The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-27
ROYAL DOWACERS.
The Unpleasant Fate Of Widowed
Queens.
The Cars Kindness to His Mother.
Feminine Interference With Politics.
Court Quarrela.
EN-Attache IN New YORK Trlbl

EN-Attache IN New York Tribune
In reading the accounts OF the obse-
quies Of Alexander III and Of the we'd
ding Of his successor one cannot fail 10
be struck by the tenderly affecuonate
behavior OF the young car on all public
occasions toward his widowed mother. He
seems to have been quite touching in the
Difference which he paid TO her and to have
impressed all present with his manifest
anxiety to associate her with evervtbin-
that he did. His conduct presents a
striking and in every way plsas-
ing contrast to the attitude ,inder
similar circumstance. of Emperor Will
lam Of Germany-a contrast which must
have come home with particular force
TO Empress Frederick unless she il nos
sessed Of an exceptionally forgivinr and
indulgent character. weakness which
no one dreams of aseribing 70 her. And
yet she, too. was deserving of svmpatbv
and consideration when she lost her bus-
band-perhaps even more so than the
czarlna. The closing scenes of the life
OF Emperor Frederick were quite as heart
rending as those at Livadia; instead of
being surrounded by devoted relatives
and friends. she had bitter enemies even
among those gathered around the death
ped OF the dying monarch. and anau,,
with her imperious nature. her ambition
and her strong mind she must have snf-
lereu more acutely than gentle Empress
marie from the knowledge that the loss
Oh her beloved husband involved the loss
also OF all the power and influence which
she mad only been permitted to WELD for
the brief term of 100 days
mere Is something particularly hard IN
7 a. iOe oi the widows of monarchs, which
90 not think is sufficiently taken mt
consideration. In their case death -
tneh not only of consort. hut also ~
Idnh' power and position. They are com
PeHed 10 step down from the throne with
an mat such descent impltes and 10
yielu the place TO their daughters-in-lav
" Olec III the way the daughter-in-law
rises superior 10 her husbands mother
and not alone relegates her 10 a va,,,, e..
ohoary place, but likewise makes her feel
even II animated by the lindest inte,-
uons-that her presence at court is a
source OF embarrassment For, il there
Was supertous piece Of furniture
dol Mnlch there Is no suitable room. it is
uoWaSer queen or empress; and so thor
oushly Is this fact appreciated that a so,.t
vi unWrltten law based on tradition and
precedent exists among the reieninsr
houses OF Europe, which prescrIbes tbat
she should make point of remaining as
Iiuch as possible absent from stgta func-
uohs ana entertainments at which ber
successor as first lady I'm the land bar-
pens to be present. The object of mis-
provision is to avoid drawing general Al
tentlon TO change that is usually painfuI
lor the elder Of the two. She is expected TO
Ie're lhlo obscurity, 10 stay away from
court leaNing her successor every free
uom 10 introduce innovations and to alter
tnlngs so as to suit the latters own fancy
Thus, Queen Adelaide of Great Britain
WldOW OF King William " survived her
husband for nearly fifteen wears vet was
never seen at court save on two occasions
Wheh she emerged from her retirement AT
the urgent solicitations of Queen Victoria
the Hrst time being on the occasion of the
latter's marriage to Prince Albert and tho
other at the christening of the Princess
Royal (now Empress Frederick when
as god-mother, she held her niece's first
born at the font. With these two excep-
lions she was practically invisible through
out the entire duration of her widowhood
being so little seen in public that when
she died at Stanmore Priory, her beautiful
suburban place near Harrow, and was
borne to the grave by old sailor veterans
who had served under her husbands or
ders in the navy, most people became
aware for the first time that there had
been such person as a queen dowager
of the United Kingdom
While no one anticipates that the wild
owed Czarina will ever attempt to in any
way usurp the preorgaatives of Empress
Alexandra, or to influence the actions of
her clever daughter n-law, both Empress
Frederick of Germany and Queen Pia of
Portugal have, since they became widows
Of 4
unpleasantness to the courts Of their re-
spective sons. Both ladies are renowned
for their cleverness. and pride themselves
on being what the French so graphically
describe as mattresses femmes." But
neither one nor the other is renowned for
the possession of much tact, and the re-
suit is that there has been a good deal of
friction and unpleasantness between the
dowagers and their successors on the
banks of the Spree and on those Of the
Tagus. At Berlin the Empress Frederick
was ill-advised enough to comment in
such a manner on what she was pleased
to consider the intellectual dullness and
density of her daughter-in-law, that It
came to the young emperors ears and
created some very bad blood Moreover
she had become so much accustomed to
lord it over her children, to exact from
them, even after they had grown up. the
blndest obedience and even subserviency
tldL at HfSt she could not resign herself
TO become in her turn submissive to pre-
cisely those two whom she had until then
treated with the greatest strictness and
disregard for their inclinatious There
were, consequently, some very stormy
scenes between the emperor and his Wild
owed mother, who considered herself so
badly treated as to call for the interven-
ton of her English relatives. The upshot
was that all Europe was made aware of
the bitter feelings prevailing between
mother and son, and thai the latter plainly
gave Empress Frederick TO understand
that it would be more pleasant for all par
ties concerned if she withdrew for time
from court and avoided any further en-
croachment upon the prerogatives and Do
stion of Empress Augusta Victoria. And
it. of late, she has been treated with a
greater degree of consideration than in the
first years of her widowhood, it is because
the emperor's reckless extravaganza has
resulted in financial straits, that have
brought home to him with particular force
the fact that his mother has, as heiress of
the Duchess Galliera, very long and we'll
filed purse.
At Lisbon the unpleasantness has been
of an even still more acute character