New-York tribune., 1919-11-17
European Bureau


Copyright, 1919 New York Tribune Incl
LONDON, Nov. 16---London refuses
to let the mystery of Mrs. Alma v.
Steane die with her. Followin. the
testimony at the inquest, Friday, when
her husband declared sic he'd long
suffered from the hallucination t. at
both her pai i~aD' had committed suicide
and that hel mother was constantly
calling her to join them, the inquiry
deve oped to-day into an effort to- es-
tablish the real identity of this woman
whose origin has been shrouded in so
much mystery.
Upon tie correct age of Mrs. Steanc.
or Princess Vetsera as she always pre-
ferred to be cal ed. hangs the truth
Of her secret" which she was accus-
toned to confide to friends--that size
was daughter of Crown Prince Rldolph
OF Austria and TIE Baroness Marie
Vetsera who were found dead together
in hunting lodge in Meyer,ing For
est. If the story of her age as given
at the inquest as twenty years,
proves true, her claim to royal parent
age cannot have foundation in fact
because the Crown Prince and the
Baroness died III 1889.
Mistake Possible in Age
On the other hand, there is the posi-
hility of a mistake about her age That
given at the inquest is not regarded as
correct by Mrs. Steanes 1rienus. In
fact it was brought out that she fire.
quently had hesitated to give her cor
rect age. 1t was recall ed that when
she got divorce from her first hus-
band, George Osborn Hayne, in 1914,
she was caught up by the court when
She first etated her age as twenty-four.
and b,ushingly changed her reply to
twentysix. If the correction she made
at that time can be shown to have been
justified, she would have been thirty
one years old W. en- she died and her
aim to Hapsburg blood would gain
additional support.
The uncertainty and confusion re-
sulting from the dispute over her par
cntage has evoked a chal'e~gN ro~
English society. Mrs. Chester Ffoulkes,
widely known society w.iter, insis IS
she does not believe Mrs. Stcanes aim
| that she was the daughter Of pudolrN
and Marie Vetsera. Mrs. Ffoulkes ad-
'nts strong Hapsburg family re-
emblance in Mrs. Steanc, but ass orts
that her close friend, Countess Larisch
knew the Grown Prince intimately and
that he never told her OF the birth OF
any such child.
Failed to Claim Throne for Son
Mrs. Steane always insisted on her
royal ancestry. though she is not
known ever to have attempted to prove
her lineage legal y. She aways re-
erred to her son, Rudolph, the son
by her first marriage, as the natura
heir to the throne of Francis Joseph, >"
but when Francis Ferdinand, the heir
apparent, was assassiNated in Sera
in p,.,,
no etfort to claim the Austrian throne
for her son as against Charles. the
heir who did take the throne early
in the war. Mrs Steane insisted that
no CLAIM on my sons beha ever
will be made for his royal rights
I'D rather have him dead than on
he Austrian throne" she is quoted
as having said at another time. 81
want him to be just a simple little
English boy and when he grows up
he will be in the British navy"
Countess Larssch, who Mrs. Fou kes
says, had no knowledge of the birth
Of any child to Rudolph and Marie
IS herself Haps burg. There is. in
Mrs. Steane's favor, strong re
semblance between the two women.
and many regard this similarity as
ending plausibility to Mrs. Steane's
claim.
Story of Birth Denied
The association of the Crown Prince
and NJ rie Vetsera continued for two
years prior to the tragedy at Meyer
ling, where the baroness was found
dead on coucN covered with flowers
and the body of the prince on the floor
beside her. London soc ETY. people who
were in Vienna at the time of the
double death and who knew both the
prince and the pretty young baroness,
who, Mrs. Steane insisted, was her
mother, Y that throu@ out the entire
two years the royal couple--who loved
but cou q never marrv-was seen regu-
larly at ba operas, theater perform
ances AMI about the streets.
Robert Claremont, London broker
whose ia her occupied an official posi-
ton in the Austri n capital at the me
of the Meyerling tragedy, and whose