Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-07-22
THE SPANISH CROWN.
Prince Leopold Etienne Charles An
toine Gustaye Edouard ThussilO, OF
HOhenzOllern-Sigm


toine Gustaye Ed0uard ThussilO, Oi
| HOhenzOllern-Sigm
1t is a singular fact that of all the
princes of Europe, outside of France, the
only ones with whom the Emperor of the
French is connected by ties of blood are
Germans, and that those to whom he is
nearest related are members of the house
of Hohenzollern. And furthermore, it is
fact that such family connection is con-
| fined to the Beauharnais family, the
| Bonaparte house being limited to France.
The young Prince whose candidature
for the Spanish crown has, created so
much excitement in Europe, rendering
the relations of France and Prussia ex-
ceedingly grave, is, in fact, an own cou-
sin of Napoleon by his mothers side.
Horteilse and Eugene de Beauharnais
were, it will be borne in mind, the chill
dren of Josephine, afterward Empress of
France, by her first husband, Viscount
Alexander de Beauharnais. An uncle of
the ViscOunt, Count de Beauharnais,
married the famous Countess Fanny,
by whom he had Claude de
Beauharnais. This noble man filled
the position of Chevalier of Honor
to the Empress Marie Louise, wife of Ma
poleon l. One of his daughters, Ste
phanie Louise Adrienne, was the adopted
child of the Emperor. On the 8th of
April, 1906, she married Charles Louis
Frederic, Grand Duke of Baden, by
whom she had two daughters, one of
whom, the Princess Josephine Frederique
Louise, was married on the 21st of Octo-
Der, 1884, to Prince Charles Antoine
Joachim Zephyrin Frederick Mainrad,
head of the house of HohenzOllern- Sig
maringen. 1t is noteworthy that this
Prince is also in a measure connected
with the Napoleon family by reason of
his mother, the Princess AntOinette Marie
Murat, being sister of Joachim Murat,
the great cavalry leader, who married
Caroline Bonaparte, and whose children
are now recognized as hereditary princes
of the French empire. The mother of
the present Emperor of the French, HOr-
tense de Beauharnais, having been blood
cousin to Stephanie de Beauharnais, the
grand mother of the new candidate for
the Spanish crown, it follows that Napo
leon and Leopold are cousins also.
Scandal, which did not spare the name
of Hortense, was not over careful of the
fame of Stephanie, of when some not
very favorable stories are told. She was,
however, so comparatively obscure that
but few persons of the present time are
even aware of herhaving been the adopted
child of the great Corsican. She lived to
aripe old age-seventy- one land died on the
29th of January, 1860. Apropos of Ste
phanie, her grandmother, the Countess
Fanny, was one of the most talented and
dissolute women of her day. She was
poetess and romancer of remarkable per-
sonal beauty, and was notorious in Paris
for her numerous lovers, to the amorous
poems of some of whom she is said to
have signed her name. Altogether, and
truth to tell, the females of the Beauhar-
nais family have never borne an unsullied
reputation for morality, although it must
be admitted that several of them have
been distinguished for the possession of a
high order of intellect.
1t is curious to notice that of all the
princes created by the first Napoleon this
family have alone made a stir in the world
since the fatal day of Waterloo. Already
a grandson of Stephanie has ascended
throne-the brother of Prince Leopold,
Prince Charles EItel Frederick Zephyrin
Louis, being the present ruler of ROu-
mania.
Having thus briefly sketched the ances-
try of the Prince whose name heads this
article, we arrive at a consideration of
himself. But little can be said about him,
for the reason that he has never before
appeared prominently in European poll
tics. He is the eldest son of Prince
Charles, and was born on the 22d of Sep
tember, 1885. At present he holds the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the First
Regiment of Prussian Foot Guards. On
the 18th of September, 1861, he married
the Princess Antoine Marie Fedinande
Michaela Gabrielle Raphaele d'Assise
Anne Gonzagne Silvine Julie Auguste de
Bragnance Bourbon, Duchess of SAKE,
sister of the reigning King of Portugal.
The multiplicity of names belonging to
this lady has not prevented her from be-
coming the mother of three children-all
bOys-to Prince Leopold, the oldest of
whom was born in 1864. This Is about
all that can be said of Prince Leopold.
The political significance of his candi-
dature for the crown of Spain lies in the
fact that he is a prince of the royal house
of Prussia. In 1S49 his father ceded his
territories to Prussia, abdicating in favor
of King William. In 1850, by royal
decree, the family were invested with the
title of Highness, and with the preroga-
tives of Princes of the roya! family. In
1861 his rank was increased by his in
vestment with the title of Royal High
ness, which, being hereditary, descends
to his eldest son, the Prince Leopold.
Remote asis probabilityOf such a thing,
it is nevertheless not impossible for the
Sigmaringen branch of the HOhenzollern
family, of which the King of Prussia is
the head of all, to ascend the throne of
| Prussia.
For the purpose of enabling the reader
to perceive at a glance the relationship
existing between the Emperor Napoleon
and Prince Leopold, we subjoin the fol-
lowing genealogical table:
| HEAD OF THE FAMILY.
MARQUIS AND MARCHIoNEss DE BEAUHARNAIs.
! T4Er