Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Archduchess Blanca wants son buried in Vienna

May 26, 1930

Archduchess Blanca of Austria has requested the Austrian government to permit her son, Archduke Rainer, who died yesterday, to be "buried in the traditional resting place of the Habsburgs, the crypt of the Capuchin monks of Vienna," reports the New York Times,.

This is the "first request for a Habsburg burial" since the fall of the monarchy in November 1918.  It raises "several interesting points" as there is "practically no room" left in the section of the vault "reserved for the late Emperor Franz Josef and his family.

If the Austrian government denies the Archduchess's request, she will have her son buried in Spain.

Archduke Rainer was the eldest son of Archduke Leopold Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, and Infanta Blanca of Spain, daughter of the Carlist pretender, Carlos, the Duke of Madrid.

Rainer, who was unmarried, remained in Vienna after the fall of monarchy.  He eschewed the use of his title, and found work as a taxi driver.  He eventually opened a garage, and began a motorcycle messenger service, transporting film reels from one cinema to another.

He died yesterday at the Wiedner Hospital in Vienna as the result of blood poisoning.  Archduke Rainer was 34 years old.

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