The Washington herald., 1912-09-03
COURT GOSSIP OF FOREIGN
LANDS OF GENERAL INTEREST

lands, as / have stated before. went to
Paris with her consort, Prince Heinrich
Of Mecklenburg. and President Failieres
of the third French republic made his
'honeurs" 70 royalty In the most approved
style. It appears to me that the Hoag
administration Is more than ususi anx-
ious for amlcable relations with the DUAL
d'Orsay. Because the Queen Of Holland.
who is OF arch-German descent. hardly
conceived the idea herself to be feted at
the Elysee Palace. and In one of her four
speeches at the festive board laid
particular stress upon the fact that
she is a descendant Of the famous French
tholomew- -night-terror fame, and that she
considers herself Exceptionally lucky to
have French blood In her veins"
Diplomacy for a certainty makes strange
bed-fellows. By the way. II all the Eu-
ropean monarchs should have their blood
analyzed, what strange and surprising
blood-ties there would become known. l
am quite satisfied. for instance. that
Kaiser Wilhelm could find double the
that courses through the cells Of his au-
gust-body, and which IL said TO be
thicker than water" than his dearly be-
loved cousin wilhelmina. the German
ruler of the Dutch.
History tells us that he also is a de-
scendant of the same Admiral Coligny,
the great-grandfather of Louise Hen
riette, the pious. and wife of the Great
Elector Of Brandenburg. an out-and-out
Hohenzollern. But he has still more
French blood in him. for he descends In
direct line from the beautiful Eleonore
Desmier d'Olbreuse, q maid Of honor at
the Brunswick court, whom Duke George
Wilhelm of Braunschweig-Celle took for
his wife, and who. through her daughter,
the hapless Princess ophie-Dorathea,
Queen of George I of England. became
the ancestress Of innumerable. princes
and princesses of the blood royal. / ven-
ture to say that few II any Of my readers
ever surmised that the rulers of the arch
enemy of France. the Hohenzollerns Of
Prussia, have to acknowledge French
descent.
Princely house laws formerly were not
near so strict and innocent Of loopholes
as they are in our day. The above men-
toned reigning Duke of Brunswick was
In no way restricted from making Eleo-
more d'Olbreuse his legal wife and
duchess despite the fact that for a num-
ber of years, as Frau Won Harburg" and
later as Countess Of Williamsburg" she
had been his mistress. More than this.
he raised the daughter she had borne
him ten years before the legal marriage
ceremony to the dignity of q princess
and married her to the heir Of kingiy
crown.
Nowadays the term "Ebenbuertig keit'
(of equal BIRTH, prohibits many aspira-
tions of a simpler and more legitimate
character.
1t is an open secret, that Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the dual
crown of Austria Hungary, is greatly
H. Ii Erw N<l "a
the Duchess of Hohenberg. a scion Of the
oldest and highest aristocracy of Bo-
hemia, the '.Reichsgrafen" Choteck. is
not permitted to share his illustrious
name and exalted position. Inch by
inch he was obliged to fight for as many
privileges and rights. as stubborn eti-
quette at the most feudal of all European
courts would grant grudgingly. Step by
step the determined husband succeeded
in gaining for her more and more pres
tige. Aged Emperor Franz Josef raised
her first to the dignity OF a princess.
Later he made her a duchess. but at all
court ceremonials the wife OF the future
ruler was obliged to trail behind the
youngest archduchess. though she be
but a slip of a girl and in her teens. But
at last aged Franz Josef, so 1 hear. has
relented. For at the gala banquet ten
dered the visiting King of Montenegro
a seat between two imperial archdukes,
a great concession indeed, and at last
denoting equal rank with all the rest Of
the archduchesses OF the Hapsburg house.
According to the ''Neue Freie Presse,"
this piece of news was received with great
enthusiasm by the cheerful Viennese.
who had sided with the archduke-their
adored "Fraenzerl,' in his courageous
fight for the right Of his wife and chill
dren- -.
Grand Duke Wassil Constantinovitch. a
first cousin of the Gar OF Russia, Is the
hero of the most recent chronique scandal
euse of the court of ST. Petersburg. This
young Romanon is twenty-five years Of
age and insists upon marrying his sister s
former governess. who is now his mothers
companion, Xenia Ivanovna- thirty, dark.
slim, and no beauty. and who Is not even
a scion Of the nobility. What surprises
clubdom and Mrs. .Grundy in general is
the fact that the youthful prince has
known the girl for years without ever
having taken any apparent notice of her.
Modern Russia still has in mind the ro-
nance of Emperor Pavel CPauD who was
SO infatuated with an elderly maid-of-
honor, that she had more influence over
him than any one else at court. Still
young Gabriers father, the influential
wrought up and insists upon having the
boy banished TO some distant section of
long distance Russia to forget his lady
love. The Czar objects, saying that this
sort of punishment. as a rule, results In
the lovers getting married. But he agreed
to have Xenia sent to Moscow on some
pretext. and she receives a handsome an
nuity. which Is to be stopped the moment
she renews her association with the
princely youth.
The young grand duke could not as
certain for a long time what had become
Of or had befallen his sweetheart. but
when he did he made a scene. Determined
to follow her. he escaped paternal sur
veillance by dropping from his rooms by q
rope ladder. But luck was against him.
His fathers watchers caught him at the
gate. as he was about to leave the palace
grounds and he was taken back ignomin-
iously. Ever since he has been kept under
strong guard, ostensibly because he had
broken a strict military rule by his nom
appearance at parole" where the daily
countersign is given out to the troops dur
ing parade" each noon. But. Of course.
court circles are aware why the youthful
lover is kept at "Stubenarrest."
When Gabriel shall be more pliable and
open to reason, his father has requested
one OF his aids to take his son on-a
round of amusements among the night
haunts Of gay st. Petersburg in order
to wean him of his infatuation, but
the. poor distracted boy swears that he
never will abandon his. girl. never for
get his plighted troth, and that he shall
years to do SO. Those who know him
ntal hat ha tc iuc he ia