The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-05-26
ALL PICKING BRIDE
English Society and Press 'sAd-
wise. Prince of Wales.
No British Blood Now i'm ROYAL
Family, Asserts Critic.
BY LOWELL MELLET.

London, May 26-English society
has sidetIe4cked most other activities
for the serious business of picking u
bride for the Prince of Wales. The
prince him somewhere in Franco,
is wooing the fortune of war, proba
bly, unaware of the concern he is CIV
ing English society.
Society'S cause for concern is the
fear that the prince may follow the
precedent of preceding heirs to the
! throne and marry a foreign princess
even a German one, for which the
precedent is very recent And society
spelled with either a small or 4
capital "S' isn't going to stand for
anything like that. "A British queen
for the British is becoming society's
motto and it has passed from whis
pering tea-time circles to the bold
publicity of the newspaper editorial
page Conservatives and radicals
alike are declaring it.
No British Blood in Royal Family.
$50 far as Britain is concerned the
German loyal matrimonial emporium,
henceforth is a bankrupt and discred-
tied concern, and the maria geable
members of our royal family will BE-
pleased tC look for consorts nearer
home"
This is from Northcliffe's conserva-
tive Weekly Dispatch.
I'VE went no more foreigners in
our royal family. 1t is not their fault.
pure German in blood, and that when
ever and wherever a royal prince or
princess is born it is sure German in
blood. There is no British blood in
our royal family. The remedy is OBJ
vious."
That from the more radical Even
ing Star.
English opinion, at the present
time, would rather see a British
prince take his wife from the chorus
or the gutter than from a German
royal house. And that, of course, is
not the alternative
SO chimes in the Ma nchester Dis
patch.
Would Change Marriage Law.
! These newspapers and others are
| urging revision of the royal marriages
act, whereby princes of the royal line
foreign princesses. The law was
passed in 1772 as the result of George
HIS anger at two brothers who mar
ried English ladies of far from royal
rank. 1t has had many awkward con-
sequences, since outside of Germany
nearly all reigning houses are Roman
Catholic, with whom an alliance
would be impossible for the head of
the Church of England.
This causes a correspondent of the
London Times to say:
THE Russian royal family are not
barred on religious grounds but after
the recent revolution it would be a
blazing indiscretion for our court to
bring about an alliance with them
The royal families of Italy and Bel
GUM are barred by Roman Catholi-
cism and the French Bourbon and Or
leans princes or pretenders are equal
" ineligible for that reason or for
the offense which would be given the
French republic"
Almost all discussions of the sub
| ject, therefore. get back to principle
of British bride for the heir ap-
! parent.
AS terrible examples of German all
| llances the eX-Tsaritza and Queen
Sophie of Greece are held up. The
one is believed to have exerted great
| influence over the car and the other
to have aided materially the kaiser's
control of King Constantine.
| The German queen mother of Hol-
| land and the German queen of Swe-
] den likewise are held up to view as
| instances of the danger, while the
Manchester paper brings the matter
closer home, by saying:
| Even in England the position has
not always been as clear as one would
have liked to see it. We have seen a
| midst while her son was in arms
against US. We have seen the brother
of royal prince who fought and died
for England fighting for Germany and
| telling an American reporter that he
| hoped the fact of his detection had
rot caused him to be struck off the
| list of members of his London club"
The masses will not insist on the
maintenance of the old system, the
| Dispatch says. "They always take the
romantic view of affairs of the heart"
!