Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-07-11
KIDNAPPING KINGS.
Many Attempts Made to Change Dy.
nasties.

many attempts Made 10 Cnan9e Dy-
nasties.
Not only Is the kidnapping Of rul-
er or Of a scion of royalty an ever
present peril and a source Of intense
anxiety to the police Of Europe, but
1t also adds not little to the cares
and worries of royal parents. 1t Is
difficult, however, for people in this
country, when we consider the free
dom enjoyed by the children Of King
George and Queen Mary, to imagine
the fear which haunts such royal par
and queen Of Italy and King Alfonso
and Queen Victoria Of Spain. 1t is in
such countries of unrest and intrigue
that the plans Of kidnappers Of royal
ty have to be guarded against as much
as the plots Of assassins, and night
and day the royal children are guard
ed by trusted servants.
BY stealing a member of royal
house, political plotters, of course.
might be able to change a dynasty;
and it was generally believed that the
unsuccessful attempt to kidnap King
Alfonso when he was four years of
age was the result of a plot Of the
more advanced members Of the Car
list party, who believed that by carry
ing the little fellow off and holding
him for ransom they would be able to
induce his mother to surrender, in his
name, the throne to the Legitimist
party.
One of the most daring Of kidnap-
ping plots was that which resulted In
Prince Alexander Of Bulgaria being
seized on the night Of August FL, 1885,
a year before he abdicated, and car
ried off into Russian territory until
the protests which reached the car
from nearly every foreign couiL IN
Europe led him few days later to
order the princes release and safe
conduct to the frontier. The cause Of
the kidnapping was to be found In the
fact that Prince Alexander, who owed
his election to the rulership Of Bull
garia to the backing Of Russia, .refus-
ed to redeem certain promises which
he had made to Alexander III. and his
government. Doubtless 1t was hoped
to force the prince to keep his prom
ises by a period of captivity. AS a
matter Of fact 1t has often been said
that he abdicated because Of pledge
extorted from him by kidnappers
while he was in their hands.
Prince Alexander was succeeded by
Prince Ferdinand, who has on two
occasions been in danger OF kidnap-
ping by plotters among his own sub
iects. who dissatisfied with his rule,
arranged to seize him at night and
convey him to the mountain Businesses
on the Macedonian border and to ex-
tort from him there his abdication or
the throne Failing in this, they have
endeavored to kidnap his children,
and in 1900, when the young crown
Prince Boris and his brother cyril
were six and five years or age respec-
lively, a determined attempt was made
to kidnap the boys from SandroVo,
the favorite country seat or Prince
Ferdinand.
The little boys were at play when
suddenly there appeared on the scene
some men in Macedonian garb VINO
seized the children in their arms ana
rushed toward the hills, but the at
tendants were quickly in pursuit and
the men were compelled to abandon
the children before they had gone
very far. One of them was shot, ana
from him the details of the conspir-
acy were obtained.
A remarkable story Of how the Fe-
mans plotted to kidnap Queen Vlcto-
ria on the occasion of her visit to Ire
land in the autumn Of 1849 was re-
yealed at the trial of John O'Leary,
the famous Fenian leader, who died
in Dublin a year or two ago. The
plan was to kidnap the queen while
she was visiting the country seats OF
the Duke of Leinster and seVeral
other Irish noblemen and carry her
majesty off to some fastness IN tne
Wicklow mountains, there to hold ner
prisoner until her ransom was paid In
the form of home rule for Ireland. II
was a wildcat scheme, but would
nevertheless have been carried out
had ii not been for the sudden illness
of one of the leaders of the plot.
Louis ii. King of Bavaria, the pre-
decessor of the present mad King
Otto, in 1886 conceived a plot for kid
mapping the present king Of Italy.
King Louis's idea was to capture the
young crown prince, as he then was,
and carry him off across the border to
some remote castle Of the Bavarlan
Tyrol and keep him there In captivity
until his father, the late King Hum
bert, consented to restore Rome 10
-, 70 ttTftn n re W q
Eternal City. 1t was really the dis
covery Of this plot which led the Ba-
varian cabinet to place King Louis
under restraint=Tit-B Bits.