The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-04-22
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

Copyright. 1913 By Court Gossip Syndicate,
II is not to be thought of that the youth
fui Prince of Wales. who now Is on a
visit to Germany, would be permitted by
his royal parents to commit the tactless-
ness and incivility to leave the Father
| land without paying his respects to the
Kaiser. Yet the Official announcement.
made In London, was to the effect that
he Ii travelling "incognito" to his cousins
, and kinfolk of the royal family of Wur-
| temberg. at Stuttgart Incidentally the
German Kaiser also is his near relative,
| the latter's grandmother. Queen Victoria,
| being the grandmother Of the young
princes father, King George of England.
| II Is rather surprising. this sudden
awakening at London to the realisation
of any blood relationship between the
Guelphs and the ruling house of the
| little German kingdom, which received
the royal crown by the grace OF Ma
| poleon. For in the view. and according
to the traditions and established rules
of German princely houses, the Teck
| family, of which Queen Mary, Of Eng
land, is a direct descendant. does not
enjoy the right of equal birth tEben-
buertigkeit). A German sovereign. no
matter of how insignificant standing
among rulers, could never have made
the Prince of Wales mother other than
| his morganatic wife.
British self-complacency and self
| sufficiency however, never has allowed
such antiquated German traditions to
stand in it's way when it crossed the
desires of the Guelphs. though they are
| as German as any of the present-day
royalties of the Fatherland.
1t may be of interest to Flaneur read
ers to learn some of the details of the
origin of this suddenly and publicly aired
and acknowledged near relationship be-
tween the future King of England. EN-
peror of India, and King William II OF
wurtemburg. The first King of the ia
nous "Schwabenland" was Frederick /.
who received the royal crown from the
great Corsican conqueror. surnamed
Frederick the Stout. All that contem-
poraneous history records of him Is that
his avoirdupois was such and his cir
conference of such dimensions that
slot had to be sawed into the table
at which he sat during the Vienna Con-
gress in order to give him the chance
to be seated properly during the delibera-
tons.
This King Frederick had six brothers,
who founded the ducal houses of Wur-
temberg. The oldest, Duke Ludwig Q756-
1S10 was married twice, his second wife
being Princess Henriette Won Nassau.
Weilburg, who, among other children,
left a daughter and son. The former,
the Duchess Pauline, welded her cousin.
King william 1 of Wurtemberg, and
thus became the grandmother of the
present ruler of that country, King
William III.
The son, Duke Alexander, in 1885, mar
ried the Hungarian Countess, Claudine
Won Phedy, who not being OF equal birth
("ebenbuertig') became his left-handed
(morganatic) wife, after Emperor Franz
j, of Austria, had raised her to the dig
nifty of Duchess of Hohenstein. Her
union with Duke Alexander was blessed
with two girls and one son. The eldest
daughter remained single while the
younger married an Austrian captain,
Baron Won Huegel The son. Count Franz
Won Hohenstein (as an offspring OF
morganatic union he had no right to the
name of his father as a Prince Won Wur-
temberg), a handsome and very affable
man, had the good fortune to win the
heart and hand of Princess Mary Of Eng
land the cousin of the late Queen Vic
toria.
From that marriage dates the rise Of
this branch of the House Of Wurtemberg,
which according to the Almanac de Gotha,
the one authority on these matters, Is
mon habile a succeder." The Count Won
Hohenstein and the Countess were trans
formed, by royal warrant of Queen Vic
toria, into a Prince and Princess of Teck,
and only a few years afterward they were
made Duke and Duchess of Teck.
The present Queen Mary OF England
is the oldest daughter of this same Ger
man Count Franz Won Hohenstein, later
NIL @f nf h. ~ I'd n,
countess and morganatic wife of Duke
Alexandra of Wuertemberg. Heretofore
London court and society was not very
proud of the Tecks and their origin and
relationship to the British royal house.
But, of course, all that is changed now,
for the granddaughter Of that Hungarian
lady, the Countess Won Rhedy, later
Duchess Won Hohenstein, shares the
throne of the most powerful empire of
the world with her husband, King
George, and her son is a future king and
emperor.
But why should Queen Mary entertain
such dislike of everything German?
Is it because she is ashamed Of her
origin and tries to forget it? Vain at
tempt, and still more foolish attitude!
One cannot blot out history, nor facts!
Prince Won Hohenlohe- Langfenburg. who
died last week at his family seat in Ba-
varia, was the head of an ancient and
powerful family. He was a grandson
of the Duchess Of Kent. through her
first marriage, with the Prince Of Leinin-
gen, and a brother Of the late Prince
Victor Hohenlohe, who was known as
the Count Won Gleichen during the great
er part of his life. CThe Gleichens play
ed a very prominent part during the
reign and wars of the Hohenstauffer
Kaisers of Germany
The late prince was an uncle of the
present German Empress. He served in
the Austrian army from 1854 to 1860, and
took part in the Austro-Italian campaign
of 1859 Later he Joined a regiment of
the Baden army and served with 1t
actively in the Franco-German war OF
1870. He remained in the service of the
new German Empire from 1894 until 1907.
He filled with distinguished success the
important Office of 'Statthalter' of AL
sace-Lorraine, where he was very popu-
lar, despite the pronounced anti-German
feeling.
Had Queen Victoria been still alive.
there would have been a period Of
court mourning for the late prince, to
the great Inconvenience of all con-
cerned and of British society generally.
When his father died. in 1889, fort
night of court mourning was COM
me nded, and a number of palace en-