File No. 863.0011/17.
[Untitled]
Great and Good Friend: Bowed down and with deeply afflicted heart, I inform you that my dearly beloved nephew, His Serene, Imperial and Royal Highness, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este, in the midst of the earnest performance of his duty, together with his nobleminded wife, Her Highness the Duchess of Hohenberg, who in the hour of danger remained faithfully by his side, on June 28 of this year at Sarajevo, fell as victims of a horrible crime.
With the friendly interest that you take in all the happenings concerning me and my House, I cherish the assured hope that you will also take a sympathetic interest in the above information and thereby lessen in some measure my grief over this loss, which has touched me so severely.
[Page 26]I take advantage of this sorrowful occasion for the renewed assurance of my highest esteem.