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THE ROYAL MARRIAGE
MARKET OF EUROPE
 rhflto : Brooks

PRINCESS MARY OF GREAT URITAIN AND IRELAND

The Royal Marriage
Market of Europe

By
PRINCESS CATHERINE RADZIWILL
(Catherine Kolb-DaDvIn)

With Eight Half-tone Illustrations

NEW YORK
FUNK AND WAGNALLS COMPANY
1915
 AUTHOR'S NOTE
former times Royal marriages were considered
INthe most important events in the political world,
and their negotiation was generally entrusted to the
ablest diplomats in Europe. Up to the latter half of
the last century Sovereigns sought that the marriage
alliances into which they entered should prove ad-

vantageous to the countries over which they held sway.

It is certain that politics, in a far greater degree than

personal feelings, were at the bottom of the marriages

among the different dynasties of Europe, and that the
European empires and kingdoms
relations of the various

depended considerably upon the direction in which

these alliances were contracted. Notable exceptions
were the matches contracted by Louis XVI. and, later
on, by the great Napoleon himself when he sought the
hand of the Archduchess Marie Louise.
At even so recent a period as the middle of the
nineteenth century, the question of a suitable consort
for the son and heir of King Louis Philippe caused
ink to flow copiously in the chancelleries of the great
capitals, as uponwas supposed to depend the con-
it

solidation of the Orleans dynasty on its usurped

throne.
Later on, when Napoleon III. raised to the dignity
of an Empress the fair Spaniard, Eugenie, who had
 AUTHOR'S NOTE
won his and captivated his fancy, the un-
heart

precedented step was prophesied by many as being

certain to bring about the fall of the newly restored

Empire. In more modern days things changed, and

it became evident that personal feelings, personal
relations, and personal affections counted but little
in matters affecting the welfare of nations, so that

Sovereigns and their families found themselves more at

liberty to choose consorts without any political inter-
Like common mortals they
ference or considerations.
were allowed to marry and to be happy according to
their own ideas.

Nevertheless, some marriages — for instance, as

those of the then Prince Frederick of Prussia with
the Princess Royal of England, and of the Duke of
Edinburgh with the Grand Duchess Marie Alexan-
drovna of Russia —caused a certain amount of sensation
in diplomatic circles, as to the possible consequences
that might follow upon them. But on the whole,

nowadays, these events are looked upon as purely

private matters, which concern only those immediately
connected with them.
It probable, however, that, after the present war
is

has come to an end, Royal alliances will become once

more subjects of general interest, and of greater im-
portance than has been the case during the last twenty
years or so. This fact has led me to include in my
book a review of personages eligible to become one
day the consorts of European rulers, or one or^other
of their relatives, in addition
to placing before my
readers a short recital of the circumstances which have
vi
 AUTHOR'S NOTE
attended the unions of the various important Royal
personages in Europe. I have endeavoured, also, in
these chapters to show the part that these unions have
had in relation to the Great War which has made
Europe a continent of widows and weeping mothers.
The subject is equally interesting from another
point of view, because it is
tolerably certain that hence-
forward few Royalties will seek brides in the German
marriage market, as formerly was customary among
reigning houses. Consequently, the range of choice
will find itself limited, which fact is bound to bring
about with it drastic changes in regard to the leading

dynasties of Europe, and may even do away with

the rule which requires Royalty to match only with
its equals. Seen in that aspect, the question of Royal
marriages has acquired such considerable interest that
it becomes both opportune and informative to relate

some details of the Royal outlook in regard to marriage.

It is this congenial task which I have set myself to
fulfil to the best of my ability, with the amount of in-

formation which I have at my disposal, and in the hope

that it may prove acceptable to my readers.

Catherine Kolb-Danvin
(Princess Catherine Radziwill).

vn
 CONTENTS
OBAPTXR
1. The House of Habsburg . . . .
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Princess
Ireland .....
Mary of Great Britain and
Frontispiece

FACINa PAGE
Archduke Charles Francis Joseph, Arch-
duchess ZiTA, AND their SON ArCHDUKE
Francis Joseph Otto .... 12

The Royal Family of Russia ... 62

.......
Queen Wilhelmina of Holland and Princess
Juliana

Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide of Luxemburg

84

94

The Royal Family of Belgium . . . 100

The Royal Family of Denmark . . . 176

The*'Crown Prince and Princess of Sweden

and Family 208
 The Royal Marriage Market
of Europe

CHAPTER I

THE HOUSE OF HABSBURG

Habsburgs, by reason of their ancient lineage,
THE appropriately take their place as the first House
whose alliances interest us. Its chief, Francis Joseph,
was perhaps the first Austrian Sovereign who followed
neither the desires of his parents nor the traditions of his

family in his choice of a bride, but who married for

love. When he was yet a boy it had been under-
stood between his mother, the proud and haughty
Archduchess Sophy, and her sister, Duchess Louise
in Bavaria, that he should wed the latter's eldest
daughter, the beautiful Princess Helene, who had been
specially trained to fill in due time the exalted position
they had destined she should occupy. It had been
arranged that the young Emperor's first interview with
Helene was to take place at Ischl, and when at last he
met her there she did not appeal to his impulsive heart.
As a matter of fact, he fell in love at first sight
with Hel^ne's younger sister, Elisabeth. He had not
seen her for more than a few minutes, but at once
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
declared to his mother that the unformed girl, whose
education was not even completed, and who, ever since
her childhood's days, had been allowed to run wild in
the parks and forests surrounding her parents' resi-
dence of Posscnhofen in the Bavarian Alps, was the
only woman he cared to marry. At first the Arch-
duchess objected strongly, pointing out to her son
that the child who had captivated his fancy was hardly
likely to prove a dignified and stately Empress. She
had, however, to yield to the wishes of Francis Joseph,
and two days later the official papers in Vienna an-
nounced that the Austrian monarch hadbecome
engaged to the little
cousin, whom everybody had
snubbed and scolded, until, to the general surprise,
she had been chosen by him to occupy the first place
in his Empire.
Elisabeth, in those early days, was as much in love
with her future husband as it was possible for a child
of her age to be ; she was barely sixteen, and knew
nothing of life, still less of the world and of the part

she was about to play in it. Her position, though it

did not dazzle her as it might have done one less earnest

by nature, yet presented so many advantages and was

so brilliant that she could not help being influenced

by it. On the other hand, she fondly believed that

lifewould always remain the delicious fairy-tale it had
so far proved to be, and when she found that it con-
tained also many sorrows, the discovery made her
bitter and resentful.
In intellect the Princess Elisabeth was brilliant in
the extreme, yet her character lacked the balance
 A SHORT-LIVED PASSION
vitally necessary to enable her to fight victoriously the
prejudices which her somewhat eccentric behaviour
created against her. She inherited a good deal of the

unconventionality of the Wittelsbachs, and when she

found herself neglected by the Emperor, and not
allowed by her mother-in-law to exercise over him and
over her children the influence she would have liked
to acquire, she locked herself up in a kind of haughty
reserve. This attitude was not devoid of grandeur,
but was bound to excite criticism and even animosity
against her person.
Francis Joseph's love for her was of short duration ;

he very soon turned to other amusements, and not

only neglected her openly, but left her entirely to her-
self, stipulating that their children should remain
under the care of his own mother, ofwhom he stood in
considerable fear. The Empress, whom all the family
and entourage were doing their best to regard as a
nonentity, became daily less and less interested in
their sayings and doings. She began to lead an
existence in accordance with her own ideas, in which
sport constituted the principal pleasure and the
care of her beauty the principal occupation. She
travelled all over the world, attended only by a very
small retinue, and though she had got strong political

opinions of her own, she seldom allowed herself to air

them, or to attempt the exercise of influence in their
furtherance. On rare occasions only she showed her
preferences quite openly, as, for instance, when the
Hungarian question came to be seriously discussed in

Austria.

3
ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Even in purely private matters, such as the marriages
of the numerous archdukes and archduchesses, she
never troubled to make
the weight of her own position
felt in her own family, and hardly ever said a word

by which one might have been able to guess what

she thought about them. She used to say sometimes
that the less she heard about the sayings and doings
of the Imperial family the happier she felt and she ;

carried this indifference so far that even when the

future of her own children came to be discussed, she
allowed the Emperor to have his own way, without
seeking to learn what chances of happiness for her off-
spring lay in the marriages to which they had to con-
sent. Though she did not attempt to hide the fact
that she disliked the Princess Stephanie of Belgium
she did not offer any opposition to the desire of the

Emperor to see her wedded to their only son ;

and
subsequently, when the union turned out so miserably
unhappy, she made little effort to bring about a better
understanding. Her daughter-in-law did not appeal to
her,and later on she asserted that through Stephanie's
want of tact, and her peevish temper, had come about
the terrible scene in which the heir to the Austrian
throne perished together with the unfortunate and
miserable girl who loved him well and to whom he
had become attached.
Elisabeth of Austria was not credited with
possessing a nature
capable of feeling any strong
attachment, partly perhaps because she did her best
to stifle the exhibition of any such sentiment, and

partly because she had acquired a morbid fear of

4
 THE TRAGEDY OF STARNBERG
learning to care too much for anyone or for anything,
since the earher disappointments which had cast such
dark shadows over her Hfe.

In the later years of her she exhibited a great

life

affection for her cousin, King Louis II. of Bavaria,

whose character offered so many points of resem-
blance to her own, and his cruel end was a most
bitter blow to her. She never forgave the late Prince
Regent Luitpold for the part he had played in the
dark tragedy that had culminated so sadly in the
blue waters of the lake of Starnberg, and it is related
that she always refused to see him whenever she
visited Munich after that event. Apart from friend-
ship she refused to be drawn into intimacy with
anyone, and preferred leading a solitary, wandering
existence, which carried her from one place to another
in search of a happiness the splendours of the Vienna
Hofburg had failed to bring.
Elisabeth's marriage cannot thus be put forward
as an example of felicity attending a love match,
though hers had rather been one of passion than of
strong, deep affection. As happens so often in life,

two characters most antagonistic to each other had

been united by a freak of destiny, and had failed to
get on together, perhaps because insufficient effort
had been made to smooth down differences which
were bound to become greater and greater as time
had the effect of accentuating them. But, strange as
it may appear, her personal experience of conjugal
lifehad not inspired the Empress with the desire to
save her children from the disillusions which she had
5
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
endured. Even Archduchess Valerie,
in regard to the
who was her favourite, the Empress had more than
once appeared to be entirely lacking in tenderness,
and when the question of her youngest girl's marriage
came to be discussed, she had accepted for her son-
in-law the Archduke Francis Salvator without offering
the slightest objection, and though she had never got
on %vith him she had wisely refrained from saying
anything to her daughter likely to shake the latter's
attachment to the husband she had been told to
accept, and whom she had married with that absolute
submission which has ever been the characteristic of
Austrian princesses. And though she cared in her
way for her youngest child, Valerie, Elisabeth kept
her upon a footing of ceremonial love which never
reached a substantial degree of warmth.
Francis Joseph always showed himself to be the
most and, though old, tottering, and
selfish of fathers,

unprincipled, he yet contrived to win the affection of his

two daughters more fully than did his lovely, gifted,
and virtuous consort. He never got on, however, with
his son and With all his faults, Rudolph was
heir.

at heart a gentleman, and moreover an exceedingly

clever and intelligent man. He was in his way also a
great patriot, and chafed secretly at the weak grasp
of politics which the Emperor had displayed on all
the serious occasions when the fate of his dynasty
had trembled in the balance. The Archduke had
never cared for the German alliance which was to
become so precious to his cousin, the ill-fated Francis
Ferdinand, and it is likely that, had he lived, the
6
 COUNTESS SOPHY CHOTEK
orientation of Austrian diplomacy might have been
very different from what ithas become. But Rudolpli
died,and the succession to the throne passed to a
line, of which the first representative was
collateral
to be murdered in the days just before the opening
of the Great War of 1914.
Had the victim of the ghastly tragedy at Sarajevo
been spared to become the ruler of the Austrian Em-
pire, it is likely that the morganatic union, which he
had contracted with the Countess Sophy Chotek,
would have proved one of the most remarkable mar-
riages that a reigning sovereign had ever entered
into.The Countess was not only a brilliant, talented
woman, she was also ambitious and she was more-
;

over entirely under the influence of the Jesuits, who

had protected her to a considerable extent when they
had found out that she had won the affections of
the nephew and heir of Francis Joseph. She aspired,
and others aspired for her, to become at least Queen
of Hungary should fate prove strong enough to pre-
vent from becoming Empress of Austria. Her
her

sway over the mind of her husband was unlimited,

and, perhaps, even in excess of the love which he
undoubtedly bore her. Moreover, she had contrived
to win the good graces of the Archduke's stepmother,
the pious but bigoted Archduchess Marie Therese, a
Princess of Braganza by birth, whose virtues and

high principles had given her quite an exceptional

position at the Vienna Court she had presided at all
;

state ceremonies and festivities ever since the death

of the Archduke Rudolph had put an end to any
7
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
attempt to do so on the part of the Empress, who
after that terrible catastrophe had never again, save

once, shown herself in public. That occasion was

the visit paid to the Austrian sovereigns by the
newly-married Emperor Nicholas II. of Russia, to-

gether with his lovely bride.

Marie Ther^se had been one of the most beautiful
women of her time and though her marriage with
;

Archduke Charles Louis, then old and stout, had been

anything but a happy one, she had never allowed the
world to guess the truth, and had gone about with a
haughty demeanour, which repulsed every attempt on
the part of her family or her friends to console her for
the cruel disillusions which she had had to endure.
When she became awidow her influence over the
Emperor remained unshaken, and it is certain that
had it not been for her intervention the aged monarch
would never have granted his consent to the intro-
duction into the family circle of the Habsburgs of such
an outsider as the Countess Sophy Chotek undoubtedly
was according to their ideas. But Marie Ther^se
couldwhen she liked enforce her opinions upon others,
and she explained with such conviction to Francis
Joseph that he dared not contradict her. Neverthe-
less, although the lady in question belonged to the

highest aristocracy of Bohemia, he stipulated that the

marriage must always be considered as a morganatic
cne, and that the children who might be born of it
must never aspire to become anything else but Princes
or Princesses of Hohenberg, taking the title which
was granted to the Countess Chotek.
8
 INTRIGUES THAT FAILED
When the union took place, Francis Ferdinand,
whose father had died a few years was occupying
before,
the position of heir-presumptive to the Crown, and
had already shown more than one sign of the energy
of character he was to display so very soon, much to
the surprise of all those who had prophesied that he
would never be anything else but a nonentity. He
was not an alertly intelligent man by any means, rather
heavy and certainly never bril-
in his appreciations,
liant but he had something of that obstinacy which
;

narrow-miilded persons so often possess, and which is

considered by many as firmness of character, whilst
in reality it is only a symptom,
not of weakness, at
if

least of lack of comprehension of other people's opinions.

When he got an idea into his head nothing in the
world could induce him to change it, and he hailed
with joy any fact tending to confirm him in it. When,
therefore, the Emperor William consented to receive
as the Princess of Hohenberg the title of
his equal —
Duchess was only awarded her a short time before
—
her untimely end the Archduke became there and
then the staunchest friend of the Prussian monarch,
and entered warmly into all his schemes, which let it
ft

be said, by the way, were very much in accordance

with his own plans, as they aimed at the destruction
of Russian influence in the Balkans. This attach-
ment of the German Emperor and the future ruler of
Austria might have led to unexpected surprises had
not the career of the latter been cut short, and all the
consequences which his romantic marriage might have
had perished with him.
9
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
His younger brother, the Archduke Otto, had died
before him, the victim of an unprincipled and vicious
mode of Hfe. He had been married to a woman of

singular merit, the Princess Marie Josepha of Saxony,

who had borne with an angel's patience the ill-treat-
ment to which he had subjected her, but who was
not possessed of sufficient strength of character and
experience of the world to be able to guide her sons
in their education and in their youthful days. She
was proud and austere and, being very devout, had
;

all her thoughts centred in the direction of good works,

and pilgrimages to different churches and shrines.

Nevertheless, she aspired also to play a political
role. Her marriage had been entirely one of con-
venience, and she saw no reason why her children
should arrange otherwise. She hated the Duchess of
Hohenberg, whom she suspected of intriguing to secure
for her sons therank of Archdukes, with the right to
succeed to the throne and she used continually to
;

talk to the Emperor about the necessity of marrying

her own eldest boy as early as possible, so as to
ensure the succession to the Crown in the direct line.

The Archduke Charles Francis Joseph was a mild

young man he was the perfect type of an Austrian
;

"
nobleman," full of vanity, with very little learning,
of dashing manners, good-natured, but could hardly
be called keen-witted. Nevertheless, he stood next
to his uncle in the order of succession to the realm of
the Habsburgs, and, as such, his marriage was bound
to be a very serious affair. Marie Josepha under-
stood this perfectly, and almost before he had left

lO
 SEEKING A BRIDE
school she started looking for a daughter-in-law after
her own heart.
Bavaria boasted of several whose faith would not
prove an impediment, a Protestant princess being, of
course, out of the question. The Wittelsbachs, for
instance,had always been devout Roman Catholics,
but the Archduchess did not care for an alliance with
that House ;
its members had already far too often

intermarried with the Austrian Royal line. She held

that consanguinity was not conducive to happy con-

sequences in the question of marriages. For that

same reason she rejected the idea of allying her son
to an Archduchess, though there were many who
would have been but too willing to accept the prospect
of becoming an Empress. She disliked the Orleans,
because the example of her cousin, the Archduchess
Dorothea, who was wedded to the French Pretender,
had proved such a miserably unhappy affair. There
remained, therefore, the Italian and Spanish Bourbons,
whose blood was just as ancient as that of the Habs-
burgs, and whose opinions were entirely in accordance
with her own. Among them the family of the Duke
of Parma had captivated all her sympathies, owing
to its strictly Catholic principles, and to the care with
which the Duchess, a Princess of Braganza by birth,
and the sister of the Archduchess Marie Therese, her
husband's stepmother, had brought up her numerous
daughters. It was true that imbecility was supposed

to be hereditary in that branch of the Bourbon family,

and that out of the twenty children that his two wives
had borne to the Duke of Parma, several were confirmed
II
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
idiots ; but somehow this fact did not seem to strike
Marie Josepha, and she advised her son to spend a
few days at the castle to which the widowed Duchess
had and to become acquainted with the many
retired,

young and, as she supposed, charming girls who were

sharing her solitude there.
The Archduke obeyed his mother in this as in
everything else, and he started for the Villa Pianore,
in Tuscany, where the Parma family used to spend
its summers. When there he quickly became capti-
vated by the youthful charms of the Princess Zita,
one of the youngest in this happy and numerous house-
hold, and after having solicited his mother's and his
uncle's consent, he proposed to her, and, as may be
easily imagined, was at once accepted.
Strangely enough, this marriage did not appeal to
the Emperor Francis Joseph, who had been secretly

hoping that his eventual successor might choose as a

wife one of his uncle's own granddaughters ; either the
child of theArchduke Rudolph, or one of the daughters
of the Archduchess Valerie, whom he had grown to
love very much, ever since she had at last, not how-
ever without a sharp struggle, consented to admit the
intimacy that existed between him and the actress Frau
Katrine Schratt. But he was hardly in a position to
make objections to his nephew's choice, as it was every-
thing that the Austrian protocol, so severe in all mat-
ters where birth is concerned, could have wished for.
When he saw her for the first time, the undoubted
beauty of the Princess Zita appealed strongly to him ;

she not only excited his admiration, but also won as

12
 Photo : H. C. Kosf/, Vienna

THE ARCHDUKE CHARLES FRANCIS JOSEPH,

ARCHDUCHESS ZITA, AND THEIR SON ARCH-
DUKE FRANCIS JOSEPH OTTO
 A RETIRED EXISTENCE
much of his old withered heart as he was able to give
to anyone or to
anything in the world. He even
consented to grace the marriage ceremony with his
presence when it was celebrated at the castle of
Schwarzau, in Lower Austria, and loaded the bride
with beautiful presents, some people say in order to
prove to the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and to the
Duchess of Hohenberg that there was a difference be-
tween the treatment which he awarded to a morganatic
wife and that which he meted out to a Princess be-

longing by birth to one of the oldest dynasties in

Europe. Upon this everything came to an end and ;

so long as the Archduke Francis Ferdinand lived, his

nephew, Charles Francis Joseph, together with his

consort,were kept at a considerable distance from
Vienna, nor were they allowed to come forward con-
spicuously in the public functions.
They did not mind it they were ; entirely in-

different as to their own

future, perhaps because
they did not realiseimportance which it was
the
bound to acquire. They remained quite content to
lead a retired existence, to play with their dogs first
and yvith their children afterwards ;
to ride and to
shoot to skate and to take long walks together,
;

whenever they found the time and the opportunity

to do so. The young husband never gave a thought
to the possibility of his coming into the immediate
line of succession to Francis Joseph, and rather dreaded
the advent to power of an uncle by whom he knew
himself to be disliked. His wife, too, feared the snubs
which she guessed she would have to submit to from
13
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
the Duchess of Hohenberg ;
snubs for which she
revenged herself beforehand,
by doing best to her
make the former feel that she was but an outsider
in a family circle who had put up with her, but who
would never accept her as one of its own, no matter
what efforts she might make to persuade it to do so.
In one respect the marriage of the present heir-
presumptive to what will be left of the realm of the
Habsburgs after the war was a success. It gave him
a consort who never aspire to play any political
will

role in the history of her country, and who will remain

content with her position as an Empress, with its
attendant advantages, without wishing to influence her
husband or to mix herself up in matters of State.
Zita of Parma had been brought up as a nonentity,
in an atmosphere of petty interests, religious fanati-
cism, and more or less worldly frivolity. She is a
fond mother, an affectionate wife, and a lovely little
woman, who cares only for her household duties, and
to whoma serious book afiords no pleasure to read
whilst the English novels published in the Tauchnitz
edition are a source of unfailing amusement. She
goes regularly to church, fasts on prescribed days, is
fond of dancing, and as excited over a ball as any
debutante in her first season. When the war broke
out, she shed a few conventional tears, but did not
come forward, as she might have been expected to do
in her position as wife of the future sovereign, with

any attempt to head a humanitarian movement to

help the wounded or disabled. She is timid by
nature, and perhaps, after all, between her mother-
 ZITA OF PARMA
in-law, the Archduchess Marie Josepha, and the Arch-
duchesses Marie Ther^se and Isabella, who started
numerous schemes of relief, she felt crushed so far as
any desire she might have for personal activity.
All Princess Zita's
family did its best to persuade
her that she was but a child, too
young to have any
opinions of her own, and who, having no experience
of the world, ought to listen to what her elders told
her, and never venture to act independently under
any circumstances whatever. This was entirely in
accord with the traditions of the Habsburgs, and far
more Hkely to appeal to them than the eccentricities
of the Empress Elisabeth, who from the very first
hours of her marriage had refused to bow down before
the strictness of the etiquette which prevailed at the

Hofburg. The Archduchess Zita, on the contrary,

was always most careful to observe all the prescrip-
tions of this etiquette, and never
forgot herself for a
single moment, keeping always before her eyes the
necessity of being the good child her mother had told
her she ought to be when she married the future
Emperor of Austria.

WJiat she will do and what her husband will do

when they find themselves seated upon the throne it
is difficult to say. It is not likely, however, that either
of them ^vill show the least originality in their actions
or in their behaviour. Charles Francis Joseph will be
entirely in the hands of such of his ministers as he will
find in power when he ascends the throne. Ignorant
of politics as he is, he content himself with smiling,
will
and will still look at things around him without seeing
15
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
them. He will, perhaps, shoot a little less and hold a
few more military reviews than does his great-uncle,
the present Monarch and he will receive the am-
;

bassadors accredited to his Court with the courtesy of

a man whose experience of the world is very limited.
He will eschew talk about politics, and it can be pro-
phesied with perfect safety that he will never indulge
in the exuberance of language which distinguishes

his ally, the Emperor William II. of Germany. He

will be an excellent wooden figure on whose shoulders
it will be always possible to throw the weight of many
responsibilities, and he will accept them without in the

very least understanding in what they consist or what

they represent.
The Archduchess will spend her time in washing,
dressing, and educating her children, of whom it is
probable she will have a large number. She will have
long interviews with her dressmaker, and insist upon
the latter making for her high-necked or most modestly-
cut evening gowns, selecting simple materials in un-

pretending colours, such as pale blue or pink with a

sprinkling of white here and there to relieve it. She
willput on with pleasure the Crown jewels whenever
circumstances may require her to do so, and she will
be very pleased whenever etiquette may demand her
to give a reception at the Hofburg, and at the same
time not insist on her entertaining her guests other-
wise than by bowing to them or smiling upon them.
She will be the conventional Empress, such as the
Habsburgs have always tried to secure for their sons,
and she will be far too afraid of doing anything likely to
i6
 AUSTRIAN IMPERIAL HOUSE
compromise her dignity, or of being original in any-
thing save in the cut of her clothes and even this will
;

proceed more from the bad taste in dress of Austrian

ladies than from her personal initiative. Zita of
Bourbon Parma is quite a la hauteur of the husband

to whom she is united, and following the example of

very happy people, they will never have a history
of their own, or interest themselves in that of others.
Their marriage was a success from the very first and ;

in the Habsburg family such have been all too few.

The Austrian Imperial House has seldom been
lucky in the choice of its brides, and the public or
private scandals which have arisen from time to time
have been far too numerous for it to be possible to
keep count. In spite of the Emperor's severity, one
Archduke after another tried to emancipate himself
from the thraldom in which the exigencies of a mer-
cilessetiquette kept them confined. To begin with
the youngest brother of the Archduke Francis Fer-
dinand, he renounced all his titles and privileges as a
member of the Habsburg family to marry the daughter
of a professor of a German university while at the ;

other .end of the line the ex-Crown Princess of Saxony

and her brother succeeded in shaping out for them-
selves a rather strange existence. There have been
stories without number about the love affairs of the

numerous nephews and cousins of the reigning Austrian

sovereign. Nearly all of them seem to have con-

ceived a perfect horror for all the conventions of
their exalted estate. The eldest granddaughter of
Francis Joseph, the Princess Elisabeth in Bavaria,
c 17
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
the child of the Archduchess Gisela, ran away with
a simple gentleman, the Baron von Seefried, who
was later on created Count, and given the key
which the Imperial chamberlains wear upon their
backs at the Austrian Court. Her brother. Prince

George, was the hero of an even greater scandal, when

his wife of a few days, the pretty and merry little

A.rchduchess Isabella, fifth daughter of the Archduke

Frederick, ran away from him and succeeded in get-

ting her union with him annulled by the Pope, not-

withstanding the fact that divorce is not admitted

in the Roman Catholic church. She was a nice girl,
who did not deserve the unhappy fate which became
her portion. After she had regained her freedom,
Princess Isabella gave herself up entirely to good
works, and at the beginning of the Great War became
a sister of the Red Cross, working with the utmost
devotion in the cause of charity, and tending the sick
and wounded with an unfailing solicitude. She is
credited with having declared that under no circum-
stances whatever would she be induced to
marry
again, and that her remembrances of her married
life were such that she would never run the risk a
second time.
The marriage of her parents had also been a ro-
mance in its way. Archduke Frederick was con-
sidered the best match in the Habsburg family, being
the sole heir of his uncle. Archduke Albert, whose
wealth could be counted by millions. All the mar-
riageable Archduchesses threw their caps at him, and
wondered whether they would be able to appeal to
i8
 PRIDE OF THE DUKE OF CROY
his tastes and to his affections. But to the general
surprise the —
young man he was barely twenty-two
at the time — fell in love with the Princess Isabella of

Croy, whose father, the Duke of Croy, though belonging

to the higher order of the German aristocracy, was
still looked upon as a simple gentleman, in possession
of large means and an old title. He proposed to her
a few days after he had met her for the first time.
She was a clever, ambitious woman, who at once
understood the immense advantages of such an un-
hoped-for marriage, and she did not even attempt to
dissimulate the great satisfaction that she derived
from the made by the young Archduke. Their
offer

marriage, however, met with violent opposition on

the part of the Imperial family, who tried to suggest
that it ought to be considered morganatic. This
proposition stung to the quick the pride of the Duke
of Croy, and he forthwith produced a sheaf of ancient
documents establishing beyond doubt the fact that
from time immemorial his family had been considered
the equal by birth of reigning houses, and claimed for
his daughter the right to be recognised as an Arch-
duchess of Austria after her marriage with Archduke
Frederick.
Fierce quarrels ensued, and at last the Emperor
was appealed to he decided in favour of the claims
;

put forward by the Duke. The Princess Isabella

became an Archduchess. In the first years which
followed upon her marriage she did not have a pleas-
ant time in Society not only the Imperial family,
;

but also the aristocracy of Vienna, were incensed at

19
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
her elevation to a rank to which it considered she
had no right. Foremost among the objectors was her
eldest sister, the Princess Eugenie, who was married
to Prince Esterhazy, and who did not quite relish the

idea of Isabella, her youngest sister, taking precedence

at Court.
In spite of these difficulties Princess Isabella, who
was certainly a clever woman, contrived very soon to
secure an enviable position in the Imperial family,
and to be liked not only by its members but also by
Hungarian society, who appreciated the fact that she
settled with her husband in Presburg, and opened the
doors of her hospitable home to the Hungarian no-

bility, whom she entertained on a lavish scale, a thing

which her large fortune allowed her to do easily. She
arrived in time to play an important part in the gay
world, and her opinions were taken into account every-
where and by everybody, not even excepting the
Emperor. She had six daughters in succession, and
only gave birth to a much-longed-for son, twenty years
after her marriage. The event was the occasion of
much rejoicing, as the child became heir to the vast
entailed estates of the lateArchduke Albert, to whom
his nephew Archduke Frederick had succeeded as
life tenant. The heritage would have passed to a
collateral line of the Habsburg family had the little
son not arrived. The daughters became most eligible
brides for Catholic princes, but their marriages were
the source of much anxiety to their mother, who would
have liked them to wed crowned heads, and who
cherished the hope that the eldest one might become
20
 ROYAL HOPES BLIGHTED
the wife of her cousin, Archduke Francis Ferdinand,
and the second that of King Alphonso of Spain, who
was her first cousin, Queen Marie Christina and the
Archduke Frederick being brother and sister. Alas,
these hopes were destined not to be fulfilled, because
the heir to the Austrian throne fell in love with the

lady-in-waitingof the Archduchess, the attractive

Countess Sophy Chotek, much to the rage of his august
aunt, who, when she became acquainted with the fact,
turned the unfortunate girl out of her house in the
most insulting manner possible,and never forgave her
nephew for the disappointment he had inflicted on her.
Then, in regard to the youthful ruler of Spain, he
succumbed to the charms of the fair-haired Princess
Ena of Battenberg, disdaining the cousin in whose veins
flowed the blue blood of the Habsburg Lorraines.
The Archduchess Isabella, thus baffled in what had
been the dreams of her life, turned her eyes toward the

young son of the Archduke Otto and the Archduchess

Marie Josepha, who in due time was to replace upon
the throne of Austria the husband of Sophy Chotek.
But came to nothing, be-
there, again, her ambitions
Parma won that much coveted
cause the Princess Zita of
prize, and the haughty daughter of the Duke of Croy
had to resign herself to wed her own girls to private
gentlemen of high rank and large means, such as the
Princes of Salm-Salm and of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfiirst ;

whilst the younger ones became respectively the con-

sort of Prince Elias of Parma and of Prince George of
Bavaria, the eldest son of the Archduchess Gisela of
Austria. This last marriage did not turn out a success,
21
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
because, as I have already stated, the bride fled from
her husband's house almost immediately after her

wedding.
The daughters of the Archduchess Isabella were not
the only Austrian princesses who married commoners,
or at least not members of any reigning house. Others,
such as the second daughter of the Archduchess Marie
Therese, the three girls of the Archduke Charles
Stephen, and one of the numerous daughters of the ex-
Grand Duke of Toscana, wedded out of their sphere.
Indeed, the marriage of the Archduchess Eleonore,
the eldest child of Archduke Charles Stephen, sur-

prised even those who knew the democratic opinions

professed by her parents. She fell in love with a
naval officer, Herr von Kloss, who had no birth but
plenty of good looks to boast of, and no money or
high connections to recommend him to her choice.
Their wedding was a nine days' wonder, and caused
a mild flutter in the select circles of Viennese society,
who had accepted members of the German
higher
nobility as husbands for its Archduchesses, but who
could not digest the fact that a Princess belonging to
the reigning dynasty had become simple Frau von
Kloss, as the Archduchess Eleonore insisted upon
being called by her friends and acquaintances.
There were two other weddings which caused even
more excitement in Austria than the one to which I
have just referred ;
the marriage of the widow of
the Crown Prince Rudolph, Princess Stephanie, with
Count Elemer Lonyay, and of her only daughter,
the Archduchess Elisabeth, with Prince Otto von
22

-vl
 PRINCESS STEPHANIE'S ROMANCE
Windisch-Graetz, a younger son of that princely family.
The Crown Princess had never been much liked in
Vienna, and ever since her widowhood she had had
a most difficult and unpleasant position at the Court.
She was compelled to take a back seat, as it were,
the etiquette of the Hofburg not granting to ^vidows

any official rank, and obliging them to live in retire-

ment, a fact which did not agree at all with the pleasure-
loving and pleasure-seeking Stephanie. For some
years, until her daughter had reached years of dis-
cretion, she travelled about, and avoided Vienna,
until one day she became seriously attracted by hand-
some Count Lonyay, a Hungarian nobleman, rich
and amiable. Being of a rather determined charac-
ter,she herself broached the subject of a marriage
with him to the Emperor, who was perhaps not so
very sorry at heart to see her settled far away from
him, and so readily gave his consent to the union.
Stephanie's own father, however,King Leopold of
Belgium, was terribly indignant, and forthwith seized
the pretext to cut her out of his will to the fullest
limit that thelaw allowed him, and refused to see
her kny more more after she had become the Countess

Lonyay. Princess Stephanie, however, accepted this

decision with considerable philosophy ; and, notwith-
standing the parental wrath, she was united to the
husband of her choice on a spring morning fifteen years
ago in the private chapel of the Castle of Miramar, on
the Adriatic coast, which old Francis Joseph had put at
her disposal for the occasion.
It was related afterwards, not without some secret

23
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
satisfaction in Vienna, that as soon as the happy pair
had exchanged rings, the Imperial standard which had
been floating on the tower of the castle in accordance
with custom whenever a member of the Imperial
family resided within its walls, was lowered, as a sign
that the Crown Princess no longer belonged to the
Habsburgs. She did not mind, however, and was said
to have declared that the happiest day of her life
had been that when she had ceased to be an Arch-
duchess of Austria.
When the mother married again, the Princess
Elisabeth was eighteen years old. She was very like
her father in looks, though far from having inherited
his intelligence or love for science and literature. She
had been brought up under the supervision of the
Empress at first, and of the Emperor afterwards, and
had been taught all that a young lady in her position
ought to know in a country where it is not the ex-
ception but the rule to rear girls according to the
method prescribed by Fenelon, who declared that a
woman ought to know how to read and write, memorise
her catechism and be able to do needlework, but
nothing more. Her Crown Princess,
relations with the

though had
cordial, never been tender, and after the
latter's second marriage they became cooler. Prin-
cess Elisabeth was fond of dancing and of riding,
but neither a lover of books nor of art in any shape or
form. She had all the insufficiencies of character and

intelligence that from time immemorial have charac-

terised the majority of the members of the Habsburg
family, together with their prejudices and their fanati-
24
 MARRIAGE OF PRINCESS ELISABETH
cism. But she was also a girl fond of the world and
of pleasures, and whilst waltzing at her first ball
its

with Prince Otto von Windisch-Graetz, a nice, well-

brought-up and exceedingly well-mannered young
man, she lost her heart to him, and forthwith went to
confide her secret to her grandfather, declaring to
him that she would die of despair if she were not
allowed to marry him. Francis Joseph was fond of
this only daughter of his dead son, and had not the
courage to refuse her request. He sent for the father
of Prince Otto and told him that he consented to the
union of the Archduchess with his boy. The marriage
was forthwith solemnised, to the joy of the youthful
bride, who was given as a wedding present most of
the jewels which had belonged to her grandmother,
the murdered Empress Elisabeth. The family into
which she made her triumphal entry was granted the
title of Serene Highness, which it had enjoyed, but

not possessed by right until the day when it inter-

married so unexpectedly with the Habsburgs.
There had been a time when the Archduchess had
been spoken of as a possible wife for the King of Spain,
whosG mother, Queen Marie Christine, would have
viewed with more favourable eyes the union of her
son with a princess belonging to the same race from
which she herself had sprung. The difference of age
which existed between them, however, settled the
question before it had been seriously broached to
the interested parties. Apart from Alphonso there
was hardly anyone in Europe worthy to marry the
granddaughter of the Emperor of Austria, especially
25
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
if one takes into account the fact that it was out of
the question for her to wed outside the Roman Catholic
faith. Perhaps the aged Austrian monarch took this
circumstance into consideration when he made up his
mind not to thwart her desire. He felt as much affec-
tion for her as his old, egoistical nature was capable of
feeling, and hesitated before interfering between her
and what she rightly or wrongly thought would prove
to be her happiness. Sometimes Francis Joseph could
be lenient, though in other cases he showed himself
something worse than cruel. An instance of this
latter quality was where the present divorced wife
of the King of Saxony was concerned. Instead of
protecting this impulsive and foolish, but not bad at
heart, young woman, who, it is absolutely true though
not generally known, had appealed to him for aid in
the miseries of her conjugal life, he rudely thrust her
aside, and found nothing better to do in the way of

response to her entreaties than to deprive her of her

rank and title of Archduchess, even before her divorce
from the then Crown Prince of Saxony. His act shut
before her all possibility of a return to her home.
The matrimonial ventures of the Habsburgs have been
infinitely more varied than would be gathered from what
ishere related, but these stories concern mostly the

younger members of the family, and have no political

tinge. In this series I propose to deal only with such
matches as can have an influence of some kind on politics,
and certainly the love affairs of this or that Archduke
with this or that burlesque actress of Vienna cannot
aspire to that honour.
26

*.
 CHAPTER II

THE HOHENZOLLERNS
the marriage of the late Emperor Frederick
UNTIL III. the Prussian Royal Family had been averse to

contracting alliances with foreign princesses, and had

always married into the German reigning families,
holding the opinion that it was always better to wed
women belonging to one's own nationality. It was
only when the friend and adviser of the Prince Consort
of England conceived the idea of bringing into close
union by marriage the two greatest Protestant dynas-
ties in Europe that King Frederick William IV. allowed

hisambitions to soar so high as to dream of the eldest

daughter of Queen Victoria as a bride for his nephew
and eventual successor. The Princess of Prussia,
who was one day to become the Empress Augusta,
entered with zeal into this plan, and tried to further
it with all the influence she unquestionably wielded
over the mind of her son, the Prince Frederick. She
had always been upon affectionate terms with Queen
Victoria, and was more than delighted at the hope to
be able to call daughter the young Princess Royal of
Great Britain and Ireland.
As everyone knows, the marriage was celebrated
at last with great pomp in the chapel of St. James's
27
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Palace, and the newly married couple a few days later
took their departure for Germany, where they were
received with the greatest cordiality and enthusiasm.

Unhappily, it was not long before the Princess found

out that she had very little in common with the people
of her husband's land, and it is probable that if she
had been less tenderly attached to the Prince Frederick
her life would have been even more difficult than it
became. As time went on, she realised more and more
that it always best for a woman, be she a royal
is

princess or a simple mortal, to remain in her own

country ;
so that, when the marriage of her eldest

daughter, and afterwards of her first-born son, came

to be discussed, she decided that she would not seek

foreign alliances for her children.

With the Princess Charlotte the thing was rela-

tively easy. Of small German princes. Royal or Serene

Highnesses, there were not a few who were only too
willing to seek the honour of her hand. The Princess
at that time was not the pretty woman she became,
but she was nevertheless attractive, and her character
had not yet developed so unpleasantly as it was
destined to do in later years. She had a small dowry,
but the fact of being the granddaughter of the first

German Emperor, and also of the Queen of England,

was in itself an attraction, and gave her considerable
prestige among the dozens of princes and dukes who
figure in the first part of the Almanack de Gotha.
Prince Bernard of Sa xe-Meiningen had always been
a favourite of the Crown Frmcess, and, having been
constantly in her house, had contrived, notwithstand-
28
 BISMARCK OBJECTS
ing the fact that he was anything but a handsome man,
to win the favour of the Princess Charlotte, who
guessed
perhaps what a good-natured husband he would be-
come. It was not surprising, therefore, that, amidst
much pomp and festivity, these two were married.
The Princess Charlotte's marriage, however, had
no political importance, and bore no later influence

upon the destinies of Germany. When the question

of a wife for Prince William, the futiu-e heir to the

throne,came to be discussed, the old Emperor William

was anxious that he should choose a German bride,
whilst the sympathies of the Empress Augusta leaned
towards a foreign alliance. She would have wished
her grandson to wait a few years before taking to him-
selfa bride, and then to marry one of the daughters
of the Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, who
had always been her great favourite. Bismarck, how-
ever, objected to the plan, not caring to see another

English princess seated on the Prussian throne, and

the children of the Princess Christian, having been
brought up almost entirely in England, were far more
English than German. Strangely enough, the Crown
Princoss Victoria for once found herself in agreement
with the mighty Chancellor, and openly said so, add-
ing that she felt sure a foreign marriage would not
be conducive to the happiness of her first-born son,
the peculiarities of whose character were not unknown
to her. One had therefore to discover among the
many German princesses who would be eligible and cap-
able in due time of filling with the
necessary dignity
the exalted sphere of German Empress.
29
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
There was at that time hving in Kiel, in com-
parative poverty, a prince who had been deprived of
his vast estates after the war of 1864! with Denmark,
and who, appearance at least, seemed to be an
in
irreconcilable enemy to the Hohenzollern dynasty. It

was Duke Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-^

Augiistenburg, who was married to the Princess
Adelaide of JHohcnlohe-Langenburg, a relative of

Queen_ Victoria^ and the cousin of old Prince Clovis

of Hohcnlohe-Schillingsfiirst, one day to replace Prince
Bismarck as Chancellor of the German Empire.
Duke Frederick had one son and four daughters,
who were all brought up with the greatest simplicity,
and from every kind of worldly pleasure in which
far
their limited means did not allow them to participate.
The eldest daughter. Princess Augusta Victoria, was
a tall, fair girl, with a wealth of lovely hair and per-
haps a superabundance of colour, which spoiled what
otherwise would have been an exquisite complexion.
It was on her that Bismarck's choice fell. In this
alliance he saw considerable advantages for the future

Emperor, and, moreover, the means to bring to a

happy issue the quarrel which was still waging be-
tween the Prussian Government and the dispossessed
Duke of
Augustenburg. On the betrothal of the
Duke's daughter with Prince William of Prussia Bis-
marck allowed to be returned to Duke Frederick the
estates which had been confiscated at the time of the
war with Denmark.
The Crown Princess had always been great friends
with Duke Frederick, whose cause she had defended
30
 PRINCESS AUGUSTA VICTORIA
with perhaps more warmth than prudence at a time
when it had been
impossible to foretell that he was
destined to see his child invested with the Imperial

dignity. She therefore hailed the plan of Prince

Bismarck with joy, though not without intense aston-
ishment, and entered into it with enthusiasm. The
Duke was asked what he thought of the proposal,
and, needless to add, accepted it with unfeigned
pleasure. As for Prince William, after having seen
the Princess Augusta Victoria, he declared that she
pleased him so much that he was quite ready and
willing to lead her to the altar. It may be that the
apparent meekness which she showed attracted him,
as he thought that she would never prove trouble-
some, or aspire to mix herself up in matters of State
which did not concern her. The marriage also offered
other advantages, the principal of which was that it

put an end to the intrigues of many people who would

have liked to mate Prince William with a woman
over whom they could acquire some influence, so that
thus they could check Bismarck's dominance. In this
respect the great politician made an absolute mistake,
because the young girl in whom he had hoped to find
a submissive instrument very quickly understood that
if she wanted to remain
upon good terms with her
husband she had better leave the Chancellor severely
alone, and not allow him to use her when he wanted
to convey something to the knowledge of Prince
William. With her quiet demeanour Augusta Victoria
observed very carefully all that went on around her,
and had at once discovered that the supposedly close
31
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
friendship between her consort and Prince Bismarck
had in reahty no existence. She further perceived that
Prince William, though quite willing she should help
him on occasions when he wanted to confide in some-

one, did not intend her to know or to understand his

plans and intentions. Princess Augusta Victoria there-

fore effaced herself. In a certain sense this was an
easy thing to do, as she loved above everything else
the numerous children who were born to her in quick
succession, and was never so happy as when playing
with them in their nursery. She had the good sense
to leave her husband alone, and though she suffered
keenly from them, she yet pretended never to notice his
numerous divergences from the path of strict conjugal
fidelity. Nevertheless, she determined that when she
was able to do so she would not miss the opportunity
to make him feel that she had been wise enough to

keep silent. Princess Augusta Victoria was thoroughly

German in everything that she did, from the manner
in which she pinned her hat upon her head to the
serious interest she took in all matters connected with
the welfare of Germany, and particularly that of the

poorer classes.She hated France, and French ways,

and disapproved of the ladies who went to the gay
city for their clothes and for their complexions. Her
marriage realised the hopes of Prince Bismarck in
that it did away with the last vestiges of foreign in-
fluence at the Court of the Hohenzollerns, which under
her guidance became exclusively German. In view
of the events that have happenetl^suBsequently this

proved a lucky circumstance, because if Fate had

32
 THE CROWN PRINCE REBELS
placed an English or a Russian princess in Berlin she
would, at the present moment, have had to look upon
things which could only have seemed hideous and dis-
gusting to her eyes.
In this respect the marriage of the present German
Emperor has been a complete success, and proves once
more the unusual political instinct which was such a
remarkable feature in the character of Prince Bis-
marck. Apart from the matters with which I have
just dealt, the union was an exceedingly happy one,
in spite of the considerable difference in the characters
of the two people who had contracted it. They did
not even quarrel over the education of their children,
because in that, as in everything else, the Empress
Augusta Victoria submitted to the views of her hus-
band she remained aware that princes of Prussia
;

ought to be reared in a particular manner and inocu-

lated from their very earliest infancy with an absolute
conviction of the grandeur country. She
of their
trained her sons in principles of strict obedience to
the head of their House, impressing upon them that
they were but instruments in the Emperor's hands,
and in everything bound to conform to his desires.
The Crown Prince was the one who gave her the
most trouble in that respect he rebelled openly
;

against his father, and made no secret of his thorough

disapproval of his father's methods of government. It
was very soon felt, both by the Emperor William II.
and by his consort, that the Crown Prince, if left
alone, was in danger of falling under baneful influences,
and they forthwith decided to marry him as soon as
D 33
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
possible. The only difficulty lay in the choice of the

young lady whom he was to take to his heart and

tomake his wife.
German princesses existed in plenty, but some-
how none of them seemed to agree with the views of
the parents of the Crown Prince, while Prince Frederick
William himself was more than inclined to refuse all
those who were offered to his choice. From the be-

ginning he had declared that he intended only to

marry a woman he loved and admired, and whom he,
as well as the rest of the world, considered to be

pretty. Now beauty is not frequently met in Ger-

many, and this last condition was rather more difficult

to than any other. Many girls were put forward

fulfil

as eligible, but none of them pleased the difficult

young man. On the other hand, the Empress feared

that her son might fall in love with some princess
with whom she would not feel in perfect agreement.
She wanted her boy's wife, above everything else, to
be a strong German patriot, one who looked with
contempt upon everything that was not German,
and who repudiated sympathy with foreign ways,
foreign customs, and foreign views.
One summer the Crown Prince accepted an invi-
tation to visit one of his relatives in Mecklenburg,
and whilst there he met for the first time the Duchess
Cjecile. ..jif—MeckleabuxgrSchwerin, the sister of _ the.

Queen of Denmark and of the reigning Grand Duke of

Schwerin. She was about eighteen years of age, not
perhaps regularly beautiful, but witty, clever, and
charming in all her manners and ways. She had some
34
 GRAND DUCHESS OF MECKLENBURG
Russian blood, too, in her veins, her mother having
been a Russian Grand Duchess, and niece of the Tsar.
It is had been brought
true that the Duchess Cecile

up where
in France, her mother had spent the greater
part of each year since her widowhood, and that she
was credited with French sympathies and an overween-
ing love for French modes ;
but this did not prevent
her from being an exceedingly captivating little

creature. The ever-ready-to-fall-in-love Crown Prince

was immediately enthralled, and on his return to
Berlin informed the Emperor that at last he had met
the one being whom he liked well enough to ask to
become his wife.
At first William II. objected, not because the
marriage did not offer considerable advantages, among
which was also to be reckoned the fact that the Princess
was supposed to have a very large dowry, but because
he was not on speaking terms with her mother, the
widowed Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg, whose strong
Russian sympathies did not appeal to the Emperor,
and whose^ liberty of manners he considered to be
most unsuitable for a lady of the high rank she occu-
pied ip the world. He was also afraid that this enter-

prising person might feel tempted to influence her

daughter to work favour of a Russian alliance,
in
which the German Emperor did not desire in the very
least. He would not have objected to the Crown
Prince's desiremarry the pretty Duchess Cecile,
to
but he protested most energetically against her mother,
^ The
the Grand Duchess tAnastasia. question had
therefore to be discusse3~with infinite care, and at last
35
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
a compromise was arrived at whereby the Grand
Duchess promised never to return to Berhn after the
marriage of her daughter. At the wedding ceremony
the Grand Duchess treated with the utmost unconcern
and indifference the affronts which were showered
upon her by the impulsive Sovereign, an attitude
which considerably annoyed him.
The wedding was celebrated with great pomp in the
old Castle of Berlin, and the young couple took up
theirabode at the Marble Palace of Potsdam, having
also as a residence the smaller palace which the

Dowager Empress Frederick had occupied until her

death.
The Crown Princess soon made herself exceedingly

popular, in spite of her love for French modistes, which

never left her, despite the despair of Berlin trades-
men, who reproached her for her indifference in regard
to their efforts to obtain her patronage. However, this
was the only direction in which she retained the French
sympathies which she was credited with possessing.
Otherwise she showed herself an even more rabid
German than her husband, and readily allowed her-
self to be inveigled into the numerous intrigues of the
self-styled military party, who clamoured for a war
and reproached the Emperor for his disregard of cer-
tain things in which their fevered minds beheld an
affront to the grandeur of that Germany,
theywhom
wished to see omnipotent over the whole of the world.
When the present war was declared the Crown Princess
made herself conspicuous by the energy with which
she entered into its preparations, and she was made
36
 THE GERMAN GROWN PRINGESS
the object of tumultuous ovations on the part of the
Berlin mob, which she accepted with the utmost

grace and apparent gratitude. Ever since she had

been married she had instilled into the mind of the
Crown Prince that the Emperor was getting old and
had lost part of his former audacity and energy. It
was high time, therefore, perpetually told the
she
Crown Prince, that he should take matters in hand
himself and try to give new impulse to German politics,
to lead his Fatherland forward toward a new era,
in which Germany should have dominion over the
whole world.
The Crown Princess to-day perhaps the most
is

popular woman in the whole of Germany she knows" ;

this well, and does her best to keep up the popularity"

which she has acquired among all classes of the nation.
She is "the "strong man" in her home, and the Crown
Prince would never dare take any serious step
to
without previously consulting her and seeking her
advice and co-operation. She is not the effaced
kind of woman that her mother-in-law has schooled
and she would feel very un-
herself into appearing,

happy were she not kept informed as to everything

that the Crown Prince intends doing or saying. Her
influence over him is
very great, and unhappily
not it is

by any means a good one on the contrary, it is a most

;

disturbing element, not only in her own household,

but also in matters of State. She wants to control
affairs for which she neither apt
is
by her intelligence,
nor prepared by her education. A severe critic once
said that she is "a perfect type of a degenerated
37
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
sovereign who tries to seek not the affection of her

people, but the approval by the mob of her actions,

and her various ways of courting its popularity and
of appealing to its evil passions."
The Crown Princess Cecile will become later on, if

ever her husband ascends the throne, a difficult factor

in German and her marriage with him has
politics,
had, and will have still more tremendous consequences,
from the political point of view, if only on account of
the importance that she will assume as Queen in a

country where feminine wishes and influence have

hitherto had little influence. The strangest thing of
that this princess, who has already acquired such
all is

a power in the country over which she will reign one

day, is far from having the intelligence and the educa-
tion of either the Empress Augusta Victoria, or the

Empress Frederick, who yet were never allowed to

have an opinion of their own, or to have anything to
say in political matters. One feels impelled to moral-
ise that the proverb which speaks of every person

getting the fate that he or she deserves can also be

applied to nations, because no sovereign could have
suited infatuated Germany better than the silly,

giddy, amusing, and popular little girl whom fate has

linked to its future monarch.
The Empress, though upon affectionate terms with
the Crown Princess, never feltquite at her ease with
her. The Empress Augusta Victoria kept her affec-
tions for another daughter-in-law, the wife of her
fourth son, Prince Augustus William. The Princess
Alexandra, who was, moreover, the Empress's own
38
 A BRUTAL MARRIAGE
niece —being the child of her sister, Caroline Mathilde,
wedded to a Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Glucksburg
— has always shown herself willing to listen to her
mother-in-law. She is a nice girl
— fair, fat, and a
perfect type of the "Deutsche Hausfrau," dear to the
souls of German novel-writers. The marriage had been
arranged by Augusta Victoria, and, though one of con-
venience, has turned out as well and as happily as the
union of two perfect nonentities can be.
The other sons of the Emperor William are all

married, with the exception of the youngest one,

Prince Joachim. Prince Eitel Fritz, who is his father's
favourite, being as tall as he is brutal, and as ferocious
as he took to himself a wife almost by compul-
is fat,

sion, and in order to put an end to ugly rumours that

were flying about Berlin concerning him and his
strange propensities. He married a lady much older,
than himself, the daughter of the Grand Duke of
Ol denbur g and of that beautiful Princess Elisabeth
of Prussia, who died so young and so generally regretted.
The Princess Sophy Charlotte was pretty, rich, and

supposed to be very clever moreover, she was not

;

happy in her own home, where reigned a stepmother

with whom she did not agree. At first the Princess
was warmly welcomed in Berlin, but nevertheless did
not succeed in making friends there. It was related
that when she found out to what a sorry personage
she had linked her fate she withdrew into a kind of

haughty reserve, from which she has never emerged.

She is scarcely ever seen anywhere, is very little known
in Berlin society, and no matter to what important
39
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
position her husband may rise —and it is rumoured
that the Emperor has got great plans in his mind con-
cerning the future of that favourite son of his she —
will never do anything to popularise it.

The German Emperor always favoured early mar-

riages, and is naturally inclined to be a matchmaker,
more so than the Empress whose temperament was
far too placid to indulge in any kind of intrigues, even
those of matrimonial intent. He therefore encouraged
his make homes for themselves, and it was
sons to

only when Prince Oscar of Prussia, breaking with the

traditions of his family, announced his intention of

wedding his mother's

lady-in-waiting, Countess the
Ina von JBassewitz, that his father objected and put
a "veto on this virtuous intention. The story created
a considerable scandal, and led to much talk among
those select circles of Court society where the sayings
and doings of every member of the Imperial family
are watched with keen interest. Nevertheless, the
Prince kept firm in his intention to ally himself to a

simple countess, and he succeeded in winning over

to his side his sister, the Duchess of Brunswick, and
in the end she induced the Emperor to yield to his
son's desire. This little romance excited a great deal
of interest, and it is
likely that Society would have
talked about it for a longer time than it did had not
the war's advent diverted the attention of the public
into another and more serious channel. The war, too,
has drawn together more than would have been the
case under ordinary circumstances, the young wife of
Prince Oscar to her parents-in-law, by reason of a
40
 THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND
common anxiety because her young husband fell
dangerously ill as a result of the fatigues to which he
had been subjected during the first months of the war.
The matrimonial future of the Duchess of Bruns-
wick, to whom I have just was the subject
referred,
of wide conjecture ever since her birth. It was known

that her father, the Emperor William II., had great

ambitions in regard to her, and at one time rumour

would have it that, in spite of the disparity in age,
his greathope was to arrange a union between Princess
Victoria Louise and the J*rince o f Wales, and it was
partly with this intention tKaTlie Tiad taken her more
than once to England to win the favour of Queen Ma ry.
It turned out, however, that in reality William II.

nursed quite different ambitions concerning the future

of his spoilt darling. In spite of his brutality, he had
a sense of justice which now and again was manifested,
especiallyin cases when it might advance his own
schemes. The ijerman Government held the Duchy
of Brunswick and the millions which its possession

entailed, as well as the confiscated fortune of the last

King of Hanover. The Emperor William II., whilst

declaiung that in his opinion both Duchy and millions

ought to be returned to their rightful owners, was yet
sore at heart to have to give them up. He then con-
ceived the idea that he could disarm the enmity of
the Duke of Cumberland by seeking an alliance between
Princess Victoria Louise and the Duke's only son,
Prince Ern est. The negotiations were not easy to
conduct, but at last they succeeded, and matters were
arranged so far that a happy consummation depended
41
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
only on the wishes of the Princess, whose decision her
father would certainly never challenge.
The Princess was a typical example of those latter-

day girls who think that they know everything better

than their elders, and who, under the pretext of being

romantic, sometimes sacrifice considerable advantages

for the sake of asserting themselves in opposition to
their elders. She had refused several excellent matches
already, and the Emperor began to fear that she might
become entangled into a serious flirtation with some
foreign Royalty whom she might meet abroad. He
wanted, above everything else, that she should never
forsake the land of her birth. He contrived that
Prince Ernest Augustus of Cumberland should meet
the Princess somewhere in Switzerland, and see her
there under more easy and familiar circumstances
than he could have done at the Berlin Court. His
anticipations turned out to be correct. Princess
Victoria Louise looked
upon her
newly-found lover
with lenient eyes and more easily in love, because
fell

she imagined her affections would meet with con-

siderable resistance on the part of the Emperor, whom
she believed to be very much incensed against
still

the Duke of Cumberland's pretensions to the Crown

of Hanover. All her romantic instincts were aroused ;

she considered herself, indeed, rather in the light of

a Juliet. She told her father of her intentions, and

though William yet he did so in such a

II. objected,

manner that it only encouraged her the more in her

determination to become the wife of Prince Ernest
Augustus, and at last she won from the German
42
 A LONG-STANDING FEUD ENDS
Emperor a consent he had been eager to give long
before she expected it.

The match was viewed with undivided enthusiasm

by the German pubhc, but yet gave rise to considerable
criticism. The Crown Prince objected to it ener-
getically, and declared that, at all events, the Duchy
of Brunswick ought never to be restored to the fiance
of his sister, who, naturally, was hotly indignant.

Nevertheless, the wedding took place, and certainly

it was one of the most important from the political

point of view that Royalty had contracted for half

a century. Not only did it put an end to a long-
standing feud, but it united the two oldest Protestant
dynasties in Germany. The Duke of Cumberland
himself was not so enthusiastic about it, as
might
have been supposed, and it was observed that during
the wedding festivities, he kept much aloof from the
Emperor. The Duchess, on the contrary, looked
radiant ; she was delighted at the good fortune which
had befallen her son. And when the Duchess of
Brunswick gave birth to her two children, the Duke
of Cumberland did not attend the christening ceremony
of either, though he allowed his wife to do so, and
even sent a handsome present to his daughter-in-law.
No matter what had happened, the old Duke could
not bring himself to look with favour upon the usurpers
of his birthright, or to consider the possession of the

Duchy of Brunswick by his son as a sufficient com-

pensation for the lost crown of Hanover.
Among the sons and daughters of the many Royal
and Serene Highnesses with which Germany abounds,
43
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
there a widespread ambition to become united to
is

members of the Russian Imperial Family. The aspira-

" "
tions of the petitesses d'Allemagne were always in
that direction, because of the special privileges enjoyed

by the grand duchesses of Russia ; on the other hand,

the princes of Germany dreamed of the lavish dowries
which would come under their control were they to
wed a Russian princess. This appetite for Russian
marriages reminds me of an amusing anecdote which
was circulated at the beginning of the present war.
It was related that a certain German princess, who
boasted of some six or seven daughters, when she heard
that the German Emperor had sent an ultimatum to
"
Russia, exclaimed : How
could he do such a thing ?
It is perfectly monstrous shall never now be able
;
we
"
to marry our girls to a grand duke I do not vouch
!

for the accuracy of this story ; but, true or not, it

expresses perfectly the feelings of the majority of

German princesses, who
carefully brought up their

daughters with an eye on the possibility of one day

marrying into the Russian Imperial family.
This wish to become allied to the Romanoffs was
shared to a certain degree by the Emperor William
himself, who would not have felt sorry to become the
father-in-law of one of the daughters of the Tsar. He
had to abandon the idea, however and perhaps this ;

had something to do with his animosity against the

Emperor Nicholas and the Empress Alexandra, of
whom he had made such a fuss at the time of her
marriage, when he had still hoped by her influence to
draw Russia away from France.
44

1
 BERLIN IS DISAPPOINTED
It is pretty certain that once the war is over, it

will be extremely difficult for German Royalties to

marry outside their own
country, and this will most
certainly exercise some influence on the fate of the

girls of Royal origin and Teuton blood. Almost cer-

tainly they will find themselves compelled to look for
husbands among common mortals, and this will not
be easy, as they are mostly endowed with insufficient
wealth and overwhelming pretensions. The dowry of
a German princess is seldom more than modest.
For instance, when the daughters of the late Prince
Frederick Charles of Prussia were married, they re-
ceived ten thousand pounds as a wedding portion from
the State, and the same thing happened with the
sisters of the present Emperor. The latter, however,
had inherited their father's private fortune or, at ;

least, what the Emperor Frederick had been able to

leave out of the Crown fidei-commissum, the revenues of
which he enjoyed for such a short time. The Empress
Victoria, too, was rich, owing to the generosity of the
old Duchess of Galliera and her daughters were con-
;

sidered to be very well dowered brides. The question

of their marriage was therefore a relatively easy

problem, though most intense disappointment was

felt in Berlin when the then heir to the Russian throne
could not be induced to propose to the youngest of
these girls, the Princess Margaret, or "Mossie," as she
was called in her family circle. Strenuous efforts had
been made to this end, but the Empress of Russia —
whose Danish origin and sympathies were not in favour
of Prussia, who had treated her own country so badly

45
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
— set herself resolutely against the idea, and the Em-
peror William had to console himself by arranging the
betrothal of the Princess Sophy of Prussia, his third
sister, with the Crown Prince of Greece, in the hope
that the influence she would naturally come to ex-
ercise in the course of time at Athens might prove
beneficial to German interests in the East. The
Princess Mossie married a Prince of Hesse, by whom
she had and
six boys, as he lived quite near to the
Castle of Cronberg, where her mother, the Empress
Victoria, resided, she saw much more of the latter
than did her other sisters, and finally inherited most of
her together with that splendid residence.
wealth,
But neither she nor her two other sisters. Princess
Charlotte of Meiningen and Princess Victoria of Lippe,
made brilliant marriages, and they had to content
themselves with very inferior positions.
My reference to inferior marriages reminds me of
the two sisters of the present Grand Duke of Meck-
lenburg- Strelitz, who were mentioned at one time
as possible brides for the sons of the Emperor William.
They were pretty girls, and might have made excellent
matches, but the elder one, the Princess Marie, for
reasons it is better not to enter into here, married
a Frenchman, the Comte de Jametel, from whom
she obtained a divorce a few years ago. Now she is
remarried to a Prince of Lippe, as poor as he is proud,
and seems to get on very well with him or, at least, ;

as well as it is possible under the peculiar circum-

stances that made
her position so very delicate at the
time she married the Comte de Jametel.
46
 THREE DESIRABLE PRINCESSES
As for her younger sister, the Princess Jutta, she
was taken pity upon by a cousin of her father, good
and kind Princess Hel^ne of Saxe-Altenburg, the
daughter of the Grand Duchess Catherine of Russia.
Princess Helene took her to Petersburg, where she
tried to find a husband for her ;
an effort in which she
succeeded, because ultimately a marriage was arranged
for her with the eldest son of theKing of Montenegro.
I shall have something to say about her later on.
There were, however, among German marriageable
princesses three young ladies, who, by reason of their
good looks and their large dowries, were the cynosure
of all eyes in the Royal marriage market of the
"
glorious Fatherland." They were the daughters of
the Duke of Cumberland and of the Princess Thyra
of Denmark, his consort. It is true that their father
was not in possession of the throne or of the fortune
to which he had been born, but still he could boast
of being many times a millionaire, and moreover
was kin to Queen Alexandra of England and to the
Empress Dowager of Russia. This relationship made
them the more attractive to the many would-be suitors
who gathered around them in the hope of attracting
their fancy and of winning their affections. The
eldest, the Princess Marie, was very quickly married
to Prince Maximilian of Baden, the future Sovereign
of that Duchy, and went to live at Karlsruhe, where
she soon made herself extremely popular whilst the ;

youngest, Princess Alexandra, became in due course

Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
the wife of the Grand
the son of the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia.
47
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
The Grand Duke was young, handsome, enormously
rich, and the Castle of Sehwerin, where he took his wife
after their marriage, was one of the most splendid

Royal residences in Germany. The new Grand Duchess

soon won the golden opinions of her own subjects,
and was intensely popular everywhere she went. The
Emperor William, who at that time was already
nursing the dream of a Cumberland marriage for his
daughter, invited the Grand Ducal couple to Berlin,
and tried to make himself very pleasant to the bride,
who however did not respond indeed, she showed ;

him openly that she was strongly prejudiced against him.

In time, however, her opinion changed, and, under
the influence of surroundings, she became also
her
more German in thought of late, indeed, the Grand
;

Duchess of Mecklenburg- Sehwerin is considered one

" "
of the staunchest admirers of that German kultur
to which we owe the ruthless destruction of so many
relics of the past by the hordes of William II., a
destruction wrought deliberately and under no neces-

sity whatever beyond the gratification of their own

wicked instincts.

The Grand Duchess Alexandra and her sister-in-

law, the Crown Princess Cecile, have shown themselves
most violent in the feelings of hatred which they have
exhibited toward the enemies of their adopted countries.
As for the third daughter of the Duke of Cumber-
land, the Princess Olga, she is still unmarried, although
she is now thirty. Her sole reason for refusing many
brilliant offers is that she does not care to leave her
mother alone, and prefers her position as the spoilt
48
 PRINCESS FREDERICA OF HANOVER
daughter of fond parents to a gamble in the marriage
market. It is rumoured that she and her father are
the only recalcitrant members of the Cumberland
family who refuse to bow down before the grandeur of
Prussia.
The Duke
of Cumberland has one sister, the accom-

plished and charming Princess Frederica of Hanover,

whose marriage was quite a romance. She was one
of the first of the German Royal princesses to wed a
commoner. She became betrothed to the Baron de
Pawel-Rammingen, a fact which created a terrible
scandal when first it became known to her family.
Her brother was particularly excited, and it is even
probable that she would never have been able to carry
her wishes through had it not been for Queen Victoria,
who, ever kind in regard to her relatives, came to her
help. She supported the Princess, who was a favourite
of hers, and allowed her to get married at Windsor,
even consenting to grace the ceremony by her presence.
Rumour added that the Queen contributed in a most
generous manner to the welfare of the Princess
Frederica, in order to make up for what the Duke of
Cumberland refused to give to his sister, to whom he
granted a dowry which was quite insufficient for her to
live upon. The Princess Frederica lives for most of the
year at Biarritz, where she has built for herself a lovely
villa, and where she has made herself most popular-

Her marriage has turned out very happily, and she

has never had occasion to repent the choice she made,
nor to regret the energy she displayed in resisting
all opposition to it.

E 49
 CHAPTER III

THE ROMANOFFS
Royal circles it is well known that Russian grand
IN dukes and grand duchesses are always considered as
the most eligible parties in the Royal marriage markets
of Europe. There was not one German sovereign
who did not look longingly toward Petersburg when

thinking about the future of his children. Until the

wedding of the late Tsar with the Princess Dagmar
of Denmark, it had been a tradition at the Court of
the Romanoffs that they had to seek their wives in
Germany, where princesses were supposed to be ready
at any moment to change their religion, whenever
there was an advantageous match in prospect.
At the beginning of, and indeed all through, the last
century, down to the death of the old Emperor William
I., there had existed a very close intimacy between the

Hohenzollerns and the Russian Imperial Family, and

the influence of the Prussian House was a considerable
factor in the marriages of the Romanoffs. When, how-
ever, the question arose of the marriage of the heir to
the Russian Throne, political reasons existed which
prevented him from asking the opinion of his uncle in
Berlin, and it was decided to allow the young Grand
Duke, by travel, to find out for himself whether he

50
 A LOVE PILGRIMAGE
could meet with a princess whom he would think
beautiful enough, and clever enough, to be worthy of
becoming the Tsarina.
The Tsarevitch was the Grand Duke Nicholas
Alexandrovitch, that handsome and clever man, who
was to and to leave behind him
die so prematurely,
the reputation of having been one of the most accom-
plished men of his generation. He had been brought
up with the utmost care by a fond mother, who loved
him so intensely that she was heard to say that in
taking him away from her God had punished her for
having preferred him to her other children. Apart
from the Grand Duke's unique position, his personality
was bound to appeal to the heart of every young girl
with whom he came in contact. Morally, intellectually,
and physically he was one of the most attractive per-
sonages imaginable, and it is little wonder that the
hopes of the whole of Europe, from the matrimonial
point of view, were centred in him, and that specula-
tions as to who would be the lucky one to win him
were at every Court that could boast a princess
rife

old enough to aspire to the honour of becoming his

consort.
The Grand Duke Nicholas stayed for a considerable

length of time at Stuttgart, on a visit to his aunt,

the Queen of Wiirtemberg, who before her marriage
was the Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaievna of Russia,
and the sister of Alexander II. Whilst there he had
opportunity to meet a good many girls whose birth
allowed them to hope that he might find among them
one nice enough to please him. The Queen herself,
51
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
though she had remained very Russian in her tastes
and sympathies, had nevertheless felt the influence
of the people among whom she lived, and she also
cherished the desire that her nephew should take to
himself a German bride. impossible to say what
It is

might have happened had not Fate brought the Grand

Duke into the presence of the lovely Princess Dagmar
of Denmark, whose eldest sister had just about that
time become engaged to the then Prince of Wales.
The reputation of the Princess Dagmar for loveliness,
charm of manner, sweetness of disposition, and other
qualities had already travelled far and wide all over
Europe. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that
from the first moment he met her the Grand Duke fell

in love, and it was not long before the world heard

that Russia was to have a Danish princess as its future
Empress.
Berlin did not like it. The Emperor William I.

—then still King William —went so far as to remon-

strate with hisnephew the Tsar, and to point out to
him the disadvantages that in his eyes at least such
a marriage presented, the principal of which was
that the Danish Royal Family was supposed to har-
bour most anti-Prussian feelings, and that it might
happen that the influence of the Princess Dagmar
would be directed against Prussia in particular, and
the interests of Germany in general. All his arguments,

however, proved of no avail, and neither the Tsar nor

his son allowed themselves to be persuaded as to the
disadvantages of a union which was entirely one of
affection, because the Grand Duke and his bride were
52
 PRINCESS DAGMAR'S GRIEF
as much in love with each other as it was possible
to be. A
date for the wedding was fixed, and the
Princess began to take lessons in the Russian language,
and also to be instructed into the intricacies of the
Greek faith by the confessor of the Empress, Father
Bajanoff when suddenly the Grand Duke, who for
;

the last eighteen months or so had been ailing, became

dangerously ill, and soon the doctors pronounced his
condition to be entirely beyond any remedies that
science could suggest.
A few short months passed away, and with it the
useful and beloved life of the heir to the great Tsar.
On deathbed the Grand Duke Nicholas put the
his

trembling hand of his weeping fiancee into that of his

brother, and begged her to marry him for his sake,
adding that Alexander was the only being upon earth
to whom he would have consented to surrender that
cherished being. After some months had gone by, and
the Princess Dagmar's first grief had lost something
of its intensity, she consented to accept her new destiny,
and one day in September saw her make her solemn
and official entry into the Russian capital as the future
wife of the heir to the Crown of the Romanoffs.
It is not for me here to say what her marriage has
been, nor all the blessings which it brought to her
husband and to the Imperial Family, as well as to
the whole of the vast Russian Empire over which
she was to reign for such a short time. No consort
of a sovereign has ever been more popular. She
brought into the Court over which she presided an
atmosphere of purity, of moral beauty, which made
53
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
it absolutely different from any other in Europe. And
she succeeded in shaking the German influence which

up to her time had prevailed at Petersburg, and to

demonstrate to her husband that Russia was great
enough and big enough to be able to develop itself
by its own strength and its own resources without
being obliged to seek her inspirations in Berlin. She
disliked the Hohenzollerns, and made no secret of this

feeling ; and it was said at the time of the Franco-

Prussian War of 1870 that, had
depended upon her,
it

France would not have been crushed so completely

as was the case, but that Russian interference would
have put a stop to Hohenzollern cupidity. This slender,
delicate woman had more political sagacity than many
of the ministers of her father-in-law, and, married as
she was to a man of strong character and great common
sense, it is no wonder that during their reign Russia
reached a foremost position, and after the retirement
of Prince Bismarck from the sphere of active politics,
became the paramount Continental power. The mar-
riage of Alexander III. with the Princess Dagmar not
only sounded the knell of German influence in Russia ;
it also laid the
seeds of the present Anglo-Russian

understanding, which, owing to the circumstance that

the consort of King Edward VII. of Great Britain
and Ireland was the sister of the Empress of Russia,
and that a close intimacy united these two Royal
ladies, became in time an accomplished fact, a thing
that no statesman would ever have believed possible
after the Crimean War. It is very much to be doubted

whether, under different circumstances, such an alliance

54
 RUSSIA SHAKES OFF GERMANY
could have been concluded, as the misunderstandings
and prejudices which existed between the two nations
were of too deep a nature to be so easily removed.
France also found a warm friend in the consort of
Alexander III., whose subtle mind and keen intelli-
gence knew how to appreciate the many beautiful
traits in the French character. She was an admirer
of serious French literature, such as Taine and other
historians wrote,and she kept herself Avonderfully well
informed as to the progress of French science. Empress
Marie hated hypocrisy, and instinctively knew when-
ever it manifested
itself she therefore applied herself
;

with the energy which she possessed to lead Russia

all

along a path entirely different from the one pursued

by Germany.
Despite the pronounced views of the Empress,
Russian grand dukes went on marrying German
princesses, though it must be said to their honour the
princesses did not seek to make German influence
prevail at Petersburg. But when arose the question
of finding a suitable wife for the eldest son and heir
of Alexander III. and Marie Feodorovna, one had
perforce to be sought for in Germany, as there was
none eligible anywhere else. The eldest daughter of
the King and Queen of Greece had married the Grand
Duke Paul of Russia, and the second daughter was
already engaged to the Grand Duke George whilst ;

the fact that British law objected to an English Royal

princess changing her religion, and furthermore, the
near relationship which existed between the children
of the then Prince and Princess of Wales with those

55
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
of Alexander rendered out of the question any
III.

union in that direction. Catholic princesses were also

considered impossible though at one time there was
;

much talk about the likelihood of a match between

the Grand Duke
Tsarevitch and the second daughter
of the Comte de Paris, the lovely Princess Helene of

Orleans, The Times even announcing it one day as

an accomplished fact. That marriage, had it ever
taken place, would undoubtedly have been an event
of uncommon magnitude and there were many
;

politicians in France who tried by every means in their

power to bring it about. But at the last moment the
influence of the Jesuitsprevailed, and the Princess
absolutely refused to adopt the Greek faith, which
was an essential condition to her marriage. The
Emperor William II. then came forward again, and
caused the Russian Court to be sounded in a diplo-
matic manner as to the possibility of his youngest
sisterbeing chosen as a bride for the Tsarevitch.
Already a Prussian princess had worn the Crown of
All the Russias, for the consort of Nicholas I. was
the sister of the old Emperor William I. Princess

Margaret, the favourite daughter of the Empress

Frederick, was undoubtedly possessed with many brilliant
qualities, and was said that when the young Grand
it

Duke saw her, he had been very much attracted by

her charming manners and pleasant conversation ;

whether this is true or not, no one has ever been able

find out. When the idea was submitted to the Empress
Marie, she protested against it most energeLically, and
declared that on no account would she consent to an
56
 A POSSIBLE BRIDE
which would create a close family relationship
alliance
between the Imperial House and the domineering
monarch who ruled over the destinies of the German
Empire.
At was remembered that the popular
this juncture it

consort of the Grand Duke Sergius, the Grand Duchess

Elizabeth Feodorovna, had a sister, who might fulfil
the necessary conditions which were considered in-
dispensable in a bride for the heir to the Russian
Throne.
Princess Alix of Hesse possessed one advantage that
was, at that period, esteemed considerable by Russian
higher circles of society :she was the granddaughter
of Queen Victoria, with whom she spent much of her
time. She was credited with English tastes, an English
love for her home, and English common sense. She
had been in Petersburg a few years before, on a visit
to the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, and though quite young
at the time,and not by any means the exquisitely beau-
tiful woman she was to become, she had charmed all

those whom she met by the quiet dignity of her manners

and the modesty of her attitude. The Empress had
taken to her at once, and when she was consulted as
to the 'possibility of the Princess Alix becoming her

daughter-in-law, she had caught at the idea eagerly.

When, therefore, the Grand Duke Nicholas Alex-
androvitch was sent to Coburg to attend the nuptials
of his cousin, the Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-

Coburg, with the Grand Duke of Hesse, it was with

the Emperor's permission to ask for the hand of the
latter's sister, should his impression of her be as favour-
57
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
able as had been when he had seen her for the first
it

time. During the few days which the Grand Duke

Nicholas spent at Coburg, he became warmly attached
to the fair-haired girl whom he remembered as hardly
more than a child, and who now had developed into
the dazzling beauty of womanhood. He did not
hesitate long, and on the very day of the marriage of
the Duchess of Coburg' s daughter, the engagement of
the Tsarevitch with the Princess Alix of Hesse was
publicly announced. It was intended at the time to
make the wedding the occasion of considerable fes-
tivities, and to celebrate it during the winter season
in Petersburg, when the health of Alexander III.,
which had long been indifferent, suddenly took a turn
for the worse, and he died at Livadia without having
had the joy of seeing son and heir happily married.
his

The Princess Alix, who thus was to occupy at once

what perhaps was the most brilliant and at the same
time the most responsible position in Europe, was
married solemnly but quite simply, in the chapel
of the Winter Palace a few days after Alexander III.
had been laid in his grave in the fortress where Russian
Tsars are buried, and the young Empress entered upon
her new existence, accompanied by the good wishes
of her millions of subjects. In spite of the many
trialswhich crowded upon her during the years which
followed upon it, her marriage has proved to be a

very happy one. The Emperor and she are tenderly

attached to each other, and no mother could be fonder
of her children than the Empress Alexandra, whose
whole life is centred in her husband and the four
58
 ROYAL SISTERS OF MERCY
daughters and only son with whom they have been
blessed.
The pleasures of Society had no attraction for the
young Empress under her sway the Court was no longer
;

the scene of the many which the Empress

festivities

Marie liked to give. Still, the Court lost none of its

dignity, nor was diminished the splendour which made
it the most wonderful Court in Europe. The Imperial
family were in the habit, for years, of spending a great
part of the year in the Crimea, principally on account
of the health of the little heir to the throne, which
continued delicate, and also because the young Grand
Duchesses were so fond of an outdoor life. The
Empress, moreover, held the opinion that it does
not do to introduce children too soon to scenes of
excitement and of grandeur, with their tendency to
give them an over-exalted idea of their own import-
ance. She reared her daughters with tender care,
and taught them to remember that the more exalted
was their own position the more it entailed upon
them the obligation to think about others.
This wise education has borne its fruits, and ever
since the war broke out the daughters of the Tsar
have each given a bright example to Russian society
by the activity which they have displayed in the relief
of suffering. The two elder girls, the Grand Duchesses
Olga and Tatiana, organised committees of relief, in
which they worked with indefatigable devotion and
with an energy the more surprising because no one
suspected that young girls of their age could possibly
enter comprehendingly into the details connected with
59
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
such a work. Apart from this, they regularly attended
the hospital which their mother has opened at the
Imperial residence of Tsarskoye Selo, and where she
herself has fulfilled the duties of a sister of charity
with a touching spirit of self-sacrifice.
Of course, it was to be expected that as soon as
the Tsar's daughters attained a marriageable age
suitors in plenty would come forward.
Indeed, gossip
has already been very busy with their names, and
when, just before the war broke out, the King of
Saxony went to pay a visit to the Court of Peters-
burg, certain ignorant people declared that it was
his intention to propose himself as a husband for

Olga Nicolaievna. It was forgotten that a Queen of

Saxony must belong to the Roman Catholic faith,

notwithstanding the fact that the people over whom

she reigns are mostly Protestants and when the ;

Roumanian Royal Family visited Tsarskoye Selo

during the summer of 1914 there were bets going on in
fashionable circles of Petersburg as to whether the
son of the Crown Prince would become engaged to
the elder or to the younger of the two Grand
Duchesses named.
However, no announcement followed upon this
journey, which from another point of view was more
memorable than the world knew, because it laid the
foundation of a permanent understanding between
Roumania and Russia. A few weeks later the Tsar,
accompanied by the Empress and by his daughters,
King and Queen of Roumania at Constanza,
visited the
and it was verbally arranged that Prince Carol, the
60
 RUSSIA AND THE BALKANS
eldest son of the Crown Prince, would pay another
visit to Petersburg during the winter of 1914.
The war broke out, and all these plans came to
nothing but when peace is once more restored to the
;

world it is probable that the subject of a Roumanian

marriage for one of the Tsar's daughters will be re-
vived. A good many reasons speak in favour of such
an event. The future Sovereign of Roumania, Prince
Carol, belongs to the Greek Orthodox faith he rules ;

over a Slav population, which has long aspired to a

closer union with Russia, that would make the

marriage immensely popular all over the country.

The advent of a Russian Crown Princess would be
received with enthusiasm and further consolidate a

dynasty which is loved by the people, because the

present Queen, by birth an English princess, is also
a grandchild of the late Emperor Alexander II., and

consequently has Russian blood in her veins. From

a political point of view, considering the ambitions of
King Ferdinand of Bulgaria in regard to the Balkans,
itwould have an immense politicalimportance, for
the independence of Roumania would thus remain
assured by the certainty of the protection of Russia.
Spfeculation has been very active in suggesting
—
which of the two the Grand Duchess Olga or the
—
Grand Duchess Tatiana would consent to accept the
diadem. It seems,however, from all that one hears,
that it is the Grand Duchess Tatiana whose sympathies
have been captured, and who made the
also has

greater appeal to the feelings of Prince Carol. Her elder

sister, the Grand Duchess Olga, declared when still quite
6i
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
a child that no consideration whatever would induce
her to leave Russia. But time will tell. It was said
at one time that both the Emperor and the Empress
would have liked her to become the wife of the Grand
Duke Dmitri Pavlovitch, the only son of the Grand
Duke Paul and of his first wife, the lovely Princess
Alexandra of Greece ;
but lately it has been whispered
that the idea had been abandoned and that probabili-
ties point to one of the sons of the Grand Duke Con-

stantine as a prospective son-in-law of the Tsar. It

would not be an impossible thing, by any means,

especially one takes into consideration the very
if

few bridegrooms who will be eligible in Europe after

the war.
Perhaps this feeling has been strengthened lately
owing to the very happy marriages made by the two
sisters of the Tsar, the Grand Duchesses Xenia and
Olga, who have both wedded distant cousins, and
who live in
great Petrograd, where they
state in

are sincerely liked in all classes of society.

To tell the truth a foreign marriage, with any other
than a prince belonging to the Greek faith, for the eldest
daughter of the Emperor Nicholas, would be most
unpopular at the present day in Russia, unless it were
with a personage whose choice is looked forward to
most eagerly all over Europe, and whose entry into

the Imperial family would be hailed with the wildest

bursts of enthusiasm all over the Empire of the
Romanoffs : I mean the Prince of Wales.
In mentioning this name, I am giving shape to
an unexpressed hope of all the intelligent classes of
62
THE ROYAL FAMILY OF RUSSIA
 A PROPHETIC MINISTER
Russian society, who, if they were asked to give their
opinion, would say without hesitation that such a
union would serve the best interests of both nations,
and that it would mean the best possible guarantee
for the peace of the world. To see a Russian princess
raised to the throne of Great Britain would not only
flatter the Russian people, it would also consolidate
the friendship which is cemented the
being by
blood spilt in common on so many battlefields. In
order to achieve this result, even the religious
ques-
tion would take a secondary and Russia
place, Holy
would look through her fingers if one of the daughters
of its Tsar would consent to embrace the
Anglican
faith after her marriage to the heir to the English
Crown.
There was also another suitor who, if rumour is
correct, would have given much to stand a chance of

being accepted by this desirable Grand Duchess. It

was Prince Alexander of Servia. He also visited
Petersburg, but failed to make an impression. How-
ever, he was wise enough to observe that he stood no
chance, and to retire before exposing himself to a
refusal.
It \vas reported at the time that wise M. Pashitch,
the Servian Prime Minister, who accompanied him,
consoled him with the comment that nothing was
lost, because after all the Tsar had four daughters,
and that the younger ones might look upon things
with different eyes than their elders had done. It
might easily be that the experienced old statesman
was prophetic in making such a remark, because it is
63
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
certain that the heroic conduct of the Crown Prince
of Servia during the whole campaign is well capable
of impressing young and ardent minds, and will dis-

pose them to look upon him with feelings of admira-

tion, that may easily develop into warmer senti-
ments.
The daughters of the Emperor Nicholas are per-

haps the greatest matches in Europe at the present

moment, if one takes into consideration the immense
fortunes which they will bring to their husbands, in
addition to their position, personal charm, and prestige.
But in the Royal marriage market they count but
comparison with their brother, the little Grand
little in

Duke Alexis, about whose future wife people are talking

already, notwithstanding the fact that he is but eleven
years old and in very delicate health. Upon him rest
the hopes of Holy Russia, and for him she prays every
day in her numerous churches and shrines. He is a
precocious, most intelligent child, the idolised son of
fond parents, who for ten years waited in vain for the
birth of a longed-for heir. Handsome, bright, clever,
and wilful, because of his physical weakness, the
he is,

object of the most tender solicitude on the part of

his father and mother, and it is probable that the

Empress Alexandra is already wondering who will be

lucky enough to win him for a husband when the time
comes for him to look about for a bride. That he will
marry young is an only son, it
certain, because, being
is most essential that the succession to the Throne

should be assured in the direct line. It is but natural,

therefore, that even so early this important question
64
 LOOKING AHEAD
should be discussed both in private and in official
circles. Russia would decidedly object to a German
princess, even if it were likely the Romanoffs would
turn their thoughts that way. A Spanish Infanta is
out of the question. There remains, therefore, few
others. The little Princess Ingrid, the daughter of
the Crown Prince and Princess of Sweden, is one. She
is about five years old at present. Or maybe one of
her cousins, the daughters of Prince Charles and of
Princess Ingeborg, may be chosen. It must be re-
membered that the Ingeborg belongs to the
Princess

reigning house of Denmark, and that Court has still

much to say in Russian Court circles, and will have
so long as the Dowager Empress lives. Perhaps the
eyes of Nicholas II. may turn toward one of the little
Greek princesses, of whom there are plenty, and who,
through their Russian relationship, offer consider-
able advantages. There are nine of them, two daugh-
ters of the King, and their cousins, the children of
Prince Nicolas and of Prince Andrew, all of whom
promise to inherit the good looks of their respective
mothers.
Failing the little Tsarevitch, the Crown would revert
to the* Grand Duke Cyril, the eldest son of the Grand
Duchess Vladimir, that ambitious and clever princess,
who has made for herself such an exclusive position at
the Russian Court. He married under romantic cir-
cumstances his cousin, the divorced Grand Duchess of
Hesse, and was for some time in disgrace for having done
so, until his father, who was still alive, went to the
Tsar, and, it is said, spoke so strongly to him about
F 65
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
what he considered was an injustice, that he got the
Grand Duke Cyril restored to Imperial favour, and even
allowed to return to Russia. He
a very hand-
is

some man, but ever since the terrible accident of the

Petropavlovskf when he was blown up with the ship,
together with Admiral Makaroff, during the Japanese
War, and only escaped by a miracle, he has been
in very poor health. He has two daughters, but no
son. a beautiful and amiable woman,
His wife is

whose name, Victoria, sounds strangely to Russian

ears indeed, it was only after her conversion to the
;

Greek faith that she was allowed, by special per-

mission of the Emperor, to use that name. The
Emperor told her that he liked the name, because it
reminded him of Queen Victoria, who had been so
good and so kind to him when he had visited her,
firstwhen engaged to her granddaughter, and later
on, when he had paid his respects to her, after his
accession to the throne. The Grand Duchess Victoria
has made herself liked among Russians, and she is per-
haps the one most seen in Society, of which she is very
fond. Lately she has also come forward as an active
worker in the Red Cross, and she has more than once
and from the frontier,
travelled with a hospital train to

bringing wounded soldiers to Petrograd, as the Russian

capital is called to-day.
There is a curious story related about the Grand
Duchess Victoria. On the day when the Peiropavlovsk
went down with its load of brave men she was stay-

ing with her mother, the Dowager Duchess of Coburg,

and she came down to breakfast with a pale and
66
 A FATEFUL VISION
anxious face, which bore but too evident traces of
tears. When asked what was the matter she related
blushingly and timidly that she had had a terrible
vision, and had seen her cousin Cyril whom at that —
—
time she had not yet married wrestling in the ocean
and drowned in its cold waves. Her mother laughed
at her, and told her that she must not be supersti-
tious ; but the Princess was so troubled and so terri-

fied, that she forthwith sent a telegram to the Grand

Duchess Vladimir, asking her for news. A few hours
later she learned that the Grand Duke had gone
down with the fated ship and had only been saved
by a miracle. Already at that time she was sup-
posed to be deeply attached to this favourite cousin
of hers, and after the war they were married very
quietly at Tegernsee, near Munich, in the presence of
the Dowager Duchess of Coburg, the mother of the
Princess.
The Grand Duchess Vladimir has two other sons,
the Grand Dukes Boris and Andrew. The former is a
dashing young man, very much liked by the Emperor,
and most popular in Petrograd society. He is still a
bachelor, much to the despair of many a fair lady, and
has more than once been heard to declare that he
did not intend marrying for a considerable number of

years. The secret wish of his mother would be to see

him married to the second daughter of the Princess

Royal of England, the Princess Maud of Fife ; but

whether happen I am not in a position
this will ever
to say. As
Grand Duke Andrew, he is sup-
for the

posed to be consumptive, and spends his winters at

67
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
St. Moritz, where he takes a keen interest in winter

sports.
When talking about the eligible brides of the Russian
Imperial Family have not mentioned yet the young
I
Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, who was married to
Prince William of Sweden, and who divorced him in
the early part of 1914. She has returned to Petro-
grad and delights in being in her native country once
more. She never got used to the snows and the dull-
ness of Stockholm, which she intensely disliked, even

though Society adored her, and speaks to this day of

her charming manners, forgetting the undoubted ex-
travagances in which she indulged, and attributing
them to her youth and inexperience. The fact is, that
she was but a child, who had been brought up far too
strictly by her aunt, the Grand Duchess Elisabeth,
and who, when she found herself free to do what she
liked, abused the permission, and amused herself with
an energy which at last brought about a separation,
and later on a divorce, in which neither was to blame,
and which proceeded entirely from incompatibility of
temper.
When she returned home there were some rumours
that she intended to marry again, but so far nothing
more has been heard of it. When the war broke out
the Grand Duchess was one of the first to enrol under
the banner of the Red Cross, in connection with
which she is working so devotedly.

It seems that when she returned to Petersburg,

the Dowager Empress thought it her duty to speak

seriously to her, and to tell her that she ought to think

68
 GRAND DUCHESS MARIE PAVLOVNA
twice before divorce, as it was always a very grave
step for a woman to take, especially in her position ;

no woman, said the Empress, should allow the world

to talk about her. Marie Pavlovna, upon this, retorted
that she thought it more honest to divorce than to

go on playing a part and breaking faith with the man

to whom she had plighted herself. The Empress
was aghast, and did not renew the conversation.
She said afterwards that for once in her life she had
not been able to find a reply to this child who so
openly said what, after all, was a truth which others
perhaps would do as well to take to heart.
Apart from her divorce, the Grand Duchess Marie
Pavlovna a great match from the worldly point of
is

view, and ever she married again, the man who would
if

be lucky enough to win her would not make a bad

bargain. She is pretty, extremely bright and clever,
and, besides, very rich, having, apart from her dowry,
inherited a considerable fortune from her great-grand-
mother, the Grand Duchess Alexandra of Russia, with
whom she was a favourite. She is one of the most
attractive, as well as one of the most popular, members
of the Imperial family.

Lately, Petrograd has gossipped freely about the

morganatic marriage of Princess Tatiana, the daughter
of the Grand Duke Constantine, with a simple com-
moner, Prince
Bagration Moukhranski, a pleasant
man and the descendant of an old Caucasian family,
but poor and without any status whatever. She lives
quite like a private person, and is never so annoyed as
when one makes any fuss about her rank, which she
69
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
renounced without Her cousin, the Princess
regret.
Irene of Russia, also wedded a man not belonging to
a reigning house, but the heir to what is perhaps the
largest fortune in Russia
—Prince Youssoupoff, the
only
son amiable Princess Youssoupoff, who is
of that

reputed to have brought many millions as a dowry when

she became the wife of Count Soumarokoff Elston, an
officer in a regiment of the Guards. The Count ob-
tained from the Emperor the right to take his wife's
name and It is an open
title. secret that the Princess

Youssoupoff had been sought in marriage by Prince

Alexander of Battenberg when he was elected Prince
of Bulgaria. These were the first examples of members
of the Russian Imperial Family wedding anyone not
their equal in —
rank at least, the first in the feminine
line — but it is be followed by others, and the
likely to
Emperor generally approved for not allowing ques-
is

tions of etiquette to interfere with the affections of

his young relatives. The Tsar's kindness is too great
for him to put obstacles in the way of true affection,
and perhaps one of the reasons
this is why he is so

deeply loved in his own family circle.

70
 CHAPTER IV
THE LAST OF THE NASSAUS
Royal marriages have excited so much interest,
FEW or have caused so much anxiety to European diplo-

macy as the one which the last descendant in direct line

of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and first Stadt-
holder of the Netherlands, contracted with a youngest
son of the Ducal family of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
It gave a sleepless night to Prince Bismarck,
many
who had had his eye on the Netherlands ever since the
death of the sons of old King WilHam III. caused
people to think that the House of Nassau was doomed
to extinction. Some persons, indeed, believed that the
cessation of the male line imperilled the independence
of the country over which the Nassaus had reigned
for nearly five hundred years.
The German Chancellor viewed with deep chagrin
the of that rich inheritance passing to a
'^possibility
collateral feminine line, as represented by the Grand
Duchess of Saxe- Weimar or the Princess of Wied.
Bismarck certainly aimed to have the Netherlands
under German influence, but would not have welcomed
the Dukeof Weimar having control of Dutch affairs.
Such a consummation would have extinguished for ever
Bismarck's ambition to get a grip upon Holland, because
71
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
the independent nature of the Dutch people would keep
the Duke strictly to the interests of the Netherlands.
Another factor in Bismarck's objection was that
should it have come about that the Royal line passed to
the Saxe-Weimars —who were but a secondary German
Royal House
—they would thus have secured control of
a large army not under Prussian influence —a dangerous
eventuality. Bismarck knew very well that neither
he, nor the Emperor William, nor Prussia in general,
were favourites in the South of Germany, and this
caused him to fear that if the rebellious spirits there,
who were preach independence from the
trying to
Prussian yoke, found themselves in possession of the
resources which the control of a state like Holland
would place within their reach, they might turn round
and refuse to remain in a position of dependence upon
Prussia, a country which they cordially detested.
Bismarck had several times times tried to arrange
a marriage for the Prince of Orange, the eldest son
and heir of King William III. of the Netherlands,
with a German princess. For a short time, indeed,
there was the expectation that the Grand Duchess
Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, who later on became
the wife of the Duke of Edinburgh, would become
Queen of Holland. When the Prince of Orange died,
Bismarck did his best to persuade Prince Alexander,
the late heir's brother, to take unto himself a consort,
notwithstanding the fact that he was infirm and a
cripple ; man had the good taste to see
but the young
that the woman who would marry him would only do
so on account of his position and large fortune, and he
7«
 PRINCE BISMARCK'S ANXIETY
declined all the overtures which were made to him
from Berlin. When
he died the anxiety of the Ger-
man Chancellor was intensified, and he made at least
one more attempt to ensure the succession of the
Dutch throne to the House of Nassau.
The King had one brother, Prince Henry, a child-
less widower, who was not far from his sixtieth year,

extremely wealthy, and, though very withered in

appearance, still a pleasant man, with excellent and
genuine qualities of heart and mind. Prince Bismarck
bethought himself that it might be possible to induce
him and he contrived that a meeting
to marry again,
should take place between him and Princess Marie,
the eldest daughter of Prince Frederick Charles of
Prussia, the famous Red Prince, who had just attained
her twenty-third year, and who was beautiful, amiable,
and charming in every way, but not happy at home,
where her father and mother were scarcely on speaking
terms, and whose dowry, like those of all the Prussian
princesses, was extremely small. Prince Henry allowed
himself to be persuaded, of course, proposed to the
Princess Marie, and was accepted. The marriage took

place in August, 1878, at Potsdam, and was graced by

the fSresence of the King himself, who, though hating
his brother as he did all the members of his family,

thought it nevertheless incumbent on him to come

to Germany for the occasion.

King William III., if not exactly the brute some

persons have represented him to be, still was not of an
attractive manner. His temper was abominable, and
he had made his first wife, the accomplished Queen
73
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Sophy of Wiirtemberg, far from a model husband.
He was selfish, too and at the same time nourished
;

feelings which made him look with rage at any at-

tempt of other people to be happy or satisfied. When
he saw the lovely bride whom his brother was leading
to the altar, and realised that probably the union

might be blessed with children, who would ultimately

step into his shoes, the idea was intolerable to him,
and he forthwith decided that he would take measures
to prevent such an unwished-for contingency.
It was remarked during the wedding festivities that
he scarcely addressed a word to his new sister-in-law,
and treated her with the scantest courtesy. When he
took his leave, after a stay of two days at the German
Court, everybody was genuinely delighted to see him
go away. Not unnaturally, after such an experience
the Princess Marie could not hide her anxiety at the
prospect of having to meet him again at The Hague.
It was not, however, to his own country that the

aged King returned when he left Potsdam. He bent

his steps toward the little town of Arolsen, in the
south of Germany, under the pretext of paying a visit
to one of his distant cousins who resided there, the

reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Prince

George Victor had four daughters, of whom the eldest,
Princess Pauline, was married to Prince Alexis de
Bentheim at Steinfurt, whilst the three others were
of a marriageable age. The King remained a week at
Arolsen, and before he left announced to his family
and to foreign Courts that he was engaged to the
Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont.
74
 AN UNDESERVED FATE
The future Queen of Holland was at that time

twenty years She had never been pretty

of age. ;

but was endowed with many qualities, amongst which

a sunny, sweet temper and a remarkable patience
were the foremost. She had been carefully brought
up, and trained to a strict obedience to the will of
her father, which she did not attempt to dispute when
he signified to her that she was to make a most brilliant
match marrying into the old dynasty of the Orange
in
Nassaus. He did not add that she was going to be
united to a brutal, selfish old man, with an unbearable
character and temper, who was bound to make her
miserable. The Emma
submitted, and meekly
Princess
went to meet a fate which most certainly she did not
deserve.
The King was delighted. Prince Bismarck was
more than satisfied it would be hard indeed, he
;

thought, both these marriages should remain child-

if

less, and what he desired was the birth of an heir to

the Crown of Holland.
The wedding King took place at Arolsen on
of the

January 7th, 1879. It was solemnised in a most

quiet manner, and none of his relations was invited
to attend it, not even his sister, the Grand Duchess of
Saxe-Weimar, or his brother, Prince Henry, with
his young wife. The newly-married pair started at
once for the castle of Het Loo in the Province of
Gueldres, and the new existence of Queen Emma
began in real earnest.
Its first days were saddened by family mourning.
Prince Henry caught cold about the time of his
75
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
brother's marriage, and it developed into a sharp
attack of measles which carried him to the grave in a
few days. His three-months' bride was left a widow,
and under the most distressing circumstances from
the material point of view. Prince Henry had wor-
shipped his
young and
wife, had openly declared to
his friends that he had made a will in which every-

thing that he possessed was left to her. But after

his death no such will was found, though a good many

people declared that they had seen it, and dark rumours
went about concerning the share that the King was
supposed to have had in its disappearance. William III.
was the one who profited by the fact that the will
was missing, because his brother having died intestate,
all hisvast estates, his millions, his jewels and pictures

passed to him, and the Princess Henry was left with

the slightest of dowries, which barely allowed her to
exist as befitted her rank. was reported that re-
It
monstrances were made to the King, and that he was
told he ought at least to allow his sister-in-law to
continue her residence at the castle of Soesdyk, where
her husband had taken her after their marriage, but
he brutally replied that the place belonged hence-
forward to him, and that she had better find another
home as soon as possible. The Princess, who did not
care to return to Germany, resigned herself to her
fate, and settled in a small house at The Hague, where
she lived in complete retirement, until the death of
the King, when his widow, the Queen Regent, came
to her help most generously she not only settled a
;

large income upon her, but gave her for her residence
76
 AN HEIR IS BORN
one of the numerous castles which the Crown possesses
in the neighbourhood of The Hague.
In thus coming forward to repair a cruel injustice,
Queen Emma showed the noble disposition with which
she had always been credited by all those who had
known her before her marriage with the old King,
whom her father's ambition had obliged her to wed,
and who did his best to render her life about as bitter
as it was possible for a man to make it. She bore with
him, humoured him, was kind to him submitted to ;

his caprices and vagaries and resigned herself to be

;

continually bullied, ill-treated, and snubbed. And she

fulfilled all the expectations which her marriage had

raised all over Holland ; she gave birth to a daughter

about one year after her wedding-day.
The arrival in the world of this little girl was the
cause of the wildest joy throughout the Netherlands,
which had already given up the thought of a direct
heir to the ancient House of the Nassaus. The Queen
found herself intensely popular, and whenever she
showed herself in the streets was cheered with ex-
treme enthusiasm. This exasperated the King, who
made her pay dearly for the love which her subjects
boife her. He interfered with her in every way,
thwarted her in allher desires, even the simplest ones ;
and made her feel at every step and turn that he was
the master of the house, and that she had better not
attempt to assert herself in any way, or else he would
very quickly dispatch her back to Arolsen, keeping
his daughter with him, and never allowing her to see
her mother again.
77
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
This was the one eventuaUty to which Queen Emma
refused to submit, and out of love for the child whom
she did not wish to abandon to the care of a father
who would never know how to bring her up, she bore
the insults which were her daily portion. At last the

King died. Queen Emma wore mourning for him

with all the rigour which State ceremonial imposes,
and even went every day to pray over his coffin in the
Royal vault at Delft. Wicked people declared that she
did so only to convince herself that he really was dead.
Queen Emmawas a most sensible woman, with
abundant common sense, and she very quickly dis-
cerned the peculiarities of the nation over which she
was called upon to rule in the name of her only daughter.

She, therefore, made an exceedingly judicious Regent.

To her daughter she gave an admirable education,

training her for her duties with the most tender care,
and teaching her how to govern her country with
justice and ability. She was sincerely liked in Holland,
and upon her widowhood that affection with which
she had previously inspired the Dutch people increased
as one saw what a good, devoted mother and Regent
she was, and how entirely she gave everything up for
the sake of the young Queen who had stepped as a
child of ten upon the throne of her glorious ancestors.
Little Wilhelmina had inherited something of her
father's tyrannical disposition, and she was but too
inclined to let others feel that she was the Queen,
and that she intended to be obeyed. Her mother
corrected this natural disposition and appealed to the

girl's heart, and to her common sense, teaching her that

78
 WILHELMINA OF ORANGE NASSAU
her high position entailed on her many more duties
than would have been the case had she been born in a
lower and less responsible sphere. Her efforts were
crowned with and Wilhelmina grew up a con-
success,
scientious, good, honest, scrupulous woman, admirably
trained for all the difficulties of her future existence
as a reigning Sovereign.
Wilhelmina of Orange Nassau was clever, and knew
very well how to accept the lessons of her fond mother.
She was proud of her position as a Queen ; proud of
the nation over which she ruled ; proud of the blood
that ran in her veins ; proud of everything that be-
longed to her. And she wanted to win the heart of her
subjects ;
to make them feel that their interests would
be safe in her hands. When she came of age, and had
to take the oath to the Constitution in the cathedral
of Amsterdam, her ministers had prepared a speech
which she was to read for the occasion. The Queen
asked it to be submitted to her a few days before, and,
after having read it, tore up the paper upon which it
" "
was written. This will never do," she said I ;

know what I am —
to say to my people and it will be

something quite different from this rubbish," she

adde^ disdainfully.
And on the day which saw her assume the reins
of the government, the youthful Sovereign spoke a
few, very few words indeed but they ; went direct
"
to the heart of her people," as she had called

them, and by their simple earnestness excited the

greatest enthusiasm to which cold-blooded Holland
had ever given expression. The Dutch nation began to
79
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
worship this girl who understood them so well, and
who had found at once the way to appeal to their
hearts and to their feelings. Wherever the Queen
showed herself,she was received with cheers, and the
little children even followed her in the streets as she
went for her daily walks, quite simply and only at-
tended by one lady-in-waiting. Very often those
walks took her to the bedside of the poor, or where
misery and poverty reigned. She showed herself in
every action of her life a noble woman ; and she has
continued to be so.
Her mother, Queen Emma, with all her great
qualities, had remained extremely German at heart ;

though justice must be rendered to her in recording

the fact that she had never thought of the interests of

Germany during the whole time of her responsible

Regency. But when the question of a marriage for
her daughter came to be discussed, she turned her

eyes toward the land of her birth, and openly expressed

the wish that her child might choose for herself a com-
panion in life from one of the reigning houses of that
country.
The Dutch people did not quite agree with her on
this important point. They did not care for a German
consort, and would have infinitely preferred that a
Belgian or an English prince should win the heart of
their young ruler. Queen Wilhelmina was kept so
secluded, and had so very few opportunities for meeting
anyone who might prove eligible for her to marry,
that it soon became certain that she would have to
follow the advice of her mother concerning her future
80
 HOLLAND AND GERMANY
establishment. The Emperor William would have
given mueh for her to have chosen one of his sons,
and he did his best to persuade the Dowager Queen
to use her influence in that direction. Indeed, at one
moment it seemed as if this plan had some chance
of success, but French diplomacy interfered, and the
Dutch Ministry represented to the Queen Mother that
such a marriage might have disastrous consequences
for the future of the Netherlands. Moreover, it was
certain that the majority of the nation was violently

opposed to any such eventuality, as it feared that

Holland might thereby run the danger of being drawn
into any future quarrels which the German Empire

might have with its neighbours. Besides, Prussian

arrogance had already made itself felt in different
matters connected with the foreign politics of Holland,
and this was more than sufficient to inspire the country
with a profound distrust for the tortuous intricacies
of German politics.
Queen Emma had perforce to submit, which she
did with better grace because her own common sense
told her that thosewho foresaw that an alliance with
the Hohenzollerns might be pregnant with disaster for
Holland were not so very far wrong. But rather
than give up her idea of a German marriage for her
daughter, she looked about to discover what prince
might prove acceptable to the Dutch people.
Perhaps Queen Wilhelmina's mother allowed Wil-
liam II. to guess something of what was going on in
her mind perhaps also the German Emperor's numerous
;

spies, of whom he had a considerable number in Holland,

G 8i
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
advised him as to the predilection of the former Regent.
Whatever may have been the motive, the fact remains
that he forthwith presented another candidate for
her approval and choice. This candidate was a
younger son of the late Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-

Schwerin, Prince Henry, a young man of indifferent

reputation, who was on the point of emigrating some-
where out of reach of his creditors, when it was sug-
gested to him from Berlin that he had better attempt
to win the heart and affections of the young Queen
of Holland. part of his numerous
In consideration
debts would be paid and he would be given the means
to start his courtship in a manner befitting his rank
and his position in the world.

Prince Henry, of course, jumped at the chance that

was offered to him from Berlin. His former peccadilloes
were carefully hidden from the knowledge of Queen
Emma, who was only told that he would prove an
obedient and submissive husband to his wife, and that,
moreover, he would never attempt to mix himself up
in matters of State or to interfere in the affairs of the

country. A meeting was arranged by the Emperor

William somewhere in a German watering-place, where
Queen Emma pretended that she had to make a cure ;

and thrown for the first time in her life in the company
of a young man who did his best to make himself

pleasant to her, Queen Wilhelmina grew to like him

as a matter of course, and finally agreed to his pro-
posal, being partly influenced by what she had been
told, that he would never interfere with the govern-
ment of her country.
82
 GERMAN PLEASURE
Warm congratulations from all her German re-

lativeswere poured upon her when the news of her

engagement was officially announced. Even the haughty
Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia, the sister of Prince

Henry of Mecklenburg, deigned to write a most cordial

letter to the future sister-in-law who was to retrieve

the fallen fortunes of the youngest scion of her house,

and to express to her in the warmest terms her joy at
the unexpected piece of good luck that had fallen to
the portion of her brother. The Emperor William
telegraphed at once his approval, and wrote a separate
letter to Prince Henry, in which he reminded him,

amongst other things, that he was a German prince,

and ought never to forget his duties toward his own
country and the land of his birth.
The Queen of Holland was married with great
solemnity at the cathedral of The Hague to Prince
Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and though the union
which she contracted was not exactly a popular one,
yet she was wished happiness in her new life by
the whole of the Dutch people. The papers even
made some delicate allusions to the fact that
very
probably the rejoicings of the nation on the occasion
of the* Queen's wedding would be followed in due time

by others more importance still those to celebrate

of :

the birth and christening of an heir to the House of

Orange Nassau. This last event, however, did not

occur quite so soon as people had hoped and ex-

pected.
Prince Henry, who was awarded the rank and
position of Prince Consort, and became naturalised in

83
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Holland, did not make himself liked there. His stiff

German manners did not please the Dutch people,

and very soon it became known that he had not re-
nounced certain bad habits he had contracted in his
own country. More than once Wilhelmina had to pay
his debts, and it was said that painful scenes had taken

place between husband and wife, and that Prince

Henry had even ill-treated the Queen. True or not,
these rumours went about among the public, and
made him intensely disliked by the majority of the
Queen's subjects. The latter, however, never made
any sign that she objected to her husband's doings,
and outwardly, at least, observed toward him both
affectionate and dignified manners. It is not to be
doubted that she came very soon to the conclusion
that she had been wedded to a man inferior to her in

everything, and that she could never be quite happy

with him ; but she had far too much pride to allow
the public to penetrate into the secrets of her conjugal
life. For a good many years her marriage remained
a childless one, but at last the wishes of the nation
were fulfilled, and one April morning a daughter saw
the light of day in the Palace of The Hague, and the
House of Orange hailed the birth of an heiress to its

possessions and titles.

The arrival of this small child was the greatest joy
that had ever been granted to Queen Wilhelmina,
who saw in its advent in the world not only the con-
tinuation of her race, but also the greatest consolation
of her life amid its arduous and ungrateful duties.
She decided to bring up her daughter in the same
84
 Fhoto : Deiitmann

QUEEN WILHELMINA OF HOLLAND, AND

PRINCESS JULIANA
 THE FUTURE OF HOLLAND
manner that she herself had been trained by her
adoring mother simply and earnestly, with principles
;

of strict obedience to the duties that were given to her

to perform. Her relations with her husband there-
after also grew more tender and here it must be re-
;

marked that Prince Henry had succeeded, too, in

winning at last the favour of the Dutch nation, thanks
to his heroic behaviour when a German steamer, the

Elbe, sank on the Dutch coast together with its load

of emigrants and passengers. He was one of the first
to rush to the rescue, and worked like the humblest
of sailors saving the wrecked people, giving to
at

everybody the example of a quiet and determined

courage which changed entirely the hostile feelings
which had been nourished against him in Holland
until that day, and won him the regard of those who
had violently disliked him before.
The marriage Queen Wilhelmina was the cause
of
of muchheart-burning in Europe, and it is likely that
when the time comes to think about the establishment
of her daughter the feeling will again recur. Little
Princess Juliana is only six years old at present,
and it is already a current rumour in Berlin that
German diplomacy is determined to give her as
husband one of the sons of the present Crown Prince.
Such a marriage would bring Holland definitely into
the sphere of German influence, and at the same time
seal its fate. Whether this is likely to happen is, of
course, impossible to say. For one thing, all these
combinations may crumble to the ground, as it is

possible after that a son may

all be born to the present
85
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Queen, an event that would at once dispose of the
political importance of any marriage which the Prin-
cess Julianamight contract later on. It is also possible
that the treaty of peace which will be concluded be-
tween the present belligerent powers at the end of the
war will relegate Prussia to a relatively harmless
position, where it will be a matter of utter indifference
to the world whether or not one of her princes marries
the heiress to the Dutch throne.
But after all is said and done, human calculations,

always to be mistaken, are perfectly useless ;

liable

it is quite impossible to guess what the future of Hol-

land will be ; she has as yet succeeded in preserving

her neutrality, but what she may do in the future
depends on circumstances no one can control or con-
jecture. One thing can be safely affirmed, there is a
considerable party in the Netherlands which would
like their country to interfere in favour of Belgium,

and which deeply irritated against Germany and

is

her aggressive policy. This party fears that the in-

dependence of Holland is threatened by Germany,
and that in the very remote and improbable contin-
gency emerging triumphant out of the
of Prussia
ferocious struggle, she would hasten to incorporate
Holland into the alliance which she has contracted
with Austria, and thus ensure to herself an outlet on
the North Sea, which, combined with the possession
of Antwerp, would give her entire dominion on that
coast, and allow her to withstand any attack to which
she might be subjected on the part of the British
fleet. It is most likely that the German sympathies
86
 HOLLAND'S NEUTRALITY
of the Queen Mother and of her son-in-law have some-

thing to do with the neutrahty to which the Dutch

Government has pledged itself, a neutrality that, it
must be owned, has shaken in some quarters the great
popularity which Queen Wilhelmina has hitherto

enjoyed, and caused her conduct to be criticised with

a shade of sharpness. Holland does not care to be-
come a German province, nor even to be tied down
by an alliance to and this was partly one
Germany
;

of the reasons why the marriage of its Sovereign gave

rise to some discontent at the time when it was con-

tracted.
It must be owned, however, if one wishes to be
impartial, that the position of Holland and of its
Government is an exceedingly difficult one, and that
it the resources of her diplomacy to
will require all

enable her to overcome the numerous painful incidents

which are sure to crop up with regard to her before
the end of the war. If one takes all this into con-
sideration, one must recognise that so far Queen Wil-
helmina has held to a line of conduct which has been
clever and and that her consort has not
impartial,
influenced her to the extent of becoming the humble
servant of the German Emperor. On the contrary,
he has encouraged her to show her independence by
receiving with warmth the unfortunate Belgian re-
fugees who have thronged into Holland. In that

respect, Henry has proved that though he is

Prince
a German he has encouraged the Queen of the Nether-
lands in resisting the dictates of this arrogant and

unscrupulous nation.
87
 CHAPTER V
LUXEMBURG AND BELGIUM
AT the present moment there exists in the Royal
/~\ marriage market one great heiress whose hand is
coveted by almost every princely bachelor in Europe.
It the young Grand Duchess of Luxemburg, who
is

not only succeeded her father on the throne of the

Grand Duchy, but also inherited the greater part of
his enormous fortune.
Marie Adelaide, Grand Duchess of Luxemburg and
Duchess of Nassau, who has just reached her twenty-
first year, assumed on her eighteenth birthday the

reins of government in her little dominion, which up

to then had been administered by her mother, an
Infanta of Portugal, and the sister of the Archduchess
Marie Ther^se of Austria. On her father's side she was
related to the Royal House of Sweden, and also to
that of Baden, her aunt, the Princess Hilda of Nassau,

having married the Grand Duke of that name. She

was the eldest of a family of six girls, the successive
birth of whom had brought one disappointment on
the top of the other to her parents, who ardently
wished for a son and heir.
At first it was believed that difficulties would be
thrown in the way of Marie Adelaide's accession to the
88
 GRAND DUCHESS MARIE ADELAIDE
throne of Luxemburg, as the Count of Merenberg,
the brother of the present Countess Torby, and the
son of the late Prince Nicholas of Nassau by a mor-
ganatic marriage, contested the rights of his young
cousin, and pretended that the feminine line was
excluded from succession by virtue of an old family
statute of the Nassau dynasty. His pretensions,
however, were rejected by the courts of law whither
he carried them, and, failing the male line, the rights
of the eldest daughter of the Duke of Luxemburg
were recognised, not only in the Grand Duchy, but
also throughout Europe ;
and when her father died
Marie Adelaide was acclaimed as Sovereign by the
whole population of that State, which rather relished
the idea of being governed by a young and pretty girl.
The Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide was the first
member of the Nassau family to profess the Catholic
religion since the great man of that race, William the

Silent, had renounced the creed of his forefathers, and

gone over to the cause of the Reformation. She is

extremely beautiful, very talented, very intelligent,

and, moreover, possessed of a strong will, which she
never showed more bravely than when, alone in her
motor-car, she met the German army which was in-
vading her Grand Duchy and protested in person
against the violation of its integrity and neutrality.
Besides the revenues of her small state, she was
the sole mistress of a fortune of several millions, which,
apart from every other advantage, made her the
greatest heiress in Europe. From
the day that she
reached a marriageable age she became the point de
89
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
viire ofthe frequenters of the Royal marriage markets
of the world, and the offers whieh she had were too
numerous to be counted. So far, she has shown no
inclination for matrimony ; on the contrary, she has
kept at bay all the suitors who crowded around her.

Very independent of character, she is supposed to have

declared that she did not see any necessity to sacri-
fice her liberty for the sake of a husband who might

not, after all, prove worthy, and that if the Duchy of

Luxemburg wanted heirs, she had five sisters who

could marry and present it with one. Perhaps she

felt that it would be difficult for her to choose a proper

companion amidst the competitors who,

for her life
to her extreme annoyance, came forward every day.
This youthful sovereign had ideas and opinions of
her own, and she did not share the admiration which
her family displayed for German methods, German

ways, and the German manner of governing and ;

though the Grand Ducal family of Baden, with whom

her mother, the Dowager Duchess, was on very inti-
mate terms, loaded her with attentions, she guessed
that these were not wholly disinterested. She knew
quite well, indeed, that they, together with other
people in Germany, not excepting the Emperor him-
self, were very much interested in everything that

concerned her existence, and would have liked her to

marry a man in possession of their particular confidence
and esteem.
Now, this did not at all agree with her own secret
intentions. She did not care for a German suitor,
imposed upon her by circumstances and other people's
90
 A PURPOSEFUL PRINCESS
ambitions. She meant to do what she liked in this
as in everything else.

Her mother, though a* person of very great merit,

was not so intelligent as the Grand Duehess, and
never suspected that those who spoke to her with
such tender solicitude about her eldest daughter's
future did so from interested motives, and simply
because they wanted to keep under their control a girl
who without doubt represented the best parti in
Europe.
Among other suitors, there presented himself a
prince of the Royal House of Bavaria, Prince Henry,
whose mother, by birth a Princess of Liechtenstein, was
distantly related to the Dowager Duchess of Luxem-
burg. Being a Catholic, Prince Henry seemed at first
sight to be quite a suitable match for the youthful
Sovereign. Strong efforts were made in different direc-
tions to ensure his winning this first prize in the
Royal matrimonial market ; but they all came to
nothing in face of the passive opposition of Marie
Adelaide, who persevered in her decision to wait before
entering the marriage state until she should have met
the man who really appealed to her imagination, as well
as t6 her reason, and on whom she would be glad to
bestow her hand.
The Emperor William watched all her actions with
unusual interest. He would have dearly liked one of
his own sons to have a chance of bringing home
this much-coveted bride, but all Hohenzollerns were
staunch Protestants, whilst the Duchess of Luxem-
burg had announced her determination never to wed
91
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
anyone who professed another creed than that which
she upheld.
This settled the question so far as a Prussian candi-
date was concerned, and it was after having realised
this last fact that the Emperor William II. gave his
patronage to the Bavarian prince, using his best en-
deavours to persuade the Grand Duchess, as well as
her mother, that for many reasons Prince Henry would
be able to protect their interests should untoward
events happen to endanger the safety of the small
State.
All this diplomacy failed, and the girl whose future
gave so much anxiety to so people is still un-
many
married, and seems to persevere in her intention to
remain so, at least for the present. She is credited with
having made the remark that the far future would be
time enough for her to give a thought as to the per-
sonality of suitor, and that for the present
any eventual
she felt
quite content with her condition. This per-
sistence in refusing all the offers which she received

brought about an estrangement between her and her

mother, and the Dowager Duchess absented herself
from Luxemburg more frequently than had been the
case before, leaving her daughter to the care of her
attendants and of her household.
When the present war began the Duchess was
sounded by Germany as to the attitude which she
meant to adopt if by any means the neutrality of her
small State were violated by the armies of the Kaiser,
and she was offered considerable advantages if she
were willing to agree to let them pass through her
92
 GERMAN TROOPS IN LUXEMBURG
territory. But the young girl refused them all with
proud disdain, and made a public protestation against
the conduct of Prussia, returning afterwards to her
palace, where she locked herself up and refused to see
the German officials and generals who humbly craved
the honour to present their respects to her, according
to the orders they had received from Berlin.
The Emperor, in spite of his rage at the courageous

independence of the Duchess, did not vent his anger

eitherupon her or upon her subjects. His troops passed
through her territory without committing depreda-
tions on the contrary, they treated the inhabitants
;

with the utmost courtesy, paying for everything that

they took and behaving like gentlemen very differ- :

ent from the conduct which marked their presence

in Belgium. William II. was keenly conscious of the
matrimonial importance of the Princess Marie Adelaide,
as well as of the advantages that might accrue for

Germany and for its she were brought to

politics if

look at things from his point of view and to bestow

herself, her millions, and her Grand Duchy on an
admirer of German ways and German grandeur. He
tried to win her good graces, and conferred a high
decoVation on her and on her mother as a mark of his

particular esteem ; and, further, he asked his cousin,

the Grand Duke of Baden, to influence the young
Grand Duchess through his wife, who was the aunt of
Marie Adelaide, in order to persuade her that it was
better for her own interests to adhere to the policy
which he thought he had inaugurated with such
success when he declared war upon Russia. He even
93
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
hinted to her that she might win some solid advan-
tages from a friendly attitude in regard to him and
to his armies, and that when peace came to be dis-
cussed he would arrange matters so that a consider-
able part of Belgian territory would be added to the
dominions of Luxemburg.
But this immoral proposition only added to the
feelings of indignation which the Duchess felt already
in regard to the Emperor. The Queen of the Belgians
was her own cousin, her mother, the Duchess Marie
Jose in Bavaria, being the sister of the Dowager Duchess
of Luxemburg and Marie Adelaide was the last
;

person capable of despoiling anyone, especially a

member of her own family. She scornfully refused the
insidious offers which were made to her, and she shut
herself up in a haughty silence that would have told
strange things to William II. had he only under-
stood it.
People who well who at present is
know the girl
the youngest sovereign in Europe, declare that in her

marriage, as well as in many of her actions, she will

surprise the world and her family, and rumours of an
attachment that she bears to a man of whom her
mother does not approve have recently circulated
among her subjects. It is difficult to say whether
they are justified, and time alone can show ; but in
the meanwhile the Duchess Marie Adelaide remains
the despair of all the ambitious Royal mothers whose
sons would be in the position to aspire to the hand
of the richest heiress in Europe.
The relationship existing between the Royal fami-
94
GRAND DUCHESS MARIE ADELAIDE OE LUXEMBURG
 KING ALBERT OF BELGIUM
lies Luxemburg and Belgium gives a natural con-
of
tinuation from the one to the other. Belgium has
no braver patriots than King Albert of Belgium and
his wife. Equally are they devoted to their country
and to each other. How they came to be betrothed
is a love tale full of sweetness. For Elisabeth of
Bavaria her marriage was an idyll that, unfortunately
for her, has turned into a drama. This circumstance,
however, has not impaired the deep love that presided
at her union with King Albert. They met for the
first time at the wedding of her sister, the Princess

Gabrielle, with Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, the present

Crown Prince of that country. Princess Elisabeth
was at that time a slight, fair girl of twenty -four,
timid, and of a retiring disposition. Much of her time
was spent in works of charity, her most beloved occu-
pation being to help her father, the late Duke Karl
Theodor in Bavaria. He was an oculist of consider-
able fame, and devoted his scientific knowledge to the
poor, whom he treated without remuneration simply
because he wanted to help them. She had been
brought up most carefully. The natural tendencies
of her very noble nature had been developed and

encouraged through the training which she had re-

ceived. Her charms made an immediate appeal to
Prince Albert of Belgium, as he still was at that time,
and who, himself of a timid temperament, was irre-
sistibly attracted by the serious, earnest, and un-
affected girl, who never came forward in public except
when obliged to do so by force of circumstances.
She, on her side, was struck by the nobility of thought
95
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
which characterised Prince Albert, without ever dream-
ing that he was in love with her. The marriage was
exceedingly popular, even among those who expected
the future successor of wily King Leopold to choose
a more brilliant consort. When he brought his bride
to his home at Brussels, his parents, the Count and
Countess of Flanders, at once appreciated the sweet
nature of Princess Elisabeth.
Subsequent events proved that he had made a
wise choice, because to-day the whole world has recog-
nised the rare qualities which distinguish the loyal
and beautiful nature of the Queen of the Belgians, and
has admired the heroic conduct which kept her at
her husband's side through all the dark hours that
have thrown their sinister shadow over the unfor-
tunate land of Belgium. The name of Queen Elisa-
beth will always remain engraved on the minds and
in the hearts of those who have had the opportunity
to watch her devotion to her husband, and her care
for the wounded soldiers whom she helped to pick

up on the battlefield ;
and many a one amongst the
latter has blessed the day when their Sovereign took
to himself for a wife the heavenly messenger who
came to speak to them of hope and of mercy at a
time when a reign of mercilessness seemed to have
fallen on the world.
If the marriage of King Albert has been in every
respect an ideal one, the same cannot be said of the

Belgian Royal Family in general. The dissensions

which existed between the late King Leopold and
his Queen were common property, and it was related
96
 LOVELESS MARRIAGES
that when Marie Henriette was dying she asked the
sister of charity who was attending her to raise her

in her bed, wanting, she added, to kneel once more

and pray was none to do
for herself, because there
so among those nearest related to her, and she did
not want to appear before her Maker without having
begged Him to be merciful to her in her last hour.
Her two eldest daughters also did not find happiness
in their married lives. The adventures of the Princess
Louise and her quarrels with her husband, Prince
Philip of Coburg, employed the courts of law of almost
every country in Europe. Princess Louise was more
sinned against than a sinner herself. Slie was united

to a man of brutish tendencies, who could not find a

better way to get rid of a wife whom he did not want
to divorce, on account of the large fortune she would
inherit one day, than by locking her up in a mad-
house. She was kept there for six years, and only
escaped through the devotion of the only disinterested
man whom she had ever known, and whom both her
father and her husband accused of all kinds of crimesj
in order to vilify hisname.
The Princess Stephanie had also a sad life after
her naarriage to the Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria.
She only found some peace after her second marriage
with a simple gentleman, the Count Lonyay.
Neither of these princesses had reason to care in-
ordinately for her father, whose selfishness and per-
sonal aims had obliged them to contract loveless

marriages with men whom they could neither like nor

respect. As for their youngest sister the romance
H 97
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
which culminated in her marriage with the present
head of tiie Bonaparte dynasty is still fresh in people's

minds, and for a considerable time kept universal

sympathies riveted on its development and its vicissi-

tudes.
The late King Leopold was one of the most selfish
men alive ;
he was fond of France, and used to spend
the greater part of his time there, making rare appear-
ances in Brussels. He disliked his capital owing to
the impossibility of leading there the easy, unfettered
kind of existence he was so fond of, and of introduc-
ing to Brussels society the person whom he had mar-
ried morganatically, and who, before he had done so,
had been one of the stars of a music-hall at Mont-
martre. He built for her a splendid villa at Ville-
franche, near Nice, where he preferred living to any-
where else. So strongly was he attached to France
as an abode that he became alarmed lest this might
be made unpleasant for him were his
difficult or

daughter to wed the Pretender to the throne of the

Bonapartes. Consequently, he forbade the Princess

Clementine to think of Prince Victor Napoleon, and
did all that lay within his power, though without
success, to oblige the latter to give up his Brussels
residence and, indeed, to leave Belgium. When his
daughter implored him to yield to her wishes, and to
remember that she had absolutely no one to love or
to take care of her, he brutally replied that she did
not require anything of the kind, and that if she was
not content with her present position she could go
where she liked. The fact was that the crafty old man
98
 A SELFISH MONARCH
was glad to find a pretext to quarrel with his children
so as to have reason for cutting them out of his will.
For this reason he had opposed every marriage offer
which they had, and he cursed the Princess Stephanie
when she declared that she was going to be united to
Count Lonyay. He would have done the same in
regard to the Princess Clementine had the latter not
been wise in her generation and expressed her willing-
ness to conform to the King's wishes conduct which —
obliged him to treat her with some consideration, a
concession which he denied to all the other members
of his family, whom he bullied and worried in turns.
The Princess Clementine was somewhat of a diplo-
mat. She knew that her father's health was not of
the best, and she armed herself with patience, and
made up her mind to wait until her father was dead
and she became free to do whatever she liked. The
heavens proved merciful, because the King suc-
cumbed a few months later to the disease of which he
had long been suffering, and though quarrels without
number followed concerning his inheritance, his
daugh-
ters found themselves at liberty to shape their lives
according to their own wishes.
The Princess Clementine at last married Prince
Victor Napoleon Bonaparte at the castle of Monca-
lieri, near Turin, the residence of his mother, the
saintly Princess Clotilde of Savoy, about ten months
after the death of Leopold 11.

The latter's successor had given a cordial assent

to a union upon which he knew the happiness of his
cousin depended. The Princess returned to Brussels,
99
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
where she settled with her husband in the lovely house
which the latter had built for himself in the Avenue
Louise. Two children, a daughter and a son, the heir
to all the glories and all the misfortunes of the Napo-
leonic dynasty, were born to them, and husband and
wife remained on the best of terms with King Albert
and They were quite content with the
his consort.

lifethey had mapped out for themselves, until the

war drove them out of their home and obliged them to
seek a refuge in England, whose hospitable shores
received them with a cordiality one meets nowhere
outside of Great Britain.
In England they found themselves affectionately
welcomed by the aged Empress Eugenie, who was
very fond of the Princess Clementine. Fate had
destined the Empress to witness, for the second time
in her life, the invasion of her beloved France by the
Teuton hordes. The widow of Napoleon III. lived

through a period of emotion that opened all the old

wounds and brought with graphic vividness before
her aged eyes the tragic scenes she had passed through
when France was last invaded. But with that wonder-
ful vitality which makes her such an extraordinarily
attractive woman, even in her old age, she had inter-
its earliest beginnings in the romance
ested herself from
of her nephew with the youngest daughter of King
Leopold, and she had done her best to further its
cause, until at last had culminated in happiness.
it

Eugenie was always somewhat of a matchmaker she ;

kept an attentive eye on the marriages of all the members

of the Royal families of Europe, and was always glad
lOO
THE ROYAL FAMILY OF BELGIUM
 THE BELGIAN ROYAL CHILDREN
when fate allowed her to further an alliance. When, as
in the case of theKing of Spain and Princess Ena of
Battenberg, matters quickly arranged themselves, she
was ecstatically happy. She always had a warm
regard for the late Queen of the Belgians, Marie
Henriette, and an equal affection was lavished on
the latter's child, who, on her side, always gave the
widowed Empress a loyal devotion. Princess Clemen-
tine never forgot thatEugenie was the widow of the
head of the race to which her husband belonged, and
that she represented a world of great things vanished
into eternity, after having seemed to be eternal to so

many people. Few

suspected that the second Empire
was destined to crumble as completely as the first.
The King and Queen of the Belgians have three

lovely children,and although he is still so young the

world has already speculated as to whom the youth-
ful Leopold, Duke of Brabant, is to marry. In Brussels
it was currently said that the Queen would have liked
her son to wed either an Austrian archduchess or else
a Bavarian princess. Both these eventualities are
now out of the question, and it is not outside the limits
of probability that an Infanta of Spain, one of the

daughters of King Alphonso, may in time have the

chance to become the future Queen of the Belgians.
This would be a most suitable match from every point
of view. Not the least of its advantages would be
the warm sympathy with which it would be accepted
in England, where the public will never henceforward
dissociate itself from the fortunes of that noble

Belgian nation, who, together with its King and

lOI
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Queen, has given such a magnificent example of forti-
tude to the world. This fact alone would ensure to the
Royal children of Belgium the most august alliances,
both as regards position and wealth, while the descen-
dants of the Emperor William, notwithstanding all
his boasted power and might, will never be looked upon

in future as fit mates for thrones where honour is

counted as worth and a king's word must be his

bond.

1 02
 CHAPTER VI

ITALY AND SERVIA

the late King Humbert wedded his fair
WHEN the lovely and clever Margherita of
cousin,

Savoy, the marriage was the subject of a good many

criticisms not only in Italy but also among diplomatic
circles throughout Europe. The heir to what then
seemed to be the tottering throne of Victor Emmanuel
found himself placed in a most difficult position re-
garding his proposed marriage. The principles of the
Savoy dynasty prohibited the choice of a Protestant
wife,and no Austrian Archduchess or Spanish Infanta,
to whom the Kings of Sardinia had generally gone to
seek consorts for themselves, would have anything to
do with the son of the usurper who had dethroned
the Bourbons at Naples, and the Habsburgs at
Florence and Modena, and who then was already
credited with the intention of seizing the patrimony
of the Catholic Church.
The younger brother of the Prince of Piedmont had
evaded the difficulty by marrying a lady who did not
belong to a Royal House, the Princess Pozzo Delia
Cisterna, whose mother had been a Countess of Merode ;

but it was felt at the Court of Turin that the future

King could hardly imitate this example, and Cavour,

10^
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
who was still responsible for Italian politics, insisted upon
the necessity of Humbert choosing a princess of Blood
Royal. When Cavour had been
died, however, nothing
and for many
settled concerning this important question,
reasons Victor Emmanuel did not care to renew it.
But at last he also felt that the matter could not be

continually put off, and it was then that an Italian

statesman lately deceased, the Marquis Visconti Venosta,
bethought himself that there existed in Italy a princess
who was in possession of all the necessary requisites
to make her acceptable to the King as a daughter-in-
law. This girl was Prince Humbert's cousin, the only

daughter of the late Duke of Genoa, the beautiful

Princess Margherita, who had just reached her six-
teenth year.
At first Victor Emmanuel did not take kindly to
the idea. He disliked his sister-in-law, the widowed
Duchess of Genoa, for many reasons, into which it is
Moreover, he was strongly opposed
useless to enter here.
to marriages between first cousins. He, nevertheless,
was forced to realise that to send his heir to seek a
wife anywhere abroad was to expose him to needless
affronts, and so he consented to the proposition, and
even condescended to pay a visit to the Duchess, to
express his desires concerning this important question.
The Duchess was delighted, and Prince Humbert
equally so. He had
been in love with the charming
girl for some time, but had never dared hope to
win her for his bride. He could hardly believe in his
own happiness when told that his father looked kindly
on their union.
104
 VICTOR EMMANUEL
The marriage was solemnised amidst great rejoicings
at Tm-in, on April 22nd, 1868,and the new Princess of
Piedmont soon won for herself golden opinions all over
her country. Princess Margherita, until her wedding,
had lived an existence of complete seclusion, which had
been for the most of the time spent at Stresa, on Lake
Maggiore, where her mother had a villa in which she
resided for the greater part of the year. She had never
appeared at Court, where the position of the Duchess
of Genoa was, to say the least, a painful one since her
second marriage with the Marquis Rapallo, which had
excited the ire of Victor Emmanuel to such a degree
that he had threatened to deprive his sister-in-law of
her title and of her widow's dowry, and, furthermore,

to separate her from her children.

It was therefore almost as a stranger that the young
wife of Prince Humbert appeared at Turin, and, for
some reason which he never explained, Victor Emmanuel
objected to his son remaining there after his wedding,
and sent the young couple to Naples, where the palace
of Capodimonte was put at their disposal. They spent
the first two or three years which followed upon their

marriage at Capodimonte, and there the Princess gave

birth to her only child, the present King of Italy.
At Naples Princess Margherita endeared herself to
all classes of the population, who saw her depart with

great regret, and who would have liked her to settle

there permanently. She contributed a great deal to
make the Savoy dynasty popular all over Calabria, and
throughout the southern provinces. At Florence, how-
ever, she never felt quite at her ease, probably on
105
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
account of the many remembrances left there by
the dispossessed Grand Dukes of Tuscany, who had
more partisans than the Bourbons of Naples, since
the latter had long been execrated by their former sub-
jects. The Florentine aristocracy, too, did not take
kindly in those days to the House of Savoy, whose
ambitions were considered to be dangerous to the wel-
fare of Italy, and whose desire to get hold of Rome did
not meet with sympathy among the classes that did
not belong to the Irredentist party.
Nevertheless, the sweetness of the Princess Mar-
gherita would most likely have conquered even these
recalcitrant people, had not events marched quicker
than one had expected, and the war of 1870 afforded to
Victor Emmanuel the opportunity he had been longing
for, to seize at last the patrimony of the Church.
When this fact had become accomplished, and the
House of Savoy had settled in the Quirinal, the wisdom
of the statesman who had advised the King to marry
his son and heir to his fair-haired cousin became even
more evident than had been the case before this
important event. The Princess of Piedmont set her-
self in earnest to try and gain the affection and the

regard of her future subjects, and soon she won for

herself at first ardent admirers, and afterwards staunch

partisans. Thanks to her tact, her gentleness, her

courtesy, and never-failing kindness, the barriers which
at first had separated the different circles of Roman
and Italian society into Black and White parties,
according to whether they were followers of the Pope
or of the King, fell one by one, and people who at
1 06
 THE RISE OF ITALY
firstwere shy of the Quirinal began to clamour to be
admitted to the festivals which were regularly given
there during the winter season.
When Victor Emmanuel died, the popularity of the
new Queen increased day by day, owing largely to her
capability of entering into the patriotic feelings
which were shaking the whole of Italy at this period of
her transformation from a second-rank power into a

mighty kingdom, and who, moreover, belonging her-

self to the House of Savoy, would further its aggrandise-

ment by all the means within her power, and with all
the energy that was the characteristic of her noble race.
Her marriage with King Humbert had been a per-
fectly happy one, and successful from the private as
well as from the political point of view. Unfortunately,
when her son, the then Prince of Naples, attained the

age when it became necessary to seek a wife for him,

the same difficulties which had worried Victor Em-
manuel so much at the time of his eldest son's nuptials

cropped up again, and all the efforts of Italian

diplomacy failed to persuade a Catholic Princess to

unite her fate with that of the heir to the Italian throne.
Once, when they were nearly successful, it was the
Crown Prince who raised some objections, as the fiancee
with whom it was sought to saddle him did not please
him, and he declared to his parents that he would
infinitely prefer to remain a bachelor all his life than
to wed a woman whom he felt he could never love.
Queen Marglierita at last grew quite alarmed at
this obstinacy of her only son in refusing to make the

slightest effort to find a suitable wife for himself.

107
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
She was not particularly fond of the young Duchess
Helene of Aosta, and would not have cared for her
children, if she were to have any, to succeed to the
Crown. Hoping that the Prince of Naples might
chance to set eyes on a capable of attracting his
girl

fancy if he travelled about, she encouraged him in

his desire to wander about the world. She tried, too,
to get him to interest himself in young ladies in general,

and to cultivate their conversation. But for a long

time her efforts in this direction proved useless,
all

until at last one day the Crown Prince, whilst on a

journey of courtesy at Cetigne, where he had been

sent to return in his father's name a visit which the
Prince of Montenegro had paid at the Italian Court,
saw the beautiful Princess Helene, and lost his heart to
her immediately. She had just arrived from Peters-
burg, where she had been educated, together with
her sisters, at the Smolna convent, under the special
supervision of the Empress of Russia.
The Princess Helene was as remarkable in girlhood
as she w'as later when she became a woman. Not
only beautiful in features, she was also intelligent,
serious, sweet, and simple in her manners and in her
behaviour. Cultivated, too, she had made excellent
use of her years of study, and had a great talent for
music. When talking with the Prince of Naples she
quickly discovered that they had many tastes in
common, and that their intelligences and characters
were sympathetic to each other.
Nevertheless, when the princely visitor left the
hospitable shores of Montenegro, where he had been
io8
 RELIGIOUS OBSTACLES
entertained with true Slav hospitality, he had not
spoken a word which might have led the young girl
to suspect he had made
up his mind that she, and she
alone, would be his wife.
The fact was that Victor Emmanuel was far too
dutiful a son to attempt a
step of such magnitude as
his marriage without having previously ascertained
the wishes of his parents on the subject, and obtained
their agreement to his wishes. He therefore returned
to Rome, instead
of pursuing his journey to Syria and
the shores of Asia Minor, as had been his intention
when he left Italy, and hastened to inform the King
and Queen of the feelings which he had conceived
for the dark-eyed princess, who, unknown to him,
was weeping her eyes out with grief at having seen
him depart, as she thought, for ever.
King Humbert was not at first quite pleased nor ;

were his ministers and advisers, who did not think

that the daughter of a mushroom prince, as the ruler

of the Black Mountain was still considered to be in
some quarters, was a good enough alliance for the
Crown Prince of Italy. There also existed another
impediment to his wishes, and that was the religious
question. A schismatic Queen would have been quite
impossible, and her presence at t^ e side of an Italian
Sovereign would never have been acceptable to the
nation, and would seriously impair the popularity of
the dynasty of Savoy. On the other hand, it was felt
that one could hardly ask Princess Helene to change
her religion, to which, like all Orthodox Greeks, she
was deeply attached. Besides, a conversion taking
109
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
place under such circumstances, and required by a
family who had for half a century been constantly at
war with the Catholic might have savoured of
faith,
the ridiculous if not of heresy. The King thought most

seriously over all these objections, and at last declared

to his son that he did not very well see how they
could be overcome, advising him at the same time to
think no more of the Princess Hel^ne.
But the young man was not so easily discouraged ;

he sought his mother, to whom he declared that he

would prefer giving up his rights to the throne to his

cousin, the young Duke of Aosta, rather than renounce

his dream of future happiness,and he begged of her
to use in his favour the great influence which she
wielded over the King.
Queen Marghcrita was the fondest of mothers, and,
apart from this, there was nothing in the world that
she more passionately desired than to see her son

happily married. She promised to do all that lay

within her power to obtain Humbert's consent, and
after some trouble she at last succeeded, thanks —
—
so it was said at the time to the help of the Dowager

Empress of Russia, who acted as the fairy godmother

on this occasion. Hearing through her niece, the
Grand Duchess Militza of Russia, a sister of the Princess
Helene, of the latter's romance with the Crown Prince
of Italy, the Dowager Empress wrote to Queen Mar-
ghcrita, and, without appearing to mix herself up
in a matter which did not concern her, contrived, with
that tact which never failed her on any occasion, to

say such nice and kind things about the young Mon-
IIO
 HfiLfiNE OF MONTENEGRO
tenegrin Princess that one could read between the
Hnes that she desired nothing more sincerely than to
see her enter the family circle of the Quirinal, and
the House of Savoy.
At last, after some months of hesitation, and con-
siderable negotiation between Rome and Cetigne, the
King announced to the Chambers that he had given
his consent to the alliance which his only son desired

to make, and the marriage was fixed to take place in

Rome autumn of that same year, 1896. The
in the
Princess Hel^ne prepared herself for her conversion,
which was to be solemnised in the ancient shrine of
Bari, that boasted of being dedicated to St. Nicholas
of Bari, one of the patrons of Montenegro, and a
saint worshipped with much fervour by the Orthodox
Church.
The Princess Hel^ne accomplished this important
action with the same simplicity which she brought into

everything that she did, and in all the grave reso-

lutions she was upon to take. She loved her
called
future husband passionately, and at the same time
tenderly and devotedly, and from the moment when
she had put her hand in his, and told him that she
would "be proud to spend her future at his side, she
had determined to do everything to help him, and to
induce the Italian nation to look with indulgent eyes
upon the marriage which he was making. She knew
very well his act was severely criticised in some quarters,
where it seemed a humiliation for the House of Savoy
to have to seek a bride in what was still considered by
them to be a semi-savage country.
Ill
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
The expectations of the Crown Prince were reahsed,
and he found in his brunette wife the ideal companion
he had dreamt of, but never hoped to meet. The young
couple were perfectly happy together, and very soon
the Princess Hel^ne not only won the confidence of
her husband, but also influenced him in no small degree.
She had considerable common sense, and, moreover,
was singularly from every kind of prejudice. In
free

Petersburg she had lived in a most intellectual circle,

and had met at the house of her two sisters, who were
married to members of the Imperial Family, the most
intelligent and the most remarkable men of which
Russian society could boast. This circumstance had
developed the naturally serious qualities of her char-
acter, and had necessarily broadened her views. Placed
in a position which entailed upon her arduous duties,
she never flinched before any one of them, and accepted
the difficulties of a situation which at first was cer-

tainly delicate and further complicated by the fact that

for some years her marriage remained childless. Despite
all these circumstances she contrived to make herself

popular, at only with a small circle of people, and

first

later on —especially after her conduct during the

terrible earthquake of Messina had shown her quality

to the world —the whole of the Italian nation suddenly

realised the nobility of mind and of heart that char-
acterised their young Queen and her devotion to her

duties, to her husband, and to his people.

Politically, the marriage of Victor Emmanuel sounded

the knell of the Triple Alliance, which was never con-
genial to his Queen. H^l^ne of Montenegro would not
J I 2
 TRIPLE ALLIANCE WEAKENED
have been her father's daughter if she had not cherished
the warmest affection for Russia, to whom he and his
people owed so much, and where she had been brought
up and had met with such kindness. Hel^ne was
also a Slav, enthusiastic for the Slav cause, and she
had had the opportunity to see Austrian treachery,
and to appreciate Austria's distorted and false politics.
Her whole nature rose in indignation at the duplicity
with which this Power had always tried to disguise
its sinister and
hypocritical intentions in regard to the
Balkans in general, and especially in regard to Servia,
which wished to annihilate, or at least to render
it

entirely dependent upon Austrian goodwill.

The young Queen, who, of course, was a Monte-
negrin Princess by birth, felt the warmest sympathy for
the cause of the Servian nation, and this sympathy was
further increased when the
present King Peter was
called to the throne.King Peter's consort. Princess
Zorka, had been the eldest sister of Queen Heldne,
and when Zorka died —which was before her husband
ascended the throne of Servia — Queen Hel^ne took
charge of her children, watching over their
three
education and their welfare, and insisting that her
niece and namesake, the Princess Hel^ne, should spend

part of her winters in Rome, where she stayed at the

Quirinal, and was treated by her Royal aunt with quite
a motherly tenderness. The latter, though she had
declared that she would never mix herself up in politics,

was far too clever not to be initiated into their in-

tricacies by the King, who

appreciated her clear way
of looking at things, and the calm impartiality of her
I
113
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
judgments, and "who liked to consult her in every
important decision he found himself called upon to
make. Unconsciously to them both the young Queen
came in time to acquire a considerable influence over
the mind of Victor Emmanuel —an influence which she
exercised with tact and discretion, and which cer-

tainly proved and

beneficial to the cause of civilisation
of progress. In that respect the marriage of the King
of Italy with the Montenegrin Princess was an event
of unusual magnitude, which brought about unforeseen

consequences. The Russian Foreign Office had favoured

the marriage, and had brought such pressure to bear on
the Prince of Montenegro when at first he had hesi-
tated to allow his daughter to change her religion that
he was induced to look in a kindly way upon the
abjuration. This move on the part of Russia was a
master stroke, quite remarkably judicious and far-

seeing.
In all the events of recent times that have taken

place,the part played by Italy has been far more

important than the public has been allowed to guess.
The attitude which she has now adopted has a
decidedly favourable effect on the cause of the Allies in
the gigantic war that is being waged between Ger-

many, and the nations who are fighting against the

accursed militarism that Prussia has introduced, and of
which she is the incarnation.
have spoken of the children of King Peter of
I

Servia, and of the affection with which the Queen of

Italy has watched over their childhood. There are
three of them, the present Crown Prince Alexander,
114
 A TERRIBLE SHADOW
and his elder brother — who, by a clever stroke of
diplomacy on the part of some people who feared that
the impetuosity of his character might compromise
his country should he ever reign, was induced to resign

his rights to Alexander — and one daughter, the Princess

Hel^ne. The latter is a charming girl, not so beauti-
ful as her aunts and her own mother had been, but
graceful, pleasant, and extremely well brought up.
She enjoyed quite a unique position at Belgrade. Owing
to the fact that there was neither a Queen nor a Crown
Princess there, it became part of her duties to take
their place, and to do the honours of her father's house
in the capital. She acquitted herself very well, being
sincerely liked by Society as well as by the diplomats
accredited at the King's Court. What, however, she

preferred to everything else was to go to Rome to

spend some months with her lovely aunt, who was
always so kind to her.
Princess H61^ne has hadmore than one offer, and
might easily have married had she wished, but so far
she has shown no inclination to do so. Queen H61^ne,
however, thought differently, and would have liked
to see her rule a Royal establishment where the alli-

ance 'would bring advantage to the Karageorgievitch

dynasty. Such a marriage would have done much to
remove the ostracism the House was subjected to by
other reigning houses, owing to the part which it was

suspected to have played in the plot that had brought

about the terrible assassination of King Alexander and
his ill-fated consort, Queen Draga.
Whilst Queen H^l^ne was speculating as to whom she
"5
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
who would be worthy of her charmmg niece,
could find
and who might fulfil the essential conditions which
were considered to be indispensable to any marriage that
she might make, the Queen had occasion to see one of
the most prominent of Servian statesmen, M. Pashitch,
who, having come on a visit to Rome, asked
pay to
his respects to and was
her, consulted by her on
this important matter. M. Pashitch did not hesitate,
and told her that if it were only possible to arrange
a match between the Princess Helene and a member
of the Russian Imperial Family, this event would

certainly help to consolidate the Karageorgievitch

dynasty upon its throne, and add immensely to its

prestige in Servia.
This was, however, easier said than done. With
the exception of the Grand Duke Peter, the husband
of the Princess Militza of Montenegro, the eldest living
sister of the Queen, it was not often that a Russian

Grand Duke visited Italy and especially Rome ;

and
strange to say he would not consent to invite his
niece to stay with him and his wife at Petersburg for
fear that they might be accused of wishing to marry
her off to one or other of the several unmarried Grand
Dukes and Imperial Princes who were there. Happily
for Queen Helene, Fate, who had always been kind
to her, came to her help. The eldest son of the Grand
Duke Constantine passed through Italy on his way
to Greece, where he was going to see his aunt, Queen
Olga of the Hellenes. He made a brief stay in Rome,
and of course came to present his homage to the King
and Queen of Italy.
ii6
 PRINCE JOHN OF RUSSIA
He is a very nice young man ;
not brilliant, per-
haps, but intelligent in his way ;
honest and worthy
in every possible respeet a gentleman in the fullest
;

meaning of that word, and the heir to a considerable

fortune. He did not bear the title of Grand Duke,
being only the great-grandson of an Emperor, but
was styled a prince of the Imperial Blood with the
title of Highness. He is also good-looking, and well
calculated to appeal to the feelings of a romantic
young girl. The Princess Hel^ne liked him at once,
and tried to make herself pleasant to him an effort —
in which she completely succeeded. The Prince John
of Russia was soon head over ears in love with her,
and confided his feelings to the Queen, at first very
timidly, but with more enthusiasm when he was encour-
aged. It was not long before the question of a mar-

riage between the two young people came seriously to

be discussed it formed the subject of many negotia-
;

tions between Rome, Petersburg, and Belgrade.

At last things were settled, and the wedding was
celebrated at Peterhof in the course of the summer
of 1911, in presence of the Emperor of Russia, and of
the whole Imperial family. It was also something of
a pohtical event, because the King of Servia, who
accompanied his daughter to Russia, and M. Pashitch,
who had also travelled to Petersburg for this important
event, had long conversations with M. Sazonoff, and
the other ministers of the Tsar, thus inaugurating new
and warmer relations than those which had preceded
this alliance between the Romanoffs and the Kara-
georgievitchs.
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
King Peter, who is no fool, was especially delighted
with Princess H^l^ne's marriage, because it gave him
the hope of being able to bring about another and
far more important one : that of his son, the Crown
Prince, with one of the daughters of the Tsar. I have
said already that, as regards that hope, it may yet
come to be realised after the present war comes to an
end, when the and heroic conduct of the heir
brilliant

to the Servian throne may win him sympathies which

he did not obtain when last he visited Petersburg on
the occasion of the christening of his sister's first-

born son in January, 1914.

In general, after the war is over, the importance
from the matrimonial point of view of the heirs of the
different Slav kingdoms of the Balkan Peninsula will
be far more considerable than is the case at present,
and their alliances will become the subject of just as
much speculation and negotiation as those of other
Crown Princes, and perhaps even more so, having regard
to what I have already referred to in connection with
German princes and princesses. It will not be sur-

prising, therefore, if even the Tsar is disposed to look

with favour upon an attempt to win the heart of one
of his daughters by either the Roumanian or the
Servian heirs. As for the Crown Prince of Montenegro,
he already married.
is The Princess Jutta of Mecklen-
burg, the granddaughter of the Princess Augusta of
Cambridge, was very glad to find him as a husband,
and did not hope at the time when her wedding took
place that she could ever become a Queen. Princess
Jutta is a nice little thing, and she has succeeded in
ii8
 A ROYAL PEACEMAKER
making herself liked by the rough Montenegrins, who
were charmed by her blonde beauty, and who appre-
ciated the extreme dignity of her manners more than
did her husband, who, if rumour is not mistaken, has
not always been kind to her. They have no children,
and the Crown will pass to the King's second son,
Prince Mirko, who is married to a Russian lady, the

daughter of a certain Colonel Constantinovitch, an ex-

ceedingly pretty woman, with whom, however, he also
does not get on, in spite of the fact that they have
several children. In general, the present Queen of
Italy has had considerable perplexities with regard to
her brothers, whose conduct has not always been every-

thing that she could have wished. Queen Helene more

than once has had to come to their help, either with her
purse or with her advice. Especially has her aid been
sought to soothe the just anger of her father, who more
than once declared that if his sons did not behave
better he would wash his hands of them once for all,
and forbid them to live in their native country, where
the different scandals of which they were the heroes
were fast discrediting the dynasty.
But King Nicholas, if he had reasons to complain
about his sons, could on the other hand feel justly
proud of the remarkably good alliances which his
daughters had contracted. Apart from the Queen of
Italy, whose marriage was exceptionally brilliant, the
other Princesses of Montenegro were all wedded to men
with numerous advantages of position and of fortune.
The eldest, Mihiza, became the wife of the Grand Duke
Peter Nicolaievitch, with whom she has been always
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
exceptionally happy. The second, Anastasia, or Stana>
after a few years of a tempestuous and stormy union
with Duke George Leuchtenberg, succeeded in
of

obtaining a divorce from him, and remarried very soon

afterwards the Grand Duke Nicholas, the brother of
her sister's husband and the present Commander-in-
Chief of the Russian Army. As for the third one.
Princess Anna, she is the consort of handsome Prince
Francis Joseph of Battenberg, the brother-in-law of
Princess Beatrice of Battenberg, and a most amiable
man. The Princesses Xenia and Vera are unmarried, still

and the King not without hope that he may yet in time
is

arrange a union for one or the other of them with

another member of the Russian Imperial Family, either
one of the sons of that same Grand Duke Constantine
who is the father-in-law of the Princess H^l^ne of
Servia, or with one of the boys of the Grand Duke
Alexander and of the Grand Duchess Xenia, the sister
of the Tsar. He has been so lucky hitherto in the
establishment of his children that he is in a certain
sense justified in indulging in such an ambition and ;

one thing is certain, and that is, that if such a marriage

ever takes place it will be
immensely popular in
Russia, where Montenegro and its ruler are in possession

of the warmest sympathies, and count far more partisans

than is generally known in the rest of Europe.

120
 CHAPTER VII

GREECE, ROUMANIA AND BULGARIA

Balkan States beyond Servia and
are other
THEREMontenegro where the marriages of the rulers of
the reigning dynasties have had considerable influence
on the destinies of their particular countries.
Greece was the first of them to attain to some
importance, by the election of Prince William of
Denmark whose family alliances gave him
to the throne,
an exceptionally strong position. From the period when
the children of the King reached a marriageable age,
Greece was a place toward which the glances of mothers
with daughters were directed with longing and anxiety.
Greece was a peaceful country, too, wisely administered,
and, in spite of several most foolish wars in which it
had got entangled, had succeeded in keeping free from
internal revolutions such as had shaken and threatened
the existence of its neighbours. The Royal family
had so many powerful connections that it was hardly
likely Greece could ever come to grief, even if its popu-

larity became impaired, as in factfew years

it did, a

ago, after the unsuccessful war which had been waged

against Turkey. King George was a wise man in his
generation, and he had shown it from the first day
of his election to the throne of the Hellenes, when he
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
had taken to himself for a consort the Grand Duchess
Olga Constantinovna of Russia, one of the loveliest
girls in
Europe.
This marriage had been arranged for him partly
through the influence of his sister, the wife of the
Russian heir-apparent, who was later on to become
the Empress Marie Feodorovna. The Princess of Wales,
afterwards Queen Alexandra, also had a good deal to
do with the matter.
The Grand Duchess Olga was the niece of the Tsar
Alexander she had an enormous dowry, which
II. ;

the generosity of her uncle had increased, when he

consented to her becoming a Queen. Politics had had
just as much to do with this marriage as personal

affection, which, however, was not missing from it,

because young King had become passionately

the
attached to his beautiful bride, and the marriage turned
out a very happy one, even after the enthusiasm of
the first months had disappeared. Queen Olga made
herself very popular in Greece,where Russian sym-
pathies had always been strong, and where the fact
that the consort of the Sovereign happened to belong
to the Greek Orthodox Church added a great deal to
the feelings of affection which she inspired. When
her eldest son was born, and received the name of
Constantin, which an ancient legend associated with
the hopes of a Greek monarch reigning once more in
antique Byzantium, the enthusiasm which the event
excited was quite unprecedented, even in a country
where passions are so fierce as they are in the kingdom
of the Hellenes. And as the numerous children of the
122
 GREECE AND RUSSIA
Queen grew up to manhood and womanhood, the Greeks
felt that considerable national advantages might come

from the marriages the Royal children were likely to

make.
Queen Olga was essentially Russian in her sym-
pathies, and she remained more strongly attached
to the land of her birth than perhaps some of
her subjects liked they reproached her sometimes,
;

indeed, with spending too much of her time in Russia.

Though the Queen made herself intensely respected,
and though she was beloved by all who knew her, as
I have had occasion to say before, still certain

people began to criticise her and also her political

opinions and she was reproached for trying to make

;

Greece the humble servant of Russia. It was feared

especially by these troubled souls that she would try
her best to make
her children marry in the land of her
birth, and what confirmed this idea was the care which
she took to teach to inspire them
them Russian, and
with affection for everything that belonged to that
country.
King George was the only one who felt no fear as
to the Slav leanings and sympathies of his wife. He
knew"' that she was, above everything else, a woman
of duty, and that she would never allow her personal

feelings to interfere in matters of State. When his

eldest son arrived at an age when it became necessary
to give him some inkling of what was going on in other
countries, so as to prepare him for his duties in the

future, he decided to send him to Berlin in order to

have him trained there from the military point of
123
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
view. He arranged with the Emperor William I.,

who was still alive at the time, to establish the

Crown Prince Potsdam, where he was to enter the
in

First Regiment of the Prussian Foot Guards as a

lieutenant.
The Duke of Sparta, for such was the official title
of Prince Constantin, spent rather over two years in

Germany, and was often invited to the house of the

then Crown Prince and Crown Princess. He saw a

good deal of their younger daughters Princess Sophy ;

was about seventeen years old at the time. If not

regularly beautiful, she was still pleasing and agree-
able and immensely clever. The two young people
quickly became attracted to each other, to the secret
pleasure of the future Emperor Frederick and of his
consort, to whom the idea of seeing their daughter
become one day a Queen appealed extremely. But the
illness and subsequent death of the Emperor prevented

the Duke from making any avowal of his

of Sparta
affection to the youthful princess, and it was some-

thing like two years later, after the mourning for

Frederick III. was over, that he decided to speak to
William II., and also to the Princess herself, to
ask her to honour him by becoming his wife.
William II. was delighted. He already had his eye
upon the Near East, and the thought of having a sister
sharing the throne of Athens appealed to his imagina-
tion, and opened to him visions of the future. Conse-

quently he gave a joyful consent, stipulating, however,

that his sister was to be allowed to retain her religion.
The Emperor William II. accompanied his sister to

124
 WILLIAM II. VISITS GREECE
Athens, where her marriage was solemnised with great
pomp.
There is one curious incident connected with this
journey of WilUam II. to Greece, which, so far as is

known to me, has never become pubhc property.

When he arrived on board his yacht in the Piraeus,
he donned the uniform of a British admiral no one ;

ever could understand for what reason, England as

and Russia were not upon the best of terms at that
period. There were some ill-natured people, indeed,
who declared that it was done to vex Queen Olga,
who was known to head the Russian party at Athens.
The marriage of the Duke of Sparta with the sister
of the German Emperor was supposed to be an event
of unusual political importance, and columns upon
columns were written upon it in the newspapers of
the world, whilst caused grave diplomats to con-
it

sider anxiously what eventual consequences it might

have whenever the Near Eastern question happened
to be raised. Timorous people saw already the Prussian
Eagle installed at Athens, and one prophesied that
the German sympathies of the Crown Prince, together
with the influence of his wife, would draw the kingdom
of the Hellenes into the closest and most intimate
relations with the German Empire.
All these prophecies turned out to be quite false,
because something like eighteen months after her
marriage the Duchess of Sparta, having come to the
conclusion that it was most awkward for a future
Queen not to belong to the same creed as the country
over which she would have to reign one day, publicly
125
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
renounced the Protestant faith, and adopted the tenets
of the Greek Orthodox Church.
This step infuriated
her brother, who, after having written violent letters
to her and done his best to dissuade her from the

step,declared that he would have nothing more to

do with her. He forbade her ever to come back to
Berlin, or to dare set her foot inany one of his houses
again ;
and though the Empress Frederick pleaded
the cause of her favourite daughter, it was of no avail ;

he would not retract the severe sentence which he

had pronounced.
For nine years or so the brother and sister did not
set eyes upon each other. Then came the illness of
the Empress Frederick, and at her deathbed a recon-
ciliation took place between them, and the Crown

Princess of Greece was seen once more at the Berlin

Court she even took up her abode in Germany, at
;

the time when political events obliged the Crown Prince

to live abroad until the remembrance of the circum-
stances connected with the war with Turkey had passed

away. The German Emperor in the meanwhile had

become wiser, and bethought himself that it might
not ultimately prove to the advantage of Germany
to be on bad terms with the Hellenic kingdom, and
that it would be better to resume the relations that
had formerly existed. Black clouds were already
obscuring the horizon in the Balkans, and the ambitions
of Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria were beginning to
preoccupy the various chancelleries of Europe. All

these circumstances put together decided William II.

to forget his wrath and to forgive his sister what,
126
 PRUSSIA OFFERS HELP
in the first moments of his fury, he had declared to have
been an action of which a traitor alone could have
been guilty.
Nevertheless, the
apprehensions of those wise
diplomats who had sure that the marriage of the
felt

Crown Prince of Greece with a Princess of Prussia

would mean the end of Russian influence in the Hellenic
kingdom, turned out to have been groundless. During
the recent Balkan war, it was to Petersburg and to
Paris or London that the Greek Government turned
for advice and protection, and it was there that it con-
fided the secret designs which it nourished in regard
to Constantinople and the Straits.Berlin was forgotten,
or, at least, treated as a negligible quantity.
When King George was murdered at Salonika,
William II. at once telegraphed to his sister and
brother-in-law to assure them of his readiness to further,
to the best of his ability,
any plans they might feel
inclined tomake. He received a most polite reply,
but that was all. At that time M. Venizelos was in
power, and he would have restrained the King from
committing himself in any way, even if the latter had
wanted to do so. This wise politician nourished other
ambitions, and being perhaps more convinced than
most statesmen that the family ties of sovereigns
have a good deal to do with their political convictions,
he wanted to arrange an alliance between the new
Crown Prince of the Hellenes and the Princess Elisabeth
of Roumania, his cousin.
There was one moment when the plan seemed likely
to succeed, but then other complications occurred,
127
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
and objections were raised at Athens as well as at
Bucharest. The new Queen of Roumania, though
she had been wedded herself at sixteen, declared that
she did not approve of too early marriages. Queen
Sophy, too, expressed herself as more eager to see the
future of her eldest daughter, the Princess Hel^ne,
settled than that of her son, whom she considered
as still too young to take unto himself a wife. If
the truth need be told, they wanted at Athens to keep
matters hanging on so as to have the possibility of
arranging a match between the Crown Prince and
—
one of the daughters of the Tsar an ambition which
the Queen, though a Prussian princess by birth,
cherished quite as much as did her mother-in-law,
the Dowager Queen Olga Constantinovna.
In Bucharest, those in highest places were well
aware of the secret reasons which made the Greek
Royal Family show some diffidence towards the possi-
bility of a Roumanian marriage for its heir, and the

young Queen Marie felt deeply hurt at what she termed

"
such duplicity." She would have liked to have the
knowledge her eldest daughter had married
that

advantageously, but she did not care to settle irrev-

ocably her son's future, and she had been made to
understand that if she consented, and induced the
King to consent, to the Crown Prince becoming engaged
to the Princess Helene of Greece, her own girl would
have a greater chance to become the Queen of the
Hellenes. A curious and rather disgraceful kind of
bargaining was going on simultaneously at Athens and
at Bucharest, with the probable result that the hopes
128
 KING FERDINAND OF BULGARIA
and plans of politiciansand leaders of parties in both
these places were bound to
collapse and crumble to
pieces, as so often the case with things that are too
is

cleverly contrived.
If the Greek heir-apparent showed some hesitation
in asking the Princess Elisabeth of Roumania to be-
come his wife, there was another personage who would
have given a good deal to induce her to look in his
direction. King Ferdinand of Bulgaria had had his

eye upon her for a long time as a possible bride for his
eldest son. Undoubtedly such an alliance would have
won many friends to the Coburg dynasty, and helped
to consolidate itupon newly-won throne. The King,
its

who is clever, and one of the most intriguing politi-

cians of his generation, had already in the matter of
his own marriages carefully selected his two wives,
choosing princesses whose family connections might
prove of use to him in the ambitious schemes which
he had nursed from the first day he had set foot upon
Bulgarian soil. His first consort, the Princess Marie
Louise of Parma, was a sweet woman, not perhaps
excessively intelligent, but kind, good, and conscien-
tious, who had brought as a dowry not only a
considerable sum of money, but also the prestige of
that great Bourbon name which, in spite of all its
misfortunes and vicissitudes,
still exercised some attrac-

tion and influence on the crowd. He had made her

very unhappy by his selfishness and brutality, so that
when she was dying she expressed her relief at having
to leave a world which had proved so hard to her.
After her demise, Ferdinand decided, at first, to remain

J 129
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
a widower, and never again to give himself the trouble
of having a wife before whom he would have to observe,
at least, the outward convenances which society and
a good education required from every man who had
the least desire to be called a gentleman. He was
fond of his liberty, fonder still of his independence,
and did not care to abandon it to the caprices of a
young girl, who would expect him to treat her with a

respect which the unfortunate Princess of Parma had

been far too weak and timid to compel. He
engaged
an excellent governess for his two daughters, who,
besides, had the advantage of remaining under the
immediate supervision and control of the Princess
Clementine of Coburg, their grandmother. He there-
after began leading the existence of a gay bachelor.
So long as his mother, the Princess Clementine,
was alive this was relatively easy for him to do but
;

when she died he began to feel that the Palace of Sophia,

as well as his summer residence of Euxinograd, wanted
a mistress to do the honours of those two lovely places.
His girls were still children, and also required to be
chaperoned by someone of nearer interest than a
lady-in-waiting. He felt besides that the plans he had
nursed for such a long time were beginning to mature,
and that when he would be proclaimed King the pres-
ence of a Queen at his side would become a State
necessity. Therefore, during the frequent excursions
which he was continually undertaking abroad, he
looked round him in order to find a princess worthy,
in his opinion, of sharing with him the crown he was
about to put on his head, and at the same time willing
130
 A KINDLY FATE
to do so. This last was by no means an easy matter,
thanks to the reputation he had managed to acquire.
He would never have consented to ally himself to
a lady who could not boast of the bluest blood in
Christendom, and he required also a wife intellect-
ually able to hold her own, and to help him in the
vast political designs he was nourishing in the secrecy
of his heart.
Fate was kind to him, and brought him to the feet
of Princess Eleonore of Reuss Kostritz, a cousin of
the Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia. She was no
longer young — indeed, was not very far from her
fiftieth —
birthday but she was clever, extremely amiable,
possessed the most dignified manners, and had spent
the best years of her life engaged in charitable works,
having won for herself the reputation of a person
whose whole soul was vestedin the task of relieving
the miseries of mankind. When the Manchurian
War broke out she started for the distant plains
where was being fought, and there, as a sister of the
it

Red Cross, had worked with the utmost devotion.

She was not rich, but highly connected, and through
her cousins had an easy entree in all the Courts of

Europe, where from her earliest youth she had been

welcomed with affection and respect. When Prince
Ferdinand, as he still was at the time, saw her, he
made up his mind at once that she would make him
an ideal consort, and forthwith proposed to her.
To his surprise his offer was not received with
enthusiasm. The Princess Eleonore was no fool, and
she understood perfectly well the reasons that had
131
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
induced her unexpected suitor to wish for the honour
of her hand. She knew, that in marrying her, he imagined
he was acquiring the protection and the sympathies of
the Russian Court as well as those of Austria and
Germany, and that he was actuated more by political
motives than by anything else. But she was also a
woman of wide good sense, and of strong character,
who felt quite capable of holding her own,
herself
even against such a despot as Prince Ferdinand was
supposed to be. She asked for time to make up her
mind, and at last decided that the adventure was
well worth the trying, and that in the worst of cases
she could always come back to her old home, where
her numerous nephews and nieces would give her
a warm welcome. This marriage, which from both
sides was entirely a political affair, was celebrated at

Coburg on February 28th, 1908, and the newly married

Princess was taken in great pomp by her husband to

Sophia, where she made a solemn and ceremonious

entry. She very quickly found herself at home there,
and ruled the household of Prince Ferdinand with a
firm but at the same time a liberal hand.
Her husband soon found out that she did not in-

tend to be treated as a nonentity, but meant to make

herself obeyed in all matters with which she was directly
concerned. She advised him most sensibly, and by her
unfailing tact prevented him falling into many mistakes
through his hot and hasty temper. People respected
her, and she was generally considered as the best
friend not only that her husband but also that Bul-

garia had. She was ambitious but just a mean;

132
 A POLITICAL AFFAIR
action would be impossible for her to commit, and
she would never lend herself to duplicity, even in

politics.
The Prince was not in the least in love with her.
His nature was so selfish and so lazy that it seemed
hardly probable he would ever indulge in genuine
sentiments of affection for anyone. But he was keenly
sensible of the fact that she would prove an invaluable

help to him in the future, especially when he suc-

ceeded —as he fondly believed he would —in effecting
his entry into Constantinople in the quality of an
Eastern Emperor. When the war broke out with
Bulgaria and Servia against Turkey, he sought her
—
advice and followed it at least for a time. But when
Adrianople was taken, the King lost his balance, and
piled one mistake upon another, with the disastrous
result that Bulgaria was beaten by her former allies,
and that by the Treaty of Bucharest she was deprived
of most of the advantages which she had won through
her successful campaign against Turkey.
After peace had been concluded, King Ferdinand

naturally looked about for the means to neutralise the

bad effect which the conditions had had for him. And
at juncture he bethought himself that, having
this
a son of an age to marry, he could not find him a more
suitable bride than the eldest daughter of the new
King and Queen of Roumania.
He therefore applied himself to win over not only
the Roumanian cabinet, but also the Queen, by whom
he was intensely disliked, as he knew very well. To
achieve his end he began a series of intrigues, which
133
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
have more than one chance of proving successful in
the long run.
As will be seen from all that I have just revealed,
it is the members of the Royal family of Roumania
who are at the present moment the principal figures
in the marriage markets of Europe. All the other
Balkan kingdoms are eager to unite themselves with
the Roumanian Royal Family, only in order to influ-
if

ence Roumanian politics and to force them to bring

their weight to bear on the course of events in the
Near East.
Roumania to-day holds the key to the international
situation, now that Italy has resolutely declared herself
on the side of the Allies and it is but natural that,
;

looking at things from this particular point of view,

Greece, Servia, and Bulgaria should try to enlist her
sympathies in order to achieve, with her help, or through
her determination to remain strictly neutral, the
ambitious designs they have been nursing in the silence
of their souls. Bulgaria especially has never renounced
her dreams to establish herself at Constantinople as the
successor of the Palaeologues and the Porphyrogenetes ;
and the only serious opposition she thinks she has
to dread is that of Roumania, who, if she were to
favour Greece, would most certainly put a very effective
spoke in the wheels of King Ferdinand's chariot. If,
on the contrary, a Roumanian princess were to reside
at Sophia, it would be most difficult for Roumania
to exercise her influence in favour of the pretensions
of Greece.
The only thing which might favour this ambitious
134
 RUSSIA AND THE BALKANS
design is the circumstance that the King and Queen
of Roumania have and among them tliree
six children,

daughters whose religion does not make them easy

to marry. Barring the hope of seeing the Crown Prince
of Greece propose to one of them, the heir to the

Bulgarian throne would not be such a bad parti for

one of the princesses, and thus family affection and
parental solicitude play not a small part in the quarrels
which divide the different populations of the Balkan

Peninsula, and set them one

against the other.
A curious thing, however, must not be lost sight of,
which proves that, in spite of all the efforts that have
—
been made to shake if not to destroy Russian —
prestige in the Near East, the attempt has completely
failed. It is the general wish and hope, which is to

be observed at Athens, as well as at Bucharest and at

Sophia, that the powerful Russian Tsar should allow

one of his daughters to allv herself to the future monarch
of Roumania, and thus forge fresh links between her
" "
and the populations whom Mother Russia has

helped to free from the Turkish yoke.

Among the members of the Greek Royal Family
there is none who is in the possession of greater
popu-
larity* in her adopted country than the wife of the

present King's third brother, the Princess Helene, the

daughter of the Grand Duke Vladimir and this in
;

of her
spite of the fact that the Russian sympathies
mother-in-law. Queen Olga, were at one time severely
criticised. be noted, by the way, that Queen
It is to

Olga herself was so incensed with these criticisms that

since the war broke out she has refused to return to
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Athens, but has remained in Russia, not wishing that
the position of her son might be embarrassed, or com-

promised by her presence, at a moment when he re-

quired to remain absolutely free as to any decisions
he might find himself called upon to make in the
interests of hismonarchy.
While referring to the brothers of King Constantine
as well as their marriages, I must say a word con-
cerning Prince George and what at the time was
called his extraordinary match. He was supposed to
be in love with one of his English cousins, whom,
however, he could not marry owing to the fact that
the Greek Orthodox Church does not admit unions
between near relations, and is less indulgent in this
respect than the Russian branch, with whom arrange-
ments can be made. For a long time the young man
appeared to be quite inconsolable, until at last, during
one of his frequent journeys to Paris, he came across
the pretty and clever Princess Marie Bonaparte, the
daughter of Prince Roland and of Mademoiselle Blanc,
whose father had been the creator of Monte Carlo
and of its famous Casino, which venture had allowed
him to build up a huge fortune that passed to his
three children. The Princess Roland died when giving
birth to her daughter, who on her attaining her majority
found herself one of the greatest heiresses in Europe.
Princess Marie might have married long before chance
threw her into the way of Prince George, but she had
snubbed all her admirers with more or less impertinence,
declaring that she would only wed with a member of
a reigning dynasty. This event, however, did not seem
136
 GEORGE OF GREECE MARRIES
a very likely one, owing to the fact that her pedigree
left much to be desired, and the idea of seeing the

grandchild of the owner of the largest gambling den

in the world mate with Royalty shocked the ultra-

loyalist feelings of monarchists in general.

Prince George, however, showed himself a man above
vulgar prejudices, and all, he was
reflecting that, after
not marrying the daughter of Mile. Blanc but that
of Prince Bonaparte, he asked the hand of the haughty

heiress,and was immediately accepted. The wedding

took place at Athens, and the young couple lived there
for some time —
at least, for a part of the year but soon ;

the Princess Marie got weary of contemplating con-

tinually the ruins of the Acropolis, and began sighing for

the Paris boulevards, the Avenue du Bois, Longchamps
and Auteuil, and Parisian pleasures, as well as for the
vast and beautiful palace which Prince Roland had
built for himself in the Avenue d'lena, where the

apartments formerly occupied by his daughter remained

always ready and waiting for her. She gradually spent
lesstime in Greece and more in France, and succeeded
in transforming her husband into a finished boule-
vardier —at least, this is what one hears. On the
other ''hand it must be admitted that there are things
which go towards proving that these sayings are
far

nothing but gossip, because Prince and Princess George

of Greece are both very fond of Denmark, and make

long sojourns there. Lately, and since the war broke

out, they have stopped in Copenhagen for a consider-

able time, and it is rumoured from other sources than

those who attribute to them an inordinate love for

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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
the French capital that they would like to have a
regular home on Danish shores.
It is difficult to know what truth there is in all
these tales, but one fact remains and seems to be
beyond contestation and that is, that Queen Sophie
:

does not get on very well with her pretty, fascinating

sister-in-law, and that the latter prefers not to live
surrounded by an atmosphere of hostility. Being abso-
lutely independent of the bounty of King Constantine,
she prefers to live where she can do what she likes,
and lead the existence of a private person, able to
claim, whenever she wishes to do so, all the privileges
of a daughter-in-law of a sovereign. Her marriage
certainly belongs to the number of those which one
can call happy, but still it offers one curious peculiarity
—that though it has not caused her husband to come
down to her level, it has not quite raised her to his ;

and that though it has allied French and Greek blood,

it has not amalgamated them.

i3«
 CHAPTER VIII

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

are few sovereigns whose marriage was the
THERE
cause of so much heart-burning as that of the

King of Spain. Ever since his birth speculations had

been rife as to whom
Alphonso XIII. was to marry.
All the Habsburg and the Bourbon princesses had been
named in conjunction with his future, the balance of

opinion being that the Queen Mother, Marie Cliristine,

would like to see him wedded to an archduchess, as
her strong Austrian sympathies were very well known.
Her own marriage was essentially one in which politics
had played the principal part. It had been arranged
by the dispossessed Queen Isabella, who had all along
been dreading that her son would ally himself to the
Montpensier family, which she hated ever since her
sister, the Infanta Louise Fernanda, backed by all

the influence of the Orleans, had set herself up as a

rival, and raised her ambitious eyes to the throne of

Spain. The passionate affection which King Alphonso

XII. had conceived for his cousin. Donna Maria de las
Mercedes, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of
Montpensier, had been the cause of much sorrow to
his mother, who, though she had consented to grace
the wedding ceremony with her presence, had never
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
forgiven the young King for having dared to take for
his Queen the daughter of parents who had continually

intrigued in order to deprive him of his Crown. And

when, three months after her marriage, a sudden and
insidious disease had carried away the girl whom she
disliked so intensely. Donna Isabella felt that Heaven
itself had interfered on her behalf. Thereafter she
directed her efforts to persuade the widowed and
all

inconsolable Alphonso to seek another bride, who

might bring him the advantages of high connections

and of an unblemished character.
The Austrian had been
Court, too, ever since he
called to the throne of his ancestors, had kept an eye
on the youthful sovereign who ruled over Spain. The
Ball Platz, ever to have a finger in every
eager
matrimonial pie, had always an archduchess ready
to wed any eligible bridegroom she was told to accept.
Don Alphonso was well known in Vienna, where he
had studied at the Theresianum school, and whilst
in Austria he had been very cordially treated by the

Emperor Francis Joseph, as well as by the whole Imperial

family. The widow of the Archduke Charles Ferdinand,
the Archduchess Elizabeth, was especially cordial. Her

only daughter, Marie Christine, had just been elected

abbess of the Convent of Noble Ladies of the Hradschin
in Prague, a dignity that was always conferred on a
member of the Imperial family. The office did not
prohibit marriage on the part of its holder. Marie
Christine was a person of uncommon intelligence and
considerable strength of character, with immense

dignity, grand eighteenth-century manners, and a

140
 AN INDIFFERENT SUITOR
warm heart, as well as a sweet disposition. She had
not been very much out in society, as etiquette for-
bade the young archduchesses to mix too much in the
pleasures of the world, and they lived in the state of
semi-seclusion which was considered befitting to their

high rank. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at if

she fell in love with the Spanish prince, with whom

her clever mother tried to bring her together as often

as she could. Unfortunately, Don Alphonso's heart
was already in the possession of his cousin he paid ;

no attention to Marie Christine, and noticed neither

the wonderful charm which she possessed nor the
noble qualities which made her such an exceptional
creature. He left Vienna entirely heart-whole; but
this was from being the case with the young girl,
far
who wept bitter tears when she thought that she had
to give up the hopes in which she had been imprudently

encouraged by all her family.

Time went on ; Donna Maria de las Mercedes was
carried away to the gloomy vaults of the Escurial,
and Alphonso XII. was free once more. His best
dreams had been rudely destroyed, and it became a
matter of indifference to him who should take the
place ;of the wife he had worshipped with all a boy's
enthusiasm and a man's passion. Queen Isabella
thought that it might be possible now to speak to
him once more of the Archduchess Marie Christine, and
he allowed himself to be persuaded that he could not
find a better consort.His ministers, too, with Canovas
del Castillo at their head, were in favour of an Austrian
alliance, and so one day the young King proposed to
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
the girl, who had been him for a
secretly in love with
number of years, during a meeting which had been
arranged between them at Arcachon, in France, and
the following November saw them married with a
great display of pomp at the Atocha Church in
Madrid.
Marie Christine could hardly believe in her own
happiness, and during the first months which followed
upon her marriage an atmosphere of joy, from
lived in

which, however, she was very soon to be rudely

awakened. The King was of essentially a flirting, fickle
nature, for whom every woman's smile had attraction,
and who could no more have remained faithful to his
wife than have flown in the air at a time when balloons
had not been invented. Had his first consort lived
it is probable that he would not have been much
different in the end; and, having married his present
Queen and dynastic reasons, it
entirely for political
is not to be wondered at that he neglected her and
soon forgot the elementary courtesies of life in his
conduct towards her. Marie Christine suffered deeply
and bitterly, but made no sign, and led a most retired
kind of life in the solitude of the vast Royal palace
of Madrid, spending her whole time with her children
and carefully abstaining from meddling with politics
or with the government of the country.
Most of those who met her pronounced her a non-
entity, and wondered why her arrival in Spain had
been preceded by such a reputation for cleverness,
of which she seemed in reality to have very little,

if any at all. Very quickly, then, Marie Christine came

142
 THE QUEEN'S TRIUMPH
to be considered as a person of no importance, whose
existence at the side of the King was a State affair
but nothing else. When her first two children turned
out to be girls it was generally felt that her marriage
had been a failure, and that it was a pity Queen
Isabella,and the responsible ministers of the King,
had hurried him so quickly into an alliance that
had brought with it none of the advantages which
it had been supposed to
possess at the time it was
concluded.

Subsequent events, however, proved that the Queen

Mother, as well as the statesmen who at that time
were in charge of the interests of Spain, had seen
more clearly than the general public in respect to the
When her husband died,
qualities of Marie Christine.
and she was left suddenly in charge of a monarchy
that had neither heir nor even tenant for the time,
she displayed not only rare courage, but also con-
siderable governmental aptitude, and astonished all
those who had to deal with her by the clear way in
which she grasped the intricate problems attending
the political and commercial welfare of the country
to which she had been a stranger but a few years
earlier. She set herself to her difficult task with a

quiet energy and determination that won her the

respect of the bitterest enemies of the monarchy,
and of even the staunchest opponents of the Bourbon
dynasty. She was no more than twenty-seven years
of age when she became a widow, and her son was
born six months after his father's death. During
that time she had to rule in the name of an unknown
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
quantity, and without being able to guess who was
going to succeed Alphonso XII. on the tottering throne
of Spain.

Very few women would have found themselves

capable of fighting against such terrible odds, and very
few also could have done it with the success that
attended her all through the sixteen years which her
—
Regency lasted years that were eventful not only for
herself and for the little King, but also for Spain in
general, especially at the period of the American War.
Marie Christine compelled the world to admire and
to esteem her and she sacrificed herself, in the
;

fullest sense of that word, to her arduous duties.

She lived the existence of a recluse, imposing on
herself the never to admit anyone into
restriction
her intimacy, to have no friends, to allow no in-

trigues to approach her, and to give up those enjoy-

ments and pleasures which a woman of her age
generally cares for. From time to time she used
to hold a solemn reception at the Royal palace,
where the grandees of Spain were admitted to the
honour of kissing her hand and from time to time,
;

also, she was seen at the opera, where she was always
met with great enthusiasm but apart from these
;

rare occasions she never showed herself in public,

and the which took place regularly during
bull-fights
the winter season at Madrid were never frequented by
her —a
fact, by the way, which disposed the population
of the Spanish capital to consider her prudish, they

being, of course, enthusiastic about that wild form of

sport, and considering it part of the duties of the
144
 ENGLAND ADMIRED
Sovereign to attend. She educated her children with
thoroughness, and gave especial care to the training
of the young King, on whose frail shoulders reposed
allthe future of the haughty Spanish monarchy. For

long she had serious grounds to fear that she would

not succeed in bringing him up, the child being ex-
tremely delicate more than once, indeed, he was at
;

death's door during his As soon as he

infancy.
grew up she thought about his marriage, and began
looking round for a suitable wife who would give to
the Crown the heir whose birth was indispensable to
the consolidation of the monarchy.

Strangely enough, Marie Christine, though an

Austrian and a Habsburg, was not in favour of her
son wedding an archduchess. She had become sus-
picious of the polities of the Triple Alliance, and did
not want Spain to be drawn into the net of German
intrigue. On the other hand, she also felt that her
country was not strong enough to be able to go on
without some kind of foreign alliance. France did
not appeal to her, because her Catholic feelings w^ere
revolted at the anti-clerical policy which the Govern-
ment of the Republic had inaugurated. Russia was
too distant. There only remained, therefore, England,
forwhich the Queen Regent had always felt the greatest
admiration, added to her personal feelings of affection
and of respect forQueen Victoria. The two Royal
ladies had met one spring time, when the English
Sovereign had been staying at Biarritz, and Marie
Christine had driven over from St. Sebastian to wel-
come her warmly and affectionately. Ever since that
K 145
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
time the widowed mother of Don Alphonso had
developed in her son a taste for everything EngUsh,
and had taught him to care for Enghsh hterature,
Enghsh art, English comforts, and English sports, the
last of which appealed most strongly to the imagina-

tion of the young King.

It was memorable interview that Marie
after this
Christine began to think of an English bride for her
beloved boy. The young lady whom she had in view
was the youngest daughter of the Duke of Connaught,
the Princess Patricia, who, it was reported to her,
was pretty and accomplished in every way and re-
presented perfectly the type of girl whom any man
might have felt proud to win.
The Queen Regent was far too clever to allow her
son to guess what she had in her mind, and merely
explained to him that it was a necessity after he had
attained his majority that he should start on a round
of visits to foreign Courts for the purpose of getting
into personal touch with the other monarchs in Europe,
to whom he was still unknown, and also of making a

courtesy upon his uncle the Ai'chduke Frederick,

call of

and upon his relatives on his mother's side at Vienna.

At the same time she tried to sound the English Court
as to the possibility of an alliance between it and
the young ruler of Spain. Queen Victoria was already
dead at that time. King Edward had always dreamed
about the day when England's splendid isolation should
come to an end, and she would have come to an under-
standing with other Powers against an enemy of whose
importance he had no false ideas, but whose worth he
146
 THE QUEEN REGENT'S HOPES
appreciated at its full value. He was but too glad
to listen to the overtures which were made to him from
Madrid, of which the first intimation was conveyed
to him in rather a strange manner. The King had
a friend in whom he reposed a considerable degree of
confidence ; thiswas a man who, having begun his
career as a journalist, had ended by being admitted

European Courts. He
into the inner circle of several
was perhaps the best- informed man in Europe upon
foreign politics. An Englishman by birth, he had
spent a certain number of years abroad, travelling for
his pleasure or on secret missions of unusual import-
ance. This man— whose name I forbear from mention-

ing for various reasons into which it is needless to

—
enter had been sent to Madrid on an errand which

required more than usual diplomaticknowledge to

carry to a successful issue ; and whilst there he had
been presented to the Queen Regent. He soon in-

stalled himself in her confidence, and discussed with

her some of the most important questions of the day.
To him Marie Christine broached for the first time
the subject of her secret desire in the matter of her
son's marriage she hinted to him that should an
;

English princess decide to come to Madrid, she would

receive a warm welcome, and she begged him to
ascertain the probable attitude of King Edward VII.
towards the present, personal dream.
this, for
The personage to whom I am referring entered into
her plan, and when he returned
to England he took

advantage of an invitation which he received to spend

a week-end at Sandi'ingham House to speak with King
147
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Edward about his journey to Madrid, and
recent
about the wish of Queen Marie Christine to secure
for her daughter-in-law one of the nieces of the

Enghsh Sovereign.
King Edward, who was far too clever not to appre-
ciate this confidence for what it was worth, entered
at once into the spirit of the secret communication
which was made to him in such an unexpected manner.
He liked to dwell upon the thought that almost all

the thrones of Europe were occupied by relatives of

his, and that nearly all his nieces were destined to
wear a crown. He declared at once that he would
send a warm invitation to Alphonso XIII. to visit
him at Windsor or in London, and that whilst there
he would give him every possible opportunity to meet
the Princess Patricia.
Before this invitation had been accepted, rumours
began to circulate concerning so-called English intrigues
in Spain, with the object of getting that country to

join the entente cordiale that subsisted between France

and Great Britain, and of putting it imder the imme-
diate influence of Great Britain. The German Press
especially became quiterabid, and long articles were
written as to the infamous designs that were nourished
in England and in France in regard to the future of

Spain. The Queen Marie Christine saw them and

shrugged her shoulders, and very few people either
in London or in Paris took the trouble to read them

seriously.
In the meanwhile, Alphonso XIII. started on his
travels. He visited Vienna and stayed a few days
148
 ALPHONSO XIII. TRAVELS
with his uncle, the Archduke Frederick, at the latter's
lovely estate of Teschcn, where he was offered excellent
sport. Then Paris saw him for the first time, and at
last he arrived in London, where he found summer
in all its glory, and the rhododendrons in the parks
still in full bloom.
In London, the youthful Spanish Sovereign was
received with great cordiality, and won golden opinions
everywhere he showed himself. He was an exceedingly
bright and cheerful boy, full of life and fun, enthusiastic
over all the new things which he noticed, and the
wonderful sights which England offered to his in-
experienced eyes. He dined at Windsor and danced
at Buckingham Palace ; and in due course he was
introduced to the Princess Patricia, who, however,
declared that though she found him very nice, she
would on no account marry him, and did not feel the
slightest ambition to wear the crown of a Queen of
Spain.
It was just as well, perhaps, that the prospect did
not appeal to her, because the impetuous King, instead
of devoting his attention to her, as his mother would
have liked him to do, immediately singled out, from
the intimate circle at the Court, a fair and lovely girl,
whose golden hair and blue eyes fascinated him from
the first moment that he had seen them ; she was the
Princess Ena of Battenberg, another of the numerous

granddaughters of Queen Victoria.

Princess Ena was a
fine type of a healthy English

girl. She had been admirably brought up by her

most distinguished and clever mother, and she had
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
had the advantage of spending her childish years under
the roof of the late Queen, and consequently had seen
from quite near the etiquette which governed the
Court of a great monarch. She was amiable, pleasant,
merry ; always in good temper, and fond of fun and
of sport, the two chief characteristics of Alphonso XIII.
The latter fell passionately in love with her, but did
not dare to speak about it, nor even to write about
the state of his feelings to Queen Marie Christine,
who, in her dreary palace at Madrid, was waiting
with anxiety for any news that might come to her
as to the sayings and doings of her beloved son in
London.
Now arrives an episode which will do away with
a good legends concerning the marriage of the
many
present King and Queen of Spain. It is currently
believed that the idea of it was first conceived by the

Empress Eugenie, who had long wished to see her

god-daughter, Princess Ena, of whom she was

the

excessively fond, become the wife of Don Alphonso

de Boiu-bon. In reality, the aged Empress had never
thought about it and it was the personage to whom
;

I have already referred who, after his journey to

Madrid, had first spoken to Eugenie about it. He knew
that she had a certain amount of influence over
Princess Henry of Battenberg, the mother of Princess
Ena, and that more easily than anyone else she could
broach the subject of this brilliant alliance and, at
the same time, handle, with the tact for which she
had always been justly famed, the delicate matter of
Princess Ena's conversion to the Catholic faith —a
150
 BETROTHED
matter which was indispensable if the marriage were
to take place.
The exiled Empress was quite delighted, and entered
with zest into the plot — if it can be called so —and by
inviting theyoung people to come and see her simulta-
neously she encom'aged them in the mutual love which
was fast growing up between them. She also spoke
at length with Princess Beatrice and King Edward
about the possibility of arranging this unexpected
alliance. King Edward advised his sister to assent
to it, and finally it was settled that Don Alphonso
should return to Spain, consult his own mother and
his ministers as to the advisability of the marriage
which he contemplated. Thereafter another meeting was
to take place between him and the lady of his heart
at Biarritz during the coming autumn, where the
Princess Frederica of Hanover, remembering the kind-
ness which Queen Victoria had shown to her at the
time of her own wedding, and informed by the Princess
Beatrice of the negotiations which were going on,
offered her villa as a neutral meeting place, where the
Spanish monarch could see the Princess Ena with a
facility he would not have been able to obtain any-
where else.

It was there that the betrothal took place at last

in the month of the September following, and thence
also Queen Marie Christine journeyed in haste to see
for the first time her futm'e daughter-in-law.She was
charmed at first glance by Princess Ena's unaffected
simplicity, and was, moreover, delighted to renew her
friendship with the Princess Beatrice, whom she had
151
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
not met since that other journey of hers to Biarritz,
when she had come to the famous watering-place to
pay her respects to Queen Victoria. The two ladies
were delighted to find themselves together again, and
after some amount of discussion it was finally settled
that the marriage of King Alphonso with the Princess
Ena was to take place in the following May at Madrid.
Thus culminated a romance in which the whole of
Europe had been deeply interested, and which, like
a fairy tale, finished in joy and in prosperity. The
new Queen of Spain excited the deepest admiration

among her subjects from the first moment that they

set on her blonde beauty
their eyes and she also ;

contrived to make herself popular amidst her own

family, who charms of the young
appreciated the
English girl who had brought such an atmosphere of
joy and of merriment into their austere home. The
grave mouth of Queen Marie Christine learned to smile
once more when she gazed at her bright daughter-in-
law, and listened to her soft laugh and buoyant spirits,
which life might in time subdue but would never
sadden entirely. And when one little child after another
came add new joys to the Royal home, which for
to
such a long time had stood empty and forlorn, the
Dowager Queen felt that she had nothing left to wish
for in a life which had never known so much joy, as
from the day when her impetuous boy had brought
to gladden it the beautiful, lovely and loving EngHsh
girl he had wooed and won on the shores of the grey
Atlantic Ocean.
It was but natural that this marriage of the King
152
 GERMAN DISPLEASURE
of Spain with a niece of King Edward should have dis-

pleased the Emperor William and German politicians,

who would have liked Alphonso to wed an Austrian
archduchess, whose advent at the Court of Madrid
would have meant good relations with Vienna and
wuth Berlin. They felt that in a certain sense this
union was an insult to them, and that it meant they
would never be able to dictate to Madrid the conduct
which they required the Spanish Government to follow.
This wedding was a checkmate to them, and they did
not likeit, nor did they relish the frequent visits which

the young Spanish sovereigns used to make to London

and to the Isle of Wight. Above everything else, they
dreaded the influence that King Edward, through
Queen Victoria Eugenie, might acquire over the decisions
of the Spanish Court. They were clever enough to
understand that in regard to future complications in
Europe this union had had an enormous political
importance, perhaps even greater than had the mar-
riage of King Carlos of Portugal with the eldest daughter
of the Comte de Paris, the Princess Amelie of Orleans.
The Portugal match was also one where, in spite
of all that was written about it, personal affection
had a.greater part than politics, though the well-known
ambition of the Orleans dynasty justified this judgTnent
of the crowd. But in spite of this fact, politics came
to play a considerable part in it in after years, when
the Sovereign of Portugal found himself in conflict
with his people, and was supposed to be encouraged
in the attitude wiiich he assumed by the influence

of the Queen, who, after having been loved by the

153
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
population of Lisbon like few women have ever been,
became disliked and hated with an intensity which
even her misfortunes did not diminish, and which
every imprudent step made by her son Don Manuel
helped to increase. The life of Amelie is perhaps one
of the saddest which history has ever had to register.
A stranger in a strange land, she was at first worshipped
by its inhabitants and then, through no fault of hers,
she saw her husband and her son murdered under her
own eyes she found herself driven into exile, and
;

reduced to lead a wandering, hopeless, and cheerless

existence. She has not even the consolation of seeing
children cluster around her knee, or of hearing the
little

patter of their small feet running in the corridors of

the house where she has found refuge, and where, it
is to be feared, she will have to end her days in solitary

grandeur, with no other comfort than to be able to

think that she always did her duty, no matter in what
position she was placed.
Queen Amelie of perhaps the most
Portugal is

unfortunate sovereign of modern times. She has been

disappointed in everything that she has undertaken :

thwarted in her affections for her parents, for her sisters

and brothers, for her husband, and for her children.
It is no secret that the conduct of King Manuel has

been the source of much sorrow to his mother, and

that only lately that he has begun to look upon
it is

things with more serious attention than was the case

before his marriage.
That marriage of Don Manuel also belongs to the
category of those events which have given rise to
154
 KING MANUEL
a considerable amount of gossip. For some years
after his flight from Portugal he travelled about and
tried to spend his time in the pleasantest manner
possible, but not in one calculated to win for him the
respect of the Portuguese nation. His mother used
to implore him to get married, if only from the dynastic
point of view, which required him to have an heir
to his pretensions and to his rights. The young King
did not take kindly to the idea, which he resisted as

long as he found it possible to do so. But at last

the leaders of the Royalist party at Lisbon sent one of
their adherents to the Dowager Queen, and begged
her to explain to her son that they made it a con-
dition to any movement they might attempt in his
favour that he should take to himself a wife, as the
birth of an was indispensable to the consolidation
heir
of the pretensions of the House of Braganza to the
Crown of Portugal.
Thus forced to act, Don Manuel started on
a journey to Germany, where he hoped to find a
suitable consort, willing to associate herself with his

precarious chances and ambitions. This was no easy

matter to accomplish, as his racy reputation had pre-
ceded; him everywhere. Even the daughters of the
Archduke Frederick of Austria refused to have any-
thing to do with him, and yet they were supposed to
be extremely desirous of snatching the first chance that
offered of leaving their mother, with whom their
relations were not of the very best. Manuel met with
a succession of rebuffs wherever he showed himself,
and at last returned to London, where he explained
155
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
toQueen Amelie that it had been quite impossible for him
to comply with her wishes and those of his partisans.
Great consternation followed upon his announce-
ment, and the Queen took to her bed, so upset did she
feel at this bitter disappointment toher hopes. It
all

was at this juncture that Cardinal Netto, the former

Patriarch of Lisbon, came to the rescue, and made to
Don Manuel and to his mother a proposition which
pleased them both exceedingly. The Braganzas had
relations Germany, the sister of Don Luis, the
in

grandfather of King Manuel, the Infanta Maria Antonia,

having married the Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern —
the head of this illustrious House, or, rather, of the
—
Roman Catholic branch of it who resided at the castle
of Sigmaringen. She had had several children, and
her eldest son had wedded the daughter of the Countess
of Trani, the sister of the
Empress Elisabeth of Austria.
She had died from consumption a few years after her
marriage, leaving two sons and one daughter the
—
Princess Augusta Victoria, who was twenty-three

years old, not exactly pretty, but attractive, intelligent,

admirably well brought up, and whose family con-
nections were unimpeachable who, moreover, was
;

related to the House of Braganza, and might feel more

inclined to share the fortunes of its young chief than
a woman to whom he was a perfect stranger. Don
Manuel sighed, but recognised the wisdom of the
advice which was being proffered, and consented at last
to a visit to his cousin the Prince of Hohenzollern,

during which he would have an opportunity to become

acquainted with the Princess Augusta Victoria.
156
 A SENSIBLE AFFAIR
The visit proved a success, inasmuch as the two
young people grew to like each other well enough to
risk theadventure of a marriage which, at all events,
was a most suitable one for both parties. Don Manuel's
fiancee was a most reasonable person, who, perhaps
because she did not expect much either from life or
from the husband whom she was to marry, had got
more chances of happiness than w^ould have been the
case with a romantic and affectionate girl who looked
for something else in life than a good establishment.

She accepted the position of an exiled Queen, and

being heiress to a lot of money of her own, besides the
large fortune which Don Manuel had been able to save
from the disaster in which his crown had been lost
she fully meant to shape a most agreeable existence
home whither her husband
for herself in the English
intended to take her after their marriage.
I am using purposely the word
"
intended," be-
cause many months passed before the new Queen could
undertake the journey. A sudden and rather mys-
terious disease struck her at Munich a few days after
her marriage, and obliged her to enter a private nursing
home, where she spent several weeks, after which she
had to* convalesce at her father's home at Sigmaringen.
The occurrence
gave rise to numerous and most
ill-naturedcomments on the part of the public com- —
ments that proved most untrue, because as soon as
she was cured the young wife of King Manuel started
together with him for England, where they settled in
a lovely old house called Fulwell Park, at Twickenham,
in the suburbs of London, which they had rented for

157
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
a number of years. Ever since they have been living
there, going about in a quiet way amongst their
numerous friends, Don Manuel seems to have given
up the nonsense to which he had been addicted before
his marriage, whilst theQueen has become fond of the
country and of the new surroundings amidst which
she found herself called upon to live. Husband and
wife get on very well together, but their marriage so
far has remained childless, and the House of Braganza
still lacks an heir.

5«
 CHAPTER IX
DENMARK AND ITS ALLIANCES
Royal House of Denmark is perhaps the one
THE whose marriages have had the greatest influence
on the course of European pohtics, thanks to the great
authority which both the late King Christian IX.
and his accomplished and clever wife, Queen Louise,
acquired over their numerous sons-in-law, nephews,
children, and grandchildren, and to the wise advice
which they gave to them, and which the recipients of
it knew how to appreciate and to respect. It is
quite likely that if the King had been living at the
present moment the terrible war which is desolating
the world would have been avoided. The old mon-
arch's voice would have had a deciding weight in the
difficult questions which so unexpectedly cropped up

during 1914. It is even probable that he would

have found a way to smooth them down without
and thus have spared
recurring to the force of arms,
to humanity the wholesale massacres which have
desolated so many homes and hearts.
The position occupied by the Royal pair who sat
for over forty yearsupon the throne of Denmark had
been quite an exclusive one, and this is the more to
be wondered at, as no one had believed when Prince
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Cliristian Schleswig Holstein Sonderburg
of - - -
Glucks-

bourg, according to the treaty concluded in London

on May 8th, 1852, had been recognised as heir to the
Danish Crown that he would prove anything but a
most insignificant sovereign. It is most likely that
this had a deal to do with the
consideration had

unanimity with which all the Great Powers agreed in

the suggestion that he would be the right and proper
person to put in this position. King Christian, how-
ever, did not in the least intend to remain in a secondary
place. He, and perhaps his Queen even more, were
most ambitious, and, understanding very well that
—
they could never owing to the position of Denmark
in general —aspire to rise to a prominent place
among European monarchs, determined nevertheless
to control the politicsworld through their
of the
children, and the marriages which the latter would
make, or the dignities they might attain.
In this important matter, as in so many others,
both the King and the Queen gave ample proofs of
the diplomatic talents which they possessed in such
a remarkable degree. They were perfectly aware that
their daughters had better chances to make brilliant
matches were thought that Denmark would never
if it

attempt to mix itself up with the foreign affairs of other

countries ;and also that their dynasty in the eyes of
all the shrewd politicians who controlled the chancel-

leries of Paris, London, Petersburg, and Vienna had the

advantage of appearing perfectly harmless, at least so

far as regarded the family connectionswhich it had at
that time. They made up their minds to go on pre-
i6o
 A SPLENDID CONSORT
serving a modest attitude until the moment when
their daughters would be established and the future
of their sons assured.
The first member of their family to leave their
home for one of her own was the Princess Alexandra,
whom fate took to London, where she made herself so
beloved by the people over whom she was one day
to reign. The marriage of the then Prince of Wales
with the daughter of Prince Christian of Holstein, as
he still was at that time, was immensely popular in
the United Kingdom, and she was welcomed when
she first landed on British shores with a burst of
enthusiasm such as England had not witnessed for
a long time. She was lovely, sweet, good, amiable,
and as tactful as her parents. She understood to
perfection how to be gracious to all with whom she
came into contact, and she made herself beloved every-
where she showed herself. Princess Alexandra realised
the complicated problem of keeping the affections of
the nation she had come to rule at the same level all

through the fifty odd years she has lived amongst

it, and never once during that whole time has a
single voice been heard in disparagement of her, or
the slightest criticism raised as to any of her sayings
or her doings.
Whilst the negotiations concerning her marriage
were still going on, a further important matter concern-
ing another child of the future King and Queen of
Denmark was raised by European diplomacy. The
revolution that had taken place in Greece had obliged
the sovereign of that realm, Otto of Bavaria, to return
L i6i
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
to his native land. Greece found herself without a
king, and after much talk, and a good many tergi-
versations, the Greek National Assembly, after having

vainly tried to obtain as its Sovereign the second son

of Queen Victoria, the Duke of Edinbm'gh, offered its
Crown to Prince William of Denmark, the brother of
the Princess of Wales. The Great Powers interested
in the Greek question having given their assent to this
choice in London on June 5th, 1863, the young prince
was recognised as King of the Hellenes under the name
of George I. He started for his new country in October
of the same year, bringing as a present to his people
the Ionian Islands, which England had consented to
retrocede to Greece by one of the articles of the treaty
which had been concluded at the time this
important
matter — the influence of which was to extend itself
to the whole of the Near East, was finally settled
to the general satisfaction of all the interested parties
in the question, Turkey included.

King George was but eighteen years old when he

set his footupon the historic shores of his new kingdom.
Before he started he received some very good advice
from his father, and was promised by his mother that
as soon as his position had become more or less settled
she would occupy herself with the important question
of his marriage, and find for him a bride whose family
connections would strengthen his situation and contri-
bute to his popularity among his people.
When the wise Queen spoke like that she was
already dreaming about an alliance which would unite
her son with the Romanoffs even more closely than
162
 FATE STEPS IN
her House was already, because, in the meanwhile,
the Princess Dagmar, the second daughter of the

Royal had become engaged to the Heir to the

pair,
Crown of All the Russias. Whilst negotiations were
going on between the Greek National Assembly, and the
Royal House of Denmark, several events had occurred
which had considerably added to the importance of
the Danish Royal Family in Europe. For one thing,
the old King of Denmark had died, and the father
of the young Princess of Wales and of the newly
elected Sovereign of the Hellenes had replaced him

upon the throne of that country. The engagement

of Princess Dagmar made King Christian the father-
in-law of the future sovereigns of the two greatest
—
Empires in the world at that time no one thought
about the grandeur of Germany —and thus gave him
it

an entry into the inner circle of higher politics and a

certain sense of influence with each in the future —
a fact which he keenly appreciated. When, a few
months later, the Grand Duke Cesarevitch sickened
and died at Nice, beyond his own mother and the
unfortunate Princess Dagmar no one mourned for
him more sincerely than the sovereigns who had ex-
pected ".to become his parents-in-law, and who saw
thus disappear all their plans for the future as well
as all their honest ambitions, which, in justice to them,
must be confessed were all directed towards the main-
tenance of peace and of harmony in Europe.
It is not to be remarked upon, therefore, that when
friendsbegan hinting that it would be possible to
renew the links which had been so rudely snapped
163
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
asunder, and that the possibility of a Russian establish-
ment for the Princess Dag mar had not altogether
vanished, both the King and the Queen of Denmark
caught eagerly at the idea, and declared themselves
quite willing to see it mature. Eighteen months
went by in that way, and at last their hopes were
realised and their daughter was wedded to the future
Tsar.
The marriage turned out an ideally happy one, and
proved yet again the wisdom of those who had planned
it. It contributed largely to the peace of the world,
and laid the foundations of the present Anglo-French
and Russian understanding, which, but for the influence
exercisedby the old King of Denmark over his sons-
in-law and daughters, might not have been concluded
so soon, nor under such favourable conditions.
When Princess Dagmar settled in her new home, her
mother bethought herself again of the promise which
she had made to her younger son, and she enlisted his
sister's sympathies in the cause she wanted to plead.
The Grand Duke Constantine Nicolaievitch had a
daughter, the Grand Duchess Olga, who was reputed
to be one of the most beautiful women in Europe. She
had barely reached her sixteenth year, but had already
been asked in marriage by more than one German
prince eager to ally himself to the mighty Tsar of All
the Russias. It was towards this Princess that the
thoughts of the Queen of Denmark had turned, feeling
sure that a union between the King of Greece and a

lady who
professed the Greek Orthodox faith would be
most popular among the Hellenes, who, moreover,
164
 ADVANTAGEOUS ALLIANCES
would hail with joy the advent in their midst of a niece
of the Russian Emperor. Her presence at Athens
would ensure to the new Greek kingdom the powerful
protection of Russia.
The Queen of Denmark therefore applied all her
energies to bring it about, and begged of her daughter
also to do all that she could to induce Alexander II.
to look with favourable eyes upon such? an alliance.
—
The Princess Dagmar or rather the Grand Duchess
Marie Feodorovna, for such was the name under which
—
she was henceforward to be known was all too glad to

help her mother. Since her arrival in Russia she had

become warmly attached to the lovely and accomplished
Princess whose hand was sought in marriage by her
brother. She therefore pleaded his cause before the
Emperor, and was genuinely delighted when he gave
Ever since the happy event
his assent to this alliance.

took place she has remained on terms of the most

tender intimacy with the new Queen of the Hellenes,
who on her side reciprocated her affection with all her
heart, and whose warm sympathy and tenderness never
failed her in after and stood beside her during its
life,

most cruel moments, when she lost the husband she

loved SD dearly.
Two years after the King of Greece and the beautiful
Olga Constantinovna had married, his eldest brother,
the Crown Prince of Denmark, also took to himself a
wife. and of King George,
It was, like those of his sisters

an alliance which the Queen Louise had long since pre-

pared, and which brought considerable advantages.
His bride was the only daughter of King Charles of
165
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Sweden and Norway and of a Princess of Nassau, who
was heiress to a fortune of several milhons, and con-
sidered one of the best matches in Europe. It was
an alhance which was popular all over the Scandina-
vian peninsula, and which brought considerable happi-
ness to the two young people who contracted it. The
new Crown Princess made herself quickly at home in
Denmark and amidst her husband's family, and she
became in a short time almost as dear to her parents-
in-law as their own daughters. Children also arrived
in quick succession to add the joy of their presence to
their house, and the old Queen could rejoice with all
her heart as she listened to their innocent prattle, and
in her mind made more than one plan concerning the
future of these small mites.
After the Princesses Alexandra and Dagmar and the
Crown Prince and his brother had married there were
left inthe Royal home of Denmark the Princess Thyra
and Prince Waldemar, who for a considerable number
of years remained near their parents, and about whose
future the match-making Queen did not like to trouble
too much, because she did not care for the thought
of losing them and seeing them established far away
from her. There happened a time, however, when
people began to wonder why the Princess Thyra had
already reached her twenty-fifth year and had not yet
been provided with a husband. She had had more
than one but had always rejected their offers
suitor, ;

and though rumour had associated her name with

almost every marriageable prince in Europe, she did
not seem to show the slightest inclination for matri-
i66
 A SURPRISE ENGAGEMENT
mony. At one time her name was freely coupled with
that of the Prince Imperial of France, who during a
visit which he had paid to
Copenhagen had been the
recipient ofmuch courtesy and great cordiality on the
part of the Royal family. At last the Oilicial Gazette
of Copenhagen announced that an engagement had
taken place between the Princess Thyra and the
Pretender to the Hanoverian throne, the Duke of
Cumberland.
At first the news did not please the Danish people,
and provoked also considerable surprise amidst diplo-
matic circles in Some wonder was expressed
Europe.
how it became
possible that a prudent man like King
Christian IX. should have consented to give his youngest

daughter to a prince whose position was anything but

assured, and who was
virtually an exile deprived of
home and In reality the marriage was far
of fortune.
more advantageous than the world imagined. The
Duke of Cumberland, besides being a very nice man,
and deeply in love with the young princess he had
been lucky enough to win, was enormously rich in spite
of the confiscated millions, which, by the way, were

ultimately returned to him, partly through the good

offices of the King of Denmark. He lived in a beautiful
castle near Ischl,
owning as well a splendid palace at
Vienna and the most magnificent family jewels that
any Royal House could boast. The old and wise King
remembered also that his own sons-in-law were power-
ful enough to help the latest addition to their ranks
to recover his forfeited properties, and to be of
use to him in the matter of the inheritance of the
167
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Duchy of Brunswick, to which he stood the next in
succession.
When all these different reasons were taken into
consideration the marriage was not such a bad one
after all, even for the sister-in-law of the future Tsar of
Russia and the future King of England. The wedding
took place at December, 1878. It
Copenhagen in
established an exception to the rule which had pre-
vailed until then in the Danish Royal House and the ;

new Duchess of Cumberland, instead of joining the

family circle which gathered together every summer

at the castles of Fredensborg or of Bernstorff, made but
rare appearances there. She soon discovered that her
husband was loath to see her leave her Austrian home
more often than was absolutely necessary, and there-
fore seldom made excursions abroad.
Her youngest daughter being thus settled in life
and all her children well established. Queen Louise
found that she could rest for some time on her matri-
monial laurels. Her last boy, it is true, remained
unmarried, but there was ample time to look for a
wife for him, so she did not trouble much
concerning
him, with the consequence that one line day a surprise
for which she was but little prepared was sprung upon
her as he came to confide to her that he had fallen in
love with the daughter of the Due de Chartres, the
Princess Marie of Orleans.
Neither the King nor the Queen had ever given a
thought to the possibility of such an alliance, and for
the few moments they were literally staggered at
first

the idea of the complications which might arise. Then

i68
 MARIE OF ORLEANS
their sound common sense came to their rescue, and
they reahsed the many advantages which this union
might bring along with it. Princess Marie possessed a
charming character and also a considerable fortune, to
which, upon her marriage, her uncle, the Due d'Aumale,
added a large sum, so overjoyed did he feel at this
entrance of his niece into the most select family circle
in the whole of Europe.
At the last moment the marriage was nearly broken
off on account of the religious question. The Princess
belonged to the Catholic faith, which does not admit
of any compromise in regard to the bringing up of
children in mixed marriages, and insists upon their

being christened according to its own rites. On the

other hand, it would have been inadmissible for mem-
bers of the Danish Royal Family to be anything else
but Protestants. None of the interested parties would

give way, and it seemed at a certain moment as if

the whole affair would crumble to pieces. It was at
this juncture that Queen Louise and with
interfered,
her usual tact found a solution to what seemed at
first insurmountable difficulties. She suggested a com-
promise, and proposed to arrange matters so that if
any sons were born of the marriage they should be
baptised Protestants, whilst the daughters would be
allowed to follow their mother's faith. This seemed to
satisfyeverybody except the ultramontane parties in
France, about whose opinions no one troubled in the
very least, and the Princess Marie of Orleans was at
last united to Prince Waldemar of Denmark in the

private chapel of the Castle of Eu in Normandy, in

169
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
presence of the King and Queen of Denmark, of the
Princess of Wales, and of the Empress of Russia, who
had travelled to France for the occasion.
The unexpected happens sometimes in Royal life.
This marriage, which at first seemed to have nothing to
do with politics, was destined to bring about the most
important political consequences of modern times.
The Princess Marie, bright, intelligent, and keenly,
delicately clever, very soon made for herself quite an
exclusive position in Denmark. She fascinated every-
one who met her, won from the very first day of her
arrival in Copenhagen the heart of her mother-in-law,
and soon made herself indispensable to all her family.
She became the personal friend of the Tsar, Alexander
III., who, though he hated to talk politics in general,
and to discuss them with women in particular, liked to
do so during his conversations with his sister-in-law.
They used to go out for long walks together during
the yearly sojourns which the Tsar made at the Court
of Copenhagen, and he found it a great relaxation amidst
his busy life to be able to speak freely about all the

things that he liked or disliked with the bright and

merry French princess, who, in her turn, entertained
a warm feeling of affection combined with the deepest
respect for the mighty Sovereign, whose whole existence
seemed to be taken up by his desire to be the father
to his people he had said he would strive to be on the
day he ascended the throne.
She entertained him with her own love for the land
of her birth, and used her best endeavours to persuade
him to think with favour upon the possibility of a

I/O
 THE GATHERING STORM
Franco-Russian alliance which might eventually prove
a checkmate to German ambitions and German appe-
tites. Alexander had refused to entertain the idea
when it was at first suggested to him by the great
Russian publicist Michael Katkoff, but the knowledge
of this did not deter the Princess from once more

enunciating the advantages which would accrue from

such an understanding.
These annual family gatherings in the neighbour-
hood of the Danish capital were productive of several
important events. It was due to their recurrence that
the early ambitions and dreams of King Christian IX.
and of Queen Louise began to be realised. The Danish
King and Queen were both held in high esteem by the
Tsar, who, feeling certain that the parents of his wife
would never advise him badly, often consulted them
in various matters, and especially about those concern-
ing the growing power of Germany, which already at
that time was beginning to cast the shadow of menace
over Europe by reason of her considerable armaments.
The Emperor Alexander, who understood better than
any other man in his vast dominions the dangers which
lay in store for Russia if German power were allowed
to expand in the manner that had done during recent
it

years, had pondered for a considerable time on the

possibility of ending this peril, or at least upon mini-
mising its potentialities. From the first the Triple
Alliance had appeared to him to be what it was in
reality
— a means to bring the rest of humanity under
the heel of German omnipotence. On the other hand,
Alexander III. hated everything that savoured of
171
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
revolution, and he had not been able to reconcile him-
self tothe French Republic, the very name of which
reminded him of the bloodiest pages of the great
Revolution, and of the scaffold of Louis XVI. It
became the task of the Princess Marie to explain to him
that the Republic, as it was at the time they were

speaking, had nothing in common with that abomin-

able coalition of lawless ruffians which had murdered
in cold blood so many innocent people and displayed
the red flag as its ensign. France, which had hitherto
been a sealed book to Alexander III., became better
understood by him through the descriptions which his
sister-in-law gave him of its beauties, and the ex-
planations which she made concerning the character
of its population. At last he consented to think about
the possibility of co-operating with France in some
action against Prussian militarism, and of concluding
an alliance or at least of coming to an understanding
the weight of which would effectually reduce the efforts
of the Austro- German entente.

King Christian was not sorry to see his son-in-law

become suspicious of the sincerity of the feelings of
friendship which Germany continually assured him
that she entertained towards Russia. Christian IX.
hated Prussia too, and disliked even more Prussian ways,
Prussian duplicity, and Prussian methods of govern-
ment ;
for Prussian hypocrisy he entertained a pro-
found disgust. He therefore applied all his personal
efforts to help forward those which the Princess Marie
was making to bring about an understanding between
Russia, France, and Great Britain. He found an
172
 CHRISTIAN OF DENMARK
unexpected ally in this task in the person of King
Edward VII., who ever since the Franco-German War
had been distrustful of Prussia and of the policy of
Bismarck, and who fully intended to do his best to

arrange an between Russia, France, and Great

alliance
Britain as soon as he would find himself in a position
to further it.

It isimpossible to gainsay that during the lifetime of

King Christian of Denmark, and especially during that
of Queen Louise, the Danish Government exercised a
considerable amount of power in Europe. Whenever
a political complication arose, diplomacy turned its
glances towards Copenhagen, whence they confidently
looked to come the solution of all difficulties which
tended to disturb the peace of Europe. The King
was perfectly aware of the importance which he had
acquired in chancelleries such as Vienna, Paris, Berlin,
and London, and it amused him exceedingly to be
able to guide the destinies of so many nations with-
out their peoples suspecting that this was the case.
It was principally for this reason that he encour-

aged family to spend their vacations at Copen-

all his

hagen, and that he tried to make the holiday exceed-

ingly pleasant to them in every possible way. By and
by, especially as Alexander III. openly expressed the feel-
ings of extreme reverence for his father-in-law, Copen-
hagen became the greatest centre of European politics,
and was recognised to be the spot where its in-
most intricacies were known, and where the secret,
or not secret, treaties between the different Great
Powers of the Continent were carefully weighed and
173
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
examined long before their contents had become
public property. It was an acknowledged fact that

the Tsar consulted the King of Denmark upon all

grave resolutions he found himself called upon to
make. It was also common knowledge that of all the
things that Prince Bismarck had the most dreaded
during the days of his power in Prussia, the chief
one was the possible enmity of Christian IX. in
regard to his schemes.
When Alexander III. died so prematurely, the
influence of the Danish Court did not come to an end.
On the contrary, it assumed a greater importance,
because, the one man against whom he had never
dared to make a stand being removed from the scene
of the politicsof the world, the German Emperor,
William II., applied himself suddenly to win the good
graces of Christian IX., and rendered himself so

pleasant during the short stay which he made at Copen-

hagen that the old King consented at last to accept
the earnest invitation which had been proffered to
him so times in succession by the impetuous
many
ruler of Germany, and, in his turn, visited Berlin for
a few hours. It ought, however, to be remarked that
when this happened Queen Louise had been dead
some years, as it is to be questioned whether she would
have consented to accompany her husband had she
still been alive.
Apart from his desire to stand well
with some of his brother sovereigns who did not look
upon him with over-lenient eyes, William 11. had got
another aim in view when he tried to ingratiate him-
self into the good graces of the Danish Court. He
174
 DANISH INFLUENCE
was already thinking about the possibiHty of a Bruns-
wick marriage for his only daughter, and in view of
this he desired to cultivate good relations with the
parents and all the relatives of the Duchess Thyra of
Cumberland. Perhaps also he wished to have an
opportunity to persuade them that in reality he did
not cherish the bad intentions against the peace of
the world with which he was already credited.
One fact remained certain, and that was that no
one in Germany understood better than did the

Emperor the importance of remaining on good terms

with Copenhagen. When Queen Victoria died, William
II. became even more anxious than he had ever been

before to stand upon excellent terms with the Danish

Sovereigns, whom the consort of the new British

Sovereign continued to visit every summer, and where

she had the opportunity to meet her sister, the Dowager

Empress of Russia, whose influence was just as strong

over the mind of her son as it had been over her hus-
band's. Strangely enough, all the events that have
led to the present war, and the war itself, have not been
able to change the attitude of the German Sovereign in

regard to Denmark, and well-informed people affirm

that the present King is so well aware of this fact
that he has already taken advantage of it to make
his voice heard in the cause of peace. Christian X.,
together with his consort and his mother, the Dowager
Queen Louise, are believed to have approached Berlin
with a view also of trying to persuade the Emperor
to conduct the war in a more humane manner. It is
easy for them to try to do so, because the present
175
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Queen of Denmark, being the sister of the German
Crown Princess, is in a position to tell the latter some
home truths which she would refuse to listen to from

anyone else.
Queen Alexandrine is an amiable creature. Her
marriage was one of the last joys granted to old Queen
Louise of Denmark. She was the daughter of the
Grand Duke Frederick Francis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
and of that magnificent Grand Duchess Anastasia
Michailovna of Russia, with whose sayings and doings
the gay world, that gathers during winter on the sunny
shores of the Mediterranean, had occupied itself so
much and so often in years gone by. Princess Alexan-
drine was married at Cannes one beautiful spring
morning, quite simply and without fuss, amidst an
intimate circle of relatives and friends who gathered
around her to wish her joy. The union was entirely
a loveaffair politics had nothing to do with it, though,
;

owing to the rare luck which generally attended all the

alliances of the Royal House of Denmark, it was also one
which conferred all the advantages that the ambitious
heart of the old Queen, the grandmother of the happy

bridegroom, could have wished for him. The Princess

Alexandrine of Mecklenburg arrived in Denmark a few
weeks after her wedding with Prince Christian, and
received from the population of Copenhagen a grand
welcome. She brought all the brightness of her joy-
ous youth to the old palaces of the Danish Sovereigns,
and soon made herself a favourite with both the King
and the Queen. Unfortunately, the latter did not live
long to enjoy the sight of her grandson's happiness,
176
 f'S! A

E^«^

^^

\l r.%)^
«
 THE COURT CHANGES
because death carried her away in the month of

September following upon the marriage.

When Queen Louise died a gloom settled over

Amalienborg and Fredensborg. The King became

morose and sad, and though his daughters did all they
could to cheer up his solitude, he never entirely re-
covered from the blow, and the pleasant family gather-
ings that used to take place every summer in Copen-
hagen came to an end. Christian IX. died in 1906,
and three years later death took away his talented
daughter-in-law, the consort of Prince Waldemar,
Princess Marie of Orleans. Everything changed at the
Danish Court, and it changes still. In 1912 King
Frederick VIII. expired in his turn, and the young
Queen Alexandrine is now reigning in the place of her
husband's mother and grandmother. But in spite of
her inexperience she has quickly become
relative
imbued with the traditions of her House, and tries

through her own family connections to continue exer-

cising the influence wielded in past days by King
Christian IX. and by Queen Louise. She is especially
overjoyed whenever Queen Alexandra or the Empress
Marie arrive at their villa of Hvidore, where she visits
them almost daily. She has some Russian blood on
her own mother's side, and has kept on affectionate
terms with her relatives outside of the familv. It

must be added that in her desire to imitate Queen

Louise, whom she literally worshipped in everything,
she also has become affected by the old Queen's pro-
pensity for marriage-making, and likes to have a hand
in all the important Royal weddings that take place.
M 177
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
She contributed to that of her cousin, the son of the
Duchess of Cumberland, with the Princess Victoria
Louise of Prussia, and it was a subject of current gossip

in Berlin that was partly through her interference

it

that the strong opposition which the Crown Prince of

Germany made to his sister's wedding, and especially

to the recognition of Prince Ernest Augustus as Duke
of Brunswick, gave way at last.
If one is all that one hears, Queen
to believe
Alexandrine would most happy if circumstances
feel

proved favourable to an alliance between her eldest

son, the present Crown Prince of Denmark, and one of
the younger daughters of her cousin the Tsar. Such
an alliance would bring to her house a princess who, of
all those whom her boy could marry, would be the one

that Denmark would acclaim with the greatest joy.

178
 CHAPTER X
SAXONY AND OTHER GERMAN COURTS
AMONG the greatest scandals that ever oecurred in
J~\^ any Royal House, the one caused by the flight
of the Crown Princess of Saxony from her home was
perhaps the most terrible. Stories without number
have been written concerning it, and yet it is to be
doubted whether the whole truth of its details has
ever been given to the world, in spite of the famous
memoirs which the heroine of it was induced, very
foolishly indeed, to publish. In order to understand
well the causes that led to the culminating act, it is

necessary to take things from their very beginning and

to say a few words about the father and mother of the
—
unfortunate Princess Louise ^the Archduke Ferdinand
of Tuscany, and his consort, the Archduchess Alice of
Bourbon Parma.
—
Archduke Ferdinand who was familiarly called by
his family and, indeed, by the whole Imperial House of

Habsbm'g,
"
Uncle Nando
" —
was one of those men
who, if they had been born common mortals, would
have been considered perfect fools. As he happened
to have in his veins some of the bluest blood in Europe,
and moreover had been a sovereign, if only for a
moment, he had managed to find people who did not
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
see the insufficiency which his character, as well as his

general appearance, presented who, ;

when looking at

him, remembered only that he was a descendant of

Marie Ther^se, and that he had been a Grand Duke of

Tuscany.
In no country in the world is there so much toadying
to Royalty, and in general to titled people, as there is

in Austria. Having the good fortune to live in that

country, Ferdinand IV., as he styled himself, seeing
that so many people acclaimed the stupidities which
he continually uttered, imagined that he was a clever
man, and insisted on his opinions being heard and
listened to. His temper was abominable, and he ill-
treated his wife, a sweet but eminently insignificant
creature, who had been told to marry him by her aunt,
the Comtesse de Chambord.
This aunt had taken charge of the education of
Princess Alice after her mother's death, and con-
sidered that a princess ought never to be allowed to
wed otherwise than with the man selected for her
by those who were responsible for her welfare. The
Princess Alice was educated, therefore, according to the

principles prevalent at the Court of Modena, the most

bigoted and intolerant in Europe. She had never been
allowed to know the pleasures of the world, the very
mention of which sent a shudder through the frame
of the Comtesse de Chambord. So that, when the
Princess was told that a marriage had been arranged
for her with the Grand Duke of Tuscany, she submitted
with resignation to this change in her daily existence,
and did not even dare to hint that this husband with
i8o
 A DUTIFUL WIFE
whom she was going to be saddled was about fifteen

years older than herself

—ugly, untidy in his appearance
and habits, and blessed with the smallest amount of
brains imaginable. She allowed herself to be led to
the altar, and after the ceremony, which transformed
her into a Grand Duchess of Tuscany without a duchy,
she went meekly to live at Salzburg with her husband,
and few years remained in the old Imperial
for the next
castle there, which had been placed at the disposal
of the Tuscan family by the Emperor Francis Joseph.
At Salzburg the Grand Duchess Alice led an existence
encompassed with much state and ceremony, in which
the principal occupations consisted in going to church
every morning and having a child every year.
The Grand Duke was constantly surrounded by
priests, and made several Jesuit Fathers his principal
advisers, who helped to keep him in an atmosphere of

sacristy, and never allowed the rumours of the out-

side world to reach him, far less his young wife. The
latter had not enough character to rebel. She honestly
believed that she would go straight to hell if she omitted
to conform to the prescriptions of the Church and to
the commands of her husband. It has been related
that the Grand Duke having objected to her taking
a bath every day, and having declared that it was
quite sufficient if she did so once a week, the young
Grand Duchess, after having shed a good many tears
at this strange order, never had the courage to dis-

obey it, nor to dare enter into her tub without a

curious grey flannel garment which the Grand Duke
had had specially made for her, and in which she was
i8i
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
to envelop herself entirely before she had permission
to bathe.
It can be imagined that a woman blessed with so
littlestrength of character, and of such small inde-
pendence, would not be able to bring up her children
otherwise than in the same narrow-minded spirit in
which her own education had been conducted. The
littlearchdukes and archduchesses were given tutors
and governesses carefully selected by the Jesuit Fathers
who ruled the household of Ferdinand of Tuscany.
The young people grew up to manhood and to woman-
hood neglected and left to their own devices they ;

only saw their mother at stated hours, and mostly

during the religious services which they had to attend
several times a day, and when they had to receive
lessons from outside masters, someone from the Court
was always present. One morning a tutor, who had to
instruct the princesses in history, having dared say
that in spite of his revolt against the authority of
the Church Luther was a great man, he was instantly
dismissed by the Grand Duke, who, on hearing what
he had told his pupils, ordered him to be turned out
of his house there and then, and advised to go imme-

diately to confession, so as not to incur the risk of

dying whilst in a state of mortal sin.

In spite of all these precautions —perhaps on account

of them —the daughters of the Grand Duke and Duchess
of Tuscany managed to get very good information as
to what was really going on in the world, and con-
trived to read books the mere mention of which would
have sent their father into a fit. The eldest girl especi-
182
 NARROW CHILDHOOD
ally, the Princess Louise, whose character was entirely
different from that of her sisters, and who, from her
earliest shown symptoms of an inde-
childhood, had
pendence previously unknown in the Tuscan family,
succeeded in reading most of the books of which she
saw mention in the newspapers and reviews. These
books, with the connivance of one of her maids, she
obtained from the public library of Salzburg. She
had not, of course, thoroughly digested them, never
having been guided in her studies ; but in spite of her
only giving attention to the subjects which interested
her, her knowledge far exceeded that of cither her

parents or those about her.

When Louise was old enough to go out into society
she was taken to Vienna and presented at Court, where
it seems the Empress Elisabeth grew fond of her, and
treated her with much kindness, whilst her cousin, the
Crown Prince Rudolph, amused himself by initiating
her into many things which hitherto had remained a
sealed book to her. It was not quite to her advantage
or profit that she fell under the influence of this un-
fortunate young man, who most certainly imbued her
with some of his own ideas and with his personal spirit

of revolt, which she very soon came, more or less, to

—
share rather more than less. Several offers were
made to her, but none of them had qualifications
pleasing to her parents, who wished before everything
else to see their daughter enter a family circle just as

pious as their own had always been, and where they

would feel sure that her soul would be well cared
for. As for her body, this was an entirely secondary
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
thing, while her intelligence was never taken into
account.
There was at that time living at the Court of Vienna
a Princess of Saxony, the niece of King Albert, who
was married to the Archduke Otto, the heir to the
throne of the Habsburgs after his brother, the Arch-
duke Francis Ferdinand. She was an excellent woman,
full of noble qualities, who had sought and found in
the strict observance of religious practices a con-
solation for the misfortunes of a conjugal existence

during which she was subjected to the most disgrace-

ful treatment on the part of a husband who was notorious
in Vienna and, indeed, all over Austria. The Arch-
duchess Marie Josepha took a liking to the young girl
who was making her debut in society, and planned
to take her out of surroundings which she felt were

entirely uncongenial to her, and to find her a husband.

Her own brother —who in due time would inherit the
kingdom of Saxony —was in search of a wife, and she
wrote to her father and to her uncle that her brother
could not do better than wed the eldest daughter of
the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
The Archduchess was a person whose opinions were
considered as commands in her family circle, and in
answer to her summons Prince Frederick August of
Saxony arrived in Vienna, and after a few interviews
with the girl whom his sister had advised him to marry,
he proposed to her, to the immense joy of her parents,
and they were married a few weeks later.
The Princess was delighted to escape from the
dull atmosphere of her home at Salzburg, and never
184
 A HARSH FATHER-IN-LAW
hesitated one moment in accepting what was, without
doubt, an excellent match.
She had no idea at all of the kind of life which
was awaiting her, and thought only of the moment
when she would become Queen of Saxony, and would
be able to preside over a Court of her own, which, she
promised herself, she would make one of the most
entertaining and attractive in Europe.
Alas for these hopes The young Archduchess
! was
no sooner in Dresden than she found herself encom-

passed by the rules of an etiquette almost as bad —

if not worse —
than the one which prevailed at the
Hofburg. Though she was the second lady in the
land, and only the good-natured Queen Carola had
the right to precede her, she very quickly had to

recognise that it would be quite impossible for her

to do what she liked, or to stand against the rules
which, since time immemorial, had been prevalent at
the Saxon Court. Though she had no mother-in-
law, she found herself confronted by something in-

finitely worse
—
a father-in-law who had an iron will,
and who, if was even more under the influ-
possible,
ence of the Jesuits than her own father had been.
She wafe expected to conform to all the petty customs
and wishes of a man who was stupid to a degree, as
events proved subsequently, who also had no code of
honour, few gentlemanly principles, and who only
looked on a woman as something quite inferior, whose
duties consisted in bringing up in the strict codes of
the Church the children she might have who had ;

no right to nourish cither opinions or ideas of her

185
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
own, whose was to be subordinated to that of
will

her husband, and whose worst crime would be to ex-

perience any kind of feeling of friendship, be it the

most innocent, for any other man. Apart from these
temperamental idiosyncrasies, Prince Georg of Saxony
had also certain ideas as to the state in which a princess
ought to live. He expected his daughter-in-law to see
no one except people whom he would allow her to
receive; to go nowhere save to places of which he
approved and never to dare to show herself in public
;

unless attended by a numerous retinue. All these

exigencies made
the Princess Louise very miserable,
and it is no wonder that she did her best to influence
her husband to live outside of Dresden and to see as
little as possible of his father, Prince Georg.

King Albert, to whom she might have appealed for

protection against the tyranny of an old and bad-
tempered man, had never succeeded in winning her
confidence, though she had to acknowledge that he
had always shown himself most kind in respect to her,
and on more than one occasion had even taken her
part against her father-in-law. And as for the Queen
Carola, she was so insignificant, and so little able to
come to the help of anybody, that it is hardly to be
wondered that the future Crown Princess considered
itworse than useless to apply to her, sure as she was
that the only reply that she could get would be to go
to church and pray for the patience which she so much
needed.
King Albert
Nevertheless, so long as lived the posi-

tion of the Archduchess was more or less tolerable. She

i86
 A MISERABLE EXISTENCE
made herself very well liked among the population
and the society of Dresden, where she was generally
pitied for the restraint Prince Georg of Saxony was

putting on all her actions and on more than one

;

occasion the mob had cheered her in the streets as she

was driving through, whilst it had received in silence,
and even with hostility, her father-in-law. Prince
Georg had never forgiven her for this insult, which he
attributed to her as the prime cause and, like all ;

narrow-minded persons, he could show himself very

spiteful when he
felt he could do so with impunity.

As soon as
King Albert died King Georg began to sow
dissension between his son and daughter-in-law, and
instead of trying to win the Princess Louise by kind-
ness he did all that he could to exasperate her and
to drive her to seek a separation from the Crown
Prince, which would have allowed King Georg to send
her back to Vienna, or to her parents, and thus to get
rid of a person whom he strongly detested.

Unfortunately for his plans, the Crown Prince

—
who since 1904 has reigned as King Friedrieh August
III. —was fond of his wife. She was bright, intelligent,

amusing she had brought into his dull existence an

;

interest which he had never thought he could experi-

ence for anything or anybody, and she had opened new
horizons for him. Friedrieh was, if less bigoted, just
as stupid as his father, of whom he stood in mortal
awe but he was of a kinder disposition, and not so
;

mean or so spiteful. He fully recognised the real

qualities of his wife, but he had not sufficient intelli-

gence or authority over her ardent and passionate

187
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
nature to try to persuade her to resign herself to cer-
tain necessities, and to look to the future in order to

forget the miseries of the present. And then he also

was entirely in the hands of his confessor, with whom
the Crown Princess had never been able to get on.
It is a fact that the Jesuits had more to do with
the misfortunes of the Princess Louise than had anyone
else. They had attempted when she arrived in Dresden
to get hold of her and to induce her to become an
instrument in their hands and having failed in the
;

attempt, hated her as only a woman or a priest can

hate. It is not surprising, therefore, that when
they
noticed she was on a footing of hostility with the
new ruler they applied themselves to persuade King
Georg to banish the rebellious daughter-in-law who
had dared set herself in opposition to his wishes, and
who had refused to acknowledge his authority.
The Archduchess, in her book of memoirs, has
related that when she left Dresden it was under the
fear of being put into a madhouse, as the King had
threatened to do. Whether this fear was justified or
not, to say.
it is difficult It is certain that she might
have avoided such a fate by sticking to her guns, and
insisting on remaining in her palace, appealing for
protection, if need be, to the feelings of affection which
the Saxon people entertained for her. The King
might have hesitated then to afford a pretext for the
population of the capital to interfere in favour of the
Crown Princess and it is also likely that if she had
;

taken the trouble to speak earnestly to the Crown

Prince, she would have had sufficient authority and
1 88
 LOCKED OUT
influence over him to compel him to take her part
and to leave Dresden together with her,
staying abroad
until better times had dawned for them both. The
Crown Princess, with all her intelligence, was also

terribly she played into the hands of her

foolish ;

enemies and allowed them to work upon her feelings

until,thoroughly unnerved and terrified, she thought
she could do nothing else but run away from a fate
that seemed to her to be infinitely worse than death
itself.

Now comes the saddest episode in all this sad

story. When
the Crown Princess of Saxony ran away
from her husband and her children, her first instinct
was to seek protection from her own parents, and
so she started for Salzburg, intending to ask the
Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Tuscany to take
her into their house, and to allow her to remain with
them until the death of King Georg would allow her to
return to Dresden. But when she arrived at Salzburg
she found the doors of the palace closed against her,
and she was told by one of the gentlemen of the Grand
Duke's Court that she had better return to the station
and take the next train, because she would not be
allowed;to see her parents. In vain did the unfortunate
Archduchess beg to be permitted to speak with her
mother, so as to explain to her the circumstances which
had induced her to seek a refuge in her paternal home ;

she was only met with the same cold refusal, and when
at last she sent a short note to the Grand Duchess
imploring her to grant to her a few minutes' interview,
she received it back unopened, with a remark added
189
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
on the envelope in the handwriting of her father, in which
he absolutely forbade her ever to appeal to him or to
her mother again.
The reason that induced the stupid Ferdinand of
Tuscany to act with such rigour, and thus to send
hisown daughter to her destruction, is less difficult to
understand when it is stated that the very same
morning he had received a long letter from a Jesuit
Father, in whom he had great confidence. This priest
represented to him that it was his duty after the
scandal caused by daughter's departure from
his
Dresden —which, by the way, was not yet known to
the public, and which it would have been quite easy
to hide or to explain by the desire of the Princess to

spend some time with her father and mother to —

renounce her, and to express his public disapproval
of a conduct that savoured of insult to the authority
of her husband and of her Sovereign.
Ferdinand of Tuscany entered at once into the
spirit of this communication, and, after having sub-
mitted it to his own confessor, receiving from the
latter the assurance that the advice tendered was
the right course to take, and that his conscience as a

good Catholic could not allow him to act differently,

he refused to receive his child, and obliged her to seek
a refuge wherever she could, far from those who were
her natural protectors and who ought to have stood
between her and the calumnies of the world.
The Grand Duke did even more. He wrote to the
Emperor Francis Joseph and begged of him to deprive
the Archduchess of her title and of her arms and digni-
190
 A RIDICULOUS MANIFESTO
ties, forbidding her to call herself an Imperial Princess
of Austria. He thus shut before her every road
to rehabilitation, making it equally impossible for
her husband to take her back and to forgive her
for what, all, was nothing but an indiscretion
after
which she already repented, and which she would have
given much to be able to recall and to repair.
The Emperor Francis Joseph was another short-

sighted simpleton, who did not understand that by

this action he was throwing dirt into his own face.

He into the snare and signed the fatal decree which

fell

sent as an outcast into the world a woman belonging

to his blood and to his race, and thus covered with
shame his own person and
the whole Royal Family of
Saxony, together with the children of the unfortunate
Crown Princess. Her father-in-law. King Georg, piled
injury upon injury by issuing a ridiculous manifesto
to his people, in which he proclaimed publicly his son's
dishonour. When one recapitulates all the incidents
of this miserable story, one wonders who was the
—
greatest fool in it the heroine of it, or her husband,
or the King her father-in-law, or her own parents, or
the man in his dotage who still occupies the tlirone of
Austria^
The
Princess Louise, deprived of name, title, posi-
tion,scorned and forsaken by everybody, found in her

misery only one of her brothers to take her part and

to stand by her heavy trouble. With him she
in her
went to Lindau, where a French tutor joined her, it
is said, at the suggestion of those who wished to see
her disgraced even further than was the case already.
191
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
It was at Lindau that her youngest child, the Prin-
cess Monica, was born, and at Lindau, too, took place
the different negotiations between her and the Saxon
Court in regard to her future position and in regard to
the custody of the little girl who was to become the
bone of contention in all this miserable and disgraceful
strife. At last, thanks, it is related, to the intervention
of the Pope, a modus vivendi was arranged, and the
Princess received the title of Countess di Montignoso,
and an allowance sufficient to keep her in comfort, if

without luxury.
For a period she disappeared from the notice of the
public, and nothing was heard about her except when,
some time King Georg, and her
after the death of
former husband's succession to the throne, she was
allowed by him to have an interview with her two
eldest sons at Munich, whither also repaired the now
widowed Grand Duchess of Tuscany, who was asked
to stand by her daughter on this memorable occasion.
It was related at the time that this interview with the
Crown Prince and his brother was but a prelude to a
reconciliation between their mother and the King,
who would have been but too willing to take her back
and thus to rehabilitate her in the eyes of the world.
It certainly would have been the wisest thing she
could have done to accede to his request, and all her
friends were hoping she would decide to take this most
reasonable step and return to Dresden, where it is
likely that she would have succeeded in making society
forget a moment of madness into which she had been
literally goaded, and which led her to fly from the
192
 THE GUP OF SORROW
Court under the protection of a man who deserted
her later on. All these hopes vanished, however,
when one day the world was startled by the news
that the former Crown Prineess of Saxony had been
married in London to an Italian musie - master,
a man far removed from her station in life. This
man had been but too proud to win for his wife
a daughter of the illustrious House of Habsburg and
the divoreed wife of a king, whilst she, poor woman,
had been glamoured by his protestations of alfeetion.
After this last act of madness even the best friends
of the Princess Louise felt that they could say nothing
in defence of her conduct. She had willingly and with
her own hand deliberately slain all the chances of
happiness which she had possessed, and it only
still

remained for her well-wishers to hope and to pray

that she might not repent having sacrificed so much
for the sake of a man who represented so little.
She enjoyed a few short months of supreme felicity,
then disillusion came, and with it the inevitable sorrows
and heart-burnings which always follow upon such
She found out that she had absolutely
reckless actions.

nothing in common with the Italian, whom her imagin-

ation had transformed into a kind of demi-god, and
in whose had hoped to find a consolation
affection she
for all the miseries of her past.Soon quarrels ensued,
followed by all kinds of strife and the miserable,
;

foolish woman found that she had laid herself open

to the most bitter attacks from people whom no sense
of honour,and no scruples, could stop in their deter-
mination to wreak upon her the lowest and meanest
N 193
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
revenge that could be conceived. Certainly the Prin-
cess was not well advised when she published the

story of her life but this does not excuse the pamphlet
;

which the Italian music-master, with whose good looks

she had been enthralled, issued against the woman who
had sacrificed everything for his sake.
Since the separation which put an end to the second

marriage of the Countess of Montignoso nothing further

has been heard about her. She has vanished into
obscurity, and has nevermore thrust herself before
the attention of the public. It has been rumoured
that, were she to ask his permission, the King of Saxony
would not object if she were to take up an abode some-
where near Dresden, and that he was even ready to
offer her one of his castles as a place of residence ;

but those who have met the Countess say that she
would never submit to the humiliation which the
acceptance of such an offer would entail. And so,
after having filled the world with her name, she has
—
vanished into space this reckless, foolish daughter of
the Habsburgs, who, with all her faults, was probably
worth far more even in the matter of moral principles
than those who drove her to her ruin.
The story of the Crown Princess of Saxony has re-
minded me of the other misalliances of which Ger-
many has recently seen so many among the inner circle
of her Royalties. Perhaps one of those which caused
the greatest sensation, because it was about the first
of which a feminine member of a reigning family was

guilty, was the marriage of the Princess Henriette of

Schleswig-Holstein, the aunt of the present German
194
 SOME UNEQUAL MARRIAGES
Empress, with a man whose birth was wholly inferior,
but whose scientific knowledge has placed him among
the celebrities of modern Germany —the famous Pro-
fessor Esmarch.
It caused quite an abundance of talk ;

people wondered how the Duke of Holstein had ever

allowed it to take place. But to those who knew the
material conditions which existed in the family of the
Princess Henriette there was nothing so very wonder-
ful, after all, in the facility with which she obtained
the consent of the head of her House to this unequal
marriage. She had barely enough to live upon since
the confiscation of the Holstein estates by the Prussian
Government after the war with Denmark, whilst Pro-
fessor Esmarch was immensely rich.
The Royal House of Bavaria has also some unequal
marriages to record. Foremost among them come the
two unions contracted by the eldest brother of the
unfortunate Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Duke Louis
in Bavaria, with two actresses, of whom the first, who
was created Baroness of Wallersee, died some years
ago, whilst the second, Madame von Bartoll, divorced
him after a very short time, alleging against him
different acts of cruelty which were the more extra-

ordinary in that he was already an old man, far advanced

into the" eighties.
In general, the Wittelsbach family has been remark-
able for extravagances, which, perhaps, are more
its

the fault of continual intermarriage with each other,

or with the Habsburgs, than the hereditary eccen-

tricity which has always been one of its principal

characteristics. The fear to sully its escutcheon by
195
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
an alliance with an inferior House has always made
it seek husbands and wives in Austria or among the
Italian Bourbons, and this constant mixing together
of the same blood was bound to have painful conse-
quences in the matter of intellectual development.
If we consider the present alliances of the Bavarian

Royal Family we find that the King is wedded to an

archduchess, whilst his son and heir. Prince Rupprecht,
is the widower of one of his cousins, the Princess
Gabrielle in Bavaria, the sister of the Queen of the
Belgians. His brother, Prince Leopold, is the husband
of the Archduchess Gisela, the eldest daughter of the

Emperor Francis Joseph and of a Bavarian princess ;

whilst their mother was also a Habsburg. How can
one expect, under the circumstances, that a family which
has never allowed any fresh blood to mingle with its
own should be anything else than eccentric, with a
sprinkling of madness here and there ?
So far as other German reigning families are con-
cerned, there is not much to say in regard to their
alliances. They have all wedded according to their
rank, and the quarterings of the House of Baden, of
Saxe- Weimar, of Wiirtemberg, and of Hesse are abso-
lutely unimpeachable from the heraldic point of view.
All these people have chosen the partners of their lives

among their own select circle, and never allowed any

foreign element to enter. There is nothing to relate
about them, and certainly nothing interesting in the
way of adventure has approached them. Nor have
their marriages had anything to do with politics, with
the exception perhaps of that of the Duke of Hesse,
196
 GERMANY'S SOLITUDE
who by his first consort, the Princess Victoria Melita
of Coburg, became the cousin of the Tsar before the

wedding of the latter with his youngest sister, the

Princess Alix, made him his brother-in-law. The war,
however, has swept away all such ties. It has left Ger-

many in solitude. Its Royalties have no matrimonial

future outside their own States and kingdoms, and
can only expect to marry and intermarry with the
Habsburgs.

197
 CHAPTER XI
THE ROYAL HOUSE OF SWEDEN
of the most curious Royal histories of modern
ONEEurope is the romance of the dynasty of
Bernadotte. A RepubHcan general of no birth what-
ever, the son of a lawyer of Pau who began his mili-

tary career as a private in an infantry regiment, and

who, by his personal merits and his indomitable courage,
rose to the dignity of a Marshal of France, was, by a
freak of fortune such as only occurs during revolutions
and cataclysms that change the face of the world,
adopted by one of the last descendants of the old and
illustrious House of Wasa, and became in time King

of Sweden, the country in Europe where the aristocracy

was the most rigid in its custom never to allow an in-
truder to enter its ranks. He
succeeded, nevertheless,
not only in imposing himself upon a nobility which
had kept in check such sovereigns as Charles XII. and
Gustave III., but also in making himself universally re-

spected and generally liked by his people. He brought

to the Court of Sweden the simple habits combined with
an exaggerated love for magnificence which were the
distinctive features in the characters of all the generals
of Napoleon I. ; and when he died he left his posterity

in the enjoyment of a throne to which they never could

198
 AN AWKWARD BLUNDER
have aspired, but upon which they have maintained
themselves to this day, whilst so many others have
foundered and crumbled into dust all around them.
Charles XIV., as he called himself, had been married
a considerable number of years when he became King
of Sweden and Norway. His wife was of very humble

origin, Eugenie Desiree Clary, the daughter of a rich

merchant of Marseilles whose sister was the wife of
Joseph Bonaparte, the eldest brother of Napoleon I.
She had neither the manners nor the education of a
queen, and when her husband persuaded her to join
him in —
Sweden a thing which she refused to do for a
considerable time —she considerably shocked Stockholm
society by the various mistakes which she made in
the matter of Court ceremonial. She never could learn
the language of her new country, and an amusing
anecdote is related concerning her in those most enter-
taining memoirs by Mme. de Hegermann
written
Lidencrone. It seems that poor Queen Desiree was

taught certain phrases in Swedish which she was told

she had to use at herfirst reception. When ladies were
"
presented to her she was to say, Are you married,
madame ? " And then, " Have you any children ? "
Of course, she did not understand the answers, and
was so unlucky as to mix things up, so that once she
"
began her conversation with a lady by asking, Have
"
you any children ? The lady hastened to answer,
" "
Yes,your Majesty, I have seven." Are you
"
married ? then asked the Queen most graciously, to
the general consternation of the whole assembly.
Apart from her ignorance of the Swedish language
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
and of the customs of a Court, the consort of Charles
Bernadotte was an excellent and kind-hearted creature,
who, besides, had enough intelligence to understand
that she would further the interests of her husband more

usefully if she were not seen too much in Sweden, so

she obtained from him permission to return to Paris,
"
on a short visit," as she said; and she never went
back to Stockholm, but died, long after the fall of the

Napoleonic dynasty, in the lovely palace she had built

for herself in the French capital. Busybodies said
that Queen Desiree was very much in love with the
famous Prince de Talleyrand, and that this luckless
passion was partly the reason why she insisted upon

living in France.
The only son King and Queen who subse-
of the —
quently reigned as King Oscar I.of Sweden and Norway —
did not, in spite of his Royal crown, find it an easy
thing to get a wife, as the haughty German princesses
whom he tried to win did not take kindly to his plebeian
origin. At he wedded the daughter of Prince
last

Eugene of Beauharnais, Napoleon's stepson, the Princess

Josephine of Leuchtenberg, who brought with her to
the Court of Stockholm an atmosphere of great elegance.
They had three sons.
The XV., was lucky enough to inspire
eldest, Charles
with feelings of deep affection the Princess Louise of
Nassau, daughter of the King of the Netherlands, and
sister of the Grand Duchess Sophie of Saxe- Weimar,

and of the father of the present Queen of Holland.

She brought him an enormous fortune and some lovely
jewels as her dowry, which, after her death and that
2CX)
 A GOOD QUEEN
of the King, passed to their only daughter, who was
named Louise, Hke her mother. Having no son, the
King's brother, Prince Oscar, succeeded to the throne,
but not to the millions which had been such a
material help to his predecessor in upholding the

dignity of his rank. Princess Louise became the wife

of the late King Frederick VIII. of Denmark and the
mother of the present Sovereign.
King Oscar was an exceedingly pleasant man,
II.

very and pursuits, rather democratic

artistic in his tastes

in his manners, and most attentive to ladies in general,

no matter what might be their position in life, which
did not trouble him much provided they had pretty
faces and graceful figures. He had married a Princess
of Nassau, the cousin of his sister-in-law. Queen Louise,
and though he made her very unhappy the couple
knew how to preserve appearances, and were never seen
or heard to quarrel. The Queen was a woman of great
virtues, most charitable disposition, and excellent heart.

Apart from these qualities she was clever, had dignified

manners, and whenever she appeared in public adorned
with the Crown jewels, some of which were relics of
the former glories of the Wasas, she looked every inch
a queen. Her marriage with the head of the Berna-
dotte dynasty brought it many advantages, and it was
during the reign of her husband that it took its place
definitely amongthe Courts of Europe, and was accepted

by them as of their own rank.

Queen Sophie took a great interest in the intellec-

tual and social development of Sweden, as well as in
all the educational questions of her country, and she

20I
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
brought up her sons admirably, watching them
with the utmost devotion and affection, and in-
spiring them with her own love for everything that
was good, great, and useful to the nation over which
she reigned.
Queen Sophie was a great matchmaker. Ever since
the birth of her sons she had thought about their future
establishment, and wondered with what princesses she
could ally them. The eldest, the Crown Prince Gustave,
was a most distinguished man, and promised early to
become the wise monarch he has since shown himself
to be. The Queen hoped that he would make a brilliant
match, and whenever she visited Germany she tried
to become acquainted with the marriageable princesses
of that country.
Her brother, the Duke of Nassau, notwithstanding
the fact that he had been despoiled of a large part of
his domains by Prussia during the war of 1866, had
remained on terms of good and even intimate friend-
ship with the Grand Duke of Baden, whose wife was the
Princess Louise of Prussia. Princess Louise was the sister
of the Crown Prince of Germany, to whose eldest son the
Duke was meditating marrying his only daughter, the

Princess Hilda of Nassau, a desire which he realised a

few years later. The Duke advised his sister to go to
Karlsruhe and to carefully observe the Princess Victoria
of Baden, the daughter of the Grand Ducal pair, who,
as he told her, was in possession of all the qualities
which are considered indispensable in a future queen.
The visit took place, and whilst Queen Sophie was at
Karlsruhe the Crown Prince of Sweden joined her. It
202
 PRINCESS VICTORIA OF BADEN
was not long before the sweetness of the young princess
appealed to him, and made him fall in with pleasure
with the Queen of Sweden's plans.
Princess Victoria of Baden was a
great match, inas-
much as she was the favourite granddaughter of the
old Emperor William, and also her near relationship
with the Imperial House of Germany would ensure to
Sweden the protection of the former country against
a Russian aggression, which, for some reason that
has never been explained, is feared to this day
in Sweden. She was rich and also beautiful, though
a trifle too tall, which was not such a disadvantage,
because the Crown Prince also boasted of a consider-
able number of inches in his height. She was clever,

tactful, and, except for very delicate health, was the

ideal of a princess who was destined to wear one day
the crown of a queen consort. When the marriage
took place it was considered to be the best match the
Crown Prince could possibly have made. It gave
considerable pleasure in Berlin, where there were re-

joicings because the grandchild of the beloved Sovereign

had contracted such a brilliant alliance. A year or
two later the Crown Prince and Princess of Sweden
went on a visit to the German capital on the occasion
of the eightieth birthday of the Emperor, and the
Crown presence was the cause of much
Princess's
excitement at the Berlin Court, where she and her
husband were received with delight and honour. She
created an immense sensation when she appeared at
the concert which took place in the Old Castle, covered
as she was with the most magnificent diamonds and
203
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
sapphires. And when she visited Berhn again after
the marriage of her brother, the hereditary Grand Duke
of Baden, with the Princess Hilda of Nassau, she
found that the impression which she had produced
on her previous visit was neither forgotten nor effaced.
It would be deny that the Queen of
useless to
Sweden's sympathies are essentially German. Gossip
even said lately in Stockholm that this fact has estranged
her from her daughter-in-law, the present Crown
Princess Margaret, but the loving and affectionate
nature of these two Royal ladies does not make this
assertion a probable one, and most likely it is but one
of those idle rumours such as ill-natured people like to
spread. But that the heart of Queen Victoria is faith-
ful to the land of her birth cannot be doubted, nor is

itto be wondered at, cons idering all the family ties which
she has in that country, where her aged mother lives,
whom she visits several times in the year. However,
her affection for Germany is neither a fanatical nor an
unreasonable one, and it is likely that another rumour,
which has found a great deal of credence at Stockholm
lately, is more exact than the one which I have men-
tioned above —namely, that the Queen has made re-

peated efforts to use her influence with her cousin

the Emperor William to propose a conference during
which the terms of an honourable peace could be dis-
cussed so as to put an end to the miserable strife which
is desolating Europe. Queen Victoria has great influ-
ence in political spheres in Berlin, where her tact is
generally recognised, and she would be the most likely
person to succeed in such a plan.
204
 A CONFIRMED BACHELOR
This digression has carried mc far from Queen
Sophie of Sweden and from her match-making propen-
sities, and I must return to them. When she had seen
her eldest son the Crown Prince well settled with a
wife whom
he loved, she began once more to think
about the princesses eligible to marry her other three
boys. The youngest, Prince Eugene, had declared that
he intended to remain a bachelor, and that nothing in
the world would induce him to give up the unfettered
existence to which he had become so used. He was
an artist of no mean talent, and the pictures which
he sent at different times to various exhibitions would
have been commended, even if he had not been a mem-
ber of a reigning house. He had built for himself a

lovely villa in the neighbourhood of Stockholm, where

he lived the greater part of the year, and where, if the
truth be told, he had invited more than once ladies

belonging to the merry set of the capital to help him

to while away the solitude of his days. After having
made several attempts to get him to consider marriage,
his mother atlast gave up all hope, and turned her

energies towards his brother Prince Charles, whom she

hoped to find more pliable to her wishes.

That hope was justified. The young Prince hap-
pened fo be in love with his cousin, the Princess Inge-
borg of Denmark, one of the daughters of the Crown
Prince, but he had never dared to make the avowal
of this affection either to his parents or to the Princess
herself. It was the old Queen of Denmark who learned
the truth from her granddaughter during one of the

frequent visits which her cousin made to Copenhagen,

205
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
and who, seeing how unhappy the young people
were, took it upon herself to speak to the Crown Prin-
cess and to write to King Oscar. She at last, not
without some difficulty
—because, for some reason or
other, the former objected to her child marrying a near
—
relative arranged the marriage. It took place at the
Danish Court, and was one of the last State ceremonies
which the venerable Queen attended before her death.
When the newly married couple arrived in Stock-
holm they were received most cordially by the popula-
tion of the Swedish capital, to whom
the Princess Inge-
borg was no stranger, as she had often been there with
her mother, the Crown Princess of Denmark. She was
not regularly beautiful, but essentially smart, with
something English about her, which she had copied
from her aunt. Queen Alexandra, whom she admired
exceedingly and had taken as her model.
The young bride soon made herself popular in the

country to which she was bound by so many ties even

before it had become her own. Fond of society. Prin-
cess Ingeborg went about more than any of the other
members of the Royal Family, and was seen at races,
at the opera, at public balls even, where she danced
with great zest and animation, and everywhere she
radiated somewhat of her exuberant spirits and bright-
ness of character and temper.People liked her and
admired the dignified frankness of her manners ; they

appreciated the free and easy manner in which she put

at their ease all those who were admitted into her

presence. King Oscar was very fond of her, and en-

joyed the cleverness of her conversation, whilst the
206
 THE ROMANCE OF PRINCE OSCAR
Queen delighted to see her son happy, and rejoiced,
felt

moreover, to have for her daughter a nieec who had

always been her favourite ever since her childhood.
She only wished that Prince Eugene could have been
induced to follow the good example of his brother, and
seek for himself a companion as charming as the wife
of Prince Charles.
Before the latter's marriage another of his brothers,
Prince Oscar, had been the hero of a romance, which
for a considerable time occupied the minds and con-
versation of Stockholm society beforeit adjusted itself,

by a morganatic marriage with one of the Queen's

ladies-in-waiting. Miss Ebba Munck. The latter was

not pretty, but clever, agreeable, and very religious a —
fact which helped to win her the heart of Prince Oscar,
who was himself of a rather mystic temperament.
The lady-in-waiting also was high in the affections of
the Queen, who was a most rigid Protestant, and who
undertook the unpleasant task of breaking the news
to the King that their son preferred to renounce the

privileges of his rank rather than give up the girl whom

he loved, although he knew but too well she could
never hope to be officially recognised as a Royal Prin-
cess of Sweden and Norway.
At first the King objected so strongly that it seemed
he would never relent, and something like two years
passed away before he at last allowed himself to be
persuaded, and even then he refused to be present
at his son's marriage, which was attended only by
the Queen, who from the had been most favour-
first

able to it. Prince Oscar took the name and title of

207
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Prince Bernadotte, whilst his children received that
of Counts and Countesses of Wisborg. lie settled with
his wife on an estate which he possessed in the country
at a few hours' distance from Stockholm, and it was

only when his sons grew up, and it became necessary

for them to attend a school, that they returned to the
where they lead the existence of private people,
capital,
and are but seldom seen in society. The Prince can
be seen sometimes in the evening when he takes his
dogs out for a walk in the Hummle Garten, the principal
park of Stockholm, and no one would guess when meeting
this grey-haired old gentleman walking leisurely along,
dressed in a dark coat, with a rather shabby hat, that
he is the son of one king and the brother of another.
Whenall her children were safely married, Queen

Sophie turned her thoughts towards her grandsons. She

—
had a great wish which one day she confided to a
—
personal friend, Mr. Augustus Hare to arrange a mar-
riage for one of her own boys with an English princess,
but as events did not then favour it, she reverted
to the idea when the sons of the present monarch
reached a marriageable age. It was principally at her
instigation that the eldest, Prince Gustave Adolphus,
was sent to Egypt at a moment when she knew that
the Duke and Duchess of Connaught with their children

were'wintering there and it was she who first approached

;

the Duchess to ascertain whether she would view

with favourable eyes a union between the future King
of Sweden and her eldest girl, the Princess Margaret.
The Duke of Connaught, of course, referred the
matter to his brother. King Edward, who was quite
208
 7.

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 A HAPPY UNION
delighted, and encouraged him to agree to the demand
of the Swedish Court, provided the Princess herself
was not averse to it. The English Sovereign belonged
to those monarchs who believe that family alliances

may prove of great advantage in certain political

complications and crises in the world and, besides, ;

he was most anxious to see his numerous nieces occupy

as many thrones in Europe as possible. He was,
perhaps, the only man in the world who read the future
with an unerring perspicacity, inasmuch as it meant
an attack of Prussia on the civilised nations of the
earth, and he wished England to be in possession of

strong sympathies wherever it was possible for her

to secure them. He knew, also, that the charm of
all —
the English princesses which they owe to the
admirable education that they receive very quickly —
makes them popular, wherever they happen to be, and
he trusted to the charm and wisdom of the Princess
Margaret of Connaught to win for Great Britain the
goodwill of the people and the Government of Sweden.
The marriage was solemnised with great pomp at
Windsor, and was attended by the parents of the
bridegroom, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of
Sweden, who came over to England for this important
occasion. It turned out to be a very happy union, and

the Crown Princess immediately won the affections of

the Swedish people. She is bright, amiable, not timid
at all, and yet reserved and dignified in all her actions
and movements, and she entered with pleasure into all

the interests of her newcountry, appearing only to

observe its good points, forgetting the bad ones
o 209
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
and never allowing others to guess that she had seen
them. The population of Stockholm grew to like her,
and, cold as the Swedish people are generally in their
demeanour, their hearts warmed when they looked at
the fair beauty of the youthful English princess, who
had always a bright word and a pleasant smile for
—
them. She had children too sweet babies, with their
mother's blue eyes and lovely hair and it was the —
prettiest sight in the world to watch her running
about the avenues of the park of Sogenfry, the summer
seat of the Crown Prince, with her boys and her
little

beautiful small girl. She was a child herself in all but

reason and maturity of judgment, which she possessed
far beyond her years. The Dowager Queen Sophie
doted on her, and never felt so happy as when she
could have her near her; even her sister-in-law,
the wayward Princess Marie of Russia, liked to be with

her, and more than once applied to her for advice,

which, unfortunately for her, she never followed.
Princess Marie was also hardly more than a child
when she was married, at sixteen, to a
she hardly man
knew. She had passed a sad childhood with her aunt,
the Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, who had brought
her up most rigidly and with such severity that the
firstuse she made of her liberty, when at last it was
granted to her through her marriage, was to abuse it.
She never did any harm indeed, there was no harm
;

in her ;
after all, it was the recklessnessof inexperience
and an indifference to the world's judgments that
savoured of Romanoff hauteur, and which simple
Swedish people did not understand. Princess Marie
210
 A WAYWARD CHILD
was immensely liked in Sweden, but no one could
understand her or follow her in the utterly wild
flights of conduct she
constantly indulged She in.

never could understand the habits and customs of a

society which, being very small, necessarily was very
much occupied in watching its neighbours, and especi-
ally the actions of the Royal family.
Anecdotes without number were related as to the
utter disregard in which she held public opinion, and
her indifference to the judgments and opinions of Mrs.

Grundy. At people were amused with her extra-

first

vagances, and, attributing them to her extreme youth,

forgave them freely, remarking that she was but a
" "
child who would be sobered as time went on. The

King was fond of her,and she returned his affection.

Gustave V. is essentially kind and sympathetic, and
perhaps in his inmost heart he felt sorry for the way-
ward child who was thus thrust into a strange country,
the language of which she had refused to learn, the
habits of which seemed to her so strange and so different
from anything that she had ever seen before. Her
education had not prepared her for the exigencies of
life, and left her at the mercy of certain disasters
which unfortunately occur in the course of nearly every
human Tife.

The King understood all this, and often tried to

obtain his daughter-in-law's confidence, but she per-
sistently refused to open her heart to him, shutting
herself up in a kind of haughty reserve from the only man
who could have helped her, and who might have imposed
silence on the evil tongues already making mischief
211
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
with her good name. The Queen did not Uke Princess
—
Marie she had not viewed her marriage with pleasure
—and the Queen Dowager, who at first had rejoiced
at an alliance which made her grandson the cousin of
the Tsar of All the Russias, became prejudiced also
against the poor little princess, whose waywardness
displeased her, and whose religion was abhorrent to
her. was not long before Princess Marie turned to
It
her own people for comfort. She often visited the
Russian Legation, where she could, at least, talk of the
subjects that interested her, and forget for a few brief
moments that she lived in Sweden, where princesses
could not do as they liked.
There was at that time at the Russian Legation
a lady of remarkable intelligence, Madame Sergieieff,
whose husband occupied the post of Minister at the
Court of Sweden. She did her best to persuade the
Princess Marie to resign herself to her lot, and to
make the necessary concessions to Stockholm society.
She spoke in a motherly way to the impetuous,
impulsive girl, who sobbed loudly whenever she
found herself thwarted in something or other that
was not in strict accordance with the rules which
prevailed in Sweden. Under the influence of Madame
Sergieieff the young princess became quieter, and
applied herself to the task of overcoming the preju-
dices against her which existed in the minds of certain
members of her family. She did not like the Princess

Ingeborg, whom
she accused of being jealous of her-
self, her money, and her jewels, and though she stood

in awe of the Queen, she still showed herself imper-

212
 ROYAL DISPLEASURE
tinent to her. This exasperated the proud, haughty
Sovereign, whose notions of right and %NTong differed
so essentially from those of the Russian princess whom,
much against her will, she had accepted as a daughter-
in-law.

Unfortunately for the princess, Madame Sergieieff

became a widow and had to leave Stockholm, whereby
the Royal little butterfly lost the only disinterested
friend she had. The new Russian Minister who was
appointed, M. Sawinski, was hardly capable of guiding
such a headstrong, stubborn princess. Nevertheless,
she thought she could look upon him as an adviser
as real and disinterested as Madame Sergieieff, and
made him her confidant. They used to take
long rides together, much to the scandal of staid
Stockholm society, which considered it a breach
of etiquette and of good taste. And one day when
Prince William of Sweden had a particularly stormy

quarrel with his wife, she rushed to the Russian

Legation to pour out the story of her wrongs, real or
imaginary, into the sympathetic ears of M. Sawinski.
Princess Marie had a long interview with him in his

study, and when this became known even the patience

of theKing was exhausted, and he spoke to his daughter-
in-law rather more sharply than was his wont. A fiery

interchange of words ensued, during which the Princess

declared that she w^anted a divorce and to return to
Russia. When, however, she sought to obtain per-
mission to do so, she met with a cold refusal from the
Tsar, who advised her to become reconciled with her
husband and to remain where she was.
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Exasperated beyond measure, the Princess wrote an
impertinent letter to the Empress, and taking her maid
with her, she left for Paris one fine morning to join
her father, who was living there with his second wife,
the Countess of Hohenfelsen. Princess Marie begged
him to protect her against what she called the bad
treatment which she had to endure from her hus-
band. The Grand Duke Paul received his daughter
with open arms, and whatever he may have told her
in private he took her part in public. All his argu-
ments failed to induce the Princess to return to
Stockholm, which, as he said, was quite the best thing
to do, whereupon he took her to Petersburg, where
he spoke to the Emperor and at last succeeded in
obtaining the latter's consent to a divorce which would
allow the Princess Marie to return to Russia, and
resume her former rank and position.
What seemed at easy offered considerable
first

difficulties afterwards, because of financial consider-

ations. The Court of Sweden wanted to have con-
firmed the rights of the little boy, to whom the consort
of Prince William had given birth a year after her

marriage, so that his share of his mother's inheritance

should not be lost to him, and the manner in which
this was to be effected gave rise to considerable dis-
cussion. At last it was decided that the child should
remain in Sweden to be educated there by the Queen,
and that his mother would only be allowed to see him
at stated intervals.This being agreed, a certain sum
out of the Princess Marie's fortune was set aside for
his future use and benefit, together with the lovely
214
 HIDDEN QUALITIES
house which had been bought for her in Stockholm
and given to her as a wedding present by the Tsar,
At the conclusion of all these important negotiations,
which were ultimately arranged to the satisfaction of
the interested parties, Marie Pavlovna was allowed
to resume her rank at the Russian Court.
At first the reinstated Grand Duchess Pavlovna
declared herself delighted ; but soon she found that
her position in Russia was not much better than the
one she had fled from in Stockholm. Her aunt, the
Empress Dowager, received her with reproaches, being
more severe, indeed, than was altogether consistent
with justice. The girl, goaded out of all patience,
turned round upon this, and in her turn silenced Marie
Feodorovna by the unexpected and clear manner in
which she defended herself ; but though she scored in
that encounter with her august relative, this only added
to the difficulties of the situation. What would have
happened to her if the war had not broken out it is

impossible to say, but it proved a solution to the

domestic worries of the divorced wife of Prince William
of Sweden. She immediately enrolled herself under the
banner of the Red Cross, and in her capacity of Sister
of Charity she has revealed many noble qualities which
no one had ever suspected her of possessing. It is
likely that later on people will judge the Grand Duchess
less harshly,and make allowances for the impetuosity
of a child who was launched into married life while
she was yet absolutely ignorant of the world, and who
did not obtain from her husband the help and sym-
pathy which she had the right to expect from him.
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 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
It is to be hoped that she will marry again, and,
indeed, theprobability of such a happening has
already been discussed. She is young and pretty, and
probably her experiences as a Sister of Charity will
do much to sober her; and though her conduct in
Sweden may have given rise to criticism, it had never
been found lacking in honesty. Her faults have been
those of a spoilt child, and, unfortunately for her, she
has been compelled to expiate them with a woman's
tears.

2l6
 CHAPTER XII

THE BOURBON-ORLEANS DYNASTY

the House of Bourbon has long ceased
THOUGH to count among the Sovereign famihes of Europe,
this circumstance has not preventedmembers from
its

contracting brilHant alHances, and in some cases

marriages that have brought them on the steps of still
existing thrones.
The Orleans branch especially was always trying
to obtain, by marriage or b)y inheritance, advantages
that would add to the vast fortunes which they had
accumulated, and in some cases to the political influ-
ence which they had succeeded in acquiring. The
head, the Comte de Paris, was certainly the most dis-
interested member of his family, perhaps because he
felt sure that whenever a revolution or some unforeseen
occurrence would give back to the Bourbons the crown
which, they had lost, it could not be offered to anyone
but himself. He was a conscientious, straightforward
man, but without any great strength of character,
and with no considerable political aptitude. He
expired bravely after terrible sufferings, borne with
an almost superhuman patience, but he had never had
the courage to assert himself and to dare to do any-
thing to force France to recognise him as its legitimate
217
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
king. In spite of the high name which he bore, and
the traditions which he embodied, he was at heart a
Repubhcan in the sense that he would not have tried
to impose himself on the French nation without having
been requested by it to do so. Like all the Orleans
since the times of the too famous Egalite, he was a child
of the Revolution, certain principles of which he admired
even whilst condemning some of its excesses. In a
word, he was essentially bourgeois, and though he
was the fine type of what a nobleman should be, he
never could become a grand seigneur, as, for instance,
was the Comte de Chambord. He had no ambition
for himself, and scarcely any for his eldest son, perhaps
because he felt the uselessness of it in face of the char-
acter and habits of that son ; but he was desirous of
seeing his daughters well established in the world. He
would have liked them to wear Royal crowns, as
they would have undoubtedly done had he himself
occupied the throne of Louis XIV. From the time
his eldest daughter, the Princess Amelie, attained an

age when she could have been married, he examined

anxiously all the chances which she possessed of making
a brilliant match, and was heard more than once to
declare that in his opinion no one was more worthy
of becoming a queen.
Whether these dreams of grandeur would ever have
had a chance to be realised it is hard to tell, had not
quite an unforeseen occurrence happened, the result of
which was that she was called upon to become the
Sovereign of Portugal.
This unforeseen circumstance was a journey which
218
 LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
the Comtesse Fernand de la Ferronays, one of the per-
sonal friends of the Comte and Comtesse de Paris took
to Lisbon. Awandering spirit, which had already
made the Comtesse explore all kinds of countries, had
taken her to Portugal, where she was well known at
Court, having had occasion to meet the Queen at
Turin and Florence. Maria Pia was fond of the viva-
cious Frenchwoman, who passed for one of the wittiest
persons in Europe, and as soon as she heard that she
had arrived in the Portuguese capital she sent her son,
the Crown Prince, to invite her to come and see her
as soon as possible. When the Duke of Braganza, as he
was called, arrived at the hotel where the Comtesse de la
Ferronays was staying, he saw on her table the photo-
graph of a lovely girl which interested and struck him
so much that he could not help asking his hostess
who it was, and on hearing that it was the portrait
of the eldest daughter of the head of the Orleans family,
he declared there and then that he would never marry
any other woman, and forthwith begged the Comtesse to
help him to happiness.
The Comtesse Fernand de la Ferronays was quite
delighted, and she hastened to write to the Due
d'Aunfiale to tell him of this unexpected good fortune.
The Duke grasped at once the importance of the com-
munication, and immediately sent to the Crown Prince
an invitation to visit Chantilly the next time his

fancy and wanderings led him to France.

A few months later saw a brilliant assemblage
gathered together under the stately roof of the Condes.
The whole Orleans family was there to begin with; the
219
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Comte and Comtesse de Paris and their children; and
there were also invited the principal notabilities of
the Legitimist party in France, such as the La Roche-
foucaulds, the Luynes, d'Uzes, and that brave soldier,
the Baron de Charette. Magnificent hunts and enter-
tainments were given, and one evening at dinner about
a week afterwards the Due d'Aumale got up and pro-
posed to his guests to drink to the health of the newly
—
engaged pair the Duke of Braganza, heir to the Crown
of Portugal, and his niece, the Princess Amelie of Orleans.
The wedding took place in the following May at
Lisbon, and was preceded by the most imposing Royalist
demonstration that had ever taken place in France
since the Revolution of 1830. The Comte de Paris
gave a reception at the Hotel de Galliera in the rue de
Varennes, where he resided when in Paris, to which all
the illustrious of France were invited. The Comtesse,
with the Princess Amelie beside her, received her guests
in the large drawing-room. She stood on a dais which
at a distance could easily have given one the idea
of being a throne and she saluted them with a dignity
;

that she had learned at Madrid, coupled with the stiff-

ness usually displayed by the Infantas of Spain. She
allowed people to kiss her hand, and gave herself the
airs of a real sovereign.Crowds passed before her,
and the spontaneity with which Paris had responded
to the appeal addressed by her husband to his followers

gave serious anxiety to the Government of the Republic,

which saw in it a challenge addressed to itself and to
Republican institutions. When the Comte and Comtesse
de Paris left France with their daughter on their way
220
 EXILED
to Portugal, their journey gave rise to other demon
strations which proved that the monarchical spirit
was still alive in the provinces. The French Cabinet
determined to put an end to this movement, which
it feared might become a source of serious danger, and

it proposed to the Chambers a law expelling the heads

of the dynasties that had reigned in France. The
bridal dress of the newly wedded Duchess of Braganza
thus contained in its folds the order of exile for her
father and mother from the land which they both loved
so well.
The Comte de Paris embarked for England from
the little French town of Treport in Normandy, which
was close to his ancestral castle of Eu, whither he had
repaired to spend the last days before his departure
from France. He was never to see it again, and died
at Stowe House, the splendid domain of the Duke of
Buckingham, which he had rented as a residence when
he arrived in England, and where his daughter, the
Princess Amelie, who had
already become Queen of
Portugal, came to spend with him the last weeks of
his life. He was warmly attached to her, and expired
with the hope that at least one of his children was
safely .provided for. How little he guessed all that
lay in store for that beloved daughter; and how she
was to feel afterwards that God was mercifulwhen He
carried away her father before the misfortunes came
which were to overpower her and send her also into
exile, bereft of husband, son, and crown calamities—
which he would have felt far more keenly than he did
the personal ones which had befallen him.
221
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
When the Comte de Paris disappeared from the
political scene none of his other children were married.
But a few months after he had breathed his last, his
second daughter, the Princess H^l^ne of France, became
engaged to the nephew of the King of Italy, Emmanuel
Philibert of Savoy, Duke of Aosta. This was not a love
match, on her part at least, because she had lost her
heart long ago to the young Duke of Clarence, the son
of the then Prince and Princess of Wales, and had
also inspired him with a deep and passionate affection.
Politics interfered and rendered their union an impossi-

bility,owing to the difference of religion which stood

between them and their happiness. It was out of
question for an English Queen to be anything but
Protestant ; and the Princess Hel^ne was far too con-

vinced a Roman Catholic to consent to an abjura-

tion, besides, would have brought about a
which,
complete breach between her and her family. Her
heart was broken, but she would not consent to buy
the happiness of her by means of an action
life

against which all her soul and conscience arose with

indignation. After much sorrow and many tears shed
in the silence of her room she gave up the hope of

wedding the man she loved so ardently, and made that

bitter sacrifice with simplicity and courage, but with
the feeling that, though so yoimg, she had, accord-
ing to the expression of the Empress Elisabeth
" "
of Austria, inwardly died long before the
hour came when henceforward for her the world
lacked everything that made it bright and beau-
tiful.

222
 PRINCESS HfiLfeNE OF FRANCE
The Princess Hel^ne was one of the loveliest women
in Europe — tall and fair, with a magnificent figure, and
a carriage that any queen might have envied. After
the death of the Duke of Clarence some people in Russia
as well as in France wanted to arrange a marriage
between her and the eldest son of the Tsar. And,
strange to say, the difference of religion which also
existed between them was no
longer taken into account,
iteven being rumoured that the Pope, when consulted
on the subject, had declared that there might be means
of settling this difficult point to the general satisfaction.
The marriage would have had an immense political
importance, and perhaps on that very account could
not take place. In Russia it would most undoubtedly
have been viewed with considerable satisfaction, as
France was already very popular there, and there were
many people in Petersburg who would have welcomed
with enthusiasm a French princess as their future
Sovereign.
Other considerations, however, prevailed, and per-
—
haps, also, German influences which were still very
—
powerful in Russia were strong enough to nip this
plan in the bud. And at last, when the Duke of Aosta,

young, handsome, amiable, clever, and the possessor

of a considerable fortune, presented himself as a suitor
for the hand of the Princess Helene, she was persuaded
by her mother, the Comtesse de Paris, who had strong
Italian sympathies, to accept his offer. She was mar-
ried in the land of exile which had proved so hospitable
to her and to all her race. The ceremony took place
—
at Kingston-on-Thames where, by the way, the Comte

223
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
de Paris was bui'ied —and the Duke and Duchess left

for Turin immediately afterwards. In Italy she made

herself loved at once, and very soon venerated, especi-
ally by the poorer classes of the population, to whom
she showed herself most generous. During a severe
illness which she underwent a few years after her

marriage all the poor of Turin crowded in the numer-

ous churches of the town and day and night prayed
for her recovery. All over Italy she was beloved as
no princess had ever been before her, but she was not
happy, and, indeed, could hardly be so, with all the
remembrances that must have interfered with her
enjoyment of the pleasures and the grandeurs of the
world. She bore two sons, who for some time were
considered as the future heirs to the Crown
of Italy,
until at last the Queen gave birth to the Prince of
Piedmont. After the illness to which I have alluded
the health of the young Duchess never became satis-
factory, and though the King had appointed the Duke
to the command of an army corps at Naples, in the

hope that the climate might prove beneficial to his

consort, she could not even reside there during the
winter months, and had to repair to Egypt, where she

spent several years in succession in the Soudan. The

marriage of the Duchess of Aosta, though almost as
brilliant as that of her sister, the Queen of Portugal,
was not a happy one, perhaps because it presented
too many chances of happiness, for, as a rule, fate
does not allow poor mortals to enjoy the good things
which itapparently showers upon them.
About a year after the day which saw the Princess
224
 THE ORLEANS DYNASTY
H^l^ne united to Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, her
brother, the Duke of Orleans, had wedded the Arch-
duchess Marie Dorothee of Austria in Vienna. She was
a distant cousin, being the daughter of the Princess
Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg, whose mother was the famous
Princess Clementine of Orleans, the cleverest of the

many clever children of Louis Philippe. The marriage

was considered a splendid one for both parties. It

delighted the soul of the Comtesse de Paris, whom the

constant extravagances of her eldest son had rendered
most unhappy, and who hoped that he would at last
settle down and try to become a good husband and
father to the children she fondly imagined would be
born to him, so that the direct line of succession of
the Orleans dynasty might be continued.
The Archduchess was a person of the highest merit
and of transcendent virtue. Without having the pretti-
ness of absolutely regular features, she had an imposing

appearance, a splendid figure, and was altogether a

beautiful woman. She possessed everything that could
make a man happy, and the whole time that she lived
with the Duke of Orleans she fulfilled admirably the

duties which her position as consort of the head of

the House of France entailed upon her. She won the
respect *.and the esteem of all the Royalist party, but
did not succeed in retaining the affections of her hus-
band, from whom she parted at last, not, however,
without having been obliged to appeal to the law
courts to assure her an income befitting her rank, which
the Duke refused to grant to her.
The last time she publicly appeared as Duchess of
p 225
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
Orleans was when her youngest sister-in-law, the Princess
Louise, was wedded at Wood Norton with Prince Charles
of Bourbon Sicily, an event which was graced by the

presence of King Alphonso of Spain, together with his

young wife, Queen Victoria Eugenie, of the Queen of
Portugal, and several members of the English Royal
Family, together with nearly all those of the House
of Orleans or of Naples. The event, which was cele-
brated amidst great splendour, was also remarkable
because Queen Amelie of Portugal was never again
after that day able to show herself abroad as a reigning
queen, for only a few months later King Carlos was
assassinated at Lisbon, and when she next came to

England it was as an exile and a fugitive.

In addition to Queen Amelie, the Duchess of Aosta
and the Princess Louise of Bourbon, the Comte de Paris
had another daughter, the Princess Isabella, who wedded
her cousin, the Due de
Guise, the youngest son of the
Due and Duchesse de Chartres. The Princess Isabella is
the most brilliant member of a very clever family, and
though she is seldom seen in Paris — living the greater

part of the year either in her castle of Nouvion-en-

Thierache, in the department of Aisne, or else on an
estate —
which the Duke bought in Morocco she is always
welcomed with great effusion by the multitude of
friends she has in the French capital whenever she
returns to it.

The Orleans, I have related already, were always

most careful to seek material benefits from all the alli-
"
ances which they contracted. Though they were kings
in exile," this did not prevent them from finding wives
226
 PRINCESS ISABELLA
and husbands who brought them these advantages.
For instance, the eldest son of the Duke of Nemours,
the Comte d'Eu, went to Brazil on purpose to offer
himself as a husband to the heiress of that empire,
the Princess Isabella. She was not well favoured in
looks, but kind and good, and she made him an excellent
wife. Their marriage created a stir in the diplomatic
world, and intensely displeased Napoleon III., who
did not care to see a member of the House of
Orleans wedded to a future Empress, and who tried
by all the means in his power to prevent it from taking
place. His trouble was quite unnecessary, as later
events proved, because Dom Pedro II. was overturned
by a revolution, and had to fly to France ; there he

ultimately died in Paris at the Hotel Bedford, where

he occupied a large suite of rooms for many years. It
has been said that had he abdicated in favour of the
Princess Isabella, as he was asked to do, his dynasty
might have remained in possession of the throne. The
Princess was popular in Brazil, largely owing to the
decree which she had signed during one of her numerous

regencies exercised whilst her father was travelling in

Europe. This decree abolished slavery all over her
states, and it was even hinted to her that she ought
to put** herself at the head of the Revolutionary
movement, and thus save her inheritance for her
children. She rejected this offer with scorn, and de-
clared that rather than usurp a throne which did
not belong to her she preferred to follow her father
into exile which she did, living ever since either in
;

Paris, where she has bought a splendid villa at Boulogne-

227
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
sur-Seine, or else at the castle of Eu, which her husband
had purchased from his nephew, the Duke of Orleans,

during one of the financial crises which recurred periodic-

ally in the latter's life.
The Count and Countess have improved the old
domain, and have gathered together many family relics
of the Bourbon and Braganza dynasties, which they
cherish and keep most preciously. The Countess d'Eu
is now an old woman, very proud and
haughty, but
extremely charitable and good, who, being far cleverer
than her husband, is nevertheless always most anxious
not to let the outside world discover the fact. She
has three sons, of whom the eldest, Dom Pedro, as he
is called, is a fat and fair fellow, extremely good-
natured, with a sufficient amount of brains to go about
most comfortably in the world. He made a morganatic
marriage, much to the distress of his parents, who
for a long time refused him permission to wed the
Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky, an Austrian lady with
whom he had been in love ever since he left the
schoolroom. His parents at last gave their consent
only under the condition that he should renounce
his rights to the throne of Brazil in favour of his

younger brother Prince Louis, and further that he

—
should wait until the latter was married conditions
to which he cheerfully assented. Just one week after
Prince Louis had been united with much pomp and
ceremony to the Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon, one
of the daughters of the Count and Countess of Caserta,
Dom Pedro married quite privately, in the presence of
only a few friends, the girl for whose sake he had
228
 A MARTYR'S DEATH
given up the chance
—remote, it is true —of becoming
an Emperor.
The Comte d'Eu had one brother, the Duke of

Alen9on, a saintly man who should have been a monk, and

who never should have married, as he did, the Princess
Sophie in Bavaria, sister of the Empress Elisabeth of
Austria, and Queen of Naples. She
of the once lovely
was burned to death during the fire that consumed the
famous Bazar dc la Charite in Paris. During her life-
time she had always shown herself more or less eccen-
tric. It was related to me by a survivor of this a\vful

catastrophe that when the flames were already spread-

ing towards the place where the Duchess was standing
immovable at her counter, one of the persons present
implored her to follow her and try to get out of
the furnace, which they might yet have done. In
"
reply Sophie in Bavaria quietly said, Not before
all the rest have gone out," and taking the pins out
of her glorious hair she allowed it to fall on her
shoulders, kneeling down same time and begin-
at the

ning to pray in a loud voice. The last that was seen

of her was when her hair caught fire, and for one moment
her figure emerged out of an ocean of flame then the ;

smoke prevented anything further from being seen,

and whole building crumbled down over those un-
th*e

fortunate victims who had not been able to escape.

The body of the Duchess of Alen9on so disfigured —
that it was only by her wedding-ring that it was
—
recognised was found the next day and was taken
to the Orleans family vault at Dreux.
Two children had been born to her —a boy and a
229
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
girl. The latter married one of her Bavarian cousins,
Prince Alphonso, and lives in Munich, whilst the former,
preferring Paris to every other place in the world,
determined to find for himself a consort who would
share this taste with him. This was not so very easy,
considering the fact that there were no more disposable
Orleans princesses, and for some reasons, into which
it is useless to enter here, the Due de Vendome —for
such was his title —did not care to unite himself to
a Bourbon of the Sicilian line.
At this juncture one of the oldest friends of the
Orleans family, the Marquis de Beauvoir, who for a
considerable time had occupied the position of private

secretary to the Comte de Paris, made the proposition

that the Due de Vendome should seek the hand of
the Princess Henriette of Belgium, the eldest daughter
of the Count and Countess of Flanders. She had a
dowry amounting to several millions, and was very
beautiful but rumour would have it that she was
;

already engaged to some German prince, and the

Due d'Alen9on did not wish to expose his son to the
risk of a refusal. The Marquis de Beauvoir then offered
to go to Brussels and ascertain for himself whether the
news was true or not, and if not to find out prudently
whether there was any chance for the Due de Vendome
to be accepted as a husband by the Princess Henriette
and her parents.
The marquis started for Belgium, and it did not
take him long to convince himself that an alliance
—
with the House of Orleans to which the Belgian dynasty
—
was already related would prove very acceptable to
230
 BELGIAN REGARD FOR SPAIN
the Count of Flanders, as well as to his brother, King
Leopold, who always had the last word in all ques-
tions concerning the establishment of
his nephews
and nieces. The Due de Vendome thereupon travelled
to Brussels, and on February 12th, 1896, the nuptials
of the only son of the Duke of Alen9on with Henriette-
Marie-Charlotte, Princess of Belgium, were celebrated
in the Cathedral of Ste. Gudule.
The Duke returned to France with his wife, and
they settled in a suburb of Paris —at Neuilly, where they
built for themselves a lovely house in the rue Borghese.

They have resided there in the spring and autumn of

each year ever since, spending the winters at their villa
at Cannes, the Chateau St. Michel, and the summers in
the Tyrol, where they also possess a property which
had been the favourite house of the unfortunate Duchess
of Alen9on. The Duchesse de Vendome was very fond
of society and liked to entertain her friends and ;

she is the only princess belonging to the Orleans family

whom one meets at all the fashionable places in Paris :

the races, opera, theatres and restaurants, and also

at the different Embassies and the houses of the
leaders of Royalist society. She has a son and several
daughters, of whom the eldest is already eighteen ;
whilst the youngest. Princess Genevieve, is spoken of

by the French monarchists as a likely bride for her

cousin the Duke of Brabant, the heir of King Albert
of Belgium. This contingency, however, is not very

probable, as both King Albert and his Queen would

prefer, formany reasons, to have for their daughter-
in-law an Infanta of Spain, whose English blood appeals
231
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
to them. Besides, the King is very much against
marriages between first and though he dearly
cousins,
loves his sister, yet he would not care to have one of
his nieces as a daughter-in-law.
The Comtesse de Paris had one brother. Prince
Antoine of Orleans, who, after the death of his mother's
oldest friend, the Duchess of Galliera, took her title.
The Duchess, having the right to dispose of it accord-

ing to Italian custom, had left itto him, together with

a considerable sum of money. His marriage was the
cause of a certain amount of gossip, owing to the
impetuosity of character displayed by the lady whom
he made his wife, and to his own propensity for cards
and gaiety. He had wedded the Infanta Donna
Eulalia of Spain, the sister of the late King Alphonso
XII., who, having been brought up almost entirely
in Paris, where her mother. Queen Isabella, lived sur-
rounded with all the pomp of a Royal Court, had taken
French manners, was imbued with French sympathies,
and never felt quite at her ease in Madrid. Especially
was this so after the advent at the Royal Palace of
Queen Marie Christine, whose rigidity of principles did
not agree with her own conception as to the pleasures
and difficulties of life. She did not care for Prince
Antoine, but thought it
marry him, and to
better to
be able to live where she liked afterwards, instead of
remaining in Spain, where she had to spend her life
amidst the thraldom of an etiquette against which her
whole soul revolted.
The Infanta persuaded her husband to take a
house in Paris, where for a certain number of years
232
 A BID FOR FREEDOM
they contrived to live together without quarrelling
too much. Then the Infanta became gradually more
and more independent ;
she took to travelling on her
own account, visiting Russia, Germany, Denmark, and
Italy; the latter country, however, she did not like,
perhaps because when there she found herself crushed
under the personality of the talented Queen Margherita.
When she settled down again in Paris she opened
the doors of her Paris house to writers and artists who
would never have been allowed to enter an Infanta's
presence in Madrid, and she went about more than
any other Royal princess had ever done in Paris.
She was fond of balls and parties cared for riding,
;

dancing, skating, rowing, and game-shooting. In short,

she was all that an Infanta ought not to be in the eyes
of a stiff and archaic etiquette it is no wonder, indeed,
;

that at last she into disgrace with Marie Christine,

fell

and was at one moment threatened with a curtailment

of her allowance. This unpleasant event might have
happened to her had it not been that she captured
the good graces of her nephew, the present King,
who looked upon her unconventional ways with more
indulgent eyes than his mother had done.
But when Donna Eulalia wrote and published a
book in which her Socialistic leanings and sympathies
came out too prominently for the thing not to be
noticed, Alphonso XIII. was constrained by his family
to write to his aunt and to express to her his disapproval
of her actions, as well as to insist upon her retracting
the opinions expressed in the volume, which had given
rise to such a storm in monarchical circles. The Princess
233

\
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
had to submit, but after she had eaten " humble pie "
she was restored to favour, and has gone on amusing
herself in Paris, which has remained to this day her
favourite place of residence.
A few years before the episode of the book, the
Infanta sought to be divorced from her husband.
This desire created a sensation, as such a thing had
never before occurred in the history of the Royal
Family of Spain. At last things were settled, thanks
partly to the intervention of the Comtesse de Paris,
who arranged a modus vivendi that allowed the
Infanta to part without scandal from a husband she
ought never to have been persuaded to marry. The
Due de Galliera went to live with his sister at San
Lucar de Barrameda, the splendid domain in Andalusia
which they had jointly inherited from their mother,
the deceased Duchess of Montpensier, and rarely
showed himself and only when his wife was
in Paris,

sojourning in Spain. The Infanta Eulalia occupies a

flat on the Boulevard Lannes, which she calls a
'pied
d ierre, but which is large enough for her to receive
her numerous friends in comfort. She still writes
books, but has grown more prudent in the enunciation
of the opinions which she professes, and lately has
become the most tender of grandmothers, and dotes
on the three sturdy boys which have been born to
her son and daughter-in-law. Prince Alphonso and
Princess Beatrice of Orleans. She is still
pretty and
very youthful-looking, as fond of
society as ever,
and troubles as little as possible about all the un-

pleasant things of life represented by dressmakers'

234
 THE LOVE OF DON ALPHONSO
bills, worries with one's maid, and quarrels with one's
husband.
Her marriage was essentially un manage de raison,
where politics, convenience, questions of fortune and
of position had played the principal part. Of love .

there had never been a mention, and no one would

have been more surprised than the Infanta herself
ifone had hinted at the possibility of such a feeling
existing between her and her cousin Don Antonio
of Orleans. But when her eldest son's fate had to
be decided, she found, to her extreme astonishment,
that he, the child of a most unromantic mother, was
about to contract an alliance in which the romantic
element constituted the larger part.
Don Alphonso is a pleasant and amiable young
man who was brought up in England, and looks more
like an Englishman than a man of his own race. Perhaps

it was this last circumstance which influenced the

Princess Beatrice of Coburg, the youngest daughter of
the Dowager Duchess of Coburg, formerly Duchess of
Edinburgh. The fact remains that she fell violently
in love with him, and that he reciprocated her feelings.
The Princess is the elder by something like two
or three years. She is very lovely, and clever, and
was rhentioned as a possible bride for the King of
Spain before he met the fair-haired Princess Ena of
Battenberg and forgot the whole world on looking into
her splendid eyes. Princess Beatrice had made quite
a sensation in London when her mother had taken her
there during the season, and wherever she had been
she had excited general admiration. Her birth and
235
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
position were unimpeachable ;
she was the grand-
daughter of Queen Victoria and also of a late Tsar
of Russia her sisters were married respectively to
;

the Crown Prince of Roumania, to the Grand Duke

Cyril of Russia, and to the Prince of Hohenlohe-
Langenburg.
No alliance in the world could have been better
for a younger member of the House of Orleans. One
could therefore suppose that the first announcement
of it would be received with enthusiasm at the Court
of Madrid, where the Prince resided, but unfortunately
the religious question again cropped up, and the Queen
Regent declared that it was impossible to admit a
Protestant member into the Spanish Royal Family.
The Princess Beatrice was therefore asked to follow
the example of her cousin, the young Queen Victoria,
and to abjure Protestantism in order to enter the
Roman Catholic Church. She refused, declaring that
she would never consent to a step that would be entirely
against her conscience. Upon this King Alphonso
absolutely forbade his cousin to think of an alliance
which would excite public opinion at Madrid against
the reigning dynasty, and ordered him to leave Coburg,
where he had been staying with his fiancee, and to
return immediately to Spain. Neither the Prince nor
his future wife accepted this decision, and as the
Duchess of Coburg was agreeable to their taking the
law into their own hands, they were married at once,
and the Prince telegraphed the fact to King Alphonso,
intimating that he was quite ready to accept the con-
sequences of his disobedience. Alphonso XIII. was
236
 RESTORED TO FAVOUR
not a tyrant, and the Queen was very fond of her young
cousin, and would have been dehghtcd to have her
near her at Madrid. He would therefore have forgiven
the young couple, but Marie Christine was furious, and
insisted on her son punishing the cousin who had thus

forgotten the allegiance which he owed to the head

of his House. She obliged Alphonso to chastise the
rebellious Infante who had thus openly defied his

authority, and the Prince and Princess received strict

orders to remain in exile and never to dare show their
faces in Spain again.

They took it quite philosophically, perhaps because

they knew it would not be for a long time, and settled
in Coburg, where the Dowager Duchess Marie Alexan-
drovna was but too glad to have them, and they spent
their time very pleasantly, travelling sometimes, and

enjoying short trips to Paris, which they both liked,

and where the Infanta Eulalia always received them
with open arms. Two children were born to them in

quick succession, and then the war between Spain and

Morocco broke out, and the Infante Alphonso wrote
to the King and asked to be allowed to take the
field with his former regiment.The permission was
granted, and was followed very soon by his reinstate-
ment*, to favour. He now lives in Madrid, where he
and his amiable consort have made themselves general
favourites in all classes and where the
of society,
Infanta Eulalia comes to visit them whenever Paris
begins to bore her and she feels she wants to breathe
her native air again for a short time.

Beyond the Orleans there exist still two other

237
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
branches of the Bourbon family, those of Naples and
of Parma. The latter has entirely settled in Austria,
and is
very well established. Prince Elias, the best-
looking and most intelligent member of the family,
has become allied to the Habsburgs by his marriage
with the Archduchess Marie Anna, whilst the Princess
Zita has been united with the heir presumptive to the
Austrian monarchy. Archduke Charles Francis Joseph.
Unfortunately, imbecility is supposed to be hereditary
among the posterity of the Duchess Marie Louise of
Parma, the sister of the Comte de Chambord, and the
head of the family, Prince Henry of Parma, is confined
in an asylum.
As for the Naples Bourbons, represented by the
Count of Caserta, there is not much to say, as there
has never been anything approaching a romantic
marriage amongst them. They have all been very
well brought up and behave well, and have
always con-
sulted the code of etiquette and the Almanack de
Goiha before taking to themselves a husband or a wife.
The eldest son of the Count of Caserta is wedded to a
princess of Bavaria, and whilst his parents reside the

greater part of the year at Cannes, he lives at the

castle of Nymphenburg, near Munich. His second
brother, Prince Charles of Bourbon Sicily, was the
husband of the lovely Princess Marie de las Mercedes
of the Asturias, the eldest sister of
King Alphonso,
and his marriage with her gave rise to a lot of un-
pleasantness, as neither the Spanish nation nor the

Spanish Government wanted the heiress to the throne,

as shewas at the time, to marry a Bourbon of Naples,
238
 ROYAL HOUSE OF BOURBON
that House being very unpopular in the country ever
since the days of the first Queen Christine, the grand-
mother of Alphonso XII. It was the Regent who,
for reasons of her own, had desired this marriage for
her daughter, and who insisted on arranging it. Prince
Charles was naturaHsed in Spain and received the title
of Infante. His wife died in childbirth three years
but he kept the dignities which he had acquired
later,

through his union with her, and remarried with the

Princess Louise of France, the daughter of the Comtesse
de Paris, as I have already related, and brought her to
Madrid, where they have resided ever since.
As for his sisters, they were very well provided for
by the cleverness of the Countess of Caserta, who,
though they were almost penniless, nevertheless con-
trived to secure excellent The
husbands for them.
eldest, Princess Marie Immaculata, was wedded to
Prince John, the brother of the King of Saxony the ;

second. Princess Marie Christine, married an archduke

of Austria and the third and youngest one, the
;

Princess Maria Pia, became the wife of Prince Louis

of Braganza, the heir of the Count and Countess d'Eu.
These were all unions without any political significance,
but most sensible and probably happy. They had
nothing romantic about them, and have afforded no
food whatever for gossip of any kind.
Indeed, it would be difficult as things stand at
present for any marriage contracted by a prince of
the Royal House of Bourbon to have any diplomatic

importance. Even that of the representative of the

elder line, the only son of the famous Don Carlos,
239
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
would be viewed with perfect indifference by the
Spanish public. The popularity of King Alphonso
XIII. has become so great that there is no longer any
risk of a Carlist insurrection breaking out in the

country. Don Jaime de Bourbon, who lives almost

continually at Frohsdorff, is so far a confirmed bachelor,
whilst the matrimonial adventures of two of his sisters
are not sufficiently interesting to find a place here.

240
 CHAPTER XIII

THE ENGLISH ROYAL MARRIAGES

is quite intentionally that I have allowed this
ITchapter dealing with English Royal marriages to
remain until the last. The reason for this apparent
neglect is that England, which in so many things shows
examples the world would do well to follow, has proved
itself particularly wise in the marriages of its reign-
ing House. King Edward, who certainly was one of
— —
the foremost if not the greatest diplomats of his
time, had realised the apparently impossible problem
of transforming political unions into love marriages.
Thanks to his skill, the establishment of his numerous
nieces was conducted on the basis of marriages of
affection, and he succeeded in selecting for them hus-
bands whom
they could love and who happened to be
in love with them, feeling very well that the influence
which he wanted them to gain over their consorts
would, if their union were founded on mutual affection
be far more powerful than it would otherwise be.
To must be added that it was a tradition in
this
the Royal House of England to marry for love ever
since the days of Queen Victoria, who was essentially
romantic and of a most affectionate nature. Her own
alliance with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg had been
Q 241
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
founded essentially on the warm feelings with which
he had inspired her, and when the time came to estab-
lish her daughters she insisted on political reasons
being laid aside, which fact led the Royal princesses to
make marriages less brilliant perhaps than they could
have aspired to, but which offered them far more
chances of happiness than attended the wedded lives of
so many daughters of foreign Royal or Imperial houses.
To begin with the Princess Victoria, whose union
with the future German Crown Prince was a perfect
idyll,which no one described better than did the Queen
"
herself in her Journal," and to end with the alliance
contracted by Princess Beatrice with Prince Henry of
—
Battenberg all the daughters of the Queen were allowed
to choose their husbands, and never once did they
hear any hint of political reasons entering into their
marriage arrangements.
When it came to the question of the establishment
of the Sovereign's grandchildren, the same principle
was followed and later on, after the death of the
;

wisest monarch England ever had, it was taken up by

her successor, who even enlarged upon it, and almost
made it a cardinal principle in his family.
It was during the reign of Queen Victoria that

England saw, for the first time, one of its princesses

marry a Scottish nobleman who was simply heir to
a dukedom. When the engagement of the Princess
Louise with the Marquis of Lome was announced, it
caused a nine days' wonder all over the United King-
dom. Some people blamed the leniency of the Queen,
who, they affirmed, had established a regrettable prece-
242
 PRINCESS LOUISE
dent ; whilst others —and these were the
majority
— -

extolled the kindness and the wisdom of the Sovereign

who, when the happiness of her child came into question,
put aside old traditions and preferred to see her wedded
to a gentleman with an unimpeachable reputation and

high character with whose parents, moreover, she

;

had herself been upon terms of affectionate friendship

for a considerable number of years.
Nevertheless, the marriage of the Princess Louise
opened a new era concerning the future of members
of the Royal Family. It added considerably to the

popularity of the Queen herself, and drew her even

nearer to her subjects than had been the case before,
when some voices had blamed her for having allowed
the Princess Helena to unite herself to Prince Christian
of Schleswig-Holstein, who was considered so poor
that one believed had been only through interested
it

—
motives that he had wooed and won her an assertion,
by the way, which was as ill-natured as it was unjust.
After the wedding of the Princess Louise, a con-
siderable time passed before any other member of the

Royal Family contemplated matrimony, and was only it

during the course of the summer of 1873 that England

heard of the betrothal of the Queen's second son, the
Duke*' of Edinburgh, with the only daughter of the
Tsar, the Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna.
This was an exceptionally brilliant marriage, and
also one in which politics had a considerable share, as
itwas supposed to bring about closer relations between
the London and the Petersburg Cabinets, which had
remained more or less strained ever since the Crimean
243
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
War. The Duke of Edinburgh, who was a very dis-
tinguished man indeed, was heir to the Duchy of
Coburg and its large domains, whilst the Grand
Duchess Marie was bringing to him a huge fortune
besides her own amiable self. She was a most accom-
plished woman in every respect, who had been admir-
ably brought up, and who was considered the cleverest
member of her family.
Queen Victoria made no secret of her delight at

getting such a daugliter-in-law, and took the keenest

interest in all the arrangements connected with the

wedding, which was solemnised with much magnificence

at Petersburg, and was attended by a large number of

Royalties, foremost among whom were the Prince

and Princess of Wales, and the German Crown Prince
and Princess. They all declared themselves enchanted
with the hospitality that had been proffered them,
and I remember how the Crown Princess on her return
to Berlin showed me, with great pleasure, a splendid
bracelet with which theEmperor of Russia had pre-
sented her on the day of her departure from Petersburg.
The newly married pair started for England a few
days after their marriage, and were received at Windsor
railway station by the Queen in person, who had driven
over to bid her son's bride welcome in her new home.
The Duchess Edinburgh became a great favourite
of
with her mother-in-law, who up to her death entertained
the warmest affection for her, and liked to have her
about her as much and as often as possible. The two
ladies had many characteristics in common, and were
drawn to each other at once. The Grand Duchess
244
 DUKE OF GONNAUGHT WEDS
Marie was often heard to say tliat the only thought
which had comforted her at the time of her own mother's
death was the feehng that, although she had lost a
parent, Queen Victoria was there to replace her.
Six years after the marriage of the Duke of Edin-
burgh, his brother, the Duke of Connaught, brought
home a young bride. This was also a marriage which
was only actuated by love on both sides. The Duke
had met his future wife at the wedding of the latter's
sister, the Princess Marie of Prussia, with Prince Henry
of the Netherlands, and from the first moment that
he caught sight of her he lost his heart to her, and at
once had sought his mother's agreement to the offer
which he intended to make to the Princess Louise
Margaret. As he was the favourite son of the Queen,
the latter insisted upon his nuptials being celebrated
in England, and they accordingly took place at Windsor,
where the King and Queen of the Belgians also arrived
for the occasion. The new Duchess of Connaught at
once made herself at home in her new
country, and
became so English in all her sentiments that she some-
times showed herself even more patriotic in her feelings
than her sisters-in-law, who used sometimes to tease
her on the subject. Wherever she went, were it to

India^ Ireland, or Canada, she made many friends and

won many admirers, and in all the actions of her life she
showed herself an example of what an English princess
and the daughter-in-law of a great queen should be.
Her marriage had absolutely no other motive
than a deep affection which she and the Duke of
Connaught had conceived for each other, and it turned
245
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
out a perfectly happy one, that proved singularly free
from the common misfortunes which so often come to
cast their shade over human lives. She brought up
her children admirably, and never lost one. The
ducal couple were always in accord, and the greatest
sorrow that ever befell them was the serious illness of
the Duchess, whose recovery after her terrible opera-
tion a few years ago was for several days despaired of.
Not even the present war, with attendant horrors,
its

has been able to shake their mutual tenderness, because

the Duchess has become so thoroughly English in all
her sentiments that she thoroughly joined in the very
just feelings of execration which the English nation,
and indeed the whole of the civilised world, felt for
the savage methods of warfare inaugurated by the

troops of William II.

Three years after the wedding of the Duke and
Duchess of Connaught, St. George's Chapel at Windsor
was again the scene of a gay festivity. The Queen's
youngest son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, was
united to the charming Princess Helene of Waldeck
and Pyrmont, sister of the Queen of the Nether-
lands,who, together with the King, came over to
England to attend the ceremony. This marriage was
rudely broken by death, which snatched away the
Duke two years later, when his widow retired almost

entirely from society and consecrated herself to the

education of her two children, of whom the younger
had been born after his father's death. As he was
to succeed to the Duchy of Coburg upon the demise of
his uncle, the Duke of Edinburgh, whose only son had
246
 AN ENGLISH PRINCESS
predeceased him, his mother took him to Germany to
educate him. He succeeded to the Duchy in 1900, and
when the present war broke out showed himself singu-

larly forgetful of his English origin. His sister, the

Princess Alice, has remained a perfect English girl.
She had declared that she would never consent to think
of any other marriage than an English one. Her
determination was carried out, because she became,
in time, the wife of Prince Alexander of Teck, the
manly and handsome brother of Queen Mary, and she
has lived in England ever since, partly at Claremont,
the residence of her mother, the widowed Duchess of

Albany, and partly at Windsor, where the kindness

of the King has given her an apartment in one of the
towers of the Castle.
After the nuptials of the Duke of Albany all the
children of the Queen found themselves provided for,
with the exception of the Princess Beatrice, whom her
mother did not seem to care to see leave England for
a foreign land. She was truly the strong arm of the
venerable Sovereign, whom she surrounded with the

greatest care and attention, and who found in her

an excellent helpmate in all the business which she
had to transact. The Princess was unusually clever,
and possessed one quality which is far better even than
cleverness —she was and extremely discreet.
tactful
No one, looking at this
young girl standing so
modestly beside her mother, would have imagined
that she knew more about the politics of the world
than many a cabinet minister, and that the Queen
found in her a valuable adviser, whom she could trust
247
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
better than anyone else. Until the death of her mother,
the Princess Beatrice never failed for one single day
in her filial duty in regard to her, and sacrificed herself

entirely for her sake, giving up all the pleasures in

which girls delight generally, and arranging the whole
tenor of her existence so as to make it fit in with
the Queen's requirements. She showed herself a model
daughter, and, in time, she was to get her reward
for it.

During a journey, which her mother undertook

abroad, in the course of which she stopped for a few
days at Darmstadt to see her grandchildren who were
living there, the Princess Beatrice happened to be
thrown into the company of Prince Henry of Batten-
berg, the brother of Prince Alexander of Bulgaria.
He was one of the handsomest men of his generation,
and in every way attractive. He
inspired the Princess
with the warmest feelings, which, however, she did not
dare to disclose to the Queen, knowing the unselfishness
of the latter, and being convinced that she would not
hesitate one moment to sacrifice herself, if she thought
that the happiness of her beloved child required it.
The Princess knew that without her the existence of
the aged Sovereign would be even more deprived of
joy than it was already she would not be the means
;

of bringing another shadow on the life of her mother.

But the Queen was far too perspicacious not to notice
that something had occurred to mar her daughter's
usual serenity, and she very quickly discovered what
was troubling her. With characteristic rapidity of
decision she made up her mind that the affections of

248
 A ROYAL SACRIFICE
the Princess Beatrice ought not to be thwarted, and
set herself to seek themeans by which they could be
gratified. Of course, it was relatively easy to put as
a condition to her consent to the marriage that the
young couple were always to reside with her but ;

she had far too much experience of life not to know

that a man does not generally care to be dependent
upon his mother-in-law.

Queen Victoria therefore determined to speak her-

self with Prince Henry, and to explain to him the
situation. She had no reason to repent of her decision,
because the Prince understood her at once, and replied
to her that he would consider it a special honour if

he were permitted to help the Princess Beatrice in her

filial mission, but that he had never dared to offer

doing so for fear that interested motives might be

attributed to him. He had no other fortune except
his good looks, and felt shy at the thought that the
world might say mercenary reasons had been at the
bottom of his marriage with the daughter of the Queen
of England. Victoria reassured him as to that point.

During the few years that the union of this amiable

young Prince with the Princess Beatrice lasted, no
cloud of any kind appeared on the horizon to trouble it.
I Ynust relate here an anecdote which, so far as I

know, has never yet become public property, and which

concerns Prince Henry of Battenberg. Long before
he had any thought of becoming the son-in-law of the
Queen he was serving as an officer in the Prussian
regiment of the Garde du Corps in Berlin, and was a
general favourite in society there. I also was at that

249
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
time residing in the German capital, and used to meet
Prince Henry very often at the house of a mutual
friend. One afternoon the conversation turned on a
fortune-teller who was then the fashion, and to whom

everybody flocked to know what the future held in

store. We were a large party, and decided to go and
see her the next day, which we did more out of fun
than anything else.

On our arrival the old dame received us with great

cordiality, and when we declared that we had no
secrets from each other, proceeded to read us a lesson
as to what, according to her words, was to happen
to us individually. When it came to the turn of
Prince Henry, she at first prophesied any amount
of prosperity for him, and a charming wife who would

bring all that his heart could desire ; then, after a

"
while, she added, have one thing more to tell you.
I

Whatever you do, beware of a blonde, because evil

shall occur to you through her." We all burst out
laughing, and for the whole of the winter season,
which was then just beginning, we teased poor Prince
"
Henry unmercifully about the lovely blonde," as
we called her, who was to bring evil upon him. This
stupid joke acquired later on a sad significance when
the Prince died on board the cruiser Blonde, on which
his remains were brought back to England for burial.
Queen Victoria loved Prince Henry of Battenberg
as much as if he had been her own son, and she mourned
for him deeply when an untoward fate carried him away
in the flower of his age. He had truly been a son to
her, and, besides, her heart bled for her devoted daughter,
250
 QUEEN VICTORIA'S HEART
who had thus seen crumble into pieces all the joy and
happiness of her life. The sad event drew mother and
daughter even closer together than they had been
before, and the Queen, in whose service her son-in-
law had fallen, felt in a certain sense guilty before
his children, and applied herself to bring solace to
them by even greater tenderness. Her grandchildren
never left her, and until her own death she always
interested herself in their doings —both in their studies
as well as in their play ; and it is not to be doubted
that had she lived long enough to see the Princess Ena
of Battcnberg married to Alphonso XIII., she would
have rejoiced at the event even more, perhaps, than
she rejoiced at the weddings of her own children.
Queen Victoria was a born match-maker, and though
her family always stood more or less in awe of her, yet
itwas to her that they instinctively turned whenever
they happened to be in love. It was to her grand-
mother that the present Princess Royal, then Princess
Louise of Wales, confided that she wished to marry
the Earl of Fife, and it was the Queen who broached
the subject with the parents of the timid young girl,
who had never dared mention it to them herself.
This alliance of the eldest daughter of the Heir
Apparent to the Crown of Great Britain with a peer
of the realm was also one of those events which gave
rise to considerable criticism, but which proved once
more the sound common sense of the great Queen,
who never consented to be influenced by dynastic
reasons where the personal feelings of her family were
concerned. She thought first of all of their happiness
251
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
and afterwards at the circumstances attending it, and
besides she was too conscious of the dignity of her
Crown not to understand that if one of her grand-
daughters married a mere peer of the reahn she did
not lose her rank as a princess of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and and that this rank was
Ireland,
far superior to any other she might have acquired by
a marriage with a foreign prince, even if he were heir
to a crown.
Of the weddings of her children and relatives
all

none interested Queen Victoria so much as the one

which her grandson, the Duke of York, contracted with
his cousin, the accomplished and beautiful Princess

May Teck, the delightful daughter of a delightful

of

mother, who was also the cherished cousin of the

British Sovereign. What especially appealed to the
Queen's mind in connection with it was the fact that
the Princess May was an Englishwoman, born and
bred in England. Victoria, at a time when no one
thought about the possibility of foreign relations
getting strained or difficult, expressed herself strongly
as to the inadvisability of the consorts of monarchs

belonging either to another nationality or to another

faith than their husbands and when told that it
;

would be hardly possible for the King of England to

wed one of his own subjects, or continually to inter-
marry in the circle of his immediate relatives, she

replied that she did not see would be impossible

why it

for him to raise to his throne a daughter of the House

of Percy or of Graham, considering the fact that Jane

Seymour and Catherine Howard had been thought

252
 AN EXCELLENT MARRIAGE
worthy by that most haughty of kings, Henry VIII.,
to share his throne and that what had been done
;

once could be done again.

Queen Victoria held the opinion that an English
queen would more easily understand the needs of the
English nation than a foreigner, who would, first of
all, have to get acquainted with the inner life of the

country to which she would be a perfect stranger.

And when she heard that her grandson, the Duke of
Clarence, was desirous
making the Princess May his
of

wife, the Queen hastened to give him her consent,

and at once wrote to the Duchess of Teck to tell her
how delighted she felt at the Duke's choice.
It is a curious thing, which I do not think is known
to the public, that was the Empress
it Marie of Russia
who, after the lamented death of the Duke of Clarence,
suggested to her sister, the Princess of Wales, the idea
of arranging a marriage between the Princess May and
the Duke of York.In doing so she had probably in
mind the story of her own marriage, when, after having
been engaged to the Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandro-
vitch, shewas united to his brother after his death.
The experience had turned out very well, and this
fact more than anything else encouraged the Prince
and Brincess of Wales to try it on their own account.
As fate would have it, the Duke of York had always
been much attached to his little cousin, so that he

accepted the proposition at once— everyone knows

with what excellent results.
All this took place long ago, and now King George
and Queen Mary can look forward to the day when
253
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
their own children will in their turn be considering
marriage. It would be unseemly on my part to
mention here the many rumours which, in Petrograd
—
especially where everything relating to the English
Royal Family is followed with the keenest interest —
are going about concerning the eventual marriages of
the Princess Mary, and of the Prince of Wales. The
Russian nation would dearly like to see the Prince ally
himself to the Romanoffs and become the son-in-law of
the Tsar. As for his sister, there are any number of
grand dukes —among them the Grand Duke Boris, who
is so well known England —whom Russian society
in
would be delighted to see bring home an English bride.
England is so popular in the realms of the Tsar that
'Ver new link which would unite it to the Russian
atic 1would be hailed with intense joy, and now that
.he Royal marriage markets of Europe are closed
against Germany, one may, without being
''definitely

unreasonable, hope that this desire may yet come to

be fulfilled.

Another reason why I have spoken of the English

Royal Family at the end of this book is because, as
I want to point out, thatthe European
among all

dynasties, the one which sits to-day on the throne

of Great Britain has entered more than any other
into its national needs, and that in its marriages,
as well as in everything else, it has constantly kept
in touch with the personal feelings of the nation
as well as of those of its princes and princesses. It
has avoided the mistake of thinking that a king's
marriage can have any influence on the politics of his
254
 JUST MEN AND WOMEN
country when it is one where affection plays the
greater part. It has understood that members of a
Royal House are men and women like other people,
and that it is cruel to expect them to subordinate their
hearts to the exigencies of certain political situations,
which may change at any moment owing to unforeseen
circumstances. In such cases love alone is capable of
holding together two people whom the force of educa-
tion, former customs, and former opinions would other-
wise keep asunder, to the misfortune of themselves
and of others.
Until Queen Victoria had broken with old traditions
and foolish prejudices, the fate of princes —and especi-
ally of princesses
— of Royal
Houses was anything but
pleasant. Princesses sometimes had perforce t. su'
mit to being married to men whom they had lev

seen, and sometimes to those whom they could neitht

love nor respect. Marriages such as that of the Princes.
Clotilde of Savoy with the cousin of Napoleon III.
were bound to turn out badly they were no more
;

than sacrifices to the necessities of the moment, against

which the whole soul, as well as the nobility of nature
which made Queen Victoria such an exceptional woman,
naturally rose in indignation. She was always a queen
in all her actions, as well as in all the decisions which
she had to take ; but this fact, of which she was fully
conscious, only made her more determined not to
take advantage of the power which was hers, and she
never made her descendants unhappy by forcing them
into loveless marriages.
But it must also be added that when the alliance

255
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
of one of her grandchildren did not turn out as
successfully as she would have wished, she insisted
on the unhappy princess holding to her part of
and would not hear of either divorce
the bargain,
or separation. When the Princess Louise of Schleswig-
Holstein, the eldest child of Princess Christian,
found her life with Prince Aribert of Anhalt,
to whom she
wedded,was so unbearable that it
even became for her a question of dignity not to sub-
mit to it any longer, it was most difficult to bring the
Queen to look upon the question in the same light,
and it was only with great repugnance that she at last
sanctioned the divorce proceedings which the young
Princess found herself compelled to take. And when
the Grand Duke of Hesse and his consort implored her
to allow them to part, she would absolutely not hear
of it, and expressed herself so strongly on the subject
that it was only after her death that the divorce to
which she objected so strenuously took place at last.
I think that what I have written here will be suffi-
cient to convey to the reader my opinion that of all
Royal Houses in Europe the dynasty which occupies
the throne of England has made the wisest marriages,
and altogether has given the best examples to its sub-
jects. It is perhaps on that account that the feelings
of loyalty which the English people possess always
find strongest expression in moments of great national
crisis. The King and the Royal Family are respected
— which not always the case in other countries.
is

It quite certain that the marriages of Royal

is

personages will once more acquire the importance

256
 FUTURE ALLIANCES
which they had lost during the last fifty or sixty years.

Sovereigns and their relatives will need to be much

more careful in their alliances, and the spirit of nation-
alism which has lately come so much to the front will
also invadeRoyal Houses, the members of which will
become more and more chary at the thought of leaving
their own country.
This will, of course, limit the circle and the sphere in
which it will be possible for them to find husbands and
wives, and the most likely result will be that marriages
between Royal personages and those of lesser rank
will become more usual than has been the case before.

At least, they will not be looked upon with the dis-

approval and the astonishment which they excited
in former times. The example of Queen Victoria,
who arranged the wedding of her own daughter with
a marquis, and of the Princess Frederica of Hanover
with a baron, will always prove that one of the most
autocratic sovereigns in the world admitted this possi-

bility.
It is probable that the democratic element will also

invade the homes of kings, an evolution which is

likely tobe to the advantage of their subjects, because

the introduction of new and healthy elements amid
the narrow circle in which Royalty has moved until
this day cannot fail to do it some good by bringing
it nearer to the rest of humanity. On the other hand,
the marriages of heirs, apparent or presumptive, will
become a far more serious affair than it was before,
as of necessity it will involve so many grave interests,
and so many complications unknown before the present
R 257
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
war, and the changes which it is bound to bring about
in the whole of Europe.
If we consider that France is a repubHc, and that

Italy is Catholic a country in spite of the

far too —
excommunication which the Holy See has launched at
—
the head of the Savoy dynasty to admit mixed mar-
riages, we find that only Denmark, Sweden and Norway
can furnish princesses with whom English and Russian
princes can be united. Holland does not come into
account because it is only a husband to a reigning
queen who will be required there in the next genera-
tion. This leads me to repeat that in all human pro-

bability the House of Romanoff is bound to become

united to that of Saxe-Coburg. One feels that this will

be so in Russia, where the nation instinctively turns

towards England, and looks up to it to help it to enter
into a new road, leading towards renewed prosperity.
And the fact that the German elements, which at one
time were so powerful at the Russian Court, will never
more be able to assert themselves, will help the Russian
nation to realise that its best chances for the future
lie in a closer alliance with England.Family ties binding
together the dynasties that rule over these two countries
would consolidate the nations for their general welfare
and strengthen them in their common progress.

So far as the rest of this book is concerned,

I have tried to interest my readers by stories and
anecdotes relating to the family alliances of all the

great Royal dynasties of Europe. I have told the

258
 COMING CHANGES
circumstances which have accompanied the respective
marriages of well-known royalties, and also discussed
the chances of future unions they might find them-
selves obliged to contract —
stories which, in our demo-
cratic times, may still be found amusing by those
who are interested in the sayings and doings of
Royalty. Such readers will discover many subjects
of discussion in these stories, which I have related
to the best of my memory. Perhaps, also, they will
wonder at the facts disclosed, and ask how it is possi-
ble that Sovereigns can have the same feelings as
simple mortals, and can be subjected to the same
miseries, the same deceptions, and the same impres-
sions of sorrow and of joy.
Whoever may read these pages cannot but realise
the truth of the beautiful words of the late Empress
"
Frederick, the Princess Royal of England, Broken
hearts can be found in palaces just as well as in hovels."
Love and death are the two forces which no one can
escape, and which every human being, be he rich or
poor, high or low, must experience.
Until the present, kings were popularly supposed
to be different from the rest of humanity, and not
to suffer or to feel as others did. They were thought
superior in everything, but were condemned to submit
to certain rules which disposed of their hearts as well
as of their bodies, and by always being obliged to
dwell in an atmosphere of pomp and majesty, were
forced to stifle in their breasts all the feelings of love
or of hate which they would have given much to be
able to express. At present it is probable that things
259
 ROYAL MARRIAGE MARKET OF EUROPE
will change
—they
have altered already and for the ;

future, kings, though they may not be allowed to wed

shepherdesses, will nevertheless be permitted to choose
where formerly their wives were chosen
for themselves,
for them by Politics, of course, will still have
others.

something to do with the marriages of the rulers of

the world, but these politics will take into consider-
ation the interests of nations, not those of
dynasties
only.
In the meanwhile, it has seemed to me not to be
without interest to present, as I have done, the story
of how the existing
Royal marriages in Europe have been
contracted, and the diplomacy which in some cases
lurked behind them ; and also to examine the various
possibilities as to the name and personaHty of the
future brides of future Sovereigns. In doing so I
have probably made many mistakes and more than
one blunder. My excuse consists in the fact that 1
have not been trying to write an historical book, but
simply a volume destined to provide some amusement
to people having an hour to idle
away.

26c
 INDEX
Alexandrine, Queen of Denmark,
Adelaide of Hohenlohc-Langcn- 176, 177 ; marriage of, 176
burg, Princess, 30 Alexis, the Grand Duke (son of
Adrianople, the fall of, 133 Nicholas II.), 59, 64, 65
Albany, Duke of. {See Leopold, Alice of Bourbon Parma, Arch-
Prince) duchess, 179
Albert, King of the Belgians, 95 ; , Princess (daughter of Prince
happy married life of, 96 his ; Leopold), 247 marries Prince
;

children, 101 Alexander of Teck, 247

, King of Saxony, 186-7 Alix of Hesse, Princess (afterwards
of Saxe-Coburg, Prince, 241 Tsarina), 37 ; betrothal of, 58 ;

Edward, Prince of Wales, happy home life of, 58-9 her ;

marriage of, 161 (see also Ed- son, 59, 64, 65 marriage of, 58
;

ward VII., King) Alphonso XII., King of Spain, and

Alenfon, the Duke of, 229 theEmperor Francis Joseph, 140;

Alexander III., Tsar, and the death of, 143 his two marriages,
;

French Revolution, 172 and the ; 139, 142

German peril, 171 death of, 58 ; ; XIII., King of Spain, 226 ;

marries Princess Dagmar of Den- and the marriage of Princess

mark, 50, 53, 164 Beatrice of Coburg, 236 ; birth of,
, King of Servia, 114 ; assas- 143 ; marriage of, 21, 153 ; meets
sination of, 115 Princess Ena 149
of Battenberg, ;

of Bulgaria, Prince, 248 popularity of, 240 ; reproves the

of Servia, Prince, 63 Infanta Eulalia, 233 ; visits for-
of Teck, Prince, his marriage. eign Courts, 146
247 of Bavaria, Prince, 230
of .the Netherlands, Prince, -, Prince (son of the In-
•
72 fanta Eulalia), 234 from ;
exiled
Alexandra Cumberland, Princess,
of Spain, 237 marriage of, 235
; ;

marriage 47
of, reinstated in Royal favour, 237
of Denmark, Princess, mar- Am^lie of Orleans. {See Am61ie,
riage of, 161
— , Princess, marries Prince Au-
Queen)
, Queen of Portugal, 226 be- ;

gustus William, 38 trothal of, 220 exiled to Eng-

— ,Queen of Great Britain and land, 226 ;
her sad
;

life, 154 ; wed-

Ircland, 54, 55, 122 ding of, 153, 220
261
 INDEX
American War, the, Spain and, 144 Beatrice, Princess (daughter of
Anastasia of Mecklenburg, Grand Queen Victoria), 248 marriage ; of,
Duchess of, 35-6, 176 249 (see also Henry of Battenberg,
of Montenegro, Princess, her Princess)
two marriages, 120 Beauvoir, the Marquis de, 230
Andrew, the Grand Duke, 67-8 Belgian refugees welcomed by the
Anna, Princess, marriage of, 120 Dutch, 87
Antoine of Orleans, Prince, marries Belgians, the King of the, (See
the Infanta Eulalia, 232 Albert, King)
Aosta, Duke of, 222-3 , the Queen of the. (See Elisa-
, Duchess of (H616ne of France), beth, Queen)
224 Belgium and Luxemburg, 88 et seq.
Aribert of Anhalt, Prince, divorced ,Princess Stephanie of, 4, 22-3
by liis wife, 256 Bentheim, Prince Alexis de, 74
Augusta, Empress (wife of WilUam Bernadotte, J. B., 198 ; becomes
I.), 27, 29 King of Sweden, 198
"Victoria, Empress (wife of Wil- Bernard of Saxe-Meiningen, Prince,
liam II.), and Bismarck, 31-2 and ; marriage of, 29
her family, 32, 33 betrothal of, ; Bismarck, Prince, 29 et seq., 71, 75 ;
30 her tact, 32 marriage of, 31
; ; and King Christian of Denmark,
Victoria, Princess (wife of 174
Dom Manuel), 156 et seq. Blanc, M., creator of Monte Carlo,
Augustus William, Prince, 38 136
Aumale, the Due d', 169, 219, 220 , Mademoiselle, 136
Austria, Emperor of. (See Francis Bonaparte, Joseph, his wife, 199
Joseph, Emperor) , Prince Roland, 136
, Empress of. (See Elisabeth, ,Prince Victor Napoleon, a
Princess) refugee in England, 100 his ;

, the duplicity of, 113 marriage, 99 ;

Austrian Imperial House, the, public , Princess Marie, 136-7

and private scandals in, 17-18 -, Princess Roland, 136
Boris, the Grand Duke, 67
B Bourbon-Orleans dynasty, the, 217
Baden, the Grand Duke of, 93, 202 et seq.

Balkan War, the, 127, 133 Brabant, the Duke of (heir of King
Balkans, the, Austria and, 113 Albert of Belgium), 219 et seq., 231
Bartoll, Madame von, divorces Braganza, Duke of, marriage, 220
Duke Louis, 195 Brunswick, the Duchess of. (See
Bassewitz, Countess Ina von, 40 Victoria Louise, Princess)
Bavaria, King Louis II. of, 5 , the Duchy of, 41
Bavarian Royal Family, the alli- , the Duke of. (See Ernest
ances of, 196 Augustus, Prince)
Beatrice of Coburg, Princess, mar- Bucharest, the Treaty of, 133
riage of, 236 refuses to change
; Bulgaria, Greece and Roumania,
her faith, 236 121 etseq

262
 INDEX
his efforts in the cause of peace,
175
Canovas del Castillo, 141 — of Schlcswig-Holstcln, Prince,
Carlos, King of Portugal, assas- weds a daughter of Queen Vic-
sination of, 154, 226 243
of, 153
; marriage
—
toria,
of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonder-
Carol, Prince, 60 burg-Glucksburg, Prince, recog-
Carola, Queen, 185, 186 nised as heir to Danish crown, 160
Caserta, the Count and Countess of, Cistcrna, the Princess Pozzo Delia,
228, 238 103
Cavour, Count, 103-4 Clarence, the Duke of, and Princess
Cecile, Duchess of Mecklenburg- H616nc, 222 ;
253
death of,
Schwerin (now Crown Princess), Qary, Mile. Eugdnie D6sir6e, 199
34 et seq. ; marriage of, 36 popu- ; Clementine, Princess, a refugee in
larity of, 36, 37 England, 100 | death of, 130 her ;

Chambord, the Comte de, 218 children, 100 ; marries Prince

,
the Comtesse de, 180 Victor Napoleon, 99
Charette, Baron de, 220 Clotildc of Savoy, Princess, 99
Charles, King of Sweden and Nor- Qovis of Hohenlohe-Schillings-
way, 165 furst. Prince, 30
XIV., King of Sweden, 199 Coburg, Duchess of (formerly
(see also Bernadotte) Duchess of Edinburgli), 208,
XV., King of Sweden, his 236
marriage, 200 Duke of. (See Edinburgli,
Edward, Duke of Saxe- Duke of)
Coburg, 247 the Duke of, 208 ;
— Francis Joseph, Archduke,
Connaught,
marries Princess Louise Margaret,
10 ; marriage of, 12-13, 238 245
— Louis, Archduke, 8
— Stephen, Archduke, 22 209
, Margaret of. Princess, 208,

— of Bourbon Sicily, Prince, , Patricia of. Princess, 146

226, 238-9 Constantine, King, 136
— of Sweden, Prince, 205 Constantinovitcb, Miss, 119
Charlotte of Meiningen, Princess, 46 Croy, Isabella of. Princess, marries
, Princess (daughter of Em- the Archduke Frederick, 19
press Frederick), marriage of, , the Duke of, 19
*'
29 Cumberland, the Duchess of. (See
Chartres, the Due and Duchesse de, Thyra of Denmark)
168, 226 , the Duke of, and the Han-
Chotek, Countess Sophy, 7 et seq. ; overian succession, 41-3 mar- ;

marries Archduke Francis Ferdi- ries Princess Thyra of Denmark,

nand, 7, 21 168
Christian IX., King of Denmark, 159; Cyril, the Grand Duke, 65 ; miracu-
death of, 177 ; visits Berlin, 174 lous escape in the Japanese War,
Christian X., King of Denmark, 66 ; his wife, 65-6, 67

363
 INDEX
Elisabeth, Princess (granddaughter
Dagmar of Emperor Francis Joseph),
of Denmark, Princess, 50
17-18
et seq,122, 163, 164, 165
Princess, (wife of the Em-
Democracy and Royalty, 257 ,

Denmark, and its alliances, 159 et seq. peror Francis Joseph), 1 ; be-
the Crown Prince of, 165 trothal of, 2 character of, 3 ;
;
,

D6sir6e, Queen of Sweden, an unhappy married life of, 3 el seq.

amusing anecdote of, 199 death ;
, Queen of the Belgians, and
200 the Great War, 96 ; her children,
of, {see also Clary, Eugenie
101 ; her marriage, 95 ; noble
D6sir6e)
nature of, 95
Dobrzensky, Countess Elisabeth,
Elizabeth of Russia, Grand Duchess,
marriage of, 228
210
Dorothea, Archduchess, 11
Draga, Queen, assassination of, 115 Elston, Count Soumarokofi, 70

D'Uzds, the, 220

Emma of Waldcck and Pyrmont,
Princess, betrothal of, 74 ; as
E Regent, 78 birth of a daughter,
;

Edinburgh, the Duke of, 243 ; his 77 ; marriage of, 75

marriage, 72, 243 ; offered the Emmanuel, King of Italy, 222
Crown of Greece, 162 (see also Ena of Battenberg, Princess, 149 ;
Coburg, Duke of) betrothal of, 151 ; her conversion
Edward VII., King of Great Britain to the Catholic faith, 150 ; her
and Ireland, 55 ; and the
54, family, 152 ; marries the King of
Triple Entente, 146, 173 ; and Spain, 21 (see also Victoria
the marriage of the King of Eugdnie of Spain)
Spain, 149 ; as diplomat, 241 ; English Royal Marriages, 241 et

sanctions marriage of Princess seq.

Margaret, 208 Entente Cordiale, the, 148
Eitel Fritz, Prince, 39 Ernest Augustus, Prince, 42 ; wed-
Elbe, wreck of, the, 85 ding of, 43
Eleonore, Archduchess, morganatic Esmarch, Professor, marries Prin-
marriage of, 22 cess Henriette, 195
of Reuss Kostritz, Princess, Esterhazy, Prince, 20
131 ; her activities in the Man- Eu, the Comte d', 227
churian War, 131 marries Fer- ; Eugdne of Beauharnais, Prince, 200
dinand of Bulgaria, 132 of Sweden, Prince, 205
EUas, Prince of Parma, 21, 238 Eug6nie, Empress (widow of
Elisabeth, Archduchess (widow of Napoleon III.). 150-1 and the
;

Charles Ferdinand), 140 German invasion of France, 100 ;

, Archduchess (daughter of her wonderful vitality, 100 ; wel-

Princess Stephanie), marriage of, comes Prince Victor Napoleon,
22, 25 100
of Austria, Empress, 229 -, Princess, 20

of Roumania, Princess, 127, Eulalia of Spain, the Infanta, her

129 Socialistic tendencies, 233 niar- ;

264
 INDEX
ries Prince Antoinc of Orleans, Frederick Francis of Mecklenburg
232 reproved by King Alphonso
; Schwerin, Grand Duke, 176
XIII., 233 separation from her
; , German Crown Prince
husband, 234 the unconvention- ; 33 ; and the marriage of his
ality of, 233 sister, 43 meets the Duchess
;

Cecile, 34
of Schleswig-Holstcin-Sonder-

burg-Augustenburg, Duke, 30
Ferdinand, King of Bulgaria, 129 ;
William IV., King, 27
his first consort, 129 second mar-
; French Pretender, the, unhappy
riage of, 132 the ambitions of, 11
;
marriage of,
126, 134 Fricdrich August III. (See Freder-
of Tuscany, Archduke, 179 ; ick August of Saxony)
and his daughter, 190-1 ; and the
Jesuits, 181 et seq.
Ferronays, the Comtesse Fernand de
la, 219 Gabrielle, Princess, wedding of,
Fife, the Earl of, marries Princess 95, 196
Louise of Wales, 251 GaUiera, the Duchess of, 232
Francis Ferdinand, Archduke, 6 ; Genevieve, Princess, 231
assassination of, 6, 7, 9 his mor- ; Genoa, the Duchess of, 104 her ;

ganatic marriage, 7, 9 second marriage, 105

Joseph, Emperor of Aus- Georg, King of Saxony, 180, 186,
tria, 1 ;
and Marie Th^rSse, 8 as ; 187, 191
father, ; 6 engagement to Prin- George I., King of Greece, 121, 162 ;
cess Elisabeth, 2 ; marriage of his assassination of, 127, 165 mar- ;

only son, 4 riage of, 165

Salvator, Archduke, marriage v.. King of Great Britain
of, 6 and Ireland, his marriage, 252-3
Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the, (see also York, Duke of)
54 , Grand Duke, engagement
Franco-Russian alliance, a, Alex- 55
ander III. and, 171 —of,
, of Bavaria, Prince, divorce
Frederica of Hanover, Princess, 49, 21-2
151 —of, 18,

Duke, 120
Frederick III., Emperor, 27 ; mar- — ,
of Leuchtenberg,
Prince, marries Princess Marie
riage (jf, 27, 242 Bonaparte, 137
VIII., King of Denmark, Victor of Waldeck and Pyr-
death of, 177 mont. Prince, 74
Archduke, marriage of, 19
, Germany and the Entente Cordiale^
August of Saxony, Prince, be- 148
comes King of Saxony, 187 mar- ; Gisela, Archduchess of Bavaria, 18,
riage of, 184 21
Charles of Prussia, Prince, Greece, King George of, 121, 162
73 ; dowries of his daughters, 45 et seq.

265
 INDEX
Greece, Roumania and Bulgaria; 250 ; his marriage, 249 ; Queen
121 et seq. Victoria's love for, 250-1
, the Queen of (see Sophy, Henry of Battenberg, Princess, 150,
Princess) 151, 152, 242 (see also Beatrice,
,
the revolution in, 161 Princess)
Guise, the Due de, 226 of Bavaria, Prince, 91
Gustave V., King of Sweden, 202 ;
of Mecklenburg - Schwerin,
and the Princess Marie, 211 ; Grand Duke, 82
marriage of, 203 of Parma, Prince, 238

Adolphus, Prince, 208 mar- ; Henry of the Netherlands, Prince,

riage of, 209 73 death of, 75-6
;
heroic be- ;

haviour at the wreck of the Elbe,

H 85 marriage of, 73
;

Hesse, the Grand Duke of, 57, 197 ;

Habsburg, the House of, 1 et seq. his divorce, 256

Hare, Mr. Augustus, 208 Hilda of Nassau, Princess, 88, 204
Helena, Princess (daughter of Queen Hohenberg, Princess of (see

Victoria), marriage of, 243 Chotek, Countess)

Hdl6ne of France, 108 and the; Hohenfelsen, Countess of, 214
Duke of Clarence, 222 engage- ; Hohenlohe-SchilUngsfiirst, Prince
ment of, 222 married at King-
; of, 21
ston-on-Thames, 223 (see also ,
Prince Clovis of, 30
Aosta, Duchess of) HohenzoUerns, the, 27 et seq.

of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Prin- Holland, Belgian refugees in, 87 ;

cess, 246 Bismarck's ambitions concerning,
,Princess in Bavaria, 1 71-2 ; the neutrality of, in the
,Princess (daughter of King Great War, 86, 87
Peter of Servia), 113, 115 ; her Humbert, King of Italy, marriage

marriage, 117 103, 105

— of Montenegro, Princess, 108 ;
of,

and the Messina earthquake, 112 ;

happy wedded 112 ; her

life of, Ingeborg, Prince and Princess
conversion. 111 ; meets Victor Charles, 65, 205
Emmanuel HI., 108
— of Orleans, Princess, 56
Ingrid, Princess, 65

— of Saxe-Altenburg, Princess, 47
Ionian Islands, the, retrocession
162
of,

-, Princess (daughter of Grand Irene, Princess, marriage of, 70

Duke Vladimir), 135 Irredentist party in Italy, the, 106
Henriette of Schleswig-Holstein, Isabella, Archduchess, activities of,
Princess, 194 18 ;
divorce of, 18, 21
Marie-Charlotte of Belgium, of Croy, Princess, 19-20
Princess, 231 (see also Ven- , Princess, abolishes slavery,
dOme, Duchesse de) 227 227
; exile of, ;
marries the
Henry of Battenbcrg, Prince, 242 ; Due de Guise, 226
an anecdote of, 249-50 ; death of, , Queen of Spain, 139 et seq.

266
 INDEX
Italy and Servia, 103 et seq. ; and Lonyay, Count Elmer, 22, 23, 97
the Triple Alliance, 112 ; her Lome, Marquis of, marriage of,
attitude in the Great War, 114, 242
134 Louis II., King of Bavaria, 5
, King Humbert of, 103, 104 in Bavaria,
Duke, 195
, Queen Marghcrita of, 101 of
Braganza, his marriage
228, 239
Louise, Duchess, 1
of Coburg, Princess, 97
Jaime de Bourbon, Don, 240 of Nassau, Princess, 200
Jametel, Comte de, 46 of Orleans, Princess, marriage
Jesuits, the, 7, 181, 182, 185, 188, of, 226
190, 191 of Prussia, Princess, 202
Joachim, Prince, 39 of Schleswig-Holstein, Prin-
John 256
of Russia, Prince, 116-17
marries Princess H616ne, 117
;

—
cess,
Tuscany, Princess, 183
of ;

, Prince (brother of King of and a French tutor, 191, 193 ;

Saxony), marriage of, 239 and the Jesuits, 188 created ;

Joseph of Battenberg, Prince, 120 Countess di Montignoso, 192 her ;

Josephine of Leuchtenberg, Prin- two marriages, 184, 193 re- ;

cess, 200 nounced by her father, 190-1

Juhana, Princess, 84, 85, 86 (see also Saxony, the Crown Prin-
Jutta of Mecklenburg, Princess, 47,
118 —
cess of)

— of Wales, Princess, 251

, Princess (daughter of Queen
K Victoria), her marriage, 242
— Queen of Denmark, 159, 201
Katkoff, Michael, 171
Kingston-on-Thames, 223
— ,

Fernanda, the Infanta, 139

Kloss, Herr von, 22
Margaret, Princess, 245
Luitpold, Prince Regent, 5
Luxemburg, a German bribe to, 94 ;
and Belgium, 88 el seq. the Grand ;

La Rochefoucaulds, the, 220 Duchess of, 88

Leopold, of Bavaria, Prince, 196 Luynes, the, 220
of Brabant, Duke, 101
,

^f HohenzoUern, Prince, 156 M

, King of the Belgians, death
of, 99 his morganatic marriage,
; Makaroff, Admiral, 66
98 ; quarrels with his family, 23, Manchurian War, the, 131
96, 99 selfishness of, 97-9
;
Manuel of Portugal, King, 154-6 ;

Prince, Duke of
Albany, marriage of, 157 ;
the exile of,
marriage of, 246 death of, 246
; 157
Leuchtenberg, Duke George of, 120 Margaret of Connaught, Princess,
Lidencrone, Mme. de Hegermann, 209
199 Princess, 45, 46
,

267
 INDEX
Margherita of Savoy, Princess, 103, Marie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prin-
104 happy married life of, 107 ;
;
cess, 46
her only child, 105 ; wedding of, of Orleans, Princess, 168 ;

105 death of, 177 marriage of,;

Maria do las Mercedes, Donna, 139- 169

140 of Russia, Princess, 210 as ;

Pia of Bourbon, Princess, 219 ; a Sister of Charity, 215 her ;

marriage of, 228, 239 divorce, 214

Marie Adelaide, Grand Duchess of — , Princess (daughter of the
Luxemburg, 88 ; a German De- Red Prince), 73 ; Queen Emma's
coration for, 93 accession of, 89 generosity to, 76-7
and the neutrality
;

of
Luxemburg,
;

— , Queen of Roumania, 128

89, 92 ;
her father and mother, Th^rfise, Archduchess, 7, 8, 22
88 ;her great wealth, 89 ; her May, Princess of Teck (now Queen
religious beUef, 89, 91 Mary), marriage of, 252-3
Alexandrovna, Dowager Mecklenburg - Schwerin, Grand
Duchess, 237 marriage of, 72,
; Duchess of, 47-8
243 , Henry Prince of, 82 ei seq.
Anna, Archduchess, 238 Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Grand Duke
Christine, Queen of Spain, 21, of, 46
25, 139 and the Triple Alliance,
;
Merenberg, the Count of, 89
145 ; becomes Regent of Spain, Merode, the Countess of, 103
143 ; birth of a posthumous son, Messina, the earthquake at, 112
142 ;
abbess of Prague,
elected Mihtza of Russia, the Grand
140 her children, 143 ; meets
;
Duchess, 110, 116, 119
Princess Ena, 151 wedding of, ;
Mirko, Prince, 119
142
— de las Mercedes, Princess,
Monica, Princess, birth of, 192
Monte Carlo and its creator, 136

—238-9
Doroth6e of Austria, Arch-
Montenegro, H616ne of, Princess,
108 et seq.
duchess, 225 (see Orleans, Montignoso, Countess di. (See
Duchess of)
— Feodorovna, Empress Dow-
Louise of Tuscany and Saxony,
Crown Princess of)
ager of Russia, 215 {see Dag- Montpensier family, the, 139

—mar of Denmark, Princess)

Henriette, Queen of the Bel-
Moukhranski, Prince, marriage of
69
gians, 96, 97
— Immaculata, Princess, 239
Munck, Miss Ebba, 207
— Jos6 in Bavaria, the Duchess,
N
94
— Josepha, Princess of Saxony, Napoleon IIL, 227 his widow;

10 184 welcomes French refugee rela-

— et seq.,

Louise of Parma, Princess, tives, 100

129, 238 Prince Victor, Bona-
— of Cumberland, Princess, 47
,

parte)
(See

268
 INDEX
Nassau, the Duke of, and the war Oscar of Prussia, Prince, 40
of 1866, 202 of Sweden, Prince, 207
Nassaus, the last of the, 71 et seq. Otto, Archduke, 10, 184
Nemours, the Duke of, 227 of Bavaria, King of Greece,
Netherlands, the, Bismarck and, 161
71-2 Prince of Windisch-Graetz,
Netto, Cardinal, 156 22-3, 25
Nicholas II., Tsar of Russia, 8, 44 ;

at Coburg, 57-8 his daughters,

;

59-60 ; ill-health of his son, 59,

64 ; marriage of, 58 visits Cos- ; Paris, the Bazar de la Charit6 fire

tanza, 60 229
, King of Montenegro, 118-19 ;
, the Comte de, 153, 217-8,
his daughters, 119-20 220 death of, 221 exiled from
; ;

Alexandrovitch, the Grand France, 221

Duke (Tsarevitch), 51, 53, 163 the Comtesse de, 220
— of Nassau, Prince, 89
,

Parma, Elias Prince, 21

— , the Grand Duke (Command- , Marie Louise
of,
of. Princess, 129
er-in-Chief of the Russian Army), , the Duke of, 11
120 , Zita of. Princess, 12 et seq., 21
Nicolaievitch, Grand Duke Con- Pashitch, M., Servian Prime Min-
stantine, 164 ister, 63, 116, 117
, Grand Duke Peter, 119 Patricia of Connaught, Princess,
146

O Paul, the Grand Duke, 55, 214

Pauline, of Waldeck and Pyrmont,
Olga, Grand Duchess (afterwards Princess, 74
Queen of Greece), 122, 164 Pavlovna, the Grand Duchess Marie,
, Princess(daughter of the 68-9, 215
Duke of Cumberland), 48-9 Pawel-Rammingen, Baron de, 49
, the Grand Duchess (daughter Pedro II,, Dom, flees to France,
of the Tsar), 59-60 227
, the Grand Duchess (sister of , Dom (son of Pedro II.), his
the Tsar), 62 morganatic marriage, 228 re- ;

Queen, her Russian sympa- nounces the throne of Brazil, 228

thies, -123, 135 Peter, King of Servia, accession of,
Orange, the Prince of, 72 113 ; at his daughter's wedding,
Orleans, the Duchess of (Marie 117
Dorothde), 225 , the Grand Duke, 116
, the Duke of, marriage of, 225 Petropavlosk, the, sinking of, 66-7
Oscar I., King of Sweden and Nor- Philip of Coburg, Prince, 97
way, marries Princess Josephine, Piedmont, Prince of, birth of, 224
200 Portugal and Spain, 139 et seq.
II., King of Sweden and Nor- , King Carlos of, 153
way, marriage of, 201 , Queen Am61ie of, 218
269
 INDEX
R Spain, Queen Marie Christine of, 21,
Rapallo, the Marquis, 105 25
Romanoffs, the, 50 et seq. , the King of. (See Alphonso)

Roumania, Bulgaria and Greece, 121 Sparta, the Duke of, 124
et seq. , the Duchess of. (See Sophy
of Prussia)
Royalty, Democracy and, 257
Rudolph, Crown Prince, 4, 6-7, 97 Stephanie, Princess of Belgium, and
Rupprecht of Bavaria, Prince, 95, her father, 23, 99 her two mar-
;

196 riages, 4, 22, 97

Russia, the Dowager Empress of, Sweden, the Royal House of, 198 et
110 ; the Tsar and Tsarina of, 44 seq.

Salm-Salm, Prince of, 21 Talleyrand, Prince de, 200

Sarajevo, the tragedy of, 7, 9 Tatiana, Princess (daughter of the
Sawinski, M., 213 Grand Duke Constantine), 69
Saxe-Meiningen, Bernard of, Prince, the Grand Duchess (daughter
,

28-9 of the Tsar), 59-60

Saxony and other German Courts, Teck, the Duchess of, 253
179 et seq. Theodor, Duke Kari, 95
Marie Josepha Thyra of Denmark, Princess, 43, 47,
, of. Princess,
166, 168
—10
, the Crown Princess of, 179, Torby, Countess, 89
188, 194, (See also Louise of Toscana, the ex-Grand Duke of, 22
Tuscany) Triple Alliance, the, 112, 145, 171
the King of, 60 Entente, the, 172-3
Sazonoff, M., 117
Schratt, Frau Katrine, 12
Seefried, Baron von, 18
Sergieieff, M. and Madame 212-13 Valerie, Archduchess, 6
Servia and Italy, 103 et seq. VendOme, the Due de, 231, 250
, King Peter of, 113 et seq. , Duchesse de, 230-1
Queen H61^ne and, 113
, Venizelos, M., 127
Slavs, the. Queen H616ne and, 113 Venosta, the Marquis Visconti, 104
Sophie in Bavaria (Duchess of Vera of Montenegro, Princess, 120
Alenfon), tragic death of, 229 Victor Emmanuel II., King of Italy,
of Nassau, Princess, 201-2 103, 104 ; and the Duchess of
Sophy, Archduchess, 1, 2 Genoa, 105 ; death of, 107 ; seizes
Charlotte, Princess, marriage patrimony of the Church, 106
of, 39 Emmanuel III., King of
of Prussia, Princess, 46, 124 ; Italy, birth of, 105 ; his marriage,
renounces the Protestant faith, 111
126 Victoria, Empress (wife of Freder
Spain and Portugal, 139 et seq. ick III.), 29 ; death of, 126

270
 INDEX
Victoria,Queen of Great Britain William II., German Emperor, a
and Ireland, 27 and the Queen ; curious anecdote concerning, 125 ;

Regent of Spain, 145 and the ; and Queen Wilhelmina, 81-2 and ;

wedding of the Duke of York, the Crown Prince, 33 et seq. ; and

252-3 attends the marriage of
; the Crown Princess of Greece,
Princess Frederica, 49 her hatred ; 126 ; and the Princess of Hohen-
of divorce and separation, 256 ; berg, 9 ; and the wedding of
Princess Beatrice's devotion to, Alphonso XIII., 153 ;
his rela-
247-8 ; romantic marriage of, 241 tions with Bismarck, 32 ; his

Eugenie of Spain, Queen, 21, sons, 33, 38-40 marriage

; of, 31 ;

149 et seq., 226 visits Copenhagen, 174

Louise, Princess, 40 ; her III., Kingof the Nether-
children, 43 ; marriage of, 43 lands, 72, 73 character of, 73-4
— Melita of Saxe-Coburg, Prin- death of,
;

76, 78 his first wife, 73

;
;

cess, 57, 197 his second marriage, 75

of Lippc, Princess, 46 Denmark, Prince.
— , Princess Royal of England,
of
George I., King of Greece)
{See

of Sweden, Prince, 68, 213

—242 Queen
, of Sweden, 202 et seq. ; Windisch-Gractz, Prince Otto von,
marriage of, 203 22-3, 25
-, the Grand Duchess, 65-6, 67 Wiirtemberg, the Queen of, 51-2
Vladimir of Russia, the Grand
Duchess, 65

of Montenegro, Princess, 120

W Xenia
the Grand Duchess, marriage
,

Waldeck and Pyrmont, Prince

of, 62
of, 74
Waldemar of Denmark Prince, 166,
167 death of his wife, 177 his
; ;
York, the Duke of, marriage 252-3.
marriage, 169 (See also George V., King)
Wales, Albert Edward, Prince of. YoussoupofI, Prince and Princess,
{See Edward VII., King) 70
, Edward, Prince of, 62-3
Wallersee, Baroness of, 195

Wilhclmina, Queen, birth of, 77 ; ZiTA, Princess of Parma, 12 et seq.,

her accession, 78, 79 her daugh- ; 21 marriage of, 238
;

ter, 84 marries Prince Henry,

; Zorka, Princess (consort of the
83 popularity of, 79-80
; King of Servia), 113
 Printed bv
Cassell & Company, Limited, La Belle Sadvags,
London, E.C.
5.1115

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