Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-26
BONHS LAWYER
SAYS PRINCESS
WAS NAUGHTY
AIR SCANDAL IN EFFORT TO
GET CHILDREN
GRANDMOTHER WANTS CUSTODY
OF LITTLE ONES
ne sagan's Escapades Before and
After His Marriage Furnish Ma
terial for Partisan Court
Room Crowd
LEY Associated prsss.l

de Castellane against ms FORMER
wife, who was Miss Anna Gould oil
New York and is now the Wlte OF
Prince FIelie de Sagan, for the custody
Of hid three children, were marked by
a strong denunciation of the prince and
PRINCESS bv M. Bonnet, who repre-
scented Count de Castellane. Inc
courtroom was crowded. There were
more Americans and English present
than French.
Prince Helie and the count glared at
one another for four hours While M.
Bonnet pleaded that the custody of the
children be confined to their grand
mother. the Marquise de Castellane,
because the marriage. of Madame could
to the prince had polluted the atmos-
phere of their home.
He described the marriage as a
catastrophe which had resulted in the
quasi abandonment of the children ana
without mercy raked De Sagans past
and early life, his adventures with
questionable companions, his ostracise-
1nent by his family, the month he had
spent in jail before the case charging
him with the forgery of notes TO the
value of 900 was nolle pressed
through the intervention of his father.
and his amorous escapades since MS
marriage.
Fall of Princess
The princess reputation after she
fell under the influence of De Sagan
was likewise assailed in scathing terms
by Count Bonis counsel. He described
her conduct with Prince de Sagan on
both sides of the Atlantic and spoke
of the worldwide scandal which he de-
clared it had caused. M. Bonnet Of
fered to bring proof of many OF the IN
cidents to which he referred.
In all there are thirty-nine different
counts in the indictment and such an
array of scandal has seldom been wit
messed. even in a French court.
He explained that De Castellane had
been informed of the princes conduct
through a chauffeur with whom the
prince had had a misunderstanding
He declared that the prince had called
upon his former mistresses since his
marriage. Special mention was made
of one Jeanne Labouche.
Gives Money to Mistress
Since his marriage he had taken
luncheon and dined with Mile. La
bouche, gone on trips with her and had
deposited $200,0 900 to her credit. For
this money the prince took a receipt
which he hid in his stocking. He sub
sequently turned this paper over to his
chauffeur, who in turn gave it to De
Castellane.
In the same manner De Castellane
got possession of d receipt for $50 which
he gave to another woman on July 10.
The lawyers then said that when the
princess chided her husband for these
actions he confessed the fault and said
that if she would give him an allow
ance he would enter a monastery for
the rest of his life. This remark was
greeted with laughter from the crowded
court room.
NJ. Bonnet insisted that his client
had refused all money considera tions
for consent to leave the children in the
apossession Of the De Sagans. There
was a lively tilt between the attorneys,
following the Introduction of names of
De Sagan's mistresses.
VI. Clemenceau, who represents the
princess. gave warning that he would
retaliate in kind when he discussed the
career Of De Castellane.
To show the counts solicitude Of his
children NJ. Bonnet read some letters
written by the count to them while
they were in England. He asked them
10 pray for him as he was praying
for them. After the marriage of the
prince and Nine. Gould the count wrote
% his children that he was sorry they
would be forced TO live with a ban
dit"
Regret for Princess
THE princess will some day rue her
marriage to a man of De Sagan's
type" NJ. Bonnet declared.
NJ. Bonnet closed with a tribute to
Marquise Castellane and said the
placing of the children in her custody
would be a proper solution of the whole
affair.
The spectators laughed uproariously
at the statement that Prince Helie was
anxious to seek a monastery, and their
laughter was even augmented at times
as NJ. Bonnet dramatically enacted
some of the scenes.
George Gould, as trustee for his sis
ter's estate, is party to the suit in
which it is sought. in addition to Sc
curing the custody of the children, to
obtain a large annual allowance for
their maintenance. NJ. Bonnet asked
for as much as 100000 a year for this
purpose, but said that he was willing
that the court should fix the amount
1t is evident from tOday's proceedings
that M. Bonnet had detectives con-
stantly on the track of the former wife
of his client.
De Sagan's counsel, Clemenceau, is
expected to retaliate next week by lay
ing bare Count Bonis record.
The opinion is that todays array of
evidence was strong, rendering a de-
cision in favor of the withdrawal of
the custody of the children from their
mother much more likely than had been
expected.
Bonnet dwelt at length upon what
he termed the influence of De Sagan
upon the princess, saying he had
dragged her into the Bohemian life
which he loved, to the complete neg
lect of her children.
The lawyer then declared that the
conduct Of the couple at the Hotel des
Reservoires at Versailles was so scan
dalous that the other guests refused to
allow their children to play with the
-Castellane children. De Sagan spent
his evenings in the apartments of
Mime. Gould. After he left Versailles
for England, under the name of
Thompson, one of the children fell I'll
and the count had this child removed
by force. The countess thereupon no
titled the physician that she would not
be responsible for his bill.
Children Object
No relative of either the prince or
Nine. Gould was present at their mar
Rage in London on July z, but De
Sagan sent a telegram to Berlin re-
duesting that Emperor William be no
titled of the ceremony. Since the mar
rage the children had complained to
their grandmother, the Marquise de
CagteIlane, that the conduct of the
prince was distastetul TO them, giving
examples and Incidents
Going back to the record of the prince
before his marriage, M. Bonnet re-
viewed his escaDades.
OF recent years De Sagan's life has
been a veritable vaudeville perform