The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-12
A SON OF MARIE LOUISE.
Death in an Asylum of Son of Napo-
Icons Second Wife.


Justice Wilhelm Albrecht of Monte
nuovo. who died a fortnight ago at the
famous private lunatic asylum at Doe
bling, near Vienna, was son of the En-
press Marie Louise, second wife of Napo-
leon I, and consequently half-brother of
the Inflated lad who was ushered into the
world at the Tuileries as King of Rome,
and who died mysteriously at Schoen-
brunn as Duke of Reichstadt. The father
of Prince Montenuovo was the ill-favored
and one-eyed Field Marshal Count Won
Neipperg. who, on the deportation of Ma
poleon to St. Helena, was appointed to the
post of high chamberlain and chief officer
of the household of the Empress. AS
MANY of our readers will recall he figures
conspicuously in Sardou's current drama,
"Mme. Sans Gene" says the Philadelphia
Telegraph.
1t is asserted that the Austrian Kaiser's
object in selecting man of Neipperg's I'M
lovely appearance to act as controller of
his daughters court was for the purpose of
avoiding the scandal which was appre-
hended if he had chosen a more attractive
looking officer The good intentions of his
most apostolic Majesty were, however,
frustrated, for Marie Louise fell deeply in
love with the grislv old warrior, who had
been appointed more for the purpose of
acting as Cerberus than anything else,
and gave him her hand in marriage within
a fortnight of receiving the news of her
first husbands death at st. Helena.
Unfortunately Prince Montenuovo was
born Just year before Napoleon's demise
took place, which was exceedingly awk-
ward. The difficulty which presented itself
was to find name for him. According to
the technical terms of law he was entitled
to the name of Bonaparte, having been
born during the wedlock of his mother
with the French Emperor. AS, however,
the latter had been prisoner in the South
ern Atlantic at a distance of many thou
sand miles from his wife, during the five
years preceding the child's birth, it was
deemed inadvisable to attempt to foster
him on the Bonapartes. On the other
hand. the brothers and relatives of Count
Neipperg resolutely declined to permit the
| child to bear their name. The Neippergs
are one of the proudest and most ancient
houses of the Austrian nobility, and they
haughtilv refused to permit the illegiti-
| mate child of one of their number to be
entitled to the rights and privileges of the
| family, deeming their descent quite as no
| BILE and as ancient as that OF the Haps-
| burgs.
One of their amiable remarks came to the
ears of old Emperor Franz, who adopted a
characteristic method of Furnishing them
| for it. He announced his intention of
| caring for the child, and conferred upon it
the title and name of Count Montenuovo.
which is nothing else than the Italian
translation of the word Neipperg. He also
settled large estates in Hungary upon the
| boy, and as the latter grew up to manhood
lost no opportunity OF advancing his in
terests in every way. Fortunately young
Montenuovo inherited none of the Neip-
perg ugliness, but only his mothers
| beauty Indeed, he bore most remarka-
! BILE resemblance to the pictures which re-
main of the Empress Marie Louise, and to
those of his half-brother, the King of Rome.
Prince Montenuovo entered early into
| the army, and his career was one of the
most eventful and honorable that could
| well be imagined. He especially distin-
guished himself during the revolution OF
| 1s4S-49, and for an act of bravery during
| the battle of Isakzek, on April 6,
| 1849 he was decorated with the
Order of Maria Theresa. He like
| wise distinguished himself at the battles Of
Magenta and of SolferinO while acting as
| a general officer, and after the war he be-
came commanding general in Transyl-
vania and later at Prague. In 1854 the
present Emperor raised him to the rank OF
prince of the empire, and appointed him
a member of the Privy Council.
Fortune appeared to lavish all her gifts
on the half-brother of the Duke of Reich
| stadt until about fifteen years ago, when
| form of dementia, which rendered it neces-
sary that he should be placed under re-
| straint. From that time until his death
| he was an inmate of the asylum of Drs
| Kraft -Ebing and Won Leidesdorff at
Doebling, a pretty village situated
about an hours drive from Vienna.
| Several of the persons under re-
straint, both there and in the branch es-
| tablishment at Gratz, are of royal birth,
while there is hardly patient who is not
entitled to wear the coronet of duke,
prince or count. Many of them have fig
ured prominently in the contemporary
history Of Europe, while the lives of not
few are enveloped in romance, but in no
case has there been stranger history than
that of Prince Montenuovo.
Prince Montenuovo was all his life pas
sionately fond of music, and after the loss
of his reason music becane the only means
of soothing the fits OF insane rage to which
he was frequently subject. Both grand
piano and large organ were included in
the furniture of his luxuriously appointed
suite of apartments in the asylum, and
almost every afternoon strains of melody
might be heard issuing from the windows
of his room, played by most accomplished
musician, whose services had been perma-
nently retained by the demented Prince.
Prince Montenuovo was married to Coun-
tess Julie Batthyany, and is survived by
three children-Princess Albertine m arried
to Count Sigismund Wielopolski Prince
Alfred of Montenuovo, married to Countess
Fanny Kinsky, and Princess Marie, mar
ried to Count Anthony Apponyi. Prince
Alfred paid visit to this country in 1876,
and created something of a sensation in
the fashionable circles of New York, New
port and Saratoga.