The Washington herald., 1911-08-11
FOREIGN GOSSIP.


newspaper which PUBLISHES these letters.
wish to explain that the Order of the
Thistle, the knights OF which paid their
homage to King, George on the occasion
of his recent visit to Scotland. at Holy
rood Castle, was instituted about 1880 by
King James v. But the new order un-
derwent various vicissitudes, and in
reality was not established until 1908,
when Queen Anne finally installed it
with a foundation of twelve knights. be-
sides the sovereign. That Queens
statutes were later confirmed by George
/. In 1924 George ~ created several
extra knights on the occasion of his
coronation, who were appointed to sue
ceed as vacancies occurred in the statu-
| tory number of knights. But a few
years later George ", who seemed to
| have an especial penchant for that or
knights to sixteen, royal princes being
extra members.
A London journal prints the news that
the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was
told Officially by the imperial privy
cabinet at Berlin that he could not be
present at the coronation of the King of
| England, ''being a reigning sovereign,
but that his urgent appeal, accompanied
! by that OF King George, settled the
| matter.
This is not only fiction, but II is silly
| as well. The duke attended the coro-
| nation, not as a ruler, but as a near
relative of the British King and Queen.
| he being a grandson of the late Queen
Victoria, and as a kinsman was in the
same position as three other German
| rulers who were present namely. the
| Ink nf
the Duke OF MeCklenburg-Strelit and
| the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt.
| Furthermore. II IS absolutely idiOtic to
| suppose that II there had been any dif-
! ficulty like that, and on such an occa-
| sion, the Kaiser could or would have con-
sented TO meddle with an affair with
which he had no sort of concern what
ever.
The court of St. Petersburg has been
thrown into mourning by the death of the
Grand Duchess Alexandra Josefna. She
was daughter of Duke Joseph of Sake
| Altenburg and a sister of the late Queen
Marie of Hanover. In 1S4S she was mar
ried to the Grand Duke Constantine, the
second son of Car Nicholas l. who died
| in 1892. One of her daughters is the
Grand Duchess Vera, the widow of Duke
Eugene of Wurttemberg, whose twin
daughters are the coheiresses of the vast
fortune of their great-aunt, the late
| Queen Olga OF Wurttt mberg.
The late Grand Duchess Constantine
was a clever and highly accomplished
woman, possessing a wide knowledge OF
art and literature. She was very pop
| ular, and at one time she exercised a
| considerable and very wholesome influ-
| ence in the Romanoff family. In 1855
| there was a general impression through
! out Russia that the Grand Duke Con-
| stantine would claim the imperial throne
| on the ground that he was the eldest son
born to his father. Nicholas, after the
latter, on the sudden death of his
brother, had become Emperor. This re-
port spread all over Europe. 1t was un-
derstood and publicly recorded on that
| occasion that the Grand Duchess Alex
ander exerted herself strenuously and
successfully in dssuading her husband
from listening to his advisors and to
| smooth over all difficulties and misun-
derstandings.
| 1t must be admitted that there is such
custom in the Romanoff succession, a
precedent set by Ivan the Terrible, and
at the time of the assassination of Alex
ander II the Pan-Slavistic (orthodoX)
party supported by the metropolitan OF
! the established Greek church would
| have started one of the palace re-
volts for which Russia is so notorious
had it not been for the prompt inter
ference OF the grand duchess. whose
common sense foresaw the danger that
would threaten the country. and whose
innate German sense OF fair play would
not allow her quietly to stand by and
see such an injustice perpetrated, fol
the first born evidently was entitled II
all fairness to the crown. whether ht
| saw the light while his father was
crown prince or ruler.
| Lord KnOllys has fully decided to re
sign his Office as the principal secretary
(chief of the private cabineD of Kint
George of England during this month
It was Lord Knollys wish to retire from
his responsible position A year ago afte
the death of King Edward, whom HI
had served almost a life time. but III
was persuaded to shoulder his manifold
duties until after the coronation.
Lord Knollys has been prominen
figure at the British court for more thai
forty years. His assistant, Sir, Arthur
Biggs who was made a peer recent!
with the title of Lord Stamfordham, a
a reward for his strenuous work attend
ant upon the coronation, is to becom'
the principal private secretary Il
the King, with Sir Frederick PonsonbN
and Mai. Give Wigram as his assistants
Lord Knolys will retain the apartmen
in St James Palace which was GRANTEE
him for life by queen Victoria. but n
will have 20 vacate his house in Wind
sor Castle grounds, Winchester Towers
, which is the official residence of tn