Evening star., 1921-07-24
BY COUNTESS LOLA D'AURIAc.

- queen in spite Of herself.
Until recently she was Princess
Elizabeth of Rumania. Today. as the
result of her recent marriage to the
Crown Prince of Greece, she is the pre-
sumptive successor to Queen Sophie. the
strong -wiiled consort Of King Constan-
Hohenzollern.
But she didn't want to be queen.
| The daughter of a re.Ening sovereign,
| one mad none Of that glamour which it
| was confidently believed to possess
for the American millionairess-ror-
merly Mrs. w. B. Leeds and now
at one time appeared to have moro
{ than a sporting chance OF becoming
queen Of her adopted country:
my daughter ~, always wanted 1,,sd tel
Rumania told me with that simple
! dirrctness which is one Of her most
| engaging qualities. one day when we
were taking about the double royal
/ t..rouGnout Europe. What sac will
! say .ow tEat the posslUil.ty has
arisen of her husband becoming king
Of the Helienes l don't know Still,"
don't think that an objection to a.
throne would be taken as q sufficient
reason for a divorce"
This is no news to those who. like
the writer. have been privileged to
She has. as Americans say, mo use."
for throne. and for six years. when
her present husband was crown prince
and the royal family Of Greece had
not passed into exile. she refused his
| repeated offers of marriage.
| f,t h..
1ectirg throne for those six
years she accepted the prince when
! he was an exile without any ap-
parent prospect of ever coming to
| the throne. Withip six weeks he was
| again heir-apparent. with his father
once more throned amid the plaud.ts OF
; the tickle crowd OF Athens.
OF Princess Elizabeth's character
tics curiously little is known outside
of Rumania's royal circle. She is
really homc-loving girl, whose !
modest house in the Rumanian cap
ital. She hoped to be free from the
crippling formalitieS of a court. This
princess who sighed for the simple |
life wanted to be able to do her own
housekeeping. like any other Rumanian i
woman.
She knew that in the fierce light
that beats upon a throne" she would
be no longer free TO do what she
liked. She could not have her own
the right place in the table of pre-
! cedence. She could not give snug
! little parties to her intimates or move
about when and where she pleased
just like any ordinary woman. A
queen is never her own mistress. Nor
can she be the mistress Of her own
| home, She must conform to rigid 1
etiquette and be the center Of a world
| Of dull and deadly routine.
Instead of pleasing herself. it will
her husbands future kingdom. In /,
stead Of choosing her own friends
they will be chosen for her. All her
waking hours will be full of royal
duties. Her life will no longer be
her own to do with AZ she will. She'l
| matter how rich the gilt it will ali
| ways be a cage.
And the. princess knew this and
dreaded II. She fought against it'll
fought for freedom, but the stars inll
their courses made naught Of herl
who did not want to be a queen 10
very real one. 4
Perhaps the most unassuming roy
atty who ever shrank from throne.
| the princess today at the age of
twenty.six, is one Of Europe's pre-
carved her face. so clean-cu SO reg
! ular. so perfectly proportioned are
her features But no artist In marble
or stone could have reproduced her
! large. lustrous dark eyes or the en-
chanting cream of her wonderful
upon, but she surpasses them all.
Like her mother, she has genius for
dress. Indeed. she often anticipates
| the fashion. After the English style
her mother. OF course. was an Eng
lish princess-she dressea simply and
discreetly. Never extravagant or
sensational. she strikes happy me-
dunn. as her mother always has done.
in the matter of length Of her skirts
and the other points Of dress In
which the woman Of fashion, who Is
, also modest. contrives to compine
smartness with discretion.
1t was characteristic OF her that
her trousseau was almost wholly mace
vision and that of her mother Both
are experts with the needle and can
design q dress as we'll as make II.
The wonderful embroideries which
were the gift Of the peasant women
will prove charming reminoer ot
the strange accident which set Tino
on his throne again. she would nave
passed her life. <l
The transition. to the court OF
Greece will be a strange experience.
, Though Elizabeth Of Rumania is an
English. French. German and Ru-
manian with equal ease-she has been
used to talk English in her family
circle. English one .magines, Is not
The family Language of the Gr:''an
It may not be generally known that
from a court is probably the most
PEga'as Hsr essential % Simplicity and true
kindness of heart has led her to make
! it q rule never to refuse to act In
this capacity when asked. NOV. Now Sn sns
the, old woman In the shoe, she does
not know what to do with them
Not only has she become the mother
by adoption TO the sons and daughters
| OF her many friends. but also she mas
! honored the children OF the palace
servants.
every right to be proud. ) But pride
| is foreign to her nature.
An incident which happened one
day when ! was lunehins with the the
royal family shows how absolutely
A question arose as to q certain
kind of flower which ] had found
in the woods. I remarked that 1t
\ was new to me. The king, who ike
| the queen is a keen botanist. wanted
! to name it for me. But the specimen
was in another part Of the palace.
| it for us and would not let any one
else go for II.