Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-03-29
she forthwith broke off her engage

preston of spirits consequent upon
this painful incident. the Duke OF Got
land-a sailor Prince. the second son
of Oscar IL. King of Sweden and Nor
way-returned home from a two years
cruise round the world, and promptly
fell in love with his sister-;n-law' 8 love
| ly attendant. who proved by no means
insensible to the marked attentions
paid to her by young officer of ex-
ceptional good looks and amiability.
and Royal Highness to boot. Prince
Oscar, like atrue-hearted sailor, wOCed
the fair maid of honor posr te bon
motif; but grave difficulties stood in
the way of his honest and manly suit.
AS may we'll be imagined, there were
family objections TO be surmounted ;
but the chief obstacle to his wishes
was the formidable fact that the
Swedish Constitution prohibits any
Prince of the blood from marrying
outside the circle of royalty. under
pain of FORGETTING his right of success
sion to the throne. his titles. predicates,
appanages and all his prcrogatives
as a member of the reigning House.
Of this apparently insuperable bar
] to her union with the Duke of Gotland
Miss Munck. as a member of the Swe-
dish Crown Princess household. was
only too we'll aware. Obedient to the
dictates of what she considered to be
her duty she accordingly resigned her
appointment at court. formally in
timated to her relatives that she had
made up her mind never to marry. and
assuming the garb of professional
nurse took charge of the large charity
hospitals at Stockholm. Prince Oscar,
however, knew his own mind, and was
resolved not to allow the felicity of
two young lives to be frustrated by
any act of remuneration. no matter
how magnanimous and praiseworthy.
on the part of the high-minded girl
whom he had avowed to make his own.
He sought her out in the hospital and
pleaded his cause So eloquently that
he eventually induced her to confess
her love for him. Further than this
she would not go, but steadfastly re-
fused to marry him secretly. although
he passionately urged her to do SO;
nor was it until he was able to prove
that his royal mother had given her
consent that she at length yielded to
his entreaties
Despite the Queen of Sweden's APP
proval, supremacy important as must
have been that maternal concession to
her son and to young lady of such
lofty principles as Miss Munck, the
pair of lovers were by no means at the
end of their troubles. Ere they could
hope to reap the reward of their loyal
and upright conduct, the Kings sane
ton to their union had to be obtained.
To procure his Majesty's consent
proved an enterprise of no slight diff
Guilty. Prince Oscars appeal was at
first met by a flat refusal In vain did
the royal sailor plead that the sue
cession was fully assured by the lives OF
his elder brother, the Crown Prince, and
of the latter's two sons, the issue OF
the Duke of Netherlands marriage
with Princess Victoria of Baden; that
his own chances of ascending the
throne were enthusiastically small. sec
ing that Prince Gustavus was only one
year his senior. and that the youthful
Dukes of Scania and Sundermania
were strong. healthy boys, with every
prospect of long life before them; and
that. taking all these facts into con-
sideration. he. the Kings second son,
might with safety to the State be per-
mitted to renouncc his contingent
rights and to become private citizen.
For some time Oscar II. remained
inexorable to pleadings alike; but
finally, finding that the Duke of Got
land persistently declined to take
mo" for an answer, his Majesty gave
way. In SO doing it appears that he
was chiefly influenced by the inter-
vention of his august consort, Queen
Sophia. who was dangerously ill and
about to undergo surgical operation
which she was not expected to sur
vive. Fearing that he might lose her,
or at the very least aggravate her
peril by thwarting purpose upon
which she had manifestly set her heart,
the King granted her request.
"Thus," observes our Vienna corre-
spondcnt ''for the first time for three
hundred years a Prince of Sweden will
espouse the daughter of a private gem
tleman." On his wedding day, in Writ
ne of the constitutional prescriptions
above alluded to. Prince Oscar Charles
Augustus will be deprived of his pre-
sumptive rights to the twin thrones of
Northern Scandinavia, his title.Of Duke
of Gotland. his predicate of Royal
Highness. his appanage. with which
he was endowed by the Swedish Diet
on attaining his majority. and stately
palace at Stockholm. He will take the
family name of Bernadotte and will
retain his position in the Swedish navy,
in which he has already risen to the !
rank of Commander, fairly earned by,i
II