Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-07-05
BY MARGARET 6. GETcHELL

BY MARGARET 6. GETCHELL
ME.lvENL il it be found that the world
II war has left no prince available for
sssmarfiagc with Princess Mary of Eng
Iss'and, and if, as now rumored, she is to
marry the Duke Of Dalkeith, she may
sMsstlll be Wedding royal blood, free from
@ssthe bar sinister, for there are we'll
hkSfounded claims that the S6ung duke is
AAdlrectly descended from a legitimate son
SSof Charles II. With one European mon
ssarchy after another being transformed
Unto republics, and the black lists
I created by the war making many former
princes ineligible as husbands for the
IIprincesses of the Allied countries, the
3lron laws of royal marriages are rapidly
being broken, and it is too much to ex-
epect every regent who is n fond papa to
ted a genuine prince for his daughter.
t Yet, though kings be but figure
heads, and though the people are be-
coming accustomed by a series of shocks
to Democratic indifference to caste, it
would be comforting to many an in
habitant of the British empire to learn
that royal blood flows in the veins of the
husband of their king and queen S. only
daughter. In fact, if today were a time
when the descendants Of former deposed
l!sovereigns> headed resurrections to win
back. the. throne for their families, there
might even be grounds for questioning
III the young duke. had not hidden ambi-
lions. But n claim which the family
might have was voluntarily r%elinquished
by his great grandfathV, who, in the
presence of Queen Victoria, burned
papers containing his claims to sovereign
.dghts.
On. Of tn. possibilities,
The Duke of Dalkeith is a son of
the Duke of Buccleuch, one. of the
: greatest mobiles of the British empire,
and is descended from the first and only
Duke of Monmouth. The latter was the
son of Charles II by his union with
Lucy Walters, to whom, it is claimed,
ne was lawfully married. The Duke of
Monmouth was brought up as a Protest
ant, and when his uncle, James II, sue
ceeded to the crown and attempted to
re establish the Roman Catholic re-
Hlgion, Monmouth raised the. standard
of revolt and gathered around him the
tProtesant ma%lcontcnts, with the object
'ofselsting his uncle from the throne.
q His insurrection was unsuccessful,
the revolt was crushed, he was con-
victec of high treason and rebellion,
44Ais dukedon of Monmouth was for
,feited and he was put to death on the
scaffold. Now, if his parents were law
fully married, as is, claimed, he UNI
doubtedly possessed rights to the crown
prior and superior to those of his uncle,
James II, for at that time there were
no statutes in existence preventing a
marriage of a sovereign or prince of
royal blood with persons of nonroyal
rank. -.
Until sixty, or seventy years ago, it
is asserted, q document was preserved
in the archives of the family affirming
under the hand and seal: Of Charles II
that he had been lawfully married to
Ldcy Walters on a given date and that
Monmouth was, therefore, his legiti-
mate son. The great grandfather of
the rumored iance of Princess Nary,
benign loyal subject Of Queen Victoria.
.ss said to have decided, that this docu-
ment ought to be. turned over to her.
It ii claimed this was done and the
prince c%onsort, in her presence and that
etthc duke, consigned the paper to the