Movember Moustaches - Part 4

This blog is the fourth and final installment of my Movember Moustaches series featuring historical moustaches to coincide with the Movember campaign to raise money for prostate cancer. To find more about Movember, please click here. To donate to a specific 'stache, check out the River Riders Team.


The end of November has arrived and soon the women of the world will breathe a collective sigh of relief as their loved ones abandon their moustache experiments.  However, thankfully for you, there is still time to explore one last magnificent moustache entrenched in the annals of history. Without further ado, I present to you His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Besides his impeccably groomed moustache, the archduke is perhaps best known for dying.  Sad, but true. His assassination in 1914 was the catalyst that moved the world toward war, and although we all know (or should know) the causes of war were diverse, it is much easier just to blame it on His Royal Highness falling victim to Gavrilo Princip's gun.

While we have all learned about Franz Ferdinand's death, few of us learn about his life. Before the Archduke's unexpected death, he spent some time traveling - hunting kangaroos and emus in Australia and taking a sailing trip from Japan to Vancouver.

The Archduke was also a bit of a romantic. After falling in love with a non-royal, the lovestruck Franz  refused to follow the marriage rules of the Imperial House of Hapsburg which required a royal spouse to be a member of a reigning or formerly reigning European dynasty. It took no less than the petitions of Pope Leo XIII, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany to convince Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph to let the Archduke marry Sophie Chotek. Talk about commitment.  Sadly, Sophie was assassinated along with her husband as they rode in their car throughout the streets of Sarajevo.

So there you have it, the man behind the moustache. Until next November, I urge you to keep your eye out for worthy Movember Moustaches throughout the historical record. No moustache is too big or too obscure to tackle.  Requests/suggestions are welcome - and no, Tom Selleck doesn't count, even though he does have a fearsome stache.