 After the end of World War I in 1918 , the Habsburgs were deposed when the new countries of Austria , Czechoslovakia , Hungary and the State of Slovenes , Croats and Serbs were formed . Charles and Zita left for exile in Switzerland and later Madeira , where Charles died in 1922 . After her husband 's death , Zita and her son Otto served as the symbols of unity for the exiled dynasty . A devout Catholic , she raised a large family after being widowed at the age of 29 , and never remarried . 
