The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-05-22
No Truth in Story That She Is to
Wed Man Many Years
Her Junior.
ny La MARaUIsE DE roNTENoY.

BY LA MARaUISE DE FONTENOY.
~ UEEN MARIE AMELIE OF Portu-
IL gal has issued through her pri-
| Vate secretary an emphatic de-
| MAJ, Gated from her residence at Wins
| bledon near London, OF thu story. ac-
cording to which she is determined
upon marrying Count vassalacs. one
| OF the Royalist leaders in Portugal,
and a man many years her junior.
The denial runs as follows:
1t is hardly necessary to contradict
the absurd statement, in which there
Is not single word of truth. the mis-
| chevous aim OF the report being self-
| evident"
1t is only right that this should be
| known on this side of tho Atlantic,
! owing to the wide publicity of the
| cable dispatches from Europe to the
effect that the Queen. who is the
| daughter OF the late Comte de Paris,
| and sister Of the Duke OF Orleans
and Montpensier. had quarreled with
| her only son, King Manuel, about the
matter.
Last summer had occasion to deny
! in these letters the stories widely
| printed on both sides of the Atlantic,
to the effect that the then Crown
Prince OF Greece, now King Constan-
tine, and his wife, sister of the Kaiser,
had separated for good and all time.
and were contemplating divorce. These
denals may be said to have received
confirmation within the last fortnight,
by the new Queen of Greece giving
birth at Athens to n princess. The
King and Queen have five other chill
dren, two girls and three boys the
eldest OF whom. Crown Prince George.
Is twenty-three years o4 age, and the
! second just twenty. Both have taken
an active part in the recent war with
| Turkey. crown prince, indeed, be-
| ing wounded. though not dangerously.
| The King and Queen OF Greece have
| been married twenty-four years, and
| VIII celebrate twelve months hence
! their silver wedding
| That Queen Sophia Is devoted to her
| husband is perhaps best shown by the
! profound resentment which she still
| manifests 10 this day against those
military and naval officers and politi-
| clans who were responsible for the
| removal OF the then crown prince from
| the army, and for his virtual exile
from Greece three years ago; an exile
| from which. after the overthrow of
the military and naval junta, he was
| recalled by the people with enthu-
| siasm. For although the officers ana
| politicians concerned have benefited
| by the amnesty Queen Sophia aeso-
| lutely refuses TO recognize them in any
| way or to admit them to her presence,
| while their addresses and messages or
| sympathy on the occasion of the as
| sassination of King George remained
| without any response her part.
| She neither forgets nor forgives the
indignities placed upon her husband,
which looks. to say the least. as III
| she Is fond OF him.
Presidents OF the French republic
| are decidedly unfortunate In Gheir
| sonsin law, and 1t Is matt'r for
| congratulation tc his countrym'n that
| the present chief magistrate OF the
| nation, Raymond Poincare, Is childless.
| When Armand F'allieres WIS elected
| President OF the French !epuolic, he
| took a distant relative O. his wife to
| the Elysee with him as secretary
general His name wa' Jean Lannes.
| He hailed from the south, and was
| conspicuous for oil nose oddities OF
/ manner and bearins characteristic Of
| the Gascons. He vas totally untitled
| for the place. AID by his alternate
! familiarity and riuteur offended many
| of Fallieress trends and well-wishers.
| TO such an extcit that they went away,
| determined ntver again to cross the
! threshold OF the EIysee Palace, and
! filed with resentment against its mas
| ter.
l LanneST however, Hldue Tor MS
| DEFICIENCIES as chief secretary by de-
voting himself to the homely thirty
! five-y,ar- old daughter of his chief,
| and occurred her hand.
! b. that time President Falllcres had
| been made alive to the shortcomings
| of Lannes as secretary, and had.
| borrower. been warned, not only by
friends, but also publicly by the press.
What Il he retained the man under his
tn, lat, la III
himself to the same danger as Pres!-
dent Grevy, whose downfall and COM
pulsory resignation were brought
about by the fact that his son-in- law,
Daniel Wilson. living with him at the
Elysce, had made 1t his headquarters
for all his financial intrisues, and for
his questionable deals in connection
with the Destowal Of the Legion OF
Honor.
Accordingly Fallieres. besides pay
ing his daughter n dowry OF 5O0 900
francs, appointed Lannes to the ex-
tremely lucrative post of treasurer
general. that is to say, collector of
internal revenue of the metropolitan
district Of Paris. with headquarters at
Versailles, and salary of $4,000
Year.
The appointment, gazetted on tho
wedding day, gave rise to no end of
criticism. by reason of the fact that
Lannes had no fiscal experience what
soever, that he was pitchforked into
the office over the heads of many
hundreds of deserving men connected
with the treasury department. who
were in the line of promotion, ana
that there was absolutely no ground
for his receiving the post, save his
marriage to the elderly and plain
daughter Of the President
At first Iannes was very devoted to
his wife. But when President Falli-
eres's term of office was drawing to n
close. and he had made 1t absolutely
clear that he would not, under any
circumstances occcnk ro-aiartIon.