
Unless you want to believe those conspiracy rumors and what not.
The real story isn’t quite film mini-series, and Greg King certainly does not describe Rudolf the Crown Prince, and Mary Vetsera, his lover, as star crossed lovers. She was 16, and King described as a bit spoiled. Rudolf was 30, married with a daughter, and he had transmitted an STD to his wife, Stephane, making her sterile.
You feel really sorry for Stephane.
You really don’t feel all that sorry for the Hapsburg, and you feel sorry for Mary in a “she was spoiled but young” type of way.
King shreds the romance from the story and quite righty, places it historical context. He also examines the conflicting stories and rumors as well as describing Vienna as the suicide capital of Europe. Apparently, romanticizing suicide goes way back. King treats all his subjects as fairly as possible.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Authoritative and comprehensive account of the events at Mayerling and an insightful and meticulously researched exploration of the last days of the Hapsburg Empire.

[Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

The authors certainly cannot be accused of romanticizing the Mayerling murder-suicide. The main players - Crown Prince Rudolf & Mary Vetsera, Franz Joseph & Elisabeth and other assorted Habsburgs & hangarounds - are so unflatteringly portrayed you can practically hear them turning in their graves. I've no reason to doubt their unpleasantness, but the way the book dissects every shitty thing they did and said to eachother made me shudder a little. That, and all the gonorrhea.

The book dutifully covers every angle of the sordid affair, including the Death By Champagne Bottle theory which I didn't know was a thing. I actually wasn't aware there were so many conspiracy theories (which are all dismissed), or that an idiot furniture salesman in the nineties dug up Mary Vetsera's remains. I was left with no questions, just a renewed aversion to inbreeding and a deep appreciation of penicillin.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again Greg King and Penny Wilson have written about a subject that I find intriguing so I simply could not resist reading about it.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Change can be impossible for some people. Emperor Franz Josef of the Hapsburg Dynasty in the 19th Century was one of these people. As a result his son, Crown Prince Rudolf who could visualize change and reform, suffered greatly, but Rudolf also appears to have possibly inherited the melancholia from his mother, Empress Elizabeth “Sisi” and her side of the family. Rudolf’s childhood was structured and strict, but where was the love and compassion that should accompany childhood? Sisi could not tolerate Court so she continually traveled. She first left when Rudolf was 2 years old. When she was present, Sisi and Archduchess Sophie, Franz Josef’s mother, were in a constant battle over Sisi’s children. Thus Sisi had little time for her children, especially Rudolf. Franz Josef decided the way he was raised was the way to raise Rudolf. I believe that he was incorrect. Times were changing, but Franz Josef was not, and Sisi seemed unavailable in more than one way - at least for Rudolf who worshipped her. When Rudolf grew to maturity, he began to play the role of Crown Prince. As his father refused to give him any position in government which required inclusion in the government and actual work that needed to be accomplished, Rudolf began tp play - with women, drinking, and drugs. Rudolf’s frustration with his father and his outright dislike of the Prime Minister (which was reciprocated.), drove him further down the path to becoming a dissolute, a dissolute with guns. Mary Vetsera, a romantically inclined teenager who with the knowledge and assistance of her mother and a cousin of Rudolf’s, meets Rudolf and falls in love, but there is so much more. I learned quite a bit about Mary that was previously unknown to me. Ultimately, Rudolf and Mary go to Mayerling, a hunting lodge in the Vienna Woods, and at the end of January 1889, a tragic ending occurs - Rudolf shoots Mary, kills her, and about 6 hours later he kills himself by putting a bullit in his brain.

The authors, Greg King and Penny Wilson’s Twilight of Empire, The Tragedy at Mayerling and The End Of the Hapsburgs, have the discovery of new facts, and as this is truly a ‘locked room mystery’, their hypotheses are well reaserched and documented, I believe that this is a good evaluation of ‘The Tragedy at Mayerling’. As for ‘The End of the Hapsburgs’, I think the authors expect the reader to know the history in Europe at the end of WWI. 4 stars.

[CrabbyPatty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the vaguest recollection of the 1968 film Mayerling, starring Omar Shariff and Catherine Deneuve as the star-crossed lovers who commit suicide together, prior to this audiobook. The romanticized story is nothing like reality, and in Twilight of Empire, the author extensively fleshes out the political and familial relationships that lead to the deaths.

Crown Prince Rudolph was the son of Elisabeth and Franz Joseph of Austria, born in 1858. The only son and heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, a lot rode on his shoulders. His mother (the Princess Diana of her day) was indifferent to him, and his father was stoic, formal, and rigid. Rudolph probably inherited a shed-load of problems from his Hapsburg blood-line and his mother brought her own family's mental history (Ludwig the Mad King of Bavaria was Elisabeth's cousin). Rudolph may have been bi-polar himself.

Rudolph contracted syphilis as a young man and gave it to his long-suffering wife Stephanie, which rendered her infertile, leaving them no hope for a male heir. Rudolph had numerous affairs, had talked of suicide for years, and had a morbid fascination with death.

Added to this mix was his relationship with a 16-year-old Mary Vetsera who had a pushy mother (who had an affair with Franz Joseph herself, possibly making Mary Rudolph's half-sister) and an idealized view of love.

Whew. What appears to have happened is that Rudolph has decided to kill himself, Mary would not be deterred in joining him, and the Palace went into overdrive with PR and their cover-up. This led to speculation that the suicides were murder with political motives.

I found Twilight of Empire fascinating and the authors do an excellent job of setting the scene in Austria as well as European politics, and then delving into the intricate relationships in court. This was pretty heady stuff for the 1890s and its repercussions were felt for generations. 5 stars.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - a bit repetitive at points in attempts to keep straight all the facts and figures (the latter often suspiciously related), but surprisingly unsensational. I've seen some complaints about the authors presenting their own theory at the end but honestly if you debunk a bunch of other theories and use the information at hand I think you're allowed your own, as a treat! A great look at working from existing primary sources and deducing, without claiming as fact, when those have all been mysteriously destroyed. Amazed at how many people thought Death (even Assassination) by Champagne Bottle was a plausible story.

[S H A R O N · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic read! This reads more like a piece of scandalous historical fiction/mystery rather than history. The characters (who actually existed) are colorful...their actions (which they actually did) are unbelievable...the outcome (which actually happened) is crazy. I was enthralled with the saga of Rudolf and Mary Vetsera from start to finish. It seemed like there were more twists and turns in this story than your average soap opera.

I'm not that "up" on Hapsburg history so the Mayerling incident was completely new to me. I knew that the Hapsburgs had a sordid family tree full of intermarrying (and all the health ramifications that come with that), but Twilight provides a glimpse into just how twisted their family tree truly was.

This is a "must read" for armchair historians, historical fiction or mystery fans, and anyone in between. The adage "you can't make this stuff up" comes to mind -- a fascinating and unbelievable chapter in the history of the Hapsburg empire.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A careful and detailed analysis of lives and deaths of Crown Prince Rudolf of the Habsburg Empire and Mary Vetsera who died in an apparent suicide pact at the Mayerling hunting lodge in 1889. Greg King and Penny Wilson examine the myths surrounding the events at Mayerling and the efforts of Emperor Franz Joseph to prevent any further investigation of his son's death. They present a plausible reconstruction of what might have happened the night that Rudolf and Mary died. King and Wilson also describe the cultural atmosphere of late 19th century Vienna, a city that had one of the highest suicide rates in Europe and discuss the tensions within Rudolf's dysfunctional extended family. They provide an especially sensitive portrayal of Rudolf's estranged wife, Crown Princess Stephanie, who suspected that Rudolf planned to harm himself and attempted to warn other members of the Imperial family.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd like to preface this with saying how many times I thought "God this whole family is completely terrible" because it's a LOT. Honestly, I can't get the hero worship of Sisi that happens, because in this book she, and her family, all just seemed like those terrible relatives you don't want to acknowledge because they cause scenes and are all around awful.

I'd heard of the Mayerling Incident of course, mostly in the barest and most general of terms. The amount of conspiracy theories and coverups that were actually involved is mind boggling, as well as the lengths the Imperial Court went through to cover everything up. The book is a fascinating look at what may (or may not) have happened, and I learned a lot of new things.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I'm not sure I buy the idea that the death of Austria's crown prince led to World War I (Austria-Hungary had a number of problems both pulling it apart and pushing it toward war), overall this book is intriguing. The authors did their best work on the more personal aspects of the story, particularly in weeding out rumor and self-serving tales to come up with a scenario for the events at Mayerling that seem plausible. If there's no way to tell after the fact what happened, King and Wilson have come up with a theory that's likely to impress anyone who's not invested in tall tales.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh… the authors clearly did a lot of research, read many letters and accounts and newspapers from the time and people connected to the tragedy, but this book was very repetitive and mostly recounted Vienna gossip around what happened at Mayerling. Lots of “it was believed that,” “supposedly,” “allegedly,” “there were rumours that,” etc. A great deal of sensationalistic language, too. You will end up knowing more about various people’s motivations for presenting their version of the events in a certain way than what actually happened and why.

[Helen Carolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting enough read especially the first part which detailed the situation leading to the suicide of prince Rudolf and his mistress at Mayerling. The rest of the book deals with the attempted cover up and containment of the deaths and also looks at the many conspiracy theories which abounded at the time. These deaths still continue to fascinate today. Interesting read.

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Very Good - it was very well researched, and you know I love a good historical what if (what if Franz Josef had allowed Rudolf more input into government? what if he had a son? what if he didn't die? etc etc). And, always a bonus: I learned a lot of new things!

[Eressea]

哈布斯堡的黃昏，2022甲骨文待出

[Lilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Twilight of Empire" by Greg King and Penny Wilson, dealing with the murder-suicide of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria and his lover, Baroness Mary Vetsera in 1889, is a gem of a history book, certainly one of the best I read this year.

Not only does the book brilliantly examine the circumstances surrounding the Mayerling event but it also captivates every inch of Rudolf´s complex and highly contradictory character. Additionally, the authors masterfully compose a detailed portrait of 19th century Vienna at the end of the Danube monarchy, that captivates for better or for worse. They closely study each party´s reasons for suicide and superbly sort through all possibilities and theories concerning their fatal demise. Considering both the lack of evidence and the time passed since 1889 as well as the many contradicting statements given and conspiracies spun, it is very impressive how they do not get entangled but rather leave the reader with a very clear cut picture of the affaire.
King and Wilson have a wonderful and elaborate writing style. Although it sometimes does tend to be a little bit too feuilleton-styled, the notes and source references are nothing short of impressive, especially when compared to other works. What did bother me was the fact that the sections of the book are only referred to as "Chapter 1" and so forth, making it a little bit confusing without something of a subhead. Yet that does not change the fact that in the end "Twilight of Empire" is utterly gripping which is unfortunately not quite common for history books.

But what I think is most important that the authors never romanticise Mayerling and dissociate themselves from the saccharified myth looming over the affaire. Due to the imperial glam and glitter often attached to not only the decaying empire but also to the end of its crown prince, there is a high potential of Mayerling to be told as the tale star crossed lovers choosing death over being parted, a version that has been furthermore cemented by stage and film.
Instead, they masterly trace Rudolf´s tumbling spiral of overwhelm, lack of paternal love, sense of failure, matrimonial disappointments together with disease and drugs addiction. As well as Mary´s deadly waltz into his arms, pushed by both her ambitious social-climbing mother and Rudolf´s intriguing cousin. The book literally brings to light the all-consuming darkness of the affaire, and in the end, decisively exhibits what is actually left of the fairy tale: A mentally-ill, egocentric and suicidal crown prince, that could not face the burdens of reality and abused the love of a schoolgirl half his age for his own deadly ends.
Every day from 1889 until today at Heiligenkreuz, the monastery Emperor Franz Josef erected on the grounds of his son´s death place, prayers are being said for Rudolf´s unhappy soul. They should pray for Mary´s too.

[Ghost of the Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not so much a biography of a man or an empire, this is the biography of an event - Crown Prince Rudolph and Baroness Vetsera's death at Mayerling on a cold January morning of 1889.
And how does one write about something so many have plenty of theories and not a lot of facts to share?
With care, consideration, a good deal of research and a way with words...to quote my grandfather.
Anyone who follows me here knows I have long held an "intense interest" about Empress Elisabeth (Sissi), her life and her world, and as such reading a new book about her son Crown Price Rudolph was, lets say, inevitable.
After their excellent book on Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, and what their fate meant to the fate of Europe as we know it today, i was eagerly waiting for a chance to get my hands on their next Habsbourg related endeavor.
Did i love it? no, but then again there's no love like your first is there? :)
Did i enjoy it and read it in hmmmmm 2 days? Yes i did and let me tell you why.
The care with threading that fine elusive line between fact and gossip is clear from page one and that is to be commended - i hate bad research and/or partiality for a topic of person that makes the whole book be too much team yay or nay.
The timeline of the last months before Rudolph's demise is here, people, events, known facts and some very well educated guesses and suppositions as well - kudos to the authors on it, i can safely say they know their job and it shows.
Where does it fail? and why didn't i love it? - it lacks, at least for me, the passion that showed so intensely when writing about Franz Ferdinand.
Does this mean the authors don't like Rudolph? I don't think so, i speculate it was a combination of factors:

- The concern with sticking to known fact and only very diplomatically hinting at the multiple other theories about Mayerling ended up causing the occasional dry reading moment.
- Having one idea about how to write this book and then ending up with something somewhat different. For a book about the demise of an empire, this one ends up centering exclusively on the one event that in the long run triggered that demise, but never delves deeply into the other factors that brought about the end of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

Over the last decade i have read multiple sources in different languages on this topic, so i can safely say this is a very good read and good starting point on Rudolph.
However, if i may be so bold, i would recommend another book, especially for anyone getting started on Mayerling and wanting to get a more comprehensive picture of the chaos and drama that their deaths caused in Viennese society at the time- Frederick Morton's A Nervous Splendor - actually the more i think it over, the more i believe these two might be the perfect pairing.
Hence my four stars and not 5.


Happy Readings!

[Joseph Hirsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benjamin Franklin once said words to the effect that "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead." Late imperial politics on the Continent belie this claim, especially when it comes to the case of Crown Prince Rudolf and Baroness Mary Vetsera. Rudolf was a troubled soul, a royal in a world where democracies were blooming and he wanted to join in (and possibly even lead a revolt or coup). Mary Vetsera was a woman also frustrated by her station in life, as a member of the lower order of the nobility who thrived on being close to the center of a monarchy that, while crumbling in reality, still maintained its fairy-tale allure for her.

Herr Crown Prince and Frau Baroness Vetsera were having an affair in late 19th-century Austria, giving the scandal mongers and gossips of the court, opera house, and foreign press all the material they could handle, when one night at a remote hunting estate, things took a fateful turn and a cliched bodice-ripping romance exploded into something much darker and more mysterious. By daybreak both the Crown Prince and the Baroness were dead from gunshot wounds.

In a world of fragile political alliances (which broke down totally in the early 20th century with tragic consequences), where appearance was everything, a Prince and his mistress blowing holes in their heads caused quite a stir, and the fallout from the catastrophe served as an object lesson in how much deceit, intrigue, lying and double-crossing goes on in the halls of power, and how the people whom the rabble look upon as godlike might not be worth admiring (especially when they spread gonorrhea to every woman they meet, derive pleasure from shooting captive animals, and are more inbred than show dogs).

Authors Greg King and Penny Wilson do a solid job, in lush prose befitting the royal subject, of telling the story of these two ill-fated lovers. The story has narrative drive without falling prey to too much invention, and does a graceful job of framing the dramatis personae in the context of their time and place and wider political currents without ever losing sight of the human dimension.

It's a quick and informative read that leaves many questions unanswered, stoking the reader's imagination and piquing their curiosity over this 19th-century scandal that is more reminiscent of an Edwardian Sid and Nancy than a retelling of Romeo & Juliet. With some photos included, which are especially important to this tale, since the beauty and charms of various intriguers and strivers (or lack thereof) determined who received the amours of the Crown Prince and who got spurned. Frau Vetsera, for instance, didn't do much for me (or for many who resented her monopolizing the Prince's attention), and I think she would have benefited much from the invention of Nair, though I'll need to get out my magnifying glass to see if that is really the beginning of a mustache on her upper lip or just my imagination. Recommended, in any case.