Evening star., 1898-05-21
SOME ROYAL PRETENDERS
They Are Ready at Any Time to Occupy a
Throne.
Don Carlos and the Spanish Crown
The Duke of Orleans and
His Claim.


Este, wife of Prince Louis of Bavaria,
descends. in fact, direct from Charles 1 TO
the ninth generation by the female line.
and thus obtains her so-called right of in
heritance to the crown of the Stuarts. The
duchess does not, however, attach mu>h
importance to the claims made in her be-
half. for she herself was the first to ask
of her father-in-law, the old Prince Regent
of Bavaria, that her son, Prince Rupert,
might be sent to England as the represent
tative OF his house On the occasion of the
diamond jubilee celebration. But II John
Bull has no serious claimants for his king
oom, jacques Bonhomme is not SO for
tunate. He has enough and to spare. The
chlef CT these is, OF course, the Duke uf
Orleans. who is no silent pretender.
Then there is Don Carlos Duke of Mad
rid. chief of the b"urbons, who, claiming
the crown of Spain by the Salic law. could
a'so, in virtue of the same rights. Calm
that Of France. The death of the Comte
de Chambord left him chief of the house,
and there are even now in France old roy
alists who hate the Orleans-"the usurp-
ers, as they call them-and pray Gevoutiy
that Don Carlos may one day sit on the
throne OF st. Louis But hitherto the Don
has been considered in France as entirely
Spaniard; and one cannot reasonably eX-
pect him to succeed, even If he should
seriously contemplate advancing his claim.
The only son of Don Carlos, Don jaime is
now an officer in the Russian army, and
we have the curious coincidence of Bona
parte and bourbon in the same army AMI
In the same country The other possible
French claimants somewhat less seri-
Gus, and to most Frenchmen are merely
royalties pour rire. The best known is the
good Dutchman of Teteringen, who signs
Charles Louis de Bourbon, Due de Nor
mandie,' and who calls himself the son of
Louis XVII, the poor child of Louis XVI,
who died at the Temple in 1875. The par
tisans of this claimant whom others call
m q f.
ness what they lack in numbers.
For the Throne of Portugal.
An abolition of the Salic law provoked in
Portugal struggle for the throne several
years before the first Spanish Carlist war
The old king, Dom Pedro ", wished to
leave the throne of Portugal 70 his eldest
daughter, DOna Maria de Gloria, when he
left that Of Brazil to his only son. Dom
Pedro, the poor emperor who died a few
years since at Paris hotel. Dom Miguel
had been named regent during the minority
of Dona Maria, but on his brothers death
he proc lained himself king, ard Portugal
was given up to a six years war between
the partisans of the uncle and those of the
niece. At length the uncle was beaten and
chased out of Portugal, him and his, for
ever. The only son of Dom Miguel, who
bears his fathers name. is at present set
tied in Austria. He is the sole Portuguese
pretender. pretender caring little and un-
likely to dare the tremendous stroke of
conQuering the crown from the branch of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha which reigns at
Lisbon.
In founding Italian unity nearly forty
years ago. Victor Emmanuel created for his
country number of pretenders who have
now no longer any chance of recovering
their lost thrones. Garibaldi swept away
from the throne of the Two Sicilies the
young King Francois, and added him to
the list of those unfortunate soveregns who
drift from hotel to hotel, isolated and ig-
nored, to settle finally in Paris or some
other great metropolis. After lamentable
existence the dethroned Francois died in
poverty two years ago, leaving children
to take up his hopeless cause. His brother,
the Count of Caserta, has accordingly noti-
fed the foreign courts of his succession to
the chimerical title of claimant to the
throne of Naples Another Italian, the eX-
Duke Robert of Parma, who was dispo-
sessed of his estates at the age of eleven,
after the assassination of his father,
Charles III, lives quietly in his Castle of
Wartegg, in the midst of his fourteen chill
dren, we'll persuaded that his estates are
forever lost.
Always Ready.
The pretenders, indeed, are always ready.
but there is many slip 'twixt the cup and
the lip. The country of Roumania has no
exiled royalties. The descendants of the
old hospodars-the SturdZa, the Ghika and
others-havt plenty Of partisans; but King
Charles fears rivalry so little that the
members Of these ancient reigning families
occupy the first posts in the kingdom. In
Bulgaria, Prince Ferdinand, who dreams of
wearing a royal crown, is In the happy po-
sition OF having no important rival to his
throne. Alexander of Battenberg, who died
four years ago. has certainly left a son,
Arsene. Count Of Hartenau; but he is
barely eight years old. and takes after his
mother. Jeanne Loisinger he hardly counts
as a political power. Yet it is possible that
when he arrives at mans age he may pose
as competitor with the young Prince 30
ris.
1t only remains to speak Of Turkey and
the unfortunate sultan, Murad V, who, un-
der the pretext Of madness, was dethroned
by his brother Abdul after five months
reign, and shut up in a sort of palace
prison. There he has remained for the last
twenty-one years, and is likely still to re-
MAN, for the victories lately won by the
Great Assassin" have strengthened his
skaky throne, and there are very few Mus
sulmans who now think of Murad. Be
sides, Abdul Hamid has a rapid method of
replying to those who manifest too much
sympathetic curiosity about his brother.
He makes them disappear. 1t is practi-
cal, radical and oriental at the same time
Drunkenness Among Animals.
From Lippincotts.