The murder/suicide of Crown Prince Rudolph Habsburg, the son of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and the beautiful young Baroness Mary Vetsera on January 30, 1889, at the royal hunting lodge in Mayerling, was a mystery then and, to a large degree, has remained a mystery to this day. It has provoked endless speculation and countless dramatic reconstructions. In this biography, Richard Barkeley argues that it is impossible fully to understand Rudolph's death without understanding his life. Rudolph was the most talented of the Habsburgs. He saw the need for urgent reform of the empire and frequently clashed with his conservative father, Franz Joseph. As Barkeley comments, 'The road the Mayerling started in the Imperial Palace in Vienna.'