The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-29
THE TRAGEDY FROYALTY
Romance. Intrigue, and Scandal
of the SeryiaE Court.
QunrreIs Between King Milan and
Queen NafaIic-tn Exciting Easter
morning Scene in n Cathedral
Diseords in the Families of Mon
archs-Coup d'Etnt of Alexander

; One spring night eleven years ago .
stout gentleman with a red face, nut
cracker features and prominent eyes cam,
tunlbling into Vienna out of the mysterious
East.
His great-unele began life by herdinl
swine, then founded dynasty. He MIN.
self had just rerounced a throne
For the rest he owed Budapest bosiel
7S forms, with a trife to his tailor Or
reaching the hotel he popped into bed
like philesophic monarch. He slept as
he mad never done in Servia, where, under
the style of Milan ", he had been pat
tern to his people.
Over in Belgrade his son Alexander
agede twelve, reigned in his stead
Queen Natalie, his divorced wife, pre-
ferred any other part of Europe She was
the daughter of a Russian colonel named
kechko, large land owner in Bessara bia
Il had dowTy of seven millions" she
exclaimed sadly to her lady -in-waiting,
while the two were one day smoking cigar
cites; and my mother came of royal
blood should have married BETTER
Her husband concurred. He spoke OF
her as his worst enemy.
Their quarrels eliminated in a fracas at
the cathedral on Easter Sunday. The ser
vice had just ended, the court was filing
out before the royal pair. According 10
the national custom the King kissed each
man upon the lips, the Queen each woman.
lady presented herself whom Natalie
chose not to notice. The lady stood there
expectant, stopping the procession, waiting
to be kissed. The Queen, with face averted.
| stared coldly at the high altar She was
paler than usual-that was all.
The significance of the episode pene-
trated from end to end of the cathedral.
| Milan turned.
He had come straight from dinner to
attend the service. and showed temper
kiss Nine -" he whispered huskily,
clutching at his wife's arm.
| NO"
kiss madame" he repeated this time
| in tones which could be heard throughout
the building. Natalie still refusing, the
king then and there proceeded to personal
| violence. Many assert he tried to strange
her. 1t is certain that some of the cour-
| tiers and foreign ministers found it neces-
sary to interpose. They hurried the poor
Queen away.
She went abroad. taking the crown
prince with her. July. 1883, found them
st Wiesbaden.
The woods behind the Platte, the Kur-
saal Gardens. where one of the most su-
perb of string orehestras walls out Wag-
ner twice a day. constitute an environ
ment BETTING afflicted royalty. Bat the
rain fell that summer as it has never
fallen any summer since Natalie's villa,
at the edge of the town, was desolation.
On the most desolate day of all, and at the
most desolate hour when luncheon is just
ended the son stood at the dining-room
window thirsting after a break in the
rln he EaII h.
1t proved the knell of mothers hap
piness.
1t proved likewise an emissary from
King Milan, who found that he could exist
no longer without his child The events
which thereuDon ensued in the squalid
tragedy Of these anointed sovereigns scam
dalized Europe.
Those who participated make a p,clrr-
esque assembly. First comes the unhappy
mother, persistently dressed in deep
mourning, appealing to every European
potentate in turn. and getting back SER
mons on postcards. Then there was the
fire-eating general from Servia, who shall
go nameless; and the Servian Archbishop,
the memory of whose unbrushed beaver is
wistfully recalled in Wiesbaden today. In
the centre of the Lambatants stands the
little prince himself, the son of marriage
managed so badly, the descendant of peas
herded swine.
Alexander, having been snatched off by
the Prussian police was returned TO King
Milan. That devoted parent had another
little surprise in store. He chose the
birthday of the kingdom in the following
March. The event had bsen duly cells
brated at the cathedral. Midnight found
the Miuis Us and representatives from
foreign courts gathered together in the
palace to congratulate the sovereign.
Milan had not attended the service. He
electrified the assemblage by the curt an
nouncement that he proposed TO resign.
He was excited; his voice was feverish
He did not stop to explain. but pumped
down on his knees before his son. in that
attitude he galloped through the oath OF
fealty. No wonder the child burst into
tears.
Thus we get back to the starting point
of this sordid little tale: Ex-King Milan
safe in bed at Vienna, while the babs.
Alexander l, reigned in his stead The
baby has grown up since then. Now he
announces he will marry lady some sew
enteen years his senior. She once be-
longed to Queen Natalie's household, and
the Ministers declare ina. she is unworthy
to sit upon the throne. AS the religious
ceremony of betrothal took place last
Wednesday the King cannot change his
mind Ex-King Milan has sent several
comminatory kilograms. All Servia OPP
poses the marriage, so much so, indeed, |
that the brides house in Belgrade has to
be guarded night and day. Meanwhile she |
and the King are quite happy driving about |
the capital in an open carriage.
Truly it is not good to be a King in !
Servia, The mother who bore this one, |
and loved him, visited Belgrade a few /
weeks after his accession. She lived a
month within speaking distance OF Alex
ander's palace before the regents suffered /
him to see her. He came at last, one
cherries afternoon, to invite her warmly
to go away, "for dynastic reasons She |
went and returned. For third time In
her life this Bessaratian heiress aston
ished Europe When the King had secured
himself in his palace-again for dynastic
reasons"-his Ministers escorted the Queen
to the quay. Adherents rescued her, not |
without bloodshed In black, as always, |
Natalie smiled sadly on the students who /
dragged her carriage home. An effective
deportation followed next day. She took
boat for Odessa from a frontier town on
the Danube. The public stage knows her
no more.
"She was too fond of politics." King
Milan chanted Natales requiem from his
little table on the boulevards. Behind the |
domestic discOrd of that most !
miserable of married couples doomed Rus
STA. the Queens birthplace, whittier she
returned. But in her husbands eyes Rus
STA was the place where the assassins
came from, where the royal dynasty had
helped to hatch their plots.
King Alexander's appearance before his
people are coups d'etat. He began seven
years ago. at the age of seventeen. Sue
cess in examinations spurred him on TO in
vite the regents to dinner. At midnight
that appanage of his race, an adjutant.
nh