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Leopold van Saksen-Coburg en Gotha
Austro-Hungarian officer

Leopold van Saksen-Coburg en Gotha

The basics

Quick Facts

Intro
Austro-Hungarian officer
A.K.A.
Prince Leopold Clement of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Places
Work field
Gender
Male
Place of birth
Svätý Anton, Slovakia
Place of death
Vienna, Austria
Age
37 years
Awards
Saxe-Ernestine House Order
(1896)
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Prince Leopold Clement Philipp August Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (19 July 1878 in Szent-Antal, Hungary – 27 April 1916 in Vienna) was an Austro-Hungarian officer and the heir apparent to the wealth of the House of Koháry. His death in a murder-suicide shocked the royal courts of Austria and Germany.

Background

Prince Leopold Clement was the elder child and only son born in the troubled marriage of Princess Louise of Belgium and Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, both of whom were Roman Catholic members of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He shared his name with his maternal grandfather, King Leopold II of Belgium, and a number of other Coburger relatives. Prince Leopold Clement was the sole heir to the wealth his father's family had inherited from their ancestress, Princess Maria Antonia Koháry.

Fatal affair

A Hussar captain in the Austro-Hungarian Army, Prince Leopold Clement met a Viennese girl named Camilla Rybicka at a charity bazaar in 1907. Rybicka was one of the daughters of Court Councillor Rybicki, an officer in the Vienna State Police. Then in her early twenties, she belonged to high society, but was nevertheless a commoner. The two soon started a romantic relationship. Rybicka left the family home, and the two travelled around the Austro-Hungarian Empire before settling down in an apartment in Vienna.

Rybicka, however, was not satisfied with being only the Prince's lover and demanded that he marry her. In Paris on 1 July 1914, Prince Leopold Clement wrote her a letter, promising to marry her within six months, naming her his sole heir, and requesting his father to pay her 2 million Austro-Hungarian krones in the event of his death. After Prince Leopold Clement was called to fight in the First World War, she insisted that he marry her before leaving. Leopold Clement was aware that such a mesalliance would have deprived him of the fortune he stood to inherit because his father had no intention of permitting the union, and that marrying Rybicka would have forced him to resign his officer's commission.

When her pleas, intrigues and threats all failed to secure her marriage to Leopold Clement, she was offered 4 million Austro-Hungarian krones as compensation. On 17 October 1915, the Prince called her to his first-floor flat in Vienna to say goodbye and sign the cheque, but Rybicka did not intend to take the money. Instead, she fired five shots at him at close range and then smashed a bottle of sulfuric acid in his face, before firing the sixth bullet through her heart. Neighbours testified that they heard him scream in agony. The half-naked Rybicka was lying dead by the bed when the police came, but the Prince was alive on the floor and still screaming. Rybicka was cremated in Jena, Germany in December 1915. Having lost an eye and much of the flesh on his face, Prince Leopold Clement died after six months of suffering. His remains were interred in the vault of St. Augustin in Coburg.

Aftermath

Following the death of his only son, Prince Philipp bequeathed his fortune to his grandnephew, Prince Philipp Josias. The deaths of Prince Leopold Clement and Camilla Rybicka shocked the royal courts of Austria and Germany. They were reminiscent of the 1889 Mayerling Incident, a murder-suicide involving Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, Prince Leopold Clement's maternal uncle, and Rudolf's teenage mistress, Baroness Mary Vetsera.

Honours

  • Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, 1896

Ancestry

16. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
16. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
8. Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
17. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf
4. Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
18. Ferenc József, Prince Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya
9. Princess Maria Antonia Koháry
19. Countess Maria Antonia von Waldstein-Wartenberg
2. Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
20. Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
10. Louis Philippe I of France
21. Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon
5. Princess Clémentine of Orléans
22. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
11. Princess Marie Amélie of Naples and Sicily
23. Maria Carolina of Austria
1. Prince Leopold Clement of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
24. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 16)
12. Leopold I of Belgium
25. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf (= 17)
6. Leopold II of Belgium
26. Louis Philippe I of France (= 10)
13. Princess Louise of Orléans
27. Princess Marie Amélie of Naples and Sicily (= 11)
3. Princess Louise of Belgium
28. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
14. Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary
29. Infanta Maria Louisa of Spain
7. Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria
30. Duke Louis of Württemberg
15. Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg
31. Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg
16. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
8. Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
17. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf
4. Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
18. Ferenc József, Prince Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya
9. Princess Maria Antonia Koháry
19. Countess Maria Antonia von Waldstein-Wartenberg
2. Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
20. Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
10. Louis Philippe I of France
21. Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon
5. Princess Clémentine of Orléans
22. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
11. Princess Marie Amélie of Naples and Sicily
23. Maria Carolina of Austria
1. Prince Leopold Clement of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
24. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 16)
12. Leopold I of Belgium
25. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf (= 17)
6. Leopold II of Belgium
26. Louis Philippe I of France (= 10)
13. Princess Louise of Orléans
27. Princess Marie Amélie of Naples and Sicily (= 11)
3. Princess Louise of Belgium
28. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
14. Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary
29. Infanta Maria Louisa of Spain
7. Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria
30. Duke Louis of Württemberg
15. Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg
31. Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg
8. Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
17. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf
4. Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
18. Ferenc József, Prince Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya
9. Princess Maria Antonia Koháry
19. Countess Maria Antonia von Waldstein-Wartenberg
2. Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
20. Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
10. Louis Philippe I of France
21. Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon
5. Princess Clémentine of Orléans
22. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
11. Princess Marie Amélie of Naples and Sicily
23. Maria Carolina of Austria
1. Prince Leopold Clement of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
24. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 16)
12. Leopold I of Belgium
25. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf (= 17)
6. Leopold II of Belgium
26. Louis Philippe I of France (= 10)
13. Princess Louise of Orléans
27. Princess Marie Amélie of Naples and Sicily (= 11)
3. Princess Louise of Belgium
28. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
14. Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary
29. Infanta Maria Louisa of Spain
7. Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria
30. Duke Louis of Württemberg
15. Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg
31. Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg
The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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