Laughing empress - Ava Gardner as the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, on the set of "Mayerling", 1968

 

Photographs by Terry O'Neill.

The phantom gloved hand appearing in many of these images was attached to the person of the great James Mason who played Gardner's husband in the film, Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph. The lead roles in "Mayerling" were played by Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve as the tragic lovers Archduke Rudolf and his mistress, Baroness Mary von Vetsera. A handful of images of the three can be seen in O'Neill's contact sheets.