The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-23
ROYAL REFUGEES
 ARE BLOCKING | TO SWITZERLAND
More Ex-Kings and Nobles There Than in Any
 Other Country.

T O." become since the armistice the refu- more ex-kings, ex-princes and ex- nobility in Switzerland than in any other country in the world.
 Former Emperor Karl of Austria Hungary has been residing at the beautiful chateau of Prangjns near Geneva, since a few days after the armiStiee when, accompanied by British officers, he was rushed across
 the frontier. The lives of the Inn
 perial family were believed to be in
 danger in Vienna at the time. The
 chateau at Prangins belongs to Mrs.
 Helen Clarke, of New York, and was
 formerly the property of Prince Je- rome Bonaparte.
 Karl spends most of his time shooting, fishing and boating. His
 wife, the former Empress Zita, has much to do looking after the welfare of her five children, one of the young l arch dukes being in rather feeble health.
 The Associated Pres correspondent met the formerly imperial couple a few days ago. Dressed as ordinary tourists they had come here from Prangins on shopping tour when the correspondent ran across them in
 
 companied and Karl was loaded with parcels. No one took any notice of the couple
 Karl greatly embarrassed the Swiss | President recently. The former Elm peror sent him a message announcing l the birth of a son, adding ''he was l happy and proud to feel that he had | a son born in Switzerland, the cradle | of the House of Hapsburgs.' The | ruins of the original chateau of the l Hapsburgs built in 1920 still exist in | the Canton of Argovie but it is said 1 that, owing to the fact that for more
 than a century the Austrians have been considered as hereditary ene- dent thought the message from the 1 former emperor was in doubtful l taste.
 The former King of Bavaria, Lud-
 wig ILL, who celebrated his 75tt | birthday few days ago with all tht
 members of his family, resides at Lo | carno. He crossed the Swiss border { ! few days after the armistice and haI not returned to Germany since. H' spends most of his time reading
 books on the late war and motoring
 around the beautiful lake of Lugano
 It has been stated that he has show
 signs of insanity, hereditary in hi
 family and he is always accompaniet by Munich mental expert
 His nephew, former Grown Prime Rupprecht of Bavaria, makes ire quent visits to Dawes travelling nor
 or less incognito. His name was O. ] the list of Germans wanted by tn Allies for war crimes and he is re ported to be preparing his case in tn event of extradition being granted He is charged with being the frs German general to employ poisonou ! gas.
 The Crank Duke and Grand Ouch ess of Hesse came to Switzerlan during the German revolution an { have been residing here since. The Grand Duchess of Meckler burg -SchWerin. who has spent mos s of her time in Geneva since the be ginning of the war, recently told tn q correspondent that, in the past fiV s years, she had received very fe 2 letters from her daughter, the forme a Crown Princess Cecine of German 4 and attributed the fact to the il H fuence of the former German En a peror, with whom the Grand Ouch e s smiling1y acknowledged she was ''pe H soma non grata-" She denied, hoy q ever, the report that her daughtt S intended to seek a separation fro A the former Crown Prince Frederick. M There are several other ex-princ a in Switzerland whose chief preo q cupatiou is the depreciation of u S mark and calculation how to nal sa both ends meet
 8 All the foregoing have been 1ivil < quietly and have not attempted % break the rule of the Swiss gover z ment, conveyed to them in dipl < matic language at the time they too A up their residence in Switzerland, sA the effect that no political prop A ganda of any sort would be tolerate @ Ex-King Constantine and the fo Ea mer Queen Sophie, of Greece, ho7 k ever, have been much more proI # inent, and in fact, the present Gre S Minister at Berne publicly accus @ them in the Swiss press of being t F instigators and accomplices in t 1 plot against MT. Venizelos, which W
 recently discovered in Athens.
 Constantine and his family a, suite consisting of about thirty pc Ae sons stayed for some months at hotel in Lucerne but recently the C a1 King removed to St. .Moritz,. where, l. is said, lower rates were granted t
 ex-royalties, who were commenci
 to feel the pinch for funds. Tn 10 spend most of their time motoring. es Jewellers have prof1ted by the a CT vent of these erstwhile royalties ay Switzerland A diadem belonging " ex-Princess Zita, valued at 200,O
 francs was recently sold at Berne. - lot of very high-class jewels frc
 Austrian and Hungarian ~royalt
 ana aris+oo,-a cieS has been Durcha