The Washington herald., 1914-03-15
=. ,
REAL ROMANCE
OF ROYAL PAIR
Birth of Bonapartist Heir Re-
calls Love Match Of Victor
and Clementine.
PRINCESS A PRISONER
Belgian King Leopold Held Daughter
Six Years to Prevent Marriage
to Napoleon.
PRINCESS A PRISONER


An heir has been born to the official
pretender to the throne Of France. The
Bonapartist party Is rejoicing over the
arrival OF a prince imperial, and the
mother of the little prince, who was
Princess Clementine Of Belgium, oe-
clares she is the hsppiest woman In the
world. She has prayed for a son, ana
now the son is born.
Il was a real royal romance. that OF
Prince Victor Napoleon and the Belgian
princess. For six years the two waited
for, each other; for old King Leopold,
the fatherIof the princess, forbade their
marriage. The mere prospect Of II
helped to embitter his last days. and
even on his deathbed he warned his
youngest daughter again the fatal
prompting of her heart and fancy. He
reminded her, almost with his expiring
breath, of the Bourbon blood In her
veins, of the position Of her fance as
the undisputed head of the Bonaparte
family, and of the irreconcilable feud be-
tween the two sets of pretenders to SOW
ereignty in France-the royalist and i'm
perialist.
The engagement between the princess
and the pretender to the hypothetical
throne OF the French was somewhat
romantic oneI For twenty-four years,
since he was exiled from France, the
chief of the Bonapartists had lived in
Brussels. His life. to outward appear
ance, was of somewhat morose resigna-
ton. He did not plot in his great house
on the Avenue Louise, but neither did
he show contentment with his lot.
Tryst mt paper Chase"
Brussels is a comparatively small city.
but the first inkling Of the fact that the
prince and the princess were attentive
was given at one of the horseback paper
chases, which are among the favorite
recreations of Brussels society. At this
paper chase Prince Victor was victori-
Gus and Princess Clementine attached
the trophy, a bunch of ribbons, to his
coat. Her act appeared significant At
once the engagement was declared to be
certain.
Shortly after this Prince Victor drove
TO the great royal palace in Brussels to
ask the old King for the hand of his
daughter. And now the subtle genius OF
the crafty old monarch displayed itself
in all its power. Receiving the French
pretender with the exquisite Difference
his manner could assume. the willy King
prOfessed his perfect willingness to ac-
cept the prince for a son-in-law Blu,
since the French republic had raised OBJ.
jections, Leopold must forbid the bans"
Princess Clementine had intimated a
purpose to avail herself of her legal ad-
b. vantage of being thirty-two years old by
marrying her lover In that event Leo
pold assured the pretender. he should be
put TO the painful necessity of disowning
Clementine as he had disowned his two
other daughters 1t was of the utmost
&C sequence to the Belgian sovereign, as
head of the Cong State. to maintain
friendly relations with the foreign Office
in Paris. The safety of Belgium itself
depended upon French good will
King Laughs ut Pretender
When the Bonaparte pretender, after
listening TO this exposition of dynastic
diplomacy, ventured TO speak of love,
LeopOld's only reply. it was said, was
"ineNtinguishable laughter" But the
prince had formed an enduring affection
for gthe princess and he was resolved to
hide his time.
And the grim old King kept his young
est daughter prisoner. 1t was the
time when the moral wreck of the King
OF the Belgians had filled the world with
its scandal His character. colossal in
every respect, lost no vigor in the capac-
ity Of jailer. and the helpless Clementine
burst not stir from her room without
the prior permission of her iDexora BILE
parent. Daily she was summoned to the
presence of her father. who put to her
the query:
VIII you swear never to see this
man.
The answer Of the princess was the
sweetest. but the frmest; for she never
forgot her sense of duty to her parent,
whom she tenderly loved when all the
world was filled with loathing for his
vices. And the old king who hated his
wife, hated his sister. hated his two
e!Ger daughters. loved jealously, selfish
~. his youngest child, the Princess Glenn
entine.
When he came home to Brussels from
tho dancing girls nj ariS n ie
senile junketing on the Riviera, il was
she who nursed him back to a kind of
health and decency. She drove abroad
with him, and when she was with him
the people did not hoOt him in the
streets. With kindly respect they lifted
their hats TO the Princess Clementine
and her old father grinned and bowed
and took the saluteS TO himself He
never appeared in public in his own
kingdom unless she were by his side
She was his shield and his buckIer; she
vas his nurse and his companion; and
she was the dog on the threshold; so
perhaps it was not for diplomatic rea-
sons only that the monarch feared to see
his daughter wed.
Love Kept Waiting.
And the sweethearts waited, growing
older. Now and then they saw each
other-at the opera, at the court, ats the
chase. They still loved each other de-
votedlyt they were of the race of great
sweethearts in spite of the fact that the
princess was slowly whitening and that
the prince was turning bald and wax
ing fat. In those long years of waiting
the princess grew to be's symbol--a syrn-
bul OF unhappy love for the entire ma
tion. Calm Belgian sweethenrts promised
each other to love like Ciementine.
Six years they waited. And then King
Leopold died and King Albert ascended
the throne.
With his accession the royal objections
were removed. This was due largely TO
the attitude OF Prince Victor himself,
who always refrained from attending Of
fetal fetes and ceremonies in Brussels
and from in any way embarrassing the
relations of Belgium and France. As soon
as court etiquette allowed, the two faith
fuI sweethearts were married at Mon
calieri, Italy.
A Cousin of Italian King.
Prince Victor is a cousin of King Vic
tor Emmanuel, OF Italy. And the cere-
mong took place in the royal castle erect
ed in the fifteenth century, to which
Princess Ciotilde. sister OF King Humbert.
Of Italy, and mother OF Prince Victor
Napoleon, retired after the overthrow OF
the French Empire. Public rejoicing