Imperial Valley press., 1914-03-10
PROSPECTIVE QUEEN :
AND LOVE AFFAIRS

|OnCe upon d liIile IIteES WAS u Ming
and he had four daughters. And the
king was much perpleXed where he
should find suitable husbands for them.
For he was kindly man and they
were beautiful girls"
We can we'll imagine this as the
opening paragraph of an old time
fairy tale. But in this case it is an
actual, acute situation staring in the
face of that much harassed man, the
ear of the Russias.
Several years now the scandal mon
gers of Europe have been explaining
the marriages of eXpediency ar
ranged for the charming quartette.
Perhaps they have been right. At
least none of the stories have fallen
vet by the fact of the girls wedding
someone else than the scandal mong
ers' choice.
The cloud Of rumors has swirled
most thickly about the proud Olga,
the eldest daughter, because there is
great likelihood of her inheriting the
throne by the demise of her tubercu-
lar little brother.
Here is indeed fitting subject for
the romancer. Sweeping, imperial.
with a curl of her lip so cold and
naughty that it would almost belle
her reputation for good nature, she
is every inch a queen. There is
magnificence about her youthful car
riage rarely attained even by royal
blood
Yet she cares nothing for the throne
ard the ermine, the crown diamonds
and the sceptre It is we'll authenti
Gated that she tried to throw herself
away upon her young cousin, Prince
Dimitri Paulovitch, the son of the
prohigate Grand Duke Paul,
For years a romance developed
between them. There were clandes-
tine meetings and the royal girl con-
cealed in her bosom a diamond pen
dant (which the young prince had
~iven her. The revelation Of her in
fatnation of the czar and czarina pre-
cipitated several fearful scenes. The
grand duchess STAMPED her foot like
any common girl. She would not be
sacrificed as a wife for any pin
headed nrincely weakline. She would
marry the man of her choice.
The car is said to have at last
consented. 1t was decided that the be-
trothal be published to the world.
Ard then the Grand Duchess Olga
had the rudest shock that ever came
to any Young princess of the blood.
Prince Din1itri confessed that he loved
her sister Tatiana more than Olga.
Where Olga is stately, Tatiana iS7
irresistiblv attractive. Where the
elder sister is magnificent, imperial,
capable of gracing throne, the sec
ond daughter is winsome, magnetic,
capable of becoming great actress
and taking captive the heart of ma
ton with her magic smile.
If there had been turmoil in the
czar's houshold before. it was as moth
ing compared to the storm now. The
czarina. always neurasthenic from the {
many nameless terrors that surround
her family, collapsed completely and
retired to her beautiful retreat in the
Crimea. The prince, who was the
cause of the trouble, left the coun-
try. His exile was completely abso
lutte. He seems now to have been
shut out Of the list of eigibles en-
tirely.
This list of eligibles is not long
one and the daughters of the czar
have a way of turning up their pref
ty noses at almost every name on it.
the list is the young Prince
OF Wales, a school boy, thin faced,
weakly, given to overmuch cigarette
perhaps too greatly coddled
by a foolish mother Accustomed to
the virile, if dissipated, society of
St. Petersburg, the grand duchesses
are not so much impressed by the
British heir apparent He is said to
admire much the beautiful Tatiana,
but the reports that the affection is
mutual are not we'll borne out.
The second most ieligible young
man from the point of rank and sta
ton. is Adalbert, third son of Kaiser
of Germany.
He is stocky, rugged, far removed
in appearance from the Prince OF
Wales. Royal parents have thrown
him ard the quartette of imperial
girls together. But nothing has hap
pened.
In the olden days nothing was ex-
pected to happen. Rather it made no
difference. But times have changed.
The royal girl demands her romance.
She will not be cheated out of her
need Of love and affection. She has
read the romantic novel and she
knows what is her due of love and
affection as woman. She demands ,
to marry the man she loves. She will .