Prince Leopold Clemens of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry

Prince Leopold Clement Philipp August Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (19 July 1878 – 27 April 1916) 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. After Prince Leopold Clement was called to fight in the First World War, she insisted that he marry her before leaving. before firing the sixth bullet through her own heart. Neighbours testified that they heard him scream in agony.

Aftermath Following the death of his only son, Prince Philipp bequeathed his fortune to his grandnephew, Prince Philipp Josias. Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 9 February 1907 Grand Cordon of the Order of the Golden Ruler, 27 February 1907

Ancestry