ROYAL LOVE TRAGEDY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 272, 14 November 1903, Page 5 (Supplement)

ROYAL LOVE TRAGEDY.

PRINCE RUDOLF OF AUSTRIA'S INFATUATION AND DEATH.

The Count de Soissons, In the "Pall Mall Magazine," tells anew, in a version not hitherto published, the story of the fatal love tragedy of Prince Rudolph, only son of the Emperor of Austiia and Heir Apparent to the throne. There are only three people in the world who know the truth (says the count). These are the Emperor of Austria, the Count Charles de Bombelles, and the Count Goluchowski; but as they have not revealed and will not reveal the facts of the tragedy, my version may be regai ded as a good guess—even better, perhaps, than the stories of writers who sought a sensation only.

The Crown Prince (then 31) was very UNHAPPY IN HIS WEDDED LIFE,

and would seek for consolation wherever he could find It. His consort, instead of trying to keep his love for her by sweetness, acted as every oidlnary woman would act —namely, she was jealous, and made him so miserable that, In order to forget his lot, he took to drink, which ruined his already delicate health, and caused fits of melancholia. The Countess yon Larlsch, nee the Baroness yon Waldersee, a niece of the Emperor Elizabeth (she is the daughter of a Bavarian prince and an actress, her parents having contracted a morganatic marriage), took pity on him, and determined to amuse him by bringing him into contact with a most bewitching young lady, Mary yon Vetsera. WHO WAS SHE? Her grandfather—a man by name Baltazl, of Oriental origin—made a fortune as a bunker in Constantinople, and came to live in luxury in Vienna. His daughter married an Austrian diplomatist, the Baron yon Vetsera, who was the father of Mary, by the help of whom the Countess you Larisch determined to cure the Crown Prince's melancholy. For that purpose she gave a magnificent ball in her luxurious palace, for her husband was among the wealthiest noblemen in Austria, and wrote a letter to the Crown Pi mcc, with whom she wus, of course, on the familiar footing oi a cousin, promising him some extraordinary sensation if he came. I must add that

MARY YON VETSERA had already .fallen lv love with the Crown Prince, and that she had told the Countess yon Larlsch about her passion; hence arose the idea of the love Intrigue and Its easy development g

The Crown Prince came to the ball more sad and more melancholy than ever, meeting only with familiar faces which bored him to the extreme; aud when he was about to leave in the worst of humours, the hostess took hold of his arm, conducted him to the other end of her residence, and pushed him luto the door of a boudoir. Here, although a Crown Prince, who might say,

as Louis XIV. said, that he could not be surprised at anything, he was for once astonished at the beauty of a young lady whom he saw for the first time in his life. For a while he stood In mute admiration; then he OPENED HIS ARMS, and the girl, already loving him, fell into them. After that evening the Crown Prince's cab was very often seen in the front of the house in which the Baroness yon Vetsera, the widow, lived with her daughter. The old lady was not satisfied with the happiness of her only child, who was loved by the man of her heart; she was not satisfied either with costly presents or with big sums of money given to her; she was daring enough to try to induce the Crown Prince to DIVORCE HIS CONSORT, and to mari-y her daughter. As It seems, the prince was so unhappy with his wife, and Mary yon Vetsera was fascinating to such a degree, that he determined to carry out the plans of the barouess, and he went to open his heart to his father, the Emperor, beseeching him to consent to his divorce. The Emperor refused, and begged his son to arrange his life without scandal. The Crown Prince, being FURIOUSLY IN LOVE, with the beautiful girl, and pressed by her mother, who was cruel enough to refuse him to see her daughter, wrote to the Pope a most eloquent letter, begging him to grant a divorce. The Pope, instead of replying to the Prince, sent his letter to the Emperor, who, angry, summoned his son; but seeing how much he was changed by his suffering opened his. arms and kissed him tenderly instead of scolding him. The Prince, moved by his father's kindness, yielded to his persuasions, and promised to try and forget the fascinating girl and not to see her any more. The Baroness yon Vetsera learned about that conversation, and determined to avenge herself cruelly on the prince. For this purpose she wrote to him A MOST TENDER LETTER, beseeching him to see her daughter for the last time in the Mayerling Castle, their usual place of meeting. The prince could not refuse the woman ._ whose daughter he still loved passionately; and he went to the castle, where he met his sweetheart, who was already waiting for him. What passed at that meeting no one can tell, but towards morning the prince was awakened by a pain, and, imagining that there had been foul play, he seized a revolver, killed his paramour first, and then took his own life. Such is one of the most accredited versions.