SMS Szent István
Montecuccoli's plans for the construction of "Szent István" and her sister ships earned the approval of Emperor Franz Joseph I in January 1909, and by April plans for the design, construction, and financing for the battleships had been laid out. For a full year, the Austro-Hungarian Navy attempted to keep the looming construction of the first two battleships a state secret. This did not prevent rumors from circulating across Europe of two dreadnought battleships being constructed in Austria-Hungary. The French Naval Attaché in Vienna complained to Paris in 1910 of extensive secrecy within the Austro-Hungarian Navy, which manifested itself in several ways. Among these were a ban on photography in the Pola, future home port of "Szent István", and near-constant observation by the Austro-Hungarian police.
Austria-Este
Although the first heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914), was not a descendant of the last Este duchess, Mary Beatrice of Modena), he took the name Austria-Este. In 1896 he became the heir presumptive of the Austrian Empire and, according to the terms of the secundogeniture, could not combine the Austria-Este inheritance with that of the main line of the House of Habsburg (i.e., the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but he was assassinated 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo before becoming emperor. Because Franz Ferdinand's children were born in morganatic marriage (see House of Hohenberg), on 16 April 1917 Emperor Charles I of Austria, as head of the House of Habsburg, issued letters patent conferring the name, arms and patrimony of Austria-Este on his son, Archduke Robert, and his future issue according to masculine primogeniture. Through his mother Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Robert happened to be a descendant of Duke Ercole III of Modena as well, and thus the blood of the last Este dukes was joined with the name Austria-Este.