115 Years Ago Karl and Zita, Austria's Last Imperial Couple, Married: Silver Embroidery, a Tiara From Franz Joseph and a Bust of the Bride Delivered by Airship

On October 21, 1911, in the chapel of Schwarzau Castle in Austria, Archduke Karl, 24, married Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma, who was 19. Nobody knew then that this was the wedding of Austria's last imperial couple. They only knew it was a big one.

The two had known each other since childhood and fell in love at the spa town of Franzensbad in 1909. A Budapest newspaper described the wedding at the time without restraint: "This glorious fairy-tale wedding is the happy ending of a romantic love story." History would later show that the fairy tale was only beginning, and the happy ending never came.

The dress. Zita wore a satin gown embroidered with silver thread, with lace that had belonged to her grandmother. On her head was a diamond tiara, a gift from Emperor Franz Joseph, who sat right next to the newlyweds at the wedding. The wedding rings were engraved with a prayer in Latin.

The gifts. Pope Pius X sent a reproduction of a work by Leonardo da Vinci. The most unusual gift arrived by air: a bronze bust of the bride, delivered by airship. In 1911 that was as much a demonstration of technology as a mark of respect.

A wedding on the silver screen. The ceremony was filmed and shown in cinemas, including in Spain. A royal wedding the public could watch in a theatre, with a ticket, long before television broadcasts.

This is where the story turns toward us. Karl wasn't supposed to be emperor. He became heir after his uncle Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914 - the shot that started the First World War. In 1916 Karl inherited the crown from Franz Joseph, with Zita at his side, while the war was still raging.

Defeat was followed by exile. Karl died in 1922, just 11 years after the wedding. Zita outlived him by 67 years, until 1989, and never remarried. She wore black for the rest of her life.

What remains of the wedding at Schwarzau is a reel of film, photographs and rings with a prayer in Latin. The empire that wedding was meant to carry on didn't survive another decade. How many of today's royal weddings, with all their live broadcasts, will still be remembered in 115 years?