The Cursed Wedding
Most little girls dream of the perfect fairy-tale wedding, marrying their Prince Charming on a bright spring day, their family around, Father gives them away to the Prince, waiting with a big grin on his face, but a tear in his eye at the end of the aisle, a perfect day to start a perfect union born in love, to last an eternity.
I imagine Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo thoughts as being very much along those lines, she had met her Prince, an actual Royal, Prince Amadeo of Savoy, Italy, son of King Victor Emmanuel II.
Although the King disapproved of the low rank of Maria's family, who was marrying up in his eyes, her families accumulated wealth impressed him enough to allow the wedding to go ahead, actually, it would seem the good King was bribed by Maria's family to make sure the wedding proceeded.
It is thought that this is the point at which the curse was placed.
Did another man place the curse, knowing his beloved Maria was to be married no matter what?
Could it have been someone on the groom’s side of the family, someone who didn't like the future Princess, or how her family influenced the King so easily with money?
One can only speculate, as the truth will probably never be known, but one can postulate that this is indeed the starting point for what was to become the worst ever wedding recorded in history.
Trouble started almost immediately for the young Princess to be before the wedding had even happened, Maria's wardrobe mistress had hung herself in the dressing chamber, when she was supposed to be hanging the wedding dress!
Maria, like almost all of us, even those not claiming to be superstitious, promptly ordered a new gown for the occasion, fearing the other had become tainted by her handmaiden's suicide.
On the wedding day, May 30th, 1867, the Brides procession prepared at the Castle, then began to travel towards the Church. They had not gone far when the Colonel, who was proudly leading the procession on his horse, fell from the beast and died in the street, the apparent cause of death was “sunstroke”.
The Colonel was replaced at the head with another of the Kings Guard, and off they went again, only to be stopped at the closed Palace gates.
The gatekeeper was called for but did not come forth, so someone was called upon to search for him. The Gatekeeper was found dead, lying in a pool of his own blood, his throat slit.
For some, two deaths on the wedding day would be enough to stop the proceedings and reschedule for another time, but the Princess was determined to be married, so, as soon as the gates were opened, the procession again began to move towards the Church.
The Ceremony went exceptionally well, despite the bad luck of earlier in the day, and everything seemed like it might end happily ever after, until.. the best man, who was dressed in his most regal and formal attire, decided to inspect his ceremonial pistol, which happened to be loaded. As he was inspecting the gun, looking down the barrel the gun discharged, shooting him in the head and killing him.
The King decided it was time to get out of the Church and head to the station before anyone else died, so the entire wedding party headed towards the station. On the way, the Official who had drawn up the wedding contract, collapsed from sunstroke, this didn’t stop the Kind pressing ever on.
The wedding party arrived at the Train Station, with the King now in a bit of a bother about the deathly goings-on, only to see the Stationmaster fall onto the tracks and be killed.
The King now ordered everyone to forget the procession and head back to the safety of the castle before any more deaths prevailed. Everyone returned to their carriages, a garrison of mounted officers were called, they flanked the carriages to try and stop any more deaths occurring, this, however, was not enough, for one more man was to die on this dreadful day.
The Count of Castiglione, dressed in his finest military attire for the wedding, including his much-loved medals, fell from his horse under the wheels of a carriage, he would have survived if it were not for one of his chest medals piercing his heart and killing him.
The wedding day over, the new Bride and Groom had an incredible, but dreadful, wedding story to tell, and one would think after such an ordeal, they would have a happy and joyous life... but the curse did not stop on the wedding day.
In 1870, Prince Amadeo was declared King of Spain, and Maria, his wife, The Queen. The couple had their own country of which to rule over and do as they see fit, but within three years, the Kings court had fallen into a shambles, and the King, not being able to find a way to recover, abdicated the Throne.
The couple, severely deflated, returned to Italy, where they lived as The Duke and Duchess of Aosta.
In 1873, at the young age of 29, Maria died through complications of giving birth to her third son.
Amedeo went on to marry his young niece in 1888, and in 1890, he too died...
It is not known what led to such a catastrophic Wedding day, but one can clearly see how a curse can be attributed to such catastrophic events.
Written by Allen Tiller in 2013
Previously unpublished
Revised and edited 2017
© 2017, Allen Tiller, Eidolon Paranormal
