Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1906-05-17
KING ALFONSO IS
TWENTY YEARS OLD
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED IN
CUSTOMARY MANNER.-GREAT
PREPARATIONS FOR WEDDING.
Special to the Herald.

Madrid, May 17.-Today was the
twentieth birthday of King Alfonso
and the anniversary was celebrated
in the customary manner in Madrid
and throughout the kingdom. A few
weeks hence the youthful monarch is
to wed Princess Ena of Battenherg,
on which occasion the festivities will
be on a scale of great magnificence.
In view of the near approach of this
event todays celebration was of a
milder character than it otherwise
would have been. AT present all Mad;
rid is busily engaged in preparing, for
the popular festivities that will attend
the royal wedding.
Unless some untoward event occurs,
King Alfonsos wedding day will go
down in history as one of the most
brilliant, gorgeous, splendid and hos
pitable in the annals of pageant loving
Spain. Already every effort on the
part of those responsible for the GER
emonial management of the court are
week In view of the nations history
during the past decade there is a
special incentive TO make the event
as grand and spectacular as possible
in order to show by example that the
ancient splendor of Spain is not yet
to be numbered among the things of
the past.
The festivities will be on a grand
scale. There will be receptions and
balls, pageants and bull fights, and
Madrid will teen with immense
crowds of visitors, not only from all
parts Of the kingdom, but from all
parts of the world as we'll
The Lord Chamberlain has issued
his invitations to be present at the
wedding of their sovereign lord" and
ne also has sent out to all the courts
of Europe requests that they may be
represented. These invitations are
couched in the quaint formula which
still obtains at the ancient royal
courts. After stating that on the first
of June, 1906, the City of madrid will
be the scene of the wedding of his
majesty the king, the invitation goes
on to say who the king really is, and
the recipient learns that the following |
are the titles under which the youth |
full monarch will stagger to the altar:
Alfonso XIII, Leon Ferdinand Ma |
RE Jacques ,Isadore Pascal Antonio, |
King of sps4Sl Gssstile,heon, Aragons-
the two Sicilies, Jerusalem, Navarro.
Granada, Toledo, Algara, Algerciras,
Gibraltar, the Canaries. the East and |
West Indies, India, and the Oceanic |
continent, Archduke of Austria, Duke |
of Burgundy, Brabant, and Milan, the |
Count of Hapsburg, Flanders. Tyrol. |
and Barcelona, Lord of Biscay and |
Molina, etc, etc"
Word has been received that prac
tically all the courts of Europe will be
represented. The many representa-
tives of European royalty will be ac-
companied to Madrid by large suites,
whose brilliant uniforms will add to
the splendor of the occasion. Most |
of the delegations will be lodged in
the magnificent royal palace. This
structure is huge pile of granite and
marble, situated on a slight eminence
to the north of the capital, overlook
ing on one hand the city and on the
other the valley of Manzanares. II
was built in the seventeenth century,
and contains hundreds of rooms, pic
ture galleries, salons and sufficient
art treasures to stock museum.
Madrid is preparing to give itself
over to joyous festivities for a full
week The city will be transformed
into gigantic garden of flowers.
Roses and pinks will be brought by
hundreds of wagon loads from Seville,
Valencia, Malaga and Murcia. Ban
quet will follow banquet and ceremony
follow ceremony. Grand professions
in character will be organized by the |
students and women cigar makers,
and the charming national dances will
Re performed by peasants from the
provinces. Streams of white and red
wine will flow from the fountains of
Madrid in lieu of water on the wed
ding day One of the most popular
celebrations will be a monster bull
fight, conducted with all the mag
nificence and panoply Of the ancients.
Apart from the pageants the spec
tacles Immediately connected with the
Wedding, the young kings guests will |
End many entertainments and excur-
SONS prepared for them. There will |
Ne excursions under royal auspices to
he various outlying palaces with |
which the house Of Bourbon has ever
cen so plentifully endowed One of
hese is the beautiful palace of Aran-
idez, about forty miles to the south |
II the capital. The palace is built on |
he banks of the Tagus and is sur