New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-02-27
MARQUIS" DE RUVIGNY
His Real Name, and His Boycott by
the British Museum authorities.

Who is the Marquis OF Ruvigny? That is an in
ouIry which I find in several letters addressed to
ne by readers OF these letters and which IS appar
emily prompted by the issue or the third volume OF
his so-caIled "Plantagenet Roll OF Blood Royal"
IN which with view to the American market he
a work which processes 10 supply a list Of those
now living IN whose veins the blood royal be
traced to King Edward III Of England
II. de Ruvigny is a marquis not by the favor OF
any foreign sovereign, but OF his own making and
in spite Of his foreign and title is English
man. The mystery which existed for a number Of
years with regard 10 his Identity and to the origin
OF his foreign title was dlspelled a few years ago
in 4 rather cruel fashion when he was subjected in
= court Of law to a rather searching cross-exami-
nation as one Of the promoters Of the unfortunate
South Coast and Continental Service Company, the
affairs OF which were in such a shape to necess-
fatet the attention Of the judicial authorities In
ouires from the presiding Judge brought to light
the fact that the Marquis of Ruvigny's real name
was Heddle; that he English citizen, as his
father and grandfather had been before him. and
mat he had Of his own accord and without any
other warrant assumed the style Of Marquis Of
RuviSny and OF Raineval. on the strength OF an
alleged descent from French Viscount de Ru-
vignv. who lived in 1898. and from French Marquis
Go Raineval. who lived in 1872 The marquis
was good enough to add that he was of Huguenot
ancestry, although the Of HeddIe is distinctly
English An English subject cannot bear foreign
T4ie WITHOUT an OfTClal patent of consent from
crown. ana inasmuch as the Marquis de RuYGny
has not received any such permission it is i'm
possible 10 describe him as anything else than a
sol disant' and his title as a piece Of unwarrant-
able assumption. calculated to excite ridicule
According TO the evidence which he gave In court
it was in the Kings Bench Division Of the Lon
don High Court Of Justice, before Justice Grant
ham, IN the case Of Henderson agt- Bateman Ru-
vIgny' and others-he had been living until then
with his wife and child at boarding house at Put
rey. from which he has since migrated 70 a cottage
iu the equally semi-genteei suburb OF Chertsey,
from which it would appear that the sale Of his
''Plantagenet Roll IS quite improbable to the
pseudo marquis that Of his 'Iegitimist Calendar
and as his presidency OF the preposterous Jacobite
or White Rose League. Yet The Legitimist Calen-
dar' received q tremendous advertisement a year
or 50 ago through the extraordinary step taken
10y the trustees of the British Museum in with
drawing from the Museum library and in banning
from England's world-famed national collection OF
books this work Of the soi-disant marquis, meas
IRE which was officially announced. and which sug-
Eested an elephant endeavoring to crush the life
out OF a fy with its huge foot.
The 'Legitimist Calendar is a publication which.
ignoring all the facts of revolutions usurpations
and military conquests throughout Christendom as
scrbes the various thrones 70 the princes and prin-
cesses TO whom they ought TO belong IF Iegiti-
mist PRINCIPLES alone governed the succession to
royal crowns. in il the United States is non-ex-
istent except in the form Of French. English and
Ct. IS described Charles NJ of France and as
Charles vi Of Spain King Victor Emmanuel fig
ures in the volume as King Of Sardinia and Duke
~ Savoy; the Count Of Caserta King OF Nap
King Edward IS ignored altogether. while Princess
Louis OF Bavaria, niece and eress of the last Duke
of Modena- and less remotely descended than the
King from the Stuarts, S described Queen reg
nant Of Great Britain and ireland.
incidentally It may be stated that the White Rose
or Jacobite League. Of which the Marquis de
RuVigny' is president. exists for the purpose of
chanpionng the claims Of Princess Louis OF Ba-
Tsria "a the throne Of England, although she en-
fertains no such pretensions and treats the assO-
citation with ridicule. declining to give II any
tenance or recognition. IT IS q society the mem
hers Of which make point Of pasting a stamp
bearing the efiEy Of Princess Louis as Queen Of
England all their letters Naturally, the In
teruatiouai Postal Union does not recognize any
such stamp, they obliged to add one bearing the
head of King Edward IN order 70 get their CORE
spondence through the mails But they relieve their
feelings In the matter by always pasting King Ed
wards stamp head downward on the envelope.