Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-06-19
A ROYAL BETRoTHAL.
An Austrian Princess to Marry Prince Al
bert of Thurn and Taxis

An Austrian Princess to Marry Prince Al
bert of Thurn and Taxis.
A Vienna dispatch says that the betrothal
OF the Archduchess Marguerite Clementine
of Austria to Prince Albert of Thurn and
Taxls has been proclaimed.
"This interesting bit of news" said a
prominent Austrian resident of New York
City to an Evening Sun reporter, ''affords
one delightful opportunity of RETROSPECT
ton as regards the Austrian court life.
sit is indeed in my recollection the first
time that Princess of real imperial blood
condescends to marry gentleman who, al
though belonging to one of the oldest aris-
tocratic families, is not her equal by birth.
1t shows that things have changed at the
court of Austria since the tragedy of Mey-
erling. The dreadful specter of the royal
suicide has probably wrung from Emperor
Francis Joseph the permission to this mes
alliance"
Princess Marguerite Clementine is the
daughter of Archduke Joseph and Arch
duchess Clothilde of Austria. Her grand
father from the fathers side was Archduke
Joseph, the famous Palatine of Hungary,
who played prominent part in Austrian
history. Her mother halls from the royal
family of Belgium and is an aunt of Arch
duchess Stephanie, the unfortunate Crown
Princes widow.
The happy groom is young officer in the
Austrian army, well known for his turf
proclivities and many gallant adventures of
which he was the hero. The family of
Thurn and Taxis belongs to the creme of
at the same time the only blue blooded
family which has kept up business voca-
ton through all its generations
1t was in the sixteenth century during
the ravaging feudal German war that a
Thurn and Taxis started postal service
for the Emperor's accommodation. Since
that time the Thurn and Taxis have always
kept the Office of imperial postmaster in
their family, and it has become hereditary
The Austrian branch of the family guards
thetitle up to the present day, although it
has become only a court sinecure like that
of court chamberlain, or for instance an i'm
perial cupbearer.
The Thurn and Taxis are not as wealthy
as they formerly were, and this makes the
match the more agreeable for the young
man. Princess Clementine was born June
6, 1870. She is a fascinating beauty-not
possessed of the traditional Hapsburgian
thick underlip, which is the symbol of all
the vices that are stored up in the Haps-
burglar race. The fact of her marriage be-
meath her station has only one precedent in
the imperial family. This occurred when
her uncle on her fathers side-considered
by the people as the only intelligent side of
the Hapsburg family-fel deeply in love
with poor Syrian PEASANTS daughter and
married her. He was exiled at the time
and his children only carry the title OF
Count of Meran. But now things have
changed and his Apostolic Majesty can not
resist the democratic tide which is growing
stronger year by year.
Lovers of piquant stories will be re-
freshed to know that gossip years age
brought Empress Elizabeth in close rela-
tons with the young groom's father, who
was remarkably handsome man, and
among other distinctions he had that of hav-
ing been deprived of an eye in the italian
war.