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A farmer discovered the gruesome deed. Upon arriving at "Am Sonnenbichl," a restaurant in Bad Wiessee, a small town in the environs of Munich, the farmer parked his car next to a Mercedes. Two hours later, the farmer, after a hearty meal, returned to his car and realized that something was wrong inside the Mercedes. The spectacle he found, as he told the Munich police, "froze my blood." Two lifeless and bloodied bodies sat inside the Mercedes. Next to each body was found a rifle, which the couple used to put an abrupt and sorry end to their existence. Munich police quickly identified the remains: the man, elegant, bearded and with a well-kept mustache, was none other than Prince Ernst-Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 61 years of age. The woman, with long, flowing hair partially covering her face, was Sabine-Margarethe, third wife of the prince. What could have driven this couple, who were known to have a quiet, placid existence, to suicide on June 27, 1996? Initial police investigations have not provided a precise response thus far. People close to the prince have said that this desperate act was caused by Prince Ernst-Leopold's overwhelming financial problems. This seems to have been a dishonor that the descendant of the illustrious house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha could not endure. The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha evokes old notions of royal power. The first, and very promising, years of the XXth century saw five members of this family occupying European thrones. The little known German principality lost in the Thuringian woods had become, as Bismarck called it, "the stud farm of Europe." From Coburg came Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. Other family members ascended to the thrones of Belgium, Portugal, and Bulgaria, as well as the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The First World War brought the German Empire to a sad close, and the last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Charles-Edward, lost his throne in November, 1918. He was Prince Ernst-Leopold's grandfather. The eldest male member of the Coburg family, Prince Ernst-Leopold was unable to inherit the ducal throne. His father, Prince John-Leopold, lost his dynastic rights in 1932 when he contracted a non-royal marriage with a young German woman, Feodora van der Horst. This morganatic marriage went against family tradition and denied the couple's children any right to succeed to the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. John-Leopold's brother, Prince Hubertus, became the next heir to the family's royal traditions. After Hubertus' death during the Second World War, the family inheritance passed to the last brother, Prince Friedrich-Josias, born in 1918. In fact, Friedrich-Josias remains the family head to this day. The duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was formed by two separate, neighboring, principalities. The principality of Coburg had been inherited by members of the Saxe-Altenburg family in the XVIIth century. The principality of Gotha came under the family's control in the 1820's after the death of the last reigning duke. His only daughter, Prince Louise of Saxe-Gotha, was the wife of Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. In exchange for Gotha, a much more desirable principality, Duke Ernst gave away the duchy of Saalfeld. From that date on, the family was known by the name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Louise and Ernst had a very unhappy marriage, yet they managed to have two children, Ernest, who inherited the duchies in 1844, and Albert, husband of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha died childless in 1893, upon which the ducal title was inherited by Prince Albert's second son, Prince Alfred of Great Britain. The new Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha lost his only son in tragic circumstances in 1899. The duchy was left without a direct heir once again. After much consultation between Queen Victoria, Prince Alfred and Kaiser Wilhelm II, a new heir was chosen. The Coburg inheritance was given to Prince Charles-Edward of Great Britain, only son of Queen Victoria's fourth son who had died a victim of hemophilia in 1884. Charles-Edward married a niece of the Augusta of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, wife of Kaiser Wilhelm. Prince Ersnt-Leopold was their eldest grandchild. As with his father, Prince Ernst-Leopold became a black-sheep to many of his royal cousins by marrying and divorcing successively. In 1961 he wed Ingeborg Henig, whom he divorced in two-years' time. One son, Hubertus, was born of this brief union. Close friends of the couple have argued that lively, charming Ingeborg could not stand a retired existence at her husband's property outside of the Bavarian town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Theirs was a simple existence without luxury, away from the mundane distractions of society. Ernst-Leopold and Ingeborg divorced after just a couple of years of marriage. Yet, this first divorce deeply bothered the Coburgs and was the cause of the family rift which would forever divide Ernst-Leopold and his family. The developing family rift was increased when soon after his first divorce, Ernst-Leopold found yet another bride, Gertrude Pfeiffer. Five children where born of this union: Victoria, Ernst-Josias, Charles-Edward, Ferdinand and Alice. Nonetheless, the children were not a strong enough reason to keep the couple from divergent paths and indifference between Ernst-Leopold and Gertrude set in. Financial difficulties became a constant problem for Ernst-Leopold. The prince worked for an insurance company and also received revenues from his properties, yet the money never seemed sufficient to pay for the family's upkeep. Ernst-Leopold's reserved and austere character was continually spoiled by his monetary chagrin, and his wife found it increasingly difficult to remain in the marriage. Divorce was declared not long after. The second marital collapse faced by Ernst-Leopold further estranged him from the Coburg family. Soon after, not much was ever said of him. Ernst-Leopold had become a marginal character, a social outcast. Ernst-Leopold expressed his resentment against the Coburgs in correspondence he maintained with his brother. He complained about never being invited to attend family gatherings, receptions or parties. "I'm the non-existent prince," Ernst-Leopold exclaimed. When Ernst-Leopold married Sabine-Margarethe Henning, the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha showed little interest in the non-existent prince's endeavors. A prominent member of the family is alleged to have said that " one does not worry much about non-existent princes." The third marriage of Ernst-Leopold to sweet, charming, understanding Sabine-Margarethe seems to have restored peace to the prince's life. He is said to have recovered his smile and enjoyed life's pleasures. Then, if Ernst-Leopold and his third wife had discovered happiness, why would they resort to a gruesome suicidal pact? Could his intentions to reclaim some of the Coburg inheritance given away by his father in the 1930's have made him to despair life again? Or could he have fallen into financial penury one more time? Some have even wandered if the prince was a victim of an incurable and painful disease, which in turn could have wanted Ernst-Leopold to bring a quick end to his suffering. If this is the case, then the couple's suicidal pact can reveal itself as a tragic and dramatic last demonstration of love, uniting the lovers for eternity. In the last few years, Ernst-Leopold and his wife had had very little contact wit the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family, said Prince Andreas, the ducal heir. "We ignore the circumstances that could have driven my cousin and his wife to such a tragic act...once again German nobility is overcome by mourning," Prince Andreas declared to the German press. The prince was certainly alluding to the tragic drama that touched the Coburgs in September, 1987, when young Prince Johannes-Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha suffered a deadly 500 meters fall while mountaineering in Italy. The doomed prince was barely 18 years of age. The Coburg ducal motto, "True und Fest," meaning "loyal and constant," seems to have had an empty meaning for poor Ernst-Leopold. Yet, one is left to wonder if Prince Ernst-Leopold still considered himself a Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. |