Perhaps you’ve
heard of the Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, no of course not, but he had an
affair with a lady named Baroness Mary. Now during a family dinner with his
parents, he excused himself and left to a hunting lodge. He had invited the
Baroness there to spend some time with her. Now as the story goes, the next day
one of the staff knocked on his door but it didn’t open. After alerting others,
they broke the door down to find the Prince and the Baroness dead. He
reportedly had been distressed over his father’s disapproval of the
relationship. The prince had a gun in his hand making which made it seem like
your usual murder-suicide, and that’s the official story. Now that may be true,
but a few notes. The official report also says that only one shot was fired,
but there is evidence to suggest that as many as six were fired. Since his
death changed the path of the Austrian succession of power and eventually
directly or indirectly led to World War I, it certainly seems logical that he
may have been the victim of an assassin. We likely will never know for sure.
