The record-union., 1894-07-05
UNCLE LEOPOLD
About the First King of the
Belgians.

How BE Came to Marry ff1HceSs
Charlotte-IntrIgues for the Throne
of Greece-Better Luck in Belgium
His Descendants.
The memoirs of Baron d'FIaussey
threw a curious light on the character OF
Leopold l., late King of the Belgians,
and uncle OF Queen Victoria, who was
brought up by her mother, the Duchess
of Kent, nee Princess of Saxe-Gotha. to
regard him as a father. Her majesty in
her jottings on the evening of the day on
which her eldest daughter, the Princess
Royal, was welded to Prince Frederick
William of Prussia, who reigned six
weeks as German Emperor, speaks of the
company at the bridal. In alluding to
the BRIDES party, she speaks OF her
'Uncle Leopold, mammals own brother,
the wisest King in Europe" Leopold,
who was a vicious ana unamiabIe man,
with gloss of romantic sentimentality.
was then supposed to have been all MS
life the broken-hearted wIdower OF the
Princess Charlotte, only child OF George
~. of England. lie had skill IN con-
cealing his many amours, and alter he
accepted the crown of the BelglaDS was
supposed by his English admirers TO
have made great sacrifice to his people
in tearing himself from Sir Thomas Law
rence's portrait OF the defunct wife TO
marry King Louis Phlllppe's eldest
daughter. 1t is true that he never loved
this Princess, and was to her harsh,
unsympatheIic husband. But it was not
the image Of the Princess Charlotte who
stood between him and her, but three
Rubensy ladies, Caroline Bauer, W ho
was brought up at Coburg with the
Duchess of Kent; Mary Anne Smith.
who figured here for nearly thirty years
as the wealthy Comtesse d. won, and the
Baroness Meyer. Jewess. Leopold also
passed for the most dislnterested OF
mortalS.
When his three sisters were sent to
Russia to enable Catherine IL. to choose
from them wife for her grandson, Con-
stantine Paulovitch, Leopold as
younger son accompanied them. one OF
the three Coburg Princesses, Juliana, be-
ing chosen, he received commission III
the the Russian army. AS ne was
fortuneless he was, some years later, 10
enable him to live, named alde-de-camp
to the Emperor Alexander |. 1t was III
that quality that the visited London in
1878. A sister of Alexander, the Grand
Duchess of Oldenburg, was sent short
time previously TO London to poison the
mind of Charlotte against her then suItor,
the Prince of Orange. and to prepare the
way for the suit OF Leopold. Charlotte,
the daughter of an alcoholic father and q
flighty, indiscreet mother was easily IN
fuenced. After a few chats with the
Grand Duchess, she obstinately refused
the Prince of Orange, who was educated
at oxford to secure Tor him popularity i'll
England. Leopold then came with the
allied sovereigns. A ball was given III
their honor by George, who was then
only Prince Regent, and the Princess
Charlotte, seeing Leopold, telt nladly in
love with him. The Grand Duchess pro-
posed him to her. She declared she would
never marry anyone else, and so she was
allowed to have him. Sixty thousand |
pounds year were settled on him by Par
lament and hundred and fifty thousand
on the Princess, who died in less than
year after giving birth to dead son.
Leopold then made up match between |
his youngest sister, Victoire, and the |
eldest of Georges brothers, the.
Duke OF Kent. The Queen was the only |
child of this marriage, and her Saxe-Co- |
burg uncle became, when her father died |
in 1870, ner de facto guardian. She was
brought up to revere him, and somehow
fancied until quite lately that be was de-
voted to the memory of his dear departed
Charlotte.
The memoirs of Caroline Bauer and
certain facts connected with the Comtesse
d'Yyon and Baroness Meyer which |
''Truth'' revealed opened the Queens !
eyes. Baron d. HauSsey's memoirs must |
quite demolish the legendary Leopold |
The Baron was member OF the Pollgnac |
Ministry of lS29-30, which provoked the
revolution that sent Charles Y. into ex-
lie and raised Louis Philippe to the |
throne. 1t was during that period that
Egypt and Greece broke away from Tur- |
key, Algiers was taken by the French, |
and the Turkish navy destroyed at Nava- |
rino by the united British. French and |
Russian squadrons. Greece being freed |
and the principles of the Holy Alliance |
triumphant in Europe, it was judged |
necessary for the three powers to give the |
Greeks a King. But they did not easily |
agree among each other as to the Prince |
who was TO be raised TO kingship. France |
preferred a Catholic Prince, the lad Otho |
OF Bavaria. He was young enough to |
learn Greek and assimilate Greek man
ners and customs. Munich already wor-
SHIPPED Greek art Bavaria was an iso- |
lated and small State, and had 10 sea
route to Greece. Russia having no ortho- |
dox Prince, preferred in principle a Pro-
teStant candidate, a cousin of the then |
Gar, Prince Paul of Wurtemberg, grand |
father of the King of that State, but then |
the younger son of younger brother. |
Paul had a beautiful wife, Catherine CT |
Altenberg, house that has since |
fournished the Grand Duke Constantine. |
Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia and |
the late King of Hanover with wives. |
This candidate said that if need be he and |
the Princess Paul would enter the Ortho-
dox Greek Church. He urged in his own /
favor his talents and experience But |
France objected to him because of his |
morals, his revolutionary intrigues and /
his want OF money. Paul's mother /
was the Princess OF Brunswick, sister I
of Queen Caroline of England, who |!
as wife of the Prince Royal of
Wurtemburg, went when she and her
husband were living at ST. Peters
burg ou her knees before Catherine Ii. to !
ask her TO protect her from the brutalities
of the Prince. Her three children were
born there, namely, the late King of Ba- /
varia, Catherine, wife of Jerome Bona /
parte and mother of the late Prince Napo- |
leon, and Paul.
When the Princess Royal and her hus-
band were returning from st. Petersburg
10 Stuttgart the Princess, at Thorn, fell in |
love with q Jewish player and deter |
mined to devote herself TO him. Her nus |
band was to report that she was dead and |
to be free to remarry. He was delighted
and did as she proposed. and took for his |
second wife the eldest daughter of George
III. of England. who was alive when
Paul, her stepson, was a candidate for the
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