Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1912-10-04
BORN MAJEST|ES.
Royalty on the List of POSTUM
nous Children of History.
ARTHUR OF ENGLAND LEADS.
Some Declared He Was a chsnseIing
\ Supplied by the Enchanter Merlin.
Present King of Spain Born After
Death of His Father.

Supplied by the Enchanter Merlin.
Present King of Spain Born After
Death of His Father.
Perhaps the most celebrated OF post
humous children in history and legend
is King Arthur Of Britain, says the
New York Tribune. King Arthur was
born Of his mother. Ygerne, after the
death Of his father, King Uther, at
the castle Of Tintagil, in Cornwall.
Many signs and portents accompanied
his birth as that Of the champion OF
his race. Some even said that he was
not his fathers son, but a changeling
supplied by the enchanter Merlin,
who
After tempest. when the long wave broke
AdoWn the laundering shores of Bude and
Bos
He found a naked child upon the sands
OF dark Tintagil by the Cornish sea.
And that was Arthur.
TO pass on, however, to a modern
monarch, the present sovereign of
Spain, Alfonso XIII., has been king
from the very hour of his birth, which
occurred just six months after the
death Of his father, Alfonso XII. Dur
ing the interval the throne was occu
pied by the elder of the prospective
little kings two sisters, the late Maria
de las Mercedes, who was but six
years old at the time. Up to the day
Of her death, in 1904. she was the
youngest Of the dethroned queens of
Europe.
The birth Of the baby king had been
eagerly anticipated by all Spain, for 1t
was feared that under the queen there
would inevitably be a revival Of all
those internal discords and Carlist plots
that had been the blight Of Spain for
nearly three generations.
Another posthumous king, also Of the
historic house of Bourbon, was the son
of the late Due de Berri. who was MUIR
| dered at the Paris Opera Feb. Is. 1920.
Eight months after the dukes assassi-
nation his widow, daughter Of Francois
l.. king Of the Two Sicilies, gave birth
to a son. who received the name of
Henri ard the title of Due de Bordeaux
from his granduncle King Louis
XVIII of France.
In 1880, when the boy was barely
ten years Of age, his grandfather, King
Charles X. faced by the July revolu-
ton. abdicated in his favor, and the
lad was proclaimed as Henry v. OF
France" His reign, however, lasted
not more than forty-eight hours. when
he was compelled to follow bis grand
father into exile to Hollywood, the old
palace of the Scottish kings at Edin-
burgh, while his elderly kinsman, the
Duke Of Orleans. took possession of his
throne as King Louis Philippe. In after
life the Duke of Bordeaux was usually
known by another Of his titles, that Of
Comte de Chamhord. though until his
death at his Austrian palace Of Frohs-
dorf, in 1883, he was addressed and
spoken of by all the legitimists OF
France as ''the king Oe roll. He died
without issue, and for this reason. as
we'll as by his WILL the present Duke
of Orleans is now the chief Of the
French branch Of the house Of Bour-
bon and the senior heir to the throne OF
Charles X
Young King Alfonso's greatest friend
from boyho0d mp is the seventeenth
Duke Of Medna-Coeii. premier, peer
and grandee of Spain and a direct de-
scendant Of King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella. the patrons Of Christopher
Columbus Like King Alfonso, he was
posthumously born. having come into
the world seven months after the trag
ic death of his father who accidental
ly shot himself while hunting in his
preserves at Guadarra ma, falling NOR
tally wounded at the feet Of his bride.
Strangely enough, the present duke by
reason of his royal descent and in spite
of his intimacy with the king is a sort
of honorary pretender TO the throne OF
Spain.
During the last 200 years whenever
a new king of Spain takes possession OF
his throne and is publicly proclaimed
heralds arrayed in tabards, gorgeously
emblazoned with the Medina-C oeli coat
Of arms, appear before the royal pal
ace and protest in the name OF their
lord against the usurpation by the
French house of Bourbon-Anjou, which
has held the crown of Spain since the
end of the seventeenth century. The
heralds set forth the claim Of the Duke
of Medina Coeli and challenge in his
name any knight who may venture TO
dispute the legitimacyA of the dukes
right "to defend his opinion in duel
to the death. on the mountain or the
plain, by night or by day"