The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-11
WILHELMINA'S SUITORS
sOsIE MEN WHO ASPIRE TO THE
YOUNG QUEENS HAND AND HoNORs.
One of Them SON of the King of
peror Would Like to Carry out.


New York Evening Sun.
In spite of Queen Emmas good motherly
advice. the wishes of the Dutch govern
ment and the hopes of loyal subjects, her
eighteen-year-old Majesty of, Holland has
not yet signihed her choice of consort.
| Not since Princess Victoria of Kent became
Queen of England sixty years ago, has so
interesting and romantic a feminine figure
| appeared on European throne. and there is
| no doubt at all that Wilhelmina thoroughly
! appreciates and enjoys the charms of her
position in the eyes of all the ambitious and
manageable young grand dukes ana
princes.
If any one wants to know why she now
| hesitates to give the name OF her future
consort, the reason is she has not yet Sc
lected him. From her childhood she has en-
tertained profound respect for Queen Vic
! toria and two years ago asked permission
| to read some novels Her governess and
mother gave her careful choice from Dick
| ems. Miss Edgeworth and Miss Yonges
Having perused these romances, she in
formed her mother that she intended to
marry only man whom she could love.
and as Queen Victoria had pursued that
| policy with success, she demanded the same
| privilege. Since that time she has enter
tanned various possible suitors at her PAL
aces in Holland AS inva ciably as they
| came rumors flew about to the effect that
] here was the man. but as invariably the
| princeling. rode away, apparently with his
hand, heart and title still free to bestow.
| 1t is said, and on the best authority, that
| the little lady is kind to all, stands good
deal on her dignity, and openly says that,
| as the proposition of marriage must come
| from her, she won't speak until her heart
| dictates.
| So far, not even worried Queen Emma
| has been able to discover the especial type
of man that Wilhelmina prefers. The sim
pie Dutch folk openly applaud their young
soveregn's sentiments, and they are fond
of telling the story of her retert to her
mother. There had been a degree or two
of heat in an argument over this marriage
question. and the mother chose to disrar-
age very young duke as ineligible be-
cause of his comparatively humble title.
ooh, title and money are all very well"
replied Wilhelmina with toss of her head:
Am not Queen of Holland? My title and
my money are all-sufficient. If loved a
good man, though he were an humble
Dutchman, would marry him and make
him noble"
Among the Dutch people the two most
popular candidates for the Queens hand
are Prince Harold of Denmark and Prince
Bernard of Weimar- Eisenach. Hol-
land and Denmark are friendly ne1ghDorS,
and they are as one in their dislike of Ger
many. Prince Harold is nice boy, TWEEN
ty-one years old, healthy, good-natured and
handsome: He is TALL as all his brothers
are, and has commission in the Danish
army.
Though her young Majesty says she has
the money for two, still the hard-headed
low countrymen would like to have a king
consort with little pin money of his own,
and Harold's mother, the crown princess s
of Denmark, is a very rich woman. To
each of her children she has given flne
marriage portion, so that Harold is a. de-
cided parti. Metaphoricaly he and vii:
they have never been lovers they have al
ways been excellent friends.
A YOUNG DUTCHMAN.
Bernard of Saxe-Weimar is another good
boy, in his twentieth year, lieutenant in
Prussian infantry regiment, and the heart
of Holland warns to him because his grand
mother was one of the most beloved Of the
Dutch princesses. She was Princess Sophie
of Holland, ugly, sweet-hearted and so clev-
er and kind that her husband, the Duke Of
Weimar, and all his people loved her in life
and now adore her memory. She was a rich
woman and Bernard has inherited fair
share of her fortune. Princess Sophie's
countrymen insist that he also has Inherited
his. grandmothers charming disposition and
capable mind, and as nearly as any one can
discern Wilhelmina takes more than a. sis
terly interest in him.
A month or two ago there was futter in
the Dutch court when Prince Nicholas of
Greece came to visit the two Queens. Since
then rumor has connected his and Wilhel-
minas names. He is OF course, eligible
enough save that he Is pathetically pow
erty stricken boy and by religion an ortho-
dox Greek. His years number tWenty-four,
and nobody seems to know ms eapanll1Iles,
ment he serves as aid-de-camp to his father,
King George and during the late Graeco-
Turkish war he served without distinction
q q
it was his grandmother, the Queen OF Den
mark, who thought out this match for him,
and the matter of religion could be easily
settled, as King George is still Protestant,
and his son could quite ex cusably relapse
into the faith of his fathers.
AS Queen Wtlheln1ina will sit on one or
the snuggest thrones in all Europe and rule
over loyal country, for its size the r1ch-
est in the world there is no reason for as
constituent that an impecunious prince such
as Prince Alexander of Teck, brother of the
Duchess of York, should gladly throw in
his lot with the Dutch sovereign. All this
youthful prince has to offer is an excep-
tionaly handsome presence and great good
nature. 1t is no secret that both the Duchess
of York and Queen Victoria have done all
that they could to put Prince Alexander in
the front rank of suitors, for this estimable
young man has only what his sister and
father can spare to live upon, and no set
tied duties even of a military character
But if beauty were all that the little
doubt that she could have for the asking
the hand of Prince Macmillan of Baden.
the handSomeSt man in the German army.
Prince Max is turned of thirty-one and a
very fair type of the beauty soldier that
figures in Ouida's novels, and though his
ntimates say he prefers to live bachelor,
his merits as a consort have certainly been
laid before the Dutch court. Prince Max
is a second cousin of the German Emperor,
a Protestant, a model of propriety as well
as an exceedingly smart cavalry officer, and
his income is equal to his needs
VICTORIAS GRANDSON.
Prince Harold and Prince Bernard, who
entertain equally strong hopes of securing
Wilhelmina's hand have recently been flus-
tered and alarmed over the pretensions of
young Prince Afford of Saxe-Coburg and
Gotha. He is Queen Victoria's grandson,
the heir to the duchy that the Duke of
Edinburgh inherited, and one of the most
desirable suitors now on the carpet Wheth-
er or not he would be obliged to resign his
hership to his fathers duchy in case of
marrying the Queen is a question to be set
tied, and it is about the only difficulty to be
got over.
Prince Alfred is a splendid fellow, looking
very like his grandfather, possessing an in
dependent fortune and proper sense OF
duty and reverence for religion. After all,
and in spite of her independent utterances,
the little Queen will. in this matter of re-
ligiOn, be obliged to bow to her people