The San Francisco call., 1899-04-30

Churchill, first Prince of Mindelheim'
with the fief are said to have metallic
ring to them, but that in no way af1ects
the act itself. Luitpod. as the legal rep
resentative Of insane King Otto, mas a
perfect right to dispose of the feudaI
prerogatives and dignities appertalnlng
to any fief of the crown of Bavaria anu
the act contemplated does not provide
for more. as the suzerainty of the prov
ince remains vested in the house OF
Wittelsbach. despite the fact that MARI
borough and his Duchess will be its
Prince and Princess.
In other words, the crown of Bavaria
cedes to the Duke its lands. forests ana
castles in the district, and herewith the
privileges appertaining TO certain landed
estates in monarchical countries, VIZ,
seat in the House of Lords, the right 10
keep a bodyguard, freedom from military
service and taxation. likewise the right
to administer justice to appoint Mayors
parsons, school-teachers, Judges ana po-
lice officers within the limits of the flef.
Bavaria attends to the post, the tele-
graph. the levying of recruits snd taxes.
All other branches of administration are
vested in the ''reigning" Prince.
But, say the Munich reports, Marloor-
ough laid seemingly little stress on these
rights. which appear to a German as the
height of ambition. His negotiations for
reinstatement were solely dictated by a
desire to give his American wife a stand
ing among the royalties of the continent
of Europe and, receiving assurances that
! Consuelo and her children should snare
| his title he did not hesitate to pay over
| to the crown of Bavaria the very large
sum demanded. The exact figures could
not be learned. The real estate secured
in the bargain is worth only about S25, 900
TO $50 OOO but when a man like Marlbor-
ough must choose between dollars and
beloved wifes ambition, he cannot afford
to haggle
It is a well known fact that Princes of
the European continent, particularly
those of the ancient Roman German en-
pire, such as the Marlboroughs, are for
pidden by decree of the Vienna Congress
to intermarry with commoners. If they
do marry women below the rank of Count
ess descended from a once sovereign fam
ily), the union is regarded as morganatic,
and the wife has no claim to her hus-
| bands title. Neither can the issue of a
morganatic marriage succeed to the faith
! er's title or to the family estates, if the
latter are entailed-that is, limited in de-
scent to a particular heir, legitimate on
mis- fathers side and mothers side.
This rule never was acknowledged by
Great Britain, and Queen Victoria, though
German in many other respects, openly
| disavows it and treats the ladies suffering
from it's unjust discrimination with
| studied courtesy. Thus she conferred the
title of Princess Edward of Saxe-W Ell
mar upon the late Lady Augusta-Lenox,
| daughter of the Duke Of Richmond and
| Gordon, when that lady married Prince
Edward, her Majesty's field marshal and
commander of the Life Guards.
At the court of Weimar and in the con-
tinental peerages, however, the lady fig
ures as Augusta Countess Won Dornburg
and her royal brothers and cousins by
IalS 1,
wife of Prince Edward. If she had pre-
sented her husband with sons and daugh-
ters, which she didn't. they could not have
borne their. fathers name; they would
esses Won Dornburg, though the Queen
might have styled them Princes and
Prtncesses in her own dominions, OF
course.
Marlborough and Prince Edward OF
Sake Weimar holding equal rank on the
Continent. Consuelo Vanderbilt found her
self in the same position as Lady Au
guSta-LenoX when she married. She was
a Duchess in England right enough, bu
on the Continent she remained soca
nobody. True, she had plenty Of distin
gushed eompany-the Duke of Fife, the
Marquis of Lorne. the Tecks. sons-in-law
nephews and cousins of the Queen. Whe1
these gentlemen visit a continental cour
they eat at the second table, with tn,
higher grade gold sticks and titled fun
kies, but the American girl had no TASTE
for following this august example. In
stead. she prevailed upon her husband t.
rectify the accident Of her birth.
Commerce in titles being recognized
business among sovereigns (the only on
In which they can safely engaged, it il
not strange that Consuelo received offer
of principalities and dukedoms in Italy
Spain, Portugal, Austria and the Balkan
j.. States. But her own and Marlborough
! ambition were above mere mushroom dig
: mites. The Duke desired for his wife 4
place we'll to the fore in the Almanach d
Gotha, and if their union was blessed witt
issue his and Consuelo's children shoul'
enjoy all the rights. privileges and pre-
rogattves to which their illustrious ances
< try entitled them.