Woman claims Archduke Eugen is the father of her daughter

November 2, 1925

The New York Times reports that a "sensational law suit" will soon appear on the docket in the court in Maerosch Ostrau, a Czechoslovak mining town. The wife of a cabinet maker named Adam is suing Archduke Eugen of Austria "for acknowledgement of the paternity of her daughter, Anne Marie, a pretty woman," who is now 34 years old.

For more than thirty years, the girl's "imperial descent" was a secret known only to her mother and grandmother, according to the plaintiff. A few weeks ago, the grandmother on her deathbed told Anne Marie that her father was an Austrian Archduke. Anne Marie went to her mother, who confirmed the story.

The mother states that Archduke Eugen never "contributed a penny" to Anne Marie's upkeep, but threatened to send her to a convent, if the family made any claims. During the war, the mother received a visit from one of Eugene's officers, who demanded that she return a photograph showing her with the Archduke.
By an odd coincidence, a few years ago, Anne Marie fell in love with an Austrian army office who had belonged to a regiment that bore Archduke Eugene's name. The couple were married. The cabinetmaker acknowledged Anne Marie as his own daughter, although he did not know who the identity of her real father.

Anne Marie and her husband were recently divorced, and she has decided "at last to get her claims recognized."

Archduke Eugen, who is "now past 60," is "the handsomest member of the House of Habsburg." He is the Grand Master of the Order of Teutonic Knights, "a dignity entailing celibacy." A year ago, a Hungarian countess "committed suicide out of an unhappy love for the Archduke."

On September 7, 1924, Countess Gabriele Szechenyi shot herself in the head and died shortly afterwards. The countess, who apparently had been involved in a relationship with Archduke Eugen in Basel, where both lived, discovered that the archduke "had formed a project to marry a rich widow of a patrician family" in Basel. Countess Gabriele, after learning about the Archduke's intent, "made a violent scene, and was unable to persuade Eugene to "renounce his marriage plans." In response, Gabriele "shot herself in despair."

The Archduke had resigned from the Order so he could marry the woman.
The Countess was the oldest daughter of Count Aladar Szechenyi. Her "admiration" for Eugen "had for a long time been an open secret" in Budapest society. She had nursed the Archduke "during a long illness."