Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-07
COMEDY HERO IN REAL LIFE
Monetenegrin Prince One Of the
Freaks Of Royalty,
INSPIRED THE MERRY WIDOW
DaniIO siEniaeH His Intention of At
tending the wedding of Miss
EIkins and the Duke OF
AhruAsi.

NlhN ma June
Danilo. beloved ir the gay world OF Paris
and Rome. reputed hero Of that popular
musical comedy, The Merry widow and
heir to the throne Of Montensero. Is plan
ming, I hear, to attend the wedding Of
Miss Elkins and the duke Of the Abruzsl,
should the m take place in WASH
ington. Another report says that he will
visit London during the summer, and 1t is
probable that these are part OF the same
plan and that both the English metropolis
and the United states will see this in
teresting royal prince in the near future.
The picture Of the probable future ruler
Of the little Balkan kingdom dished up to
you in the United states in "The Merry
Widow is. of course, a reminiscence of his
more youthful days when he was a high
roller in Paris and Rome. He is no longer
the ~openshanded spender that his musical
comedy prototype makes him out to be
His marriage to Princess Jutta of Mecklen-
burg cousin of the princess OF Wales has
toned him down to a considerable degree.
His name has been forgotten at "Maxim's'
and other swagge restaurants In Paris,
except b. a few Of the older set who de-
light to recall the escapades Of this scion
Of royalty. His brother-in-law, the king of
Italy. has almost forgiven a certain men,
orable visit to Rome OF the Montenegrin
hopeful some years ago. On that oc-
casion the Italian ruler was compelled to
refuse in no uncertain manner the request
OF the prince for an advance OF money to
pay for the red paint with which he was
bedabbling the city. It is said that by
King Emmanuel's orders the princes bag
gage was packed and he was bundled
across the border to avoid a scandal.
Jewels Back to JeweIer,
Yet there is one person in Paris who IL
not likely to forget the prince and his
visits as long as ne lives. He 10 the proprie-
tor of a certain jewelry establishment in
the French capital, who on one OF the
princes visits, supplied him with diamonds
and other precious stones to the value Of
many thousand dollars. These in due course
Of time found their way to the corsages OF
popular actresses Of the Paris music hall
stage, but the prince, who was never blest
with an abundance of money and always
lived far beyond his means. was never
able to pay for them. When demands for a
settlement became pressing the royal Gus
toner went around and collected the Jewels
and returned them to the store In a dam
aged state.
One we'll CONFIRMED story Of Prince Danilo
that VIII nOl uOWH uOGS not III nlm MUCH
credit. 1t is said that he became intensely
~enamoured Of one of the most beautiful
women in Montenegro, the wife Of a man
named Sharko Kaludcherovitcha The lat
ter suspected his wife Of an intrigue with
the crown prince and watched her move
meats. One day he caught the pair in
compromising circumstances and made
such a fuss hat the prince tecame fearful
Of violence. At an early opportunity he
had the husband arrested and incarcer-
ated in the political prison. He was never
liberated though that was twelve years
ago, Four years later he went mad and
has been a raving %lunatic ever since. The
prince cast the woman off. as might have
been expected, when he tired OF her.
l. QunrreIs of Brothers.
Danilo is at continual loggerheads with
his younger brother. Prince Mirko Of
whose superior personal charms he is in
tensely jealous. The latter is the handsom-
est prince in Europe, and is much more
robust and popular than his older brother.
The q~uarrels of the two brothers are said
to have come to a climax in 1902, when they
fought a duel with pistols, neither of them
being injured.
As Danilo is childless up TO the present
time, Prince Mirko would succeed him a.
heir should anything happen to the older
brother. Mirko, has also been mentioned
as the possible successor of King Peter OF
Servia, whose brother-in-law he is. Prince
George, the heir to the Servian throne,
who has an ungovernable temper, has al
ready shot several persons who were in at
tendanc upon him, and Is exceedingly un-
popular with the people Of the little king
dom.
The royal family OF Montenegro has been
called the Quickest royal family In the
world. 1t is presided over by Prince Nicho.
las, than whom there is no more striking
personality in the whole of Europe. Al
though fifty years ago, the family were tri-
bal chiefs, yet today. one daughter OF
Prince Nicholas is queen of Italy; another
is a grand duchess of Russia, married to
a man who may some day he csar; while
yet another is the wife OF Prince Francit
Joseph OF B~stttnberg. and still another,
who Is dead, married Peter ! OF servia be-
fore he ascehded the throne. Yet the little
kingdom can boast a population OF only
300. 900 and in point of area is the smallest
in Europe.
u, PIERP, DID NOT LOSE CHILD