The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-06-28
WilheImlna and Prince Henry.

fTOn lDG 0HlC5BO dlh'
 Now that Queen Wilhelmina is on the way to recovery, the Dutch peo- pie, particularly the poorer classes. have resumed the discussion of the alleged differences of the royal Dutch couple. It Is not an uncommon thing to see peasant Dutch women ap- proach shop windows where portraits of the queen and her husband are ex- posed, and, on leaving, shake their fists angrily in the young mans face. As a matter of fact, Prince Henry has never been popular among his wife's subjects. They disliked him from the start because he was German. As a young fiance paying visits to Queeen Wilhelmina he displayed recklessness and carelessness for her person which far from pleased them. In spite of gentle remonstrances his highness in sisted upon driving out alone with the queen behind four restless horses. It was no jog trot, either, and the way Prince Henry dashed around corners and dodged vehicles often made on lockers tremble. Again, at a banquet given during one of these visits to The Hague. be seriously offended them by wearing German decoration instead of a Dutch one he had re- ceived a few days before. During the ante-nuptial arrangements he showed himself too greedy to suit some, at the wedding he was too stiff and awkward to suit others. Since the marriage there has been a peck of wrongs. His highness has been ac- cused of neglecting the queen, abusing her horses, of having never yet visit ed the famous Dutch picture galleries -an oversight 1t will be hard for them to forget-and of having got into financial difficulties. When the queen was suffering most, during her earlier indisposition, Henry was enjoying himself on the hunting fields. Little attention has been paid to his actions during the more recent illness.
 Though Dutch people will not ad- init it, Queen Wilhelmina is an out and out autocrat and anything but "facile." Prince Henry is blamed for being cold, proud and jealous, but so is her majesty. Then, again, she is frightfuly stubborn and must not only find herself in the wrong, but very much so, before she will give way. AOAC ol InO pOlAlS On " HUI lHS royal couple are not at all In unison. Prince Henry comes of musical stock and has inherited considerable talent. He has fine tenor voice and from early childhood began training 1t. He likes nothing better than having mu- eicians about him and adores the op- era and high class concerts. Wilhel- nina, on the other hand, positively dislikes music. She only attends con- cert when there is no loop hole out of it, and shows by her distracted manner what a slim amount of enjoy ment she Is getting from it. Several times when her husband has expressed the desire of having some operatic star to sing at the court the queen has promptly put her foot down on it. Her majesty Is passionately fond of ami mals and dislikes hunting and shoot ing The slaughter of wild animals Is her husbands principal amusement. More than once little differences have arisen from Prince Henry's determina- tion to shoot in the vicinity of Able doorn. The matter was smoothed over by Wilhelmina offering him a large estate elsewhere. And here has aris- en another incident little calculated to raise Prince Henry In the Dutch peoples estimation. AS soon as the prince received this present he set about making elaborate improvements to convert 1t into a model hunting ground. Among other things he ar ranged to have two pavflions built on the estate. An agreement was made by two different contractors to have fhnv, 1AfA fAI 0t ,4nIw date. Three weeks ago the time limit expired, but owing to unforeseen diff culties the builders had been unable to put the work through. Prince Henry would listen to no explanation. but at once placed the affair in a lawyers hands and sued the contract ors for a large sum.
 Again, Prince Henry Is of a restless disposition and loves to travel He has no place in the Dutch constitution and recognizes very few duties He once planned an extensive tour of the Dutch colonies. As far as rules and regulations go Queen Wilhelmina might accompany him on all occa- sions, for, unlike other sovereigns. her majesty requires no full-fedged permission from her legislature be- fore she can quit her kingdom. In this respect she is as free as the air, the only obligation placed upon her being that of spending a minimum of ten days of each year In Amsterdam. As it Is her majesty Is fervent little pa triot, admitting Hollands inferiority to no country and perfectly content to remain at home. While everyone Is delighted to see the young sovereign restored to health, there remains, of course, slight disappointment over the present failure in the hopes of succession. This is particularly mo- tlceable among the ladies of the Dutch aristocracy, who for weeks past have been busily occupied with gifts for the expected heir. The ladies of Am sterdam have been forced to lay aside tiny Dutch linen bonnet, richly trimmed with rare lace and embroid- cred with pearls and diamonds. Those of The Hague have packed away their gift This was to have been the baptismal rope. It Is dress of white silk seven yards long and bearing ten wonderful diamond buttons. The la dies of the nobility had ordered a carved silver cradle, borne at one end by a guardian angel, at the other by