The Washington herald., 1911-09-09
A PRINCESSAND HER STORY

Princess Louise Of Toscany, the d.
vorced wife OF the present King OF Sax
ony, as I have mentioned in these col
umns some time ago, has written book
In which she is trying to vindicate her
conduct for the sake of her children.
and she has published II. despite the
threat Of the Saxon government to cut
on her annual allowance. The volume
soon will appear on the American market
also.
Princess Louise is a daughter Of the
late Ferdinand w.. Grand Duke Of Tus-
cany, an Austrian archduke. Her moth
er was Princess of Parma, aunt of
Princess Zita, whose engagement to
Archduke Ivan Karl Franz Josef, heir
presumptive to the throne Of Austria, re-
Gently has been announced.
About her father THE Princess Louise
has this to say:
He dearly loved a pretty face, and
one day he was asked to a dinner party
to meet some really beautiful women.
The duke was then quite an old man,
and he was, I regret to say, toothless,
for he would never wear artificial teeth.
However, the possibility Of renewing his
conquests so appealed to him that he
went to a dentist and was supplied with
set Of false teeth for the eventual
banquet. All went we'll at first: the Duke
smiled at the fair ones, and rejoiced that
he could smile so freely, but suddenly,
without any warning, something went
wrong with the plate. and he was un-
able to shut his mouth. He remained in
this unenvlable position for a few min
utes, and the guests began to fear he
had been seized with a fit, but when he
found he could not close his jaws he
wrenched out the teeth in an excess of
fury, and flung them TO the other side
OF the room, where they remained until
after dinner. when the servants swept
them up"
the princess, who was my grandaunt.
had a nephew, Dom Pedro, and she
thought he would make me a most suit
able husband. She confided her plans
to mamma, who lost no time in taking
me to BadenEBaden, where the Empress
and Dom Pedro were staying 1 found
Dom Pedro quite a nice boy, though he
did not fulfill the matrimonial hopes of
our relations. Three years after our
meeting he went mad, and he is now
under restraint in a castle somewhere
in Austria"
In the summer Of 1887 the Princess
Louisa saw her future husband. Prince
Friedrich August Of Saxony. for the
first time.
He was twenty-one and looked hand
some and gallant in his uniform OF blue
and gold. We danced together several
times
Friedrich August was very good look
ing. tall and we'll set up. with an open
expression and kindly blue eyes, adds the
princess.
I do not think that a better-hearted
man exists; he is loath to believe in-wick-
edness and intrigue; he looked upon
women as sacred beings. and he was
chivalrous to fault. His good qualities
have been his worst enemies, because his
innate nobility has always prevented him
from realizing what designing minds are
capable of cOntriving"
To her father-in-law, the late Prince
George of Saxony. the Princess Louisa
attributes all her troubles.
Besides fulfilling the duties of faith
er-in-law. Prince George also took upon
himself those OF a very strict mother-in-
law. His one idea in life was religious
duty and he carried this out so we'll that
from the day arrived in Dresden
was literally surfeited with piety. He
was an intolerable bigot. narrow minded
TO a degree, and he could be a fanatic on
occasion I think he must have suffered
from some kind OF religious mania, for
he would remain for hours PROSTATE be-
fore the altar, praying fervently to all
his special saints.
The court circle at Dresden, during
the whole time I lived in SaXony, was
composed of the most narrow-minded,
evil-speaking. and conceited collection of
human beings it is possible to imagine
The Saxon aristocracy have the rooted
idea that their mission in life is to keep
up appearances. and I think they really
believe that God created them solely to