Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-01
THRONES A-BEGGING
Sons Of Royalty That Have Refused
Crowns.
Gladstone or Lord Derby Might Have
Wanted Prince Napoleon.

1t Is no mean distinction to have refused
crown. There is probably not one man in
million who would decline kingdom #
1t were offered him, In spite of the restless
nights and fearful days that are commonly
supposed to be the lot of a king. Even
Cromwell Is said to have refused the crown
Of England more from. fear Of others than
from any other motive.
But there have been many men since
Cromwell who have refused to wear q mon
aIch's crown. Thirty-Hve years ago, when
the throne Of Greece was vacant, more
than one great English statesman might
have ruled over the destinies of that classic
country. but the difficulties in the way
we're formidable. Mr.. Gladstone's name
was freely mentioned in connection with
the crown Of Greece, though, as Mr.. Glad
stone was a member of the government
at the time, the proposal never took definite
shape.
The late Lord Derby however who had
strong sympathies with Greece, was Of
fered the crown and refused it, throwing
away 100000 a year and a kingdom. 1t
was not the first time a man had declined
to sit on the throne of Greece, Prince Leo
pold, the father of the present King OF
the Belgians, having refused the crown
when Greece was declared a kingdom, in
1880 Prince Leopolds reason for refusing
the crown was that the proposed bounda-
rtes of the country were insufficient the
excursion OF Crete especially influencing
his decision.
One of Queen Victoria's sons. the Duke of
Edinburgh has also been offered the Gre
cian crown. He was appealed to in the
sixties. at the time Lord Derby declined the
crown, but was compelled to refuse the Of
fer, owing to the attitude of the powers
who strongly declared their opposition TO
Prince Alfred being crowned King of the
Ifeeks The throne was then offered to the
present king, on whose behalf 1t was ac-
cepted by his father. the King of Denmark.
Ihe crown of Austria-Hungary was re-
fused in the middle of the century by the
Archduke Franz Karl. the father of the
present emperor. King Ferdinand I abdi-
Gated IN December, 1S4s the throne then
descending in the ordinary course to Arch
Duke Franz Karl. The archduke, however
oecilned the crown, which he handed over
to his son, who still wears 1t.
Another crown which has been more than
once refused is the crown of Roumania
When Roumania was declared a kingdom
1t was settled that the throne should de-
scend to Prince Leopold. the eldest brother
or the then reigning king. The prince.
however, voluntarily yielded his rights to
the crown in favor of his son, Prince Will
helm, the remuneration being registered in
the senate in October. 1880. Prince Will
heim remained heir apparent for eight
years, but toward the end of 1888 he for
mally refused to accept the crown, and his
brother became heir apparent being now
Prince of Roumana. The prince has since
married Princess Marie, q granddaughter
of Queen Victoria.
PlOn-PlOn.
Not many years ago 4 nephew of the
great Napoleon died in exile, after refusing
a crown. Prince Napoleon, nicknamed
"Plon-PlOn," son Of n brother of Napoleon
Bonaparte, was invited to sit on the
throne of Roumania as the first king of
that country, but he declined the offer, be-
lieving at the time that he might ascend
the throne of France. So the bird in the
was never caught. The man who had
out of that country In solitary exile. He
had sacrificed one crown in the hope of re-
ceiving another, and lost both
Early in the present century Ferdinand
VII renowned the crown of Spain in favor
of his father, who, again, refused it in
favor of Napoleon. The great conqueror
had to face a nation in arms, however, and
never took the throne.
The story Of Lord Beaconsfield's golden
crown provides us with another instance
though there was no throne with this
strange crown. The man in whose brain
the idea of browning Lord Bcaconsfed
originated is now dead. but as long as he
lived he never recovered from the blow of
Lord Beaconsfield's refusal of his tribute
Mr. Tracy Turnereli received subscriptions
from 10000 people toward his gold laurel
wreath. but in June, 1879, when he formal
ly offered the crown to his idol, it was re-
fused.