The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1896-07-04
PROSPECTIVE N
Prince Albert of Flanders Is Heir to tho
belgian Throne.

Prince Albert of Flanders Is Heir to tho
belgian Throne.
Prince Albert of Flanders, who has
just come of age, is the next heir
to the throne of Belgium, as his
father, the count of Flanders,
younger brother of King Leopold, has
intimated that, owing to the fact of his
being stone deaf and in feeble health,
he will under 10 circumstances accept
the crown. True, he has not officially
renowned his claims to the success
sion, but he makes way at all state func-
tions for his son, and King Leopold
loses no opportunity Of referring to
Prince Albert as his heir, causing him
to take his place at all official cere-
monies as such. His 21st birthday, the
other day, was ~signalized by his being
furnished with a household of his own.
The left wing of his fathers palace,
IN Rue de la Regence, at Brussels, has
been assigned to his use.
Prince Albert has now entirely out
grown his delicacy of health, which at
the time of his elder brothers tragic
and mysterious death, a few years ago,
gavo rise to universal fears that he
would not live to grow to manhood.
He is a tall, soldierly-looking young fell
low, well set up, with a face inclined to
be chubby, and enjoys the reputation
of being of a far more tudious tempera-
ment than his brother, Prince Baldwin.
The latter met with his death under cir
cumstances still shrouded with mys-
terry, in a house situated in one of the
most fashionable thoroughfares of the
Belgian capital, which has remained
untenanted ever since, and is pointed
out to strangers as the scene of a trag-
edy which, according to popular rumor,
bore many striking analogies to that
at Meyerling, which cost the crown
prince of Austria his life.
Prince Albert bids fair to make a far
better king than King Leopold, since in
the first place he is devoid of his uncle's
craze for speculation and foolhardy adj
ventures, such as the disastrous Congo
enterprise, while on the other hand he
has as yet shown no trace of having in
herited any of those moral shortcom-
ings which have cast so heavy a shadow
upon the reign of his uncle and of his
grandfather.
Should Prince Albert die before King
Leopold, or without leaving any male
issue, all sorts of complications would
arise with regard to the succession to
the throne. For, although according to
the terms, Of the Belgian constitution,
King Leopold possesses the right, in
the default of male issue of his own or
of his younger brother, to select an heir
from among the various Catholic
princes of Europe, the choice, of course,
to be ratified by the chambers of the
legislature, yet it is doubtful whether
any of those foreign powers who guar
anteed the neutrality and independence
Of Belgium at the time of its conversion
into a kingdom would ' be able to
agree together upon any one candidate.
From this it will be seen how exceed
ingly precious are the life and health of
young Prince Albert of Belgium, not
alone to the Belgian people, whose indie
pendence and future welfare are at
stake, but also to the whole of Europe,
which may yet, n of these days, be
involved in a terrible war in connection
with the question of Belgian succession.
IN. Y. Tribune.