Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-07-20
THRONE CLAIMANTS.
OVER 600 HAVE RIGHTS TO
VICTORIA'S.
One of Them Is Her own Grandson
The Rightful Queen According to the
Legitimists-She Has Been Reigning
Because of the Right of Might.

1t is lucky for the British empire
that the people once threw hereditary
succession to the throne to the winds,
for there are now no fewer than 1884
descendants of Mary Queen of Scots.
OF these GIT have better right to sit
on the Stone of Destiny" than Vic
toria. Among them is her majestys
great-grandson, Prince Carl of Rou-
mania. In the 'S4egitimist Kalender,"
just published, it is noted that every
crowned head in Europe, with the ex-
ception of the kings of Norway and
Sweden and Servia, and the Princes of
Montenegro and Monaco, are descend
ed from the Scottish Queen who laid
down her life at Fotheringay. 1t is
interesting to note that the "Kalen-
der is edited by a descendant of Guy
de Lisignan, King of Jerusalem, Cy-
prus and Armenia, whose direct male
representative is the Chevalier de Luz
slgnan, who recently sent to Queen
LaVlnla Dempsey" order of ST. Cath
crime of Mt. Sinai. Melville Amadeus
Henry Douglas Heddle de la Caille-
motto de Massue de Ruvigny, ninth
Marquis of Ruvigny and Raineyal in
the peerage of France, and of 20 Ru-
Vlgny Gardens, S. W.,who is the senior
editor of the '.Kalender," is, in spite
OF his foreign name, an Englishman
since 1851. The first of the family to
come into England was the Countess Of
southampton, great beauty at the
court of Charles 7.
Since those days the family has
fought and died for England The
Marquis second son, the Count de la
Calllemotte, was killed at the battle
OF the Boyne, and his eldest son was
created Earl of Galway, was three
times lord lieutenant of Ireland and
was commander-in-chief of the Brit
lsh forces in Spain and Portugal dur
ing the war of succession. He died
without issue, but the Ruvigny family
aid not forsake England, for the Earl
was succeeded by his nephew Peter,
whose brothers, Francis, Gabriel, Louis
and Henry, were in the British army.
GaDrlels only son, Francis, was killed
as colonel Of artillery at the storm
ing of Grenada, and his two nephews
died, one at Port-au-Prince and the
other while lighting the French. There
is subtle irony in the fact that Fran
els de Ruvigny, who was killed at
Grenada, actually saved the life of
queen Victoria's father, the Duke of
Kent, in 1895. The Duke, then Prince
Edward, was returning to the lines
after the capture of st. Lucia in 1895,
all begrimed with powder and smoke,
when some of his own men mistook
him for one of the enemy. Ruvigny
sprang forward in the nick of time and
struck up the leveed rifles. But for
his action there would have been no
Victoria on the throne today. The
Duke never forgot his protector, for
he saw that his three sons were given
commissions in the army. One Of
these, who fought in the peninsula, left
a son, Charles, who served through
the Burmese, kaffir and Ashanti wars.
According TO the "Legitimist Kali
ender,' the rightful Queen of England
is the wife of the Prince Regent of Ba-
varia. She is a direct descendant of
the royal Martyr" while Victoria is
only descendant of his sister, the pa
thetic Queen OF Hearts," the Electress
Sophia. On Victoria's SOth birthday
the "Legitimists" drank to THE Queen
Over the Water" and were just as
loyal to the reigning house.