Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-14

Berlin court, being infinitely better liked
and generally accredited with more sense
than his brother, the crown prince.
The two young men cannot be compared I
in physical appearance, the crown prince |
being Of puny structure and with decided
ly weak face, it's prominent feature being
retreating chin. Eitel on the other hand. 4
has stalwart frame and square jaw
that tells of physical strength and indie 4
pendence of mind. Both qualities have been
encountered in him by more than one MEM
Der of his fathers court ere now.
*.
When the Oldenburgers are asked IL II
their young duchess is of an amiable dis-i
position, they delight in replying that she !
has lived on terms of intimacy with her
| STEP mother ever since the latter entered
the Oldenburg palace one year after her
predecessors death, in 1895. There is only
ten years difference in the ages of step
mother and step-daughter, and, on the |
whole. their relations have been those OF
comrades.
Until the new wife came to the palace |
there was very little joy In II, Sophie's |
mother having been an invalid almost fromi
the day of her marriage. Thus 1t can truly l
be said of Eitel's flancee, that she tasted |
very sparingly of childhood's happiness. |
Over her hung the thought of her sick !
mother, and when she herself grew up. Ill I!
ness took hold of her But through it all
| she has kept sweet, and her beauty has
ever been remarked.
Inc OucneSS Is an intense lover or
! of the Wagnerian sort. She is also pas
| sionatey fond of nature, and spends days
roaming unaccompanied in the forests on
| her fathers estates. She has visited in Ber /
| lin but few times in her life. She is not I
| especially fond of city life. but when she
| is thrown with a crowd she is easily soci- !
able and apt to be the life of the gather
| ing.
| During the last six or more years she
| has been engaged by the gossips to nearly
| every eligible prince in Europe. Her selec-
| ton of Eitel came as genuine surprise
| to many since she was courted by several
/ princess whose prospects are far brighter
| than this. Then. too, he is more than
| four years her junior. But what Is age
| against love-or reasons of state?
| From all accounts, and taking into con-
| sideration the young people themselves,
Prince Eitel and the Duchess Sophie are
| pretty certain of having a happy married
| life.
The augurs are not so favorable for the
| future Infanta Maria Theresa and Prince
Ferdinand. In the first place, they are first
cousins. In the second, the Bavarian royal
| family, as is well known, is strongly in
clined to insanity, and Ferdinand is a
nephew of Prince-Regent Luitpold. who is
an uncle of the mad king, Otto 1t is I'M
| derstood that the young mans mother.
| formerly the Infanta Marie de la Paz of
Spain, at first bitterly opposed his be-
trothal TO the Infanta Maria Theresa on the
ground. of consanguinity. Now. however.
| she has come to make the best of it, and
has given her her blessing.
When Ferdinand goes to Madrid to meet
his bride he Will be no stranger there. He
was born in that city nearly twenty-five
years ago, and he has visited there off and
on ever since. In many ways he is more
| Spanish than Bavarian. He will take his
| bride to Munich. She is typical Spanish
princess, strikingly like her brother the
king, in countenance.