The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-12-03
PRINCESS PALEOLOGO
CLAIMANT OF THRONE


such assumed names and titles are en-
ploycd TO persuade people 70 cuy
things that prove unsatsfactorE III
vestments.
Tn. soi-disant Princess PaleoloGo's
real name Is Mrs. Edmund Wick ham,
and she Is the widow of an English
army colonel of that name. she ives
in London in a modest mouse looAihs
on 10 Hyde Park and possesses an I'm
agifafiOn thsr is the most oriental
thing about her besides her title, since,
N one Is 10 believe her. no less tlkn
three dramatic attempts have been
made upon her life. she lnsl0uatrs
that she and her son constitute peril
70 the DYNASTY now ruling over Greece.
since the people of that country WoUtd
naturally prefer being ruled over BY i
scion Of the imperial Greek dynasty OF
PaleOlogo than by an amen mouse suSh
as that OF King George. IN fact she
hints that the latter would be great
" relieved to hear of her death. the
inference being that he. poor man, may
have instigated the attempts on her
life. concerning which hoth!hs -
known 10 the English police
The Princess" declares that neF
father was one Of the candidates Tor
the Greek throne in 1863. rms Is RAIN It.-
cr an unfortunate admission. oF
those who will take the trouble 10 re-
fer To the circumstances Of the cleo
ton will ind that the Greek people
did not choose foreigner IN the per
son of a Danish prince Tor their ruieF
until they had made a most exhaustive
fnvesriration and had absolutely con-
WINGED themselves of the impOsslolhtN
Of discovering any authentic descend :
ant Of the last Christian Emperors OF
Constantinople. or any BONA noe repre-
tentative OF the former ielohi"S NS
nasty of PaleoiOgo.
Emperor Constantine Paleologo MIN :
self was killed at the storminS or
constantinople By the Turks In 1893.
without leaving any issue. Some Nom
hers of his family are rumored to bave
escaped. and to have found refuge IN
Western Europe. Historians are unan-
imous, however in declaring that
these refugees became extinct shortly
afterwards. and this impression pre-
vailed until some twenty-five years
ago.
II was then that Mrs. WickhaIn sud
denly put forward a claim TO the enect
that she was che lineal descendant and
principal heiress of the Paleologo dy-
nasty. She accumulated an immense
amount of documentary evidence from
the English parish registers. from the
British Museum and from the Royal
College of Heralds in London, tending
to show that she was descended, not in
the male and only legal line, ouc on
tine distaff side. from a certain Ineo
dore Paleologue who died in 1895 and
lies buried in the old Parish Church
os Llandluph, in Cornwall. This Theo-
dore Paleologue claimed to be the
great great grandson OF Thomas. an
the last Greek Emperor OF CONSTANT
nopIe. Con corning ThomaS's existence
historians are silent.
1t is hardly necessary TO point out
that even IL Mrs. Wickham was ever
SO much an authentic descendant from
the mythical younger brother OF the.
last Emperor of Constantinople, the
very fact that her descent is through
the female line robs IL OF any dynastic
value. For otherwise there are. as 1
have shown in these letters. provin-
cial butchers and grocers who are able
to trace their descent through the
female line to former Kings OF Eng
land. such as Henry VII, Henry Viii
and Edward w, who would be entitled
10 call themselves princes of Great
Britain and of Ireland.
The name OF Paleologo. by the by. Is
by no means uncommon IN greece ana
among the Levantine families of Greek
origin at Constantinople and Alexan-
dria There was a few years ago an
Alexander Paleologo in the service of
the Egyptian government VINO owed
his note to the beauty OF his VIE;
while another. Maurice Paleologo. Is
minister plenipotentiary in the diplo-
matte service of France. There Is also
a Jean Paleologo. an artist. formerly
Of Paris. but now of New York. who
for a number OF years has been earning
his living IN an honorable tasnlon as
a portrait painter and illustrator. con-
tent to be known merely as an artist
He has never to my knowledge. styled
himself prince or made use of any such
title, although endowed herewith by
some foolish friends, against his
wishes.
With regard TO Mrs. Wickham. there
is no government in Europe that has
accorded the slightest recognition TO
her foolish and wholly untenable
claims. and not a line will be found
concerning her in the Almanach de
Gotha or In any of the standard works
of reference dealing with royal houses
past and present, and with the anthem
tic titles OF Europe. while her preten-
sions are riiiculed by every foreign
legation and embassy in London, es-
pecially by that of Russia.
Every court in Europe. and for the
matter of that also those of Siam and
Iapan has been DIaced in mourning