River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1906-02-22

the worst fiirt of all the princesses, SO
| in that direction the conquest of the
king was not brilliant success. May
be he met his match. At any rate,
Helena wasted no time, but turned to
the other and more exciting, if less
dangerous, flirtations, and the alliance
between Russia and Spain was dropped
with mutual honors.
The affair with the Princess Ade-
laide of Parma threatened for time
to be serious. That Irritation took
Europe by surprise and the king, who
had been proclaimed a laggard in love,
began to show evidences of being
heart breaker. 1t seems that he was
attracted toward the pretty and "im
possible princess Impossible from
political standpoint) on seeing her,
and conducted his flirtations for him
self, but in short time he dropped
that
Then came the most amazing of all
his fiirtations, one that was rather
forced upon him, but which he en-
gagged in with such good will that all
the court at Madrid was shocked. This
girl wasn't a princess, but just a plain
miss, and her name was Miss Anna
Campbell, her father being a multi
millionaire of Buenos Ayres. Miss
Campbell, whose mother was a Span
ish lady, was at San Sebastian, and
fell in love with the king, who seemed
to reciprOcate her affections.
Perhaps loves young dream was
budding, and possibly the king would
have liked to slip away after supper,
meet his "best girl" and take walk
with her through some shady lovers
lane, but the queen mother simply
asked Mr. Campbell to take his girl
away and the Irritation ended like
flash.
Religion an Obstacle.
The affair with the Archduchess
Elizabeth OF Austria was short. The
match was considered eminently de-
sirable from political and church
standpoints, and she was pretty, and
graceful, and witty. But no sooner
had people begun to talk than the
king apparently fell head over heels
in love with the Archduchess Gilmore
Marie, daughter of Archduke Charles,
who is declared to be the most beauti-
full young woman in all Austria. The
attraction appeared to be mutual and
there was lot of gossip, but it ended
in nothing.
The affair with Victoria Louise Of
Germany followed within few weeks.
There was much secret rejoicing in
Spain over the possibility that the
king would get married and settle
down to a nice, steady life of ruling
with the favorite daughter of the
kaiser to help him handle the reins of
government. The young people ap-
peared extremely fond of each other,
but there was an obstacle. No one
who is not and will not become Ro-
man Catholic can hope ever to become
a queen of Spain-and the princess is
a Lutheran.
So that Irritation ended in gossip
and the king, possibly in pique, start
ed Irritation with the Archduchess
Gabrielle of Austria, who was much
favored by the kings mother. Gabri-
ellie is beautiful and clever" and a
skilled rider, and she rode right over
the kings heart when they met, but
whether they had a lovers quarrel or
whether the king objected to having
his mother pick q wife for him, or
whether something else happened, no
one knows except them, and that was
dropped.
People had begun talking about the
king by that time, and when he
seemed to fall head over heels in love
with the Duchess Marie Antoinette of
Mecklenburg- Schwerin it was whis-
fpered that he had met his fate at last
The duchess is a perfect type of Ger
man beauty and is the daughter of the
Archduke Frederick Paul and great
friend of Emperor William and all
his children. Indeed, it is said that
Eitel Fritz-but maybe that is only
gossip. People will talk.
Dropped Marie for Ena.
There were no objections to Marie
Antoinette at all, for, unlike ner rela-
tives, she is Roman Catholic and
the people of both nations would have
welcomed the alliance. But suddenly
Alfonso dropped Marie, probably
never sent her letters back or asked
her to return his, and fell head over
heels in love with Ena. Her whole
name is Princess Victoria Eugene
Julia Ena of Battenberg, and she is
the daughter of Princess Beatrice, so
that would make her German and
English. Maybe Alfonso was trying to
"cut out" Eitel Fritz, for the German
prince was reported in love with his
cousin Ena. Ena is the daughter of
King Edwards youngest sister and she
is just as English as she can be, al
though her name sounds German and
her father was of German origin. She
is one of the favorites of the British
king, and the beauty, or one of the
beauties, of the British royal family.
1t was known that Alfonso, smitten
with the charms of Ena, made desper-