Charlotte of Belgium before she lost her marbles.

Hey kids, the bewitching hour encroaches like a linesman in a 3-point stance. Seems appropriate for a tale of black magic that extinguished 3 European empires. A curse that that freaked out the blue bloods of Europe to the point it affected the marriageability of anyone of Hapsburg blood. Let us away to the Second Mexican Empire, an ill-fated project from the start, especially after the United States refused to recognize legitimacy under the Monroe Doctrine. Born an Archduke of Austria and rather a simpleton, Emperor Maximilian of Mexico refused to abandon his people. Yup, the same people who were closing in on him with the armies of Benito Juarez.

By 1865, his wife Charlotte of Belgium [aka Empress Carlota of Mexico] had already returned to Europe begging family and friends to save her husband from impending doom. Charlotte’s pleas were callously ignored…