Thanks for the new thread Svetabel -- I see the old one ended with 666 posts. Does that mean we've left evil territory or headed into it?
However, as I have stated many times, as long as there is no definite answer I do believe in the suicide-theory (that it was out of love and such is out of the question, I think, but not that the suicide happened.
The problem I have with the official position is that they changed their story too often -- first death was by poisoning, then apoplexy and then heart failure before they settled on suicide. Then they attempted to withhold any information about the presence of Mary Vetsera and fudged the autopsy results. The Grand Duke of Tuscany never changed his story -- from the start to the end of his life. I find it easier to trust someone with an impeccable reputation for honesty who states a direct observation than to believe second-hand hearsay and suicide notes and other documents that can be easily manufactured. Grand Duke Ferdinand IV always maintained that Rudolf's brain had glass shards sticking from it, Francis Joseph was in a state of shock the morning after, and that Rudolf's death had not been intentional.
Not only were they willing to evade the truth before the official finding of suicide, but then many admitted in later letters that the truth was still not known: (from Judtmann's book)
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The Emperor Francis Joseph to King Leopold II of the Belgians: "Anything is better than the truth!"
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The Archduke Karl Ludwig in a letter to the Duchess Ludovika of Bavaria: "The truth is so frightful that no-one can speak about it!"
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The Archduke Ludwig Viktor: "The whole truth is so frightful that one can never confess it."
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Prince Philipp of Coburg to his wife, the Princess Louise: "...it is terrible, terrible! I can't tell you anything about it!"
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Count Josef Hoyos to the Archduke Johann Salvator of Tuscany: "His Highness is dead. That is all I can say. Do not ask me for details. It is too frightful. I have given the Emperor my word that I shall not say a word about what I have seen."
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Count Henrich Taaffee: The son of Premier Eduard Count Taaffe said many years later that "the circumstances of the Mayerling affair are far worse than anyone imagines" and then would say no more.
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Hermann Widerhofer to Larisch in
My Past: "Dr. Widerhofer (court physician) was well accustomed to horrible sights in the exercise of his profession, 'but', he said, 'for the first time in my career I felt faint when Loschek threw aside the sheet which covered the basket. There I saw the body of a woman -- nude except for a fine lawn and lace chemise, which had been pulled up over her head'..............."
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Leopold II of Belgium in a letter to his brother Philipp Count of Flanders: "It is absolutely important to confirm and maintain the suicide version. It may seem difficult in the eyes of our Catholic people to see a house with the views of the House of Habsburg insisting on the suicide version. But suicide and disturbance of mind were the only way of avoiding an unheard-of scandal, the particulars of which I cannot entrust to my letter but which I shall relate to you in full detail.........."
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Dr. Heinrich Baron von Slatin, court secretary in the Lord Marshal's Office. Slatin did the inventory for Rudolf's estate, and also was the one to write everything that the first and second commissions found at Mayerling: "As a result, I had repeated contact with his domestic staff -- valets, hunt personnel, servants, etc............In consequence I gained a terrifying picture of the Crown Prince's nerve-racking way of life. I do not wish to go into detail.........."
These men were all physicians and/or soldiers-hunters. What could have been so unusual and frightening to them?
So considering the above, this once again brings me to the intrigue of the smashed door to Rudolf's bedroom which was on the ground floor. According to both Loschek and Hoyos, there was some time that elapsed before they finally decided to smash in the door to find Rudolf and Vetsera dead on the bed in this ground floor bedroom.
However, Dr. Widerhofer, Henrich Taaffe and Grand Duke Ferdinand IV all indicated that Rudolf and Mary Vetsera were lying dead in the upstairs bedroom instead. So what might this tell-tale smashed door be suggesting???
