The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-28

The divorce mill VII ch now grimes foI
all, cooks as we'll Ar q and ID lchcs SEES, ha $
oniy Il ,ate years been doing anything like
active business In behalf Of inismated royal
folk Al present there are Ave royal Euro
pean ladies who owe to the courts OF law
their escape from the thrall Of matrimony
but gossip says there are others about 10
Join this select colony.
The doyenne OF the group II the ex-
Princess Of Monaco. better known AZ Lady
Mary Disqualification Twenty years
ago she and the present 'eigning Prince,
who had been married by their p.r,n 8
and found the enterprise a failure. mace
an appeal 10 the Pore and secured divorce
from the Roman Curia
Queen Natalie OF Servia, another devout
Catholic, WIS the next royal lady to ask
for divorce from her husband. King
Milan. This time the Roman Curia did
not come to her relief, but her divorce did
not impair her good standing az a church
member, and she got it in isss.
Yet third Catholic p incess. her Royal
I.ighncss Louise Of Relgium. has secure
q divorce from her husband. Prince Philip
Of Coburg, and tieieby has incui req
the everlasting disapproval Of her conven-
tional If not immaoul old father, the
present King Of the Belgians.
So long a. the venerable and highly re-
spected Queen Victoria lived not one Of
the royal Protestant families of Europe ever
so slightly related TO her dared hint al
divorce as a solution Of conjugal tire, b -.
The Queen did not approve Of divorce for
anyl o1y. She would not receive divorced
women at her court and she frankly an
nounced that any in her family would be
cut out Of her will.
Just as soon. however. as the old Queen
died two of her granddaughter Immediately
secured legal release from the bonds Of
Wedlock. The present King OF England has
an easy going desire to Zee ever, body
happy. and because his nieccs have found
h impossible to get along comfortably with
their husbands lie thinks none the less Of
them for seeking peace in solitude,
The first member Of the British royal
family to ask for freedom was the Princess
Aribert Of inhIlt. She il the second
daughter Of Princess Christian of Sclleswig-
Eostein, who is King IGward's sister
She was married to Prince Aribert Joseph
OF Anhat in 1891; in 1900 her divorce was
granted. Prince Aribert is the third son
OF his father. who Is a very small princeing
among the miniature states of the German
Empire. There is big family OF Anhalts
and not one of them IL as well of as the
average American merchant, while all Of
them are burdened with the keeping up OF
q certain amount of empty state. Princes
Aribert might have endured the dulneSs Il
country life in an antique German schloss,
where economy il praciised right down to
the bone. and everybody goes to bed AZ the
unearthly hour OF 10 o'clock. il il had not
been for her mother-in-law. In this case the
mother-in-law was lady Of the extreme
Old German school Of royal and feminine
morals, manners and department, and
Princess Aribert. who represents the ex-
IRENE new school of royal and feminine
independence OF thought AMI action, didn't
hit II of with her elderly relative
Whenever she could she escaped to Eng
land for long visits among the richer and
more liberal-minded members Of her own
family. and the strained relations betw cen
herself and her mother-in-law reached the
swapping point after one OF these absences,
Princess Aribert brought back to the schloss
with her a par Of boxing gloves and an
American punching bag and set about get
ting up her muscle.
This was jar too great for the German
ideas Of what woman and a Princes, should
agreed with his mother that punching the
bag was not decent Indulgence for the wife
OF German Prince, family council was
called and the marriage was privately an
MULE J. OF course the punching bag did not
hgu. q In the solemn and private legal pro-
ceedings. but it was, after all. the real occa-
sion for the divorce. which evidently did not
break the heart Of the young Princess.
She has set up housekeeping in cosey
suite Of apartments in Hampton Court
Palace. and as her grandmother left her
IN adequate little fortune, she dwells in
supreme comfort keeps one lady companion.
Asmlrt carriage an g res b. her m1den title
Of Princess Louise Of Schleowig Holstein.
She punches the bag at her ov sweet
will In small gymnasium adjoining hei
bedroom and has degree OF liberty in
speech and action that can only be en-
joyed by a royal divorced woman, and il
hungered and thirsted for by many of the
younger set of Irincely ladies throughout
Europe That is to say, she G ,es shopping,
calling Sightseeing and to the plays ana
concerts and the hot ses Of her friends
quite As freely as private individual,
and she goes unattended II she chooses
1t Is true that a. a divorced woman she
cannot lay cornerstones. open hospitals
and unveil memorials or receive bouquets.
and she must walk at the very tag end Of
royal professions. but the loss of these
Ir.rogatives has no tcrrors for the royal
new woman.
IL mad no terrOrS tOr the Grand DuCneSS
Victoria Melta of Hesse. who was legally
separated from her husband as soon a. her
q andmother was dead. More than once
Queen Victoria had been called upon to
quell the rebellion Of this gay. plucky and
independent young granddaughter against
conjugal and court discipline
The Grand Duchess has will of her
own. She Is young, and while not pretty,
II the most chic, Witty, cultivated and
ambitious young p. inCess In Europe. Al
one time she and her cousin, Emperor Will
liam. we're great good friends As tho
smartest horsewoman in Germany, with
Q really masculine knowledge of military
etiquette and tactics, he made her Colonel
Of the nth Infantry Regiment. Her
uniforms fitted her TO perfection and at
reviews, her breast glitterng with orders.
she paraded her regiment before the Lm-
peror In a style that was beyond criticism.
Besides these accomp lishments the
Duchess can tocl a four-in-hand with the
reckless ease of Deadvood stage coach.
man and with the finish I'd style Of a
Howlitt. She dresses like Partisan,
speaks five languages and swims like a
duck
To the disgust Of her husband and the
Lord Chamb 'rlain Of the Hessian court.
none OF her accomplishments can be de-
scribed "a domestic. As all the Hessian
& anil u .ches-es IRON away lack have
known how TO bake bread knit stout stock
ings. conduct soap boiling and even super
inteha pig killing, with ability. II was easy
70 s+~' that the housewives OF the DIchy
were sing ~ had exam by