Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-05-27
LATEST ROYAL ROMANCE.
Picturesque Antecedents of the Prince
Victor Bonaparte.

LATEST ROYAL ROMANCE.
Picturesque Antecedents of the Prince
Victor Bonaparte.
All that world that loves a lover
will rejoice at the marriage Of Prince
Victor Bonaparte with the Princess
Clementine Of Belgium, the crowning
romance of long series Of interesting
and picturesque alliances.
It is the union of the heir of an OBJ
scure lieutenant Of artillery. who
crowned himself Emperor of France,
and the granddaughter Of Louis
Philippe, the "Citizen King Of the
French, who was descended from st.
Louis, but who was also the son of
Egalite.
Prince Victor is not only the male
representative of the BonaparteS,
but on the female side he claims de-
scent from the ancient houses Of Savoy
and Wurtemburg. What seems more
remarkable still, King George II. of
England, is one of his forcfathers.
Frederick, Prince of Wales, the
eldest son of this monarch, had a
daughter, Augusta, who married the
Duke of Brunswick -Wolfenbuttel.
BY this marriage she became mother
Of the unfortunate Caroline Of Bruns-
more unfortunate, whose fate is un-
certain to the very day and whose
name Is one Of the tragic asides of
history.
This lady was united at sixteen to
Charles Frederick Of Wurtemburg,
who was afterward by favor Of Ma
poleon the first king Of the country.
He was ten years older than his fair
bride. In an evil hour, says the
Queen, he accepted an invitation to
enter the service Of Russia. In con-
sequence she was exposed to the bane-
full influence Of Catherine II. when he
took her and their infant children to
st. Petersburg.
The empress made much Of her
an undesirable distinction, for Char
lotte of Brunswick was lively and good
looking and placed in a court Of the
most degraded morality in Christen-
dom. Presently the husband grew
retire from Russia and return to his
country. 1t was readily granted for
himself and his children, but his wife
was detained, with or without his ac-
quiescence The fate to which he left
her has never been decidedly ascer-
tained, though half explanations
were offered and the widest conjec-
lures have been made.
This i'll starred princess was great
grandmother Of Prince Victor, for her
only daughter, Catherine of Wurtem-
burg, was forced to accept the hand
Of Jerome, the youngest brother Of
Napoleon l. The marriage took place
in 1907, and was remarkable in more
ways than one. 1t was the first royal
the bride and bridegroom were both
reluctant, and it was secretly distaSte-
full to the brides father, although he
had compelled his daughter to con-
sent
The spell of Napoleon was on Eu-
rope at the time, and his only con-
sistent opposer was one small island
which Lord Rosebery has described
as floating so lonely in the nothern
sea-" Therefore Jerome divorced a
beautiful wife whom he loved to take
in her place a princess he had never
seen, and who felt the indignity to
her finger tips. The will Of the Won
dcrful Corsican was not to be dis
puted, and the King of Westphalia
was the least noble of the Bonaparte
brothers.
Catherine Of Wurtemburg died in
1885, but Jerome long outlived her,
lived far into the days of the Second
Empire, shared In its splendor, and
was for the time heir presumptive to
the imperia! crown.
Their children, Prince Napoleon
and Princess Mathilde, were prominent
actors in the scene. Mathilde was the
elder of the two, and famed for her
beauty Napoleon III. is said to have
passionately loved her in his obscure
and wandering days. Afterwards
when he became president and emper-
or she was a married woman, and be-
ing his nearest female relative did the
honors of his court until he welded
the Empress Eugene.
The son OF Jerome and Catherine
of Wurtemburg, prince Napoleon,
had a marked personality, and differed
in many respects from his cousin, the
emperor, too much indeed for cor
diality. He was born In 1922 and died
ho, IN in
the hand of Princess Clothilde of
Savoy. a daughter of Victor Emman-
uel, the first king Of United Italy.
The bride was many years younger
than Prince Napoleon. The eldest
son Of this union was born at Paris
in 1862, and is the Prince Victor
about to marry Princess Clementine of
Belgium. He has a brother two years
younger than himself and sister, the
DOwager Duchess of AOsta. 1t Will
be seen that the Jerome branch of the
Bonapartes has always been connected
with European royalty, and the death
of the Prince Imperial has given to
it every hereditary claim In addition.
Violcts. blue, white and purple, are
the floral emblems chosen by this race,
though their unpretending beauty
seems i'll suited to the Napoleonic ira
ditions The writer saw In Paris a
bunch Of them placed on the statue
of Jeanne dare with this inscription,
'To the woman who saved France
The connection of violets with the
memory of the Maid Of Orleans was
of course the subtitle suggestion of
some devoted Bonapartist.
1t is to be hoped that the bride will
be happy, for the younger daughter
of Leopold H.. late King Of the Bel
gians, has been troubled for many a
long year. The death of her mother,
the tragedy of her sisters and the
tyranny of her father. who would not
consent to her marriage with Prince
Victor. have cast shadow after shadow
on her life.