On the afternoon of 28 June 1914, a bright and sunny day, shots were heard, five to be precise. Three missed their target but two did not. Within minutes of the trigger being pulled the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his ife Sophie, were dead. It was the prelude to war. But this had not been the first time that day to murder the Royal couple. A bomb had been thrown but though it had detonated it injured two of the Archduke’s bodyguard only. He was nevertheless furious and let his feelings be known at an ill-tempered luncheon at the Town Hall where it was decided to take an alternative route on the return journey to Sarajevo Railway Station. Confusion ensued however, as no one had thought to inform the driver who rather than drive at speed to his destination via the shortest available route slowed almost to a halt at a roundabout, then took a wrong turn down Franz Joseph Street and in an attempt to reverse back out became stuck in traffic outside a café where inside eating a sandwich was one of the conspirators, Gavrilo Princip. He could not believe his good fortune and seized his opportunity.
This is the account of Count Franz von Harrach one of the Archduke’s bodyguards who was riding on the running board of the Royal car:
“As the car quickly reversed, a thin stream of blood spurted from His Highness's mouth onto my right check. As I was pulling out my handkerchief to wipe the blood away from his mouth, the Duchess cried out to him, 'In Heaven's name, what has happened to you?' At that she slid off the seat and lay on the floor of the car, with her face between his knees.
I had no idea that she too was hit and thought she had simply fainted with fright. Then I heard His Imperial Highness say, 'Sopherl, Sopherl, don't die. Stay alive for the children!'
At that, I seized the Archduke by the collar of his uniform, to stop his head dropping forward and asked him if he was in great pain. He answered me quite distinctly, 'It's nothing!' His face began to twist somewhat but he went on repeating, six or seven times, ever more faintly as he gradually lost consciousness, 'It's nothing!' Then, after a short pause, there was a violent choking sound caused by the bleeding. It was stopped as we reached the Konak."
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