Episode 134: Mayerling, Death of a Crown Prince

On a bitterly cold morning in January 1889, the quiet stillness of the Vienna Woods was shattered by a scandal that would rock the Austro-Hungarian Empire to its core. Inside the royal hunting lodge at Mayerling, two bodies were found: Crown Prince Rudolf, heir to the Habsburg throne, and his 17-year-old mistress, Baroness Mary Vetsera. The official story? A tragic lovers’ suicide. But as with so many imperial secrets, the truth is far more complex—and far more haunting.

Rudolf, the only son of Emperor Franz Joseph I and the enigmatic Empress Elisabeth, known as Sisi, had long chafed under the constraints of court life. He was brilliant, restless, and deeply troubled. Married off to Princess Stéphanie of Belgium in a cold dynastic match, Rudolf sought meaning—and passion—elsewhere. That search led him into the arms of Mary Vetsera, a starry-eyed aristocrat who dreamed of becoming a tragic heroine.

When their bodies were discovered at Mayerling, the court scrambled to contain the scandal. Early reports claimed Rudolf had died of a heart aneurysm. Then came the revised story: a suicide pact, the ultimate act of love. But from the very beginning, there were inconsistencies. Whispers of poison, political plots, an abortion gone wrong, and even murder took hold and never let go.

Over the next century, the Mayerling Incident became one of Europe’s most enduring royal mysteries. New theories emerged—from secret affairs to German assassins—each more dramatic than the last. Even the bodies themselves weren’t allowed to rest in peace. Mary’s remains were exhumed, disturbed by looters, examined by scientists, and stolen by a morbidly curious antique dealer before finally being reinterred in 1993.

The consequences of Mayerling were far-reaching. With Rudolf gone, succession passed to Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose 1914 assassination in Sarajevo triggered the First World War. Had Rudolf lived, would history have taken a different course? Could a liberal-minded emperor have steered the empire toward reform rather than collapse? Historians disagree—but the question lingers.

More than a century later, we still don’t know exactly what happened in that shuttered lodge. What we do know is that two young lives ended there—and that the imperial façade of the Habsburg court cracked beyond repair. The Mayerling Incident wasn’t just the death of a prince. It was the beginning of the end for a dying empire.

Listen to the full story now on the Historical True Crime podcast. Available wherever you get your podcasts.