The Washington herald., 1919-08-20
BY HAROLD L. BECHToL.

BY HAhOLD H. BEthloL.
Zurich. Switzerland. - Switzerland,
the asylum of dethronCd kings, sub
jcctless rulers and blue-blooded re-
:ugces. has more royal inmates than
ever before.
Almost every week a new one sneaks
across the border into exile.
Many are living inCognito.
The Swiss say more than half the
dozens of former German and Aus
/ trian kings are Ioafing about some
where.
! Some are standing on the roofs cry
ing PITY us
I Some are dissipating in luxurious
places on money they never did any
/ thing to earn.
The royal asylum is taking on the
aspect Of a permanent institution with
regular bOarders. Between drinks, cx-
ROYALTY is recOnciling itself TO a lonS
stay in the Alps.
As King Constance admits, the king
business is lean pickings.
Constantine. Ludwig, Karl and all
the Lesser royal lights can't understand
It. They are subjeCtless. Countryless.
Nobody wants to be ruled any more.
But don't waste any tears
None of them is hard UP or friend
less The lcavings of royalty seem to
have a way of taking care of their
own. ANYHOW
These exilcs live in the most dc
lIchtfuI SPOTS OF Switzerland.
They have more and better food,
in one meal than the average AmcrI-
can or Swiss has in two.
Have Families with Them
They are not lonely-most of them
have their entire families with them
others have their friends along.
They are all surrounded by admiring
hangers-on who sympathize, tatter
and cheer them up.
They have at call anywhere from
six to sixty servants apiece.
Those who don't live in mountain
castles. or Iakefront bungalows hid
den away on grounds worth So,OuO
sn aero. i've in beautiful suites OF
luxurious tourist hotels.
NJ Trrritct. on the eastern point OF
Lake Geneva. l found the hotels full
Of German and Austrian royalty, ltv-
ink like millionaires and dissiPatinS
nightly They sit about the magniti-
4 cent lobbies and smoking rooms until
I well toward morning, drinking heavily
] anu ~ lllIld llllLlllE " lNil FdNu OAllrAs
Often they drink so much they have
to be assisted to their rooms. One
/ woman. until recently a reigntng
/ duchess. I had pointed out to me
/ three times as the Cutup Of the party
I who drank 80 much she had to be
, carried to her apartment.
( Ludwig. Of Bavaria, on the other
| hand. lives quietly. though magnif-
Ia4Yuhfa- pr{nHisS
= HiIdegardc and some close friends
a the Castle of Sails in fhe noun
: tains Of eastern Switzerland near
C'hur. lie takes walks daily, is ap-
proarhabIe, frequently has his picture
snapped, and is in anything but hard
straits
Karl of Austria. came fleeing into
( switzerland scvera! months go with
his wife Zita, three children and an
army of servants. escorted by Col.
Strut OF the British army.
( The Swiss government didn't know
/ whether to admit him or not. fearing
at first the opinion of the allied world.
But swiss officials say Britain inter
. yenod. said his life was in danger and
got him in.
Lives in Fine style.
Part of the time he lives IN state
at Wartegg Castle. part of the time
in a beautiful yellow mansion on the
shore Of Lake Geneva, about twenty
/ miles from Geneva. He is there now,
hunting, fishing, walking and climb
I inE.
/ \ few days ago l went out to his
/ mansion from Geneva. He wouldn't
| be interviewed but his aides poured
/ out propaganda. He was such a good
! democratic king, they said. it seemed
| a pity nobody would let him rule
! them.
| They complained that he was con-
| fined in hunting to this one estate.
1 They had been notified, they said. that
/ Paderewski's chalet was adjoining and
| that If he shot anything on the
| pianists grounds it might mean some
| kind of a war between Poland and
| Austria And just because of his love
| for Austria, he wouldn't get her in
any trouble even if he did have tc
| stay on his own grounds to shoot
The amusing thing about it is thai
somebody is kidding him. Paderew-
skis home, found when I passed il
later. is miles up the lake. Several
estates separate 1t from karrs exile
home.
In company with other correspon-
dents l talked with ex-King Constan-
tine for half an hour in his luxurious
suite at the Hotel National at Lu-
Cerne.
His attitude was that kings no
longer have any power to do harm,
so why should not people be nice, and
| keep them, and provide funds ana
thrones, and let them run their courts.
Asked about the king business now,
he replied that divine right was an
exploded idea"
Il never did believe in divine right.
and neither did any other house in
Europe except the German ana Aus