After the suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf only his elder brother Franz Ferdinand stood between him and the throne. This was all the more embarrassing as Otto was high up in the line of succession. A few days later, the Social Democrat representative who had tabled the question was brutally beaten up by a gang of thugs. One popular and oft-recounted anecdote concerns an incident in which Otto, during an orgy at the Hotel Sacher, ended up reeling down the corridors virtually naked, clad only in a sabre and the Order of the Golden Fleece, eventually running into the wife of the British ambassador, a scandal that was to have diplomatic consequences.Īnother scandal led to a question in parliament: a number of high-ranking gentlemen, all members of the imperial family but not mentioned by name, even though it was an open secret that Otto was among them, were alleged to have come upon a funeral procession while out riding and to have jumped the coffin at a gallop for fun. ![]() Otto’s numerous extramarital affairs and dissolute lifestyle resulted in scandals which caused outrage both in public life and within the imperial family itself. The latter embarked on a career in the Imperial and Royal Army, and after the fall of the monarchy lived in Switzerland and Germany, where he practised as a lawyer. ![]() The union produced the later emperor Karl (1887–1922) and another son named Maximilian Eugen (1895–1952). His wife was extremely devout and content to live according to the dictates and conventions of the imperial court. In his choice of bride he complied with Court protocol, marrying Maria Josefa (1867–1944), daughter of the future Saxon king Georg and the infanta Maria Anna of Portugal, in 1886. Gifted, amiable and fun-loving, Otto grew up to become a very good-looking young man. Otto is described as being good-natured and affectionate, in contrast to his dour, withdrawn elder brother Franz Ferdinand, who remained jealous of the younger boy all his life. ![]() A delicate child, the little archduke was doted upon and indulged by the people around him. Born in Graz on 21 April 1865, Otto was the second son of Archduke Karl Ludwig, a brother of Emperor Franz Joseph, and his second wife Maria Annunziata of Bourbon-Sicily.
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