The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-08-07
DEBTS OF ROYALTY.
Tradesmcn Wait Patiently aud Present No
Bills to Kings.

Tradesmcn Wait Patiently and Present No
Bills to Kings.
| There are many persons who will
envy the privilege which royalty en-.
joys Of never being dunned for
tradosmen' bills. The great Pari:
sian dressmakcrs in particular make
q point Of never sending in any &C:
count to their royal and imperial
customers unless specially requested
| to do so. At the same time all sorts
of articles and devices are adopted
to remind customers OF this exalted
rank, without appearing to do so,
that money is duo and payments de-
sirable.
Some of the scions of royalty are
very punctilious and exact about
their payments, especially the Prin-
cess of Wales, who has from the Eng
lish crown an independent allowance
Of $50, 600 por annum, supposed to
be entirely spont in dress, not SO
difficult matter when it is borno III
mind that throughout the London
season the princess, as the observed
of all observers, never appears SEQ
ond time in the same toilet; that
the toilets are changed several times
a day, and that many of themi es.'
pecially those for evening and cotirt
wear, cost 81, 600 and 81, 500 each.
Very different from the Princess
of Wales is the dowager queen Of
Portugal, who is pcrennially hard
up, in spite of tho large allowance
she receives from the Portuguese
and Italian civil lists. Her trades
men at Paris, whence she gets all
her clothes. have to wait years for
their money, which they get only
when some of those Portuguese
loans happen to be floated or when
the queen is able to got her brother,
King Humbcrt of Italy, to como to
her rescue and fill her depleted purse.
| The members of the Russian court
are very exact and unquestioning in
their payments, and so, too, is Queen
Marguerite of Italy, hor punctilious-:
ness in this respect being due to her
husband, King Humbert, who, still
suffering from the disastrous effects
of the insane extravaganza Of his
father, Victor Emmanuel, is careful
to run as fow bills as possible and,
SO far as he can, to pay MS he goes.
This immunity from duns does
notextend to royal personages whose
families have been deprived of their
thrones or who are compelled to
affix an Eek to their title. Thus
ex-King Milan Of Serv;a Is constant
" being dunnsd and sued, while old
ex-Queen Isabella of Spain every
now and then gets into such terri
bic snarl with her Partisan trades
men that her daughter-in. law, the
queen regent, is compelled to send
members of her own household from
Madrid to straighten matters out
and to assume charge Of the old Ia
dy's liabilities.
There is a popular impression
abroad that tho Prince of Wales is
frequently dunned by tradesmen.
But this is not tho case. Tdon' sup
pose he ever received a tailor's bill
in his life, and his pressing needs
for money, which drive him into
such extraordinary and promiscuous'
friendships and associations, are at:
tributable to loans coming due and
to gambling and racing debts. Per-
haps the most unpunctual and least
satisfactory Of royal personages with
whom to run bill the present
! emperor Of Germany,,::as reigning
sovereign who comes as near. being
dunncd like an ordinary mortal as
J any one could find, the tradesmen
who are unable to got their money
;. taking out their annoyance in disa-
: greeable remarks that bring them
l dangerously near Indictment for the
. crime of lcze ma esty.-Chicago Rec
: ord. =.