The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1908-08-07

doris of court life were no new thing
| to her. But she has always retained
/ the simple tastes of her girlhood and
she has had strength of mind enough
to defy many royal traditions. Such,
| for instance, was the case when she
insisted upon nursing her own son,
the baby prince of Piedmont.
Queen Helena has a peculiar facul-
| ty of making herself beloved, having
| that rarest of qualities, the perfect
tact which is born of an honest de-
sire to make other people happy and
comfortable So it is that Queen Hell
ena, of all the women of Italy, is most
likely to welcome the American prin-
cess with kiss that is not only cous,
her best to make the newcomer feel
thoroughly at home and a member of
the family.
After the queen, the king is most
likely to prove sincere friend. He is
a thoroughly good fellow and loves his
home life better than anything else.
When they are in the Quirinal palace
at Rome, he and his wife and babies
| desert the state apartments and occu-
Ply a private suite which is as COM
Portable and no more stately than the
home in Washington which Miss
Elkins will be leaving.
The other members of the family in
the order of their Importance as affect
| ing the brides position and bearing
| upon her happiness are the queen
dowager, Margherita, mother of the
| king; the duchess of Aosta, sister OF
the duke of Orleans; the dukes of
| Aosta, Turin and Salemi, brothers of
the duke of the Abruzzi, and therefore
brothers-in-law of the bride. There
are some cousins, too, the duke and
| duchess of Genoa, the former a broth
err of the queen dowager, and their
children, the prince of Udine, the duke
of Pistoria, the duke of Bergam and
their sisters, who are still children,
and the counts and countesses of Vii.
| lafranca-Soissons.
Queen Margherita is fonder of cere-
! monials than her daughter-in-law, and
I is still a power at the court, but she
| also is a woman of exquisite tact, and
| even If she opposes the match vigor.
ously she is not the woman to put DIFF.
| ficulties in the path of the new prin-
cess. More likely is she to take the
bride in her motherly arms and give
her Loyalty all the help she will need.
| The duchess of Aosta may be more
reserved. In fact she has it in her
power to be very unpleasant If she
chooses. 1t is said that she was Q
thorn in the side of Queen Helena
when the latter came as a bride to
Italy. She is a Bourbon princess,
proud of the blood of Charlemagns
and of hundred kings that flows il
her veins; she was inclined to look
with scorn upon the daughter of q
goatherd," as she called the queen,
and so she may be inclined to look
superciliously upon the daughter of
an American. However, Helena man
aged to chasten her pride, and Miss
Elkins is the sort of girl to prove a
match even for the duchess of Aosta,
should the latter try to be disagree
able. If anything of this sort should
take place, Miss Elkins will have pow
erful aid from the king and queen, If
only to even up old scores, of which
there are many.
After the marriage the king will as
sign to the newlyweds as a residence
one of the many palaces that belong
to him. No royal house has so many
beautiful homes as that of Italy. This
is due largely to the fact that before
Italy was unified under King Victor
Emmanuel's grandfather it was a con-
glomeration of Independent kingdoms,
duchies, states and principalities, each
of which had its palace, and most of
these came into the possession of the
crown. At present the duke of the
Abruzzi lives in one of the palaces at
Turin, but this may be changed after
the wedding.