New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-30
New Household for King Albert.

King Albert of Belgium has completely
reorganized his household, and among the
changes which he has made has been the
appointment Of Count d Arschot, hitherto
Councillor of the Belgian Legation at Paris,
to be his chief de cabinet-that is to say his
private secretary. The count is well known
al Washington, where he was formerly at
tached to the Belgian Mission there, and
is moreover half American, his mother,
widow OF the former Count CASTOR d. Ar
schot, being New York woman, who
makes her home In that city. king Albert
has also appointed Baron Eugene de Bey-
ems. son of the diplomat who represented
Belgium for so many years as envoy in
Paris. TO be the minister of the royal
household Baron Eugene de Beyens was
the principal secretary of the Belgian Lega-
ton in Paris as long his father lived,
and was his alter ego. But he resigned
from the service after his fathers death,
owing to what he regarded as ingratitude
and unfair treatment by Leopold and con-
tinuing to make his home in Paris, instead
of returning to Brussels. was somewhat of
A thorn il. the side of his late sovereign
in the French capital. At the time of
Leopold's death he INDUCED in some rather
bitter determinations. and his appointment
house shows that Albert has not taken
any offence, that he looks upon de Beyens
as having been somewhat unjustly treated
and that he is perfectly assured of his
loyalty and of his discretion
The new grand marshal Of the court Of
Brussels is the Comte de Merode, who
was grand marshal of the household of the
late Queen of the Begians and married to
one of the de Ia Rochefoucau The i'm
portance OF the dc Merode family, which
heads the old Belgian aristocracy. NAV
best be appreciated when it is stated that
in 1886 its chief was elected TO the throne
of Belgium in recognition of the leading
part which he had played in bringing about
the independence of the country from
Dutch rule. The Comte de Merode of the
day declined the honor, and, after the
crown had been subsequently offered to the
Prince de Ligne and rejected by him, it
was rendered, first of ALL to King Louis
Phitippe's son, the Due de Nemoura, and
after that to Prince Leopold of Cohurg, the
widowed son-in-law of George " of Eng
land. Leopold accepted the offer, which
was made at the suggestion and on the
nomination Of the Comte de Merode.
One of the Countess de Microbes married
the Italian noblemaD Prince Pog1o della
Cisterna, bringing him an enormous fort
une By way of dowry, including number
of valuable collieries in. Belgium. II is the
only daughter Of this union, Maria della
Cisterna, who married the late Prince
Amadeus of Italy, occupying with him for
three years the throne of Spain Her three
sons and the heirs of her great fortune,
which is wholly of Merode origin, are the
Duke of Aosta, the Count of Turin and
the Duke of the Abruzzi.
The honors of the Microbes include the
title of Prince de Rubenpre bestowed by
Leopold l. and which is always borne by
the eldest son of the chief of the family
The other titles are those of Prince OF
C;rimberghe and the Marquis of Westerioo,
the latter an honor bestowed by the crown
of Spain when the Netherlands and Bel
gium were still subject to its rule.
The family was founded in the twelfth
century by Werner de Rode. one OF the
patricians of Cologne. and it was his grand
son. Werner ", who in 1921 Transformed
the family name into Merode, taking 1t
from the township near Aix-la-Chapelle, OF
which he was seigneur and count.
MARQUIsE DE FONTEN0Y.