The herald., 1896-02-12

husband. who was effected with tuDer-
culoss of the lungs, was very poor, ana
Oh account of the deplorabe state OF his
health was compelled to dc WrltlnS, OF
rather copying. at home for a scan'y
livelihood He died at the Bromptoh
street hospital for consumptves; the
dates of his admission and OF MS deatn
show conclusively that he could not nave
been the real father of little Willie al
though the child is recorded as his posth-
umous offspring. His wife was pret-
ty brunette good girl. and full OF fun
the daughter of tailor residing near
Regent street. Financial embarrassment
forced her to look for employment. Inc
skating rink We're the rage in London at
that time. She secured an engagement
as professional at one of these places
in the West End. near the Empire thea
ter. 1t was there that she met the Prince
Imperial for the first time. She was al
ways seen in the company OF the Prince,
who during this intimacy, which did not
exceed three or four months, ignored al
ways the fact that she was married.
Charlotte Kelly was known at the rink
under the name of Charlotte. or rather
Lottie Watkins. She said, and her state
ment is not doubted, that her adventure
with the Prince began at the rink. and
she never knew the name of her lover
until his picture appeared in the London
papers. when he was killed in the Zulu
land June 16, 1879. She disappeared
mysteriously from England about eight
months after the tragic death of the
Prince was made public, and she left
her child in the care of a lady selected
by eX-Empress Eugene, and known as
Miss Martin. The persons who took in
tereSt in the matter attempted yalnly to
discover her whereabouts. They wrote
to tie Archbishop Of sydney and to the
Bishop of Melbourne, as they supposed
that she had gone to Australia. They
received no satisfactory reply, although
Dame Rumor had it that she was an
actress in Melbourne. The supposition
now is that Charlotte Kelly never left
the continent; she has even been allow
ed to see her child in France and in Eng
land. She merely consented to comply
with the wishes Of eX-Empress Eugene
to live in obscurity on the express condi-
tion that she would be provided for, and
also that she could enjoy OCCASIONALLY the
company of the boy, whom she loves
dearly. 1t seems, indeed, that instead OF
SuppreSSlng her. it has been the policy
of those directly interested in the affair
to take every possible precaution to pro
vide for her absolute safety
Another curious feature of the case is
that eXEmpress Eugene is the very one
who insisted upon giving the name Of
Watkins to her natural grandson. Hel
purpose was self-evident under the cir
cumsances; she intended undoubtedly
to recognize the rights of the child to {
certain extent, and for this reason haC
the name of Kelly discarded.
Willie Watkins was born in 1880. .abou
seven months after the departure of tht
Prince for Zululand; his mother KEEP
him about one month and then entrusted
him to the care of Miss Martin in Lon
don. When five years old, that is il
1885, his guardian brought him to tn,
college" ofsSt. Nicolas Issy near Paris
where he remained until the last part O
the year 1886 According to his teachers
lie was very lazy, but exceedingly in
telligent and marvelously gifted. HI
was very fond of Paris, and could speal
French and English equally WELL IL
was and is yet the very image of hi
father, possessing even the large ear
q the Prince Imperial at which Henr,