Blessed Charles of Austria was the last ruling member of the august House of Habsburg, a royal family that had served the Church and her interests for over 700 years. Charles ascended the throne of Austria during World War I at a young age and tried his best to extricate his country from the war. His peace efforts failed, Austria lost the war, and Charles lost his crown. All of his efforts came to naught, and Charles died in exile soon thereafter. He was, by almost any metric, a miserable failure. So why was he beatified by the Church? Why in the world is he celebrated for anything?