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Baroness Mary Vetsera [1] (German language: Marie "Mary" Alexandrine Freiin^[1] von Vetsera), (March 19, 1871–January 30, 1889) was Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria's mistress. She was the daughter of Baron Albin Vetsera, a diplomat in foreign service at the Austrian court, and his wife Baroness Helene Vetsera (née Helene Baltazzi).

On April 12 1888 Mary was at the horse races at the Freudenau in the Prater and there she met the crown prince Rudolf. Rudolf took her for walks at the Prater and gave her little gifts. Countess Marie Larisch (1856-1940), the daughter of empress Elisabeth's oldest brother Ludwig, helped her to gain access to Rudolf's room. [2]

By January of 1889 the affair had become passionate, and this was known by many, including Emperor Francis Joseph himself. At the end of January Rudolf had a serious argument with the emperor, possibly about his liaison with the young baroness. On January 29 1889 Rudolf and Mary were together at the royal hunting lodge at Mayerling, located 30 kilometers from Vienna. The two lovers were found dead the next morning. This scandal, with its mysterious circumstances, is known as the Mayerling Incident, after the name of the lodge.

The last photograph taken of Baroness Mary Vetsera (R). This is the dress in which she was buried. On the (L) is Countess Marie Larisch, a go-between for Mary and Rudolf.

When the news arrived at the Hofburg nobody had the courage to break it to the emperor. The empress had just been told by Baron Nopcsa that her son was dead when Francis Joseph headed for her apartments to visit her after her Greek lesson. He was admitted to her room and it is unknown what happened between them. [3]

Soon afterwards Elisabeth called for Katharina Schratt to console her husband and sent for her daughter Valerie. Valerie's first reaction was "Has he killed himself?". But Elisabeth denied this vehemently later. It seems that she was told that Mary poisoned Rudolf and then herself. Only 24 hours after the tragedy Francis Joseph learned to his astonishment that Rudolf had shot himself. The official version was that the crown prince had died from heart failure. [4]

Facts are sketchy, and have been cluttered and fogged over the years. It has been said that she was killed by Crown Prince Rudolf, who then killed himself; that they both killed themselves; that they killed one another; that the two of them were murdered; and that she either was or was not pregnant at the time of her death.

On examination of the bodies it soon became clear that Mary had likely died several hours before Rudolf, indicating that he had killed her and sat next to the body until he finally shot himself. One theory is that Rudolf had suggested to commit suicide together and that she, who was madly in love with him, was only too ready for the sacrifice. Another suggests that Mary died of an abortion and that Rudolf was so stricken with grief that he killed himself. Only one bullet was found at the spot and eye witnesses that claimed she had a bullet hole in her head may have made wrong observations in the confusion of the moments they saw the body. [5]

Her body was spirited out of Mayerling and interred in the Cistercian monastery at Heiligenkreuz. Helmut Flatzelsteiner later exhumed her body without permission; she was reinterred in her original grave in October 1993. [6]

The exact facts of the incident remain a mystery.

This story has been set to two movies by the title Mayerling. One in 1936 and she was portrayed by Danielle Darrieux and another film in 1968 and she was portrayed by Catherine Deneuve.

• A profile of Marie Vetsera