Tragedy and suffering seems to have stalked so many of the Royals
in the modern era....
I think even going back to Marie's time ... you would feel it was a
modern era with so many scientific advancements and wonders...
flights in hot air balloons...steam engines etc
but tragedy stalked the French Royal family... and the King and Queen both died under the blade of the guillotine.

In the next century tragedy stalked the Austrian Royal family
with Prince Rudolf's suicide in Mayerling Lodge... then his mother...
Empress Elizabeth stabbed to death in Geneva. .... also Mad Ludwig King of Bavaria drowing himself in a lake.

In the next century tragedy stalked the Romanovs.... the whole family
murdered in a cellar by the Bolshavics.
You could say Lady Diana's untimely death is another example of this tragedy

Its almost as if... in the modern age there are sinister forces at work to undermine and eliminate the great Royal Families of Europe.... and indeed
in republican... democratic Europe they are only a ghost of what they once were !

The 20th century writer Nesta Webster seemed to hold the belief that the Order of the Freemasons was behind a lot of regime changes. I am not sure that they were the only idealogical groups but they did have influence.

DID nt the queen say to her ex butler ( Diana's rock )
... "there are dark forces at work in the country ".. (or word s to
that effect ..)

Thinking about it though... wars and tragedies seem to have cut a
swathe through the Royal Families of Europe (esp the catholic dynasties )
but what those Royal centuries have left behind have become goldmines
to present day governments.... Mad Ludvigs Neushanstein Castle in
Bavaria is one of the biggest tourist attractions in all of Europe earning millions of Euros every year.
Versailles likewise is a goldmine for the republican government of France.
The Tower of London with all its Royal associations is another big earner
no doubt Catherine the Greats palaces in Russia are coining it bigtime too for the Russian government !

I agree it is ironic in the extreme. I always mention that to people who spit out that royalty are parasites. I actually believe in our modern system of government but if rabid anti-monarchists wish to use that argument I can't help but laugh that they are feasting off the spoils of the rich culture of our past.