Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-07
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were there to do honor to the kaiser was
the Archduke Ferdinand
When the kaiser met the heir to the
throne he asked with great pointedness:
where Is your wife,"
The much embarrassed archduke paused
for an instant. and then answered.:
Surely you must know that at this
court my wife Is regarded as a lady of
inferior rank
The kaiser was I'm no sense nonplussed,
but instantly said:
She must be brought here"
So insistent was the kaiser that the
wife OF the heir have a place at the din
ner that the. archduke was compelled 10
jump into q carriage and go after his
wife. with the result that during the en-
tire time 1t took her TO dress and get
back the whole company was kept wait
ing.
The kaiser bore his part OF the delay
with most admirable good humor and
during the dinner that followed his maj
esty showed most marked interest in her.
Moreover. before his departure he ex-
tended her q hearty invitation to visit
Berlin with her husband.
This visit has now been decided on.
and in order that she may meet on an
equality all the titled dignitaries who will
be called upon to entertain her husband
and herself, the elevation to a higher
rank was made necessary
Having ascertained the feeling OF the
Francis Joseph gave up his own scruples
and consented to the recognition.
This remarkable step forward undoubt-
edly will mean the elevation to the throne
OF the woman who sacrificed everything
for love and consented to become the
morganatic bride OF q ruler and renounce
rights to the throne.
The happy outcome of the entire affair
will be bright spot in the unhappy his
tory that has marked the reigning family
OF Austria, the aristocratic Hapsburgs.
who go farther back into antiquity for
the beginning of their line than any
other royal family of Europe.
Francis Joseph has had more heart
burnings perhaps than any ruler of Eu-
rope. One misfortune after another came
to the old man, and, despite his great
personal popularity with his people, he
has led a life that the poorest OF ordinary
men would not be willing TO trade for.
He deeply loved his son. Rudolph, the
heir to the throne. and counted to have
to maintain the power OF the throne.
The mysterious death OF Rudolph at
Myerling remains TO this day one OF
the unsolved mysteries OF history, though
1t has been two decades since ii hap
pened.
Rudolph was deeply in love with the
Baroness Vescara, despite the fact that
he was married.
Rudolph and the baroness were found
together in a hunting lodge, and both
were dead from bullet wounds. The
theory is that the heir to the throne,
first killed her and then turned the pis-
tol on himself.
This was a terrible blow to the emper-
or. and ii was followed a few years later
by The violent death of Elizabeth, the
empress.
this death. Not long before she fell a
victim to the dagger OF an anarchist
the emperor had had a reconciliation with
her.
because of the emperor's partially for
another woman, case that brought him
into the courts of his own country.
Contrite over the wrong he had done
the lovely Elizabeth. whose charities and
acts Of gentleness has caused her to be
worshiped by her people. the emperor
gave up his liaison and pledged himself
to better course of conduct in the years
to come.
1t was in the midst of the happiness
hat followed this reunion that the stroke
OF the dagger ended her life.
The marriage of the archduke was the
next blow.
After Francis Joseph had given him
self over to the grief of the father his
attention was directed TO the future
or his throne The heir apparent was
unmarried. and when news came to the
ears OF the emperor that he was striving
to win the hand Of the widow of Rudolph.
the Crown Princess Stephanie. Francisco.
seph was overjoyed.
cases. that it was not the lady that the
archduke loved. but one of her maids.
The object of his affections was a lady.
in-waiting. the Countess Sophia Clotek
Intensely angry. the emperor determine
ed to break up the romance and sent
the archduke on a trip around the world.
But this was truly one of the cases
where absence made the heart grow
fonder.
Separation did not cure Ferdinand of his
love, I'm fact II made him more ardent
He returned to Austria more determined
than ever to take for bride the woman
OF his choice.
Word came to the emperor that the
pair were about to be married in a Hun
garian village, and the emperor at once
wired orde to the village priest TO de-
cline to perform the ceremony.
In the end, however, the ar lhduke met
the countess in a convent at Bruck, an
der Muir. Syria. February 9. 1900, and
there the marriage took place, February
@. 1900.
At the time. OF the marriage the arch
duke averred that he would not declare
his wife either empress or queen. and the
emperor backed this with the positive
announcement that he never would recog-
nize the union.
In the years that have passed the cou-
pie have led an ideal life. They have two
children, and the devotion Of the arch
duke to his wife and family has set new
ideals, for II is a condition rare to Vienna.
Now il is a virtual certainty that the
despised countess Is coming to the throne,
and the nation welcomes the announce
ment because. having proved herself a
woman they think she has also disclosed
the material Of which q ruler should b
made.