New-York tribune., 1904-09-11
4 VAND4L PRINCESS.
Duchess Cecilia, Destined TO Be
GermanYs Nert Empress.

among her many titles that of Princess OF the
Wends and that Mecklenburg- -Schwerin, of which
her only brother is sovereign Grand Duke, was
the home of those Vandal vikings who overran
France and Spain, sacked Rome and ruled the
Mediterranean from Carthage. Bent as is the
Kaiser u.,cn elevating his empire into the great
est maritime power Of the world, it is only nat
,Iral that he should hail us a good omen for
the realization of his hopes the fact that his
eldest son and heir should have sought his
bride among those people whose forebears in
oIden times gave to Germany the mastery or
the seas.
While the good looks and the cleyerness of
the duchess. together with the assiduous court
which the Crown Prince has been paying to her
for some time past tend to confirm the story
that their betrothaI. officially announced by the
Kaiser on Sunday last, Is a love match. yet il
presents so many political advantages that
there is some excuse for the popular impression
to the effect that it has been dictated by con-
siderations of statecraft. For it cannot fail to
tend to improve the relations OF the reigning
house of Prussia with the courts of Denmark.
ST. Petersburg and The Hague, we'll of the
royal family of Hanover and of Brunswick.
which driven out of the former kingdom of
Hanover and debarred. owing to its irreconcla-
be attitude toward Prussia. from the throne OF
Brunswick. to which it is entitled by right of
inheritance. still retains the allegiance OF the
large and influential Guelph party in Germany.
As Duchess Ceciiias eldest sister is the wife of
Prince Christian OF Denmark. the German
Crown Prince will become by his marriage the
brother -in-iaw of the future monarch of that
Kingdom He will likewise become n nephew
of the Prince Consort and Queen OF the Neither
lands and the son-in-law of Russian grand
duchess. while his hancee's only brother the
Grand Duke of Mecklenburg- -Schwerin. recently
led to the altar the favorite daughter of the
claimant to the crown OF Hanover and of Bruins
wick. namely the Duke OF Cumberland
Still another political advantage TO be de-
rived from this matrimonial alliance OF the
Crown Prince will be the transformation OF
Schwerin from the headquarters of everything
Rntagonistic TO the Kaiser into a court friendly
TO that OF Berlin. To such point did the late
Grand Duke of Mecldenburg- -Sohwerin carry
his animosity toward Emperor William that
he heard OF Bismarck s dis
missal he sent for the ex-Chancellor aud.
assuring him OF the warm sympathy aroused
in his breast by the treatment TO which he had
been subjected by the Emperor. offered him then
and there the Premiership OF the grand duchy. |
as 70 enable him still 10 continue to play an
active part in the politics OF the German Empire.
OF course, Bismarck declined But after all the !
Grand Duke had attained the result which he
had in view. Eamely ne had given a public
token Of his disapproval of the conduct of the
Kaiser. As long he lived The late Grand
Duke OF Mecklenburg-SchW who broke his
neck at Cannes in a rather mysterious fashion
few years ago by falling over the parapet of
q bridge to some rocks below. maintained an at
utude of hostility toward William H. and neith-
visited him at Berlin nor invited him TO
Bchwerin. This taken IN conjunction with the
fact that his now widowed consort is an in
tensely patriotic Russian and that there Is a
pronounced SlaY strain in the Mecklenburgers
contributed for a number of years to render
Schwerin not only a source of constant trouble
Ind annoyance to Berlin, but even positive
danger by of its being the principal
stronghold in Germany Of Muscoyite interests,
which in those days were inimical TO the policy
Of the Teuton empire.
1t was not So however. in the reign of Fred
lrick Francis III, father OF the late Grand Duke
He was one of the ceyerest commanders of the
German army in the Franco-German war, and
played leading part in the organization of the
movement among German soycreigns which Gull
minated in their offering 1T Versailles the dig
hity of German Emperor TO his uncle, King
William Of Prussia. to whom he was devoted
He was son Of that wonderful old Grand
Duchess Alexandrine, who survived her brother
the late Emperor William by more than four
ascrbe her fondness of fun, laughter and gay
ETY. to tire fact that her birth had taken place
Unexpectedly ana inopportunely at state ball.