The Washington herald., 1908-03-29
KINGS OUT OF WORK
Europe Has Big Crop of Noisy
PretendePs.
FRENCH THRONES CLAIMANTS
Royal ExiIes Who Assert Rights TO
RuIe over Spain, Portugal Greece,
Naples, and Two SicIIies, NADIA
gascar and DahOmey, and to Bra-
ziI In the New World.

ziI In the New World.
France has goOdly crop Of royal ex-
lie and pretenders TO the throne. AT Farm
borough in England. lives the ex-Em-
press Eugene. a pathetic figure, remind
ing one very forcibly Of the tragedy Of
kings"
First. in 1870. came the overthrow Of
her husband Napoleon III and her fight
10 London. Worse followed in the death
Of her husband and son, and to-day this
unhappy royal exile. one Of the lOneliest
and most touching in all Europe. quietly
awaits the great call.
Within couple OF hours railway jour
ney OF Farnborough. viz, at Evesham, in
Worcestershire, lives another French
royal exile, the Due d'Orleans, chief
claimant to the throne OF France. whose
sister. Princess Louise OF France. was re-
Gently married 10 Prince Charles OF
Bourbon. and whose other sister. the
Queen Of Portugal. escaped so m:racu-
lously with her life at Lisbon.
The dukes great-grandfather was King
Louis Philippe. the last OF the line to
reign in France. who signed an act OF
abdication in favor OF his grandson. the
Comte de Paris. father Of the present
Due dOrleans.
ExiIed from France.
How the revolution changed France
from a monarchy TO a republic every
schoolboy knows. and not only is the
duke thus prevented from wearing
crown. but by the expulsion act OF 1856
he is liable TO arrest and punishment
II be sets his foot in France. This act
forbids the soil OF that country 70 the
direct heirs Of families which have
reigned there.
For this reason Prince Victor Napoleon.
who claims the Bonaparta succession,
and is styled Napoleon " by his follow
ers, resides in Brussels, Prince Victor's
father was a cousin TO Napoleon III
husband Of The ex-Empress Eugene. Ma
poleon III died in 1873; his only son. the
prince imperial. was killed IN the Zulu
campaign OF 1879. and thus Joseph Charles
Paul BOnaparte. father Of Prince. Victor.
held the position Of head OF the house ot
Bonaparte. and his son became heir 10
the BOnapartist hopes. But the act OF
1876 exiled them both Is pretenders 10 the
throne. Prince Victor. however-his
father died in lsel-still hopes 70 reign in
the country Of his birth. and reminds
his partisans at intervals OF this ambs-
ton BY sending them signed photographs
Of himself.
Pretender TO Spain's Throne.
And then there is the most picturesque
Of all claimants 10 the throne Of France
Don Carlos Duke OF Madrid. who con
siders that. by strict right Of heredity. ne
should also be King OF Spain. He claims
10 be Carlos VII. the rightful King Of
Spain and the Indies. by virtue Of his de-
scent from Don Carlos. brother Of King
Ferdinand VII OF Spain CWho died in 1888.
and also claims 70 be King Charles XI OF
France and Navarro, since the death OF
the Comte de Chambord in 1883. when the
elder line Of the house Of Bourbon be
came extinct. On account OF the latter
claim he has been expelled from France.
and Of late years has not pursued his
claim 10 the throne OF Spain quite so ac-
lively as he did in the EOS. when. after
a strenuous campaign, the government
managed 10 dislodge his adherents from
their strOngholds in the north OF the
r 81
Carlos IS very rich. and il IS said that he
hopes. through his son. Don Jaime. who
is an officer n the Russian army, TO yet
gain those royal rights which are said 20
belong 20 Bis family.
State Prisoners In France.
France IS also responsible for the
throneless later years or two other dere-
lets OF royaIty-Ranavalona formerly
Queen OF Madagascar. and Behazin, one
time King Of Dahomey. Both these exiles
are state prisoners Of France, the .atter
having been deposed because he developed
a habit OF making war indiscriminately
on all about him, while Ranavalona was
deprived OF her rule Of Madagascar be-
cause she and her people al first refused
10 bow to the power Of France.
Living quietly with his large family. d.
viding their time between Nice and
Cannes, are the Count and Countess Ca
serta, claimants 10 the defunct throne Of
Naples and the two Sicilies. At one time
this kingdom embraced Sicily and South
ern Italy, which were incorporated in the
rev kingdom Of Italy IN 1S60-sl. It is a
curious fact that the count was, IN his
youth. chief Of staff to Don Carlos, and
IN that character was condemned 10 be
shot by the government.
In Paris lives Queen Natalie of Servia,
mother of the murdered King Alexander.
who, after her divorce from King Milan,
took UP her residence in the French capi-
tai while near by lives Prince Guy de
Lusignan. who claims 70 be King OF
Armenia. Cyprus, and Jerusalem. He
traces his descent from that famous
knight, Guy de Lusignan, who became
King OF Jerusalem IN llS6
Hands Around Decorations.
There is little likelihood - the prince
coming into his own but in the mean
time he has designed two attractive dec
orations. the Order Of Mount Sinai and
the Order of St Melusine, which he con-
fers with much solemnity upon persons of
whose merit he approves.
The Princess Eugene Cristoforos Is an
other claimant to a throne with partic-
ularly long pedigree. She traces it back
10 the Emperor Constantine, and her
father. Prince Theodore, was a candidate
for the throne Of Greece in 1883. when the
powers selected Prince George Of Den
mark.
Portugal, too. has its pretender in Dom
Miguel II. whose father fought unavail-
ingly for the crown early in the last CEN
tury. The crown is also claimed by Prince
Pedro d d'Alcantara. who considers that he
is also the rightful Emperor Of Brazil.
Motor Boat Disease.