“It was not a dream. No, in truth, it was not. I had gone to bed and could not find sleep, even though darkness engulfed my room, even though everything in the garden outside was calm and silent… “And so I remained laying during those solitary hours, overcome by thoughts, images and memories. And suddenly,…
Emperor Franz Joseph leaving his train. Mary Vetsera, beloved of the Archduke Rudolf, who died with him at Mayerling. Archduke Rudolf with his wife, Stephanie of Belgium. Archduke Rudolf of Austria, who would die tragically at Mayerling. The Austrian imperial dynasty. From left to right: Emperor Franz Joseph, his brother-in-law Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, his…
Our dear friend, Tatiana told us that, newly wed in Austria, she had meticulously interrogated the descendants of the people linked to the Mayerling case. She had mostly collected testimonies concerning the archduchess that had replaced the empress during her absences. Who at the time held the position of mistress of the house? Was it…
King Rudolf II, an odd fellow and a master of the occult, governed his kingdoms from a magic castle in Prague. He had no legitimate heir. He had a ba stard son, however, Julio, whom he adored. He even gave him the vast Cesky Krumlov castle in Krumau as a home, but Julio proved to be not…
Since times immemorial, one room upstairs seemed to host particularly impressive apparitions. It had remained locked for centuries and no one dared venture there. However, one night, the cries and rattles had reached such violence that the Lord Strathmore of the time had decided to see for himself. He had gone up to the threshold…
“Good thing our hosts are away for the day!” “We will finally be able to share ghost stories, which is an impossible task in their presence!” It was the beginning of spring, the beginning of the 20th century. The count and the countess of Strathmore had invited some twenty guests to enjoy the weekend in…
On November 1st 1285, the King of Scotland, Alexander III, remarried. He had lost his first wife, two sons and a daughter, and the heir to the kingdom was now his young grand-daughter. It was a delicate situation and so he decided to try to have a male heir. He himself had been 8 years…
My grandmother Queen Olga of Greece in exile in Italy. Immediately behind her is my father, Christopher, and next to him, his sister Maria. Behind her is her brother Andrew, father of the Duke of Edinburgh. King Georges II of Greece and his brother, the heir to the throne Paul of Greece, visiting the…
The wedding of William Leeds with Princess Xenia of Russia. He was the son of my father’s first wife, Princess Anastasia of Greece. She was the daughter of my father’s sister. In the photo we can see my father, Christopher, his wife Anastasia, and the married couple. Next to the bride is her mother, Maria…
It is one of the biggest cut sapphires in the world, weighing over 300 carats. It was bought at the end of the19th century by the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a passionate jewelry collector. It was passed on to her daughter-in-law, the Grand Duchess Cyril. After the 1917 Revolution, needing money, she sold…