New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-13
THE PRINCE DE BEARN'S TITLES.


Sir: The Prince de Bearn has evidently not read
with due care the paragraph contained in these col
CInhs on June l. and written in reply 70 a number
OF inquiries that had reached me as to the origin
OF MS title OF prince, concerning which curl
osity existed owing TO the fact that it was not to
De found In the Almanach de Gotna- For he COM
plains that asserted that he was using title to
which he had no claim. whereas / merely declared
that while his name and title Of Comte de Bearn
are FRENCH his title of prince is not French. but
foreign.
To this statement must adhere For the title OF
Prince de Viana and de Beam was conferred upon
Count Castor de Bearn. father Of the Prince de
bearn. VINO is stationed at Washington by Queen
Isabella OF Spain July 9. 1863 only a few weeks
before her deposition. With regard 10 the title Of
Prince de Chalais borne by the prince and which
has been conferred atresh upon him. along with
the Grandezza, by the present King of Spain, that
100 IN the princes case is a Spanish and not a
French dignity. as will presently show Nor can
the French title Of prince be said have been in
herted by the Secretary % the French Embassy
at Washington from the former sovereIgns Of
Bearn OF the Middle Ages. AT any rate. there is no
heraldic official record thereof.
The prince is a member of the ancient Gascony
house of de Galard. which. according to tradi-
time dukes of Aqutane. In 1908. November T.
Francois de Galard married Jeanne de Bearn and
on the strength of this matrimonial alliance the
Junior branch of the de Gaard family assumed the
name OF de Bearn. which would otherwise have be-
come extinct. and from that time forth they were
known Galard de Bearn The Prince de Bearn
is the head OF this junior branch while the Mar
quis de Galard Terraube is the chief OF the senior
branch; is there any French.
No authority. however. given by any French
sovereign 10 the younger branch OF the house of
GaIard the title of prince along with the
name of DE Bearn the strength of this
rage OF Francois de Galard with Jeanne de Bearn
in the sixteenth century. Nor have any of the
rulers of France since the great revolution granted
this title 10 the Galard de Bearn. In fact the
princes father, the late CASTOR de Bearn. spent
the greater portion Of hts life not Prince de
Bearn. but Prince do Viana, and figures such
I'm the "Etat Present de Ia Noblesse Franchise" OF
ozier In the Dictonnaire Hstorique de Ia NobIesss
Franchise" by Mailhol. and in other standard
works OF reference concerning the French aris-
tocracy-that is to say. a Spanish and not as
French prince.
The father Of the Prince de Bearn, who is sta
toned at Washington. married Cecile de Talley-
rand PerigoTd Chaais. in May. 1873. who had in
herited according to Spanish law. though not ac-
cordng that of France. from her childless uncle.
Elias Roger de Talleyrand Pergord. his Spanish
Grandezza and his Spanish title OF Prince de cha
lais. According 10 all the French laws that are
still in existence, notably that Of February 1924 and
that enacted when France was still subject 70
a monarchy nobiliary titles only descend IN
the legitimate male line. and not on the distan
side. that is to say. through the women The
Prince de Bearn could not, according TO french
law. inherit from his late mother, or rather from
her fathers elder brother. his title OF Prince de
Chalais. even admitting il 10 have been a French
dignity Bat Spanish law not merely authorizes
descent OF nobiliary honOrs through the women OF
a house. but even endows with these dignites the
husbands of the women who have inherited them.
Thus. Prince de Bearn's mother Cecile de Talley-
rand Pergord. inheritng. according 10 Spanish
law. her uncles Spanish princely title of de Cha
lais. invested thereby. and ipso facto her husband
CASTOR Calard de Bearn. with the Spanish dignity
Of Prince de Chalals. which has passed TO
their
This then. think. will show that the Prince de
Bearn. Of whom one hears nothing but what Is
pleasant. and who is OF the best type OF French
men ever sent 10 Washington. is a Spanish
grandee and that the titles OF Prince de Chaais
and Of Prince de Viana. which TO him alike
by inheritance and by renewal on the part OF King
Alfonso XIII. are distinctly and entirely Spanish
dignities and not French ones; that his title OF
prince is not French. but foreign, and that his
French dignties confined TO those of Comte
de Galard lie Bearn. and title OF which he
has every reason TO be proud.
am sorry that he should have taken offence at
my having imputed PapaI origin to OF his
foreign titles. But surely the scion OF Cath
oltc family he cannot possibly regard as an indE-
nifty nohiliary horors that are conferred by the
Pope. MARQUISE DE FONTENOY.