The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-01-14

the darling of the Berlin court, being
infinitely better liked and generally ac-
credited with more seEse than his
brother, the crown prince.
The two young men cannot be COM
pared in physical appearance, the
crown prince being of puny structure
and with a decidedly weak face, its
prominent feature being retreating
chin. Eitel, on the other hand, has a
stalwart frame and square jaw that
tells of physical strength and independ
ence of mind. Both qualities nave
been encountered i'm him by more than
one member of his father court ere
now.
When the Oldenburgers are asked #
their young duchess is Of an amiable
disposition, they delight in replying
that she has lived on terms of intimacy
with her stepmother ever since the lat
ter entered the Oldenburg palace, one
year after her predecessor death, III
1895. There is only ten years differ
ence in the ages of stepmother and
stepdaughter, and, on the whole, their
relations have been those OF comrades.
Until the new wife came to the pal
ace there was very little joy in it, So
phie g mother having been an invalid
almost from the day of her marriage.
| Thus, can truly be said of Eitel' 8
fancee that she tasted very sparingly
Of childhood's happiness. Over her
hung the thought of her sick mother,
and when she herself grew up, illness
took hold of her. But thru it all she
has kept sweet, and her beauty has
ever been remarked.
The duchess is an intense lover of
music of the Wagnerian sort. She is
also passionately fond of nature, and
spends days roaming unaccompanled IN
the forests on her fathers estates. She
has visited in Berlin but a few times
in her life. She is not especially fond
of city life, but when she is thrown
with a crowd she is easily sociable and
apt to be the life Of the gathering.
!, During the last six or more years she
, has been engaged by the gossips tc
nearly every eligible prince in Europe
Her selection of Eitel came as a genu
inc surprise to many, since she wa:
courted by several princes whose pros
poets are far brighter than his. Then
too, he is more than four years he
junior. buG WudG 1S aye against 1o'o
or reasons Of states
From all accounts, and taking int
: consideration the young people them
< selves, Prince Eitel and the Duehes
e Sophie are pretty certain of having
e happy married life.
/ The augurs are not so favorable fo
b the future of the Infanta Maria There's
t and Prince Ferdinand. In the frs
j. place, they are first cousins. In tn
t second, the Bavarian royal family, as /
e we'll known, is strongly inclined to IL
d sanity, and Ferdinand is nephew o
+ Prince Regent Luitpold, who is an uncl
of the mad king, Otto. 1t is under
l. stood that the young mans mothe!
l, formerly the Infanta Marie de la Pa
L of Spain, at first bitterly opposed h
y betrothal to the Infanta Maria There's
G on the ground of consanguinity., Nov
J. however, she has come to make til
e best of it, and has given her son hi
le blessing.
1t When Ferdinand goes to Madrid
lie meet his bride, he will be no strange
n there. He was born in that city nearl
a. twenty-five years ago, and he has VI
lie tied there off and on ever since.
lie many ways he is more Spanish tia
h. Bavarian. He will take his bride
lie Munich. She is a typical Spanish pri
Sc cess, strikingly like her brother, tt
is king, in countenance.