Evening star., 1923-10-09
Duke Of Durcal, Though Related,
Is Unwelcome at Court of Madrid

! lest merchants in Madrid. In her
case, too. he strained to the break
ing point her generosity and exas-
perated her by hi mode of life. In
deed, the patience which she had
shown with him won for her the
goou will Of the reigning family,
despite her inferiority of birth and.
ultimately. she took steps to have h m
placed under restraint as mentally
unbalanced, a project with which the
king. after some exceptionally sensa-
tional escapade of the duke, felt HIM
self obliged to concur.
The duke escaped from Spain and
YVES next heard of at Monte Carlo,
where it was quickly intimated to him
that, his presence was source OF en-
barra ssment. and then he drifted on
to Switzerland and landed in Bern.
where his wife undertook to pay for
his board and lodging at one of the
leading hotels, on the condition that
he remained there. without. however.
allowing a cent Tor his pleasures or
pscket money. Then he endeavored
to start, from France. suit against
King Alfonso for conspiracy with
his wife TO deprive him Of his liberty.
OF course, no French tribunal would
entertain the prepoSterouS suit, ana
again he found it necessary to move
on, and so ca me 10 the United States.
II is needless to add that there Is no
vestige of truth in the story, accord
ing 10 which he is connected with the
Spanish embassy at Washington,
while, as l have pointed out above,
he is not royal prince Though he is
Spanish duke) and his relations
with King Alfonso and with the court
OF Madrid are, to say the least, strained.
4; !; x
Geza Mattachich. who has Just been
laid to rest in the humble BatignoI
cemetery outside the Cichy gate of
Paris, mourned only by Princess
Louise of Belgium, TO whom he had
sacrificed his one-time brilliant pros
poets and his military career. WAS not
a count and / do not know why the
, princess should have been so anX-
ious TO have him laid to rest in
CzechoSloVakia, for his home. until
he was attached by the late Emperor
Francis Joseph to the household of
her husband, Prince Philip of Cuburg,
was in Croatia, on the estates there
OF his stepfather, the late Count Os-
car kegleNitch, one of the great ter
ritorial magnates Of Croatia and
member OF the Hungarian house of
lords Indeed. the old count had ar
ranged to formally adopt him and to
beGueath him his entire property, as
we'll as to secure from the crown the
right to the status and rank of Count
kegleyi itch. Ii was these prospects,
indeed. that caused him to be looked
upon with favor at the court of VII
emma and to be assigned to a court Of
ICE. namely, to that of equerry to
l'rince and Princess Philip of Cchurg.
While acting in that capacily he
was the witness of such maltreat-
ment of the princess by her husband
that he fell compelled to interfere
in her behalf. Prince Philip did not
dare to demand his dismissal from
, the old emperor. beng afr i'd of the
/ revelations which would follow. But
from that time forth the princess
got into the habit of lookin. to the
| captain, who was an officer of a
nDi
ton from her husbands cruelty.
, Finally. the two men. after par
ticuiarly violent scene between the
royal couple. came to blows. and. as
! Prince Philip was obliged TO chal-
! lenge the captain tn duel The
! prince was slightly wounded. mere
/ sword prick in his arm, which ended
| come too public and as the authori-
| ties at the court of Vienna showed
! a disposition to regard the princess
| having. through the publicity of
| the duel in her defense. connrom 'sed
herself with Capt. Mattachich TO such
an extent TO render imper" tive
| her absence from Vienna for a time,
! she took her departure TO the Riviera
with the object of imploring the pro-
| lection of Queen Victoria. her grand
| aunt to whom she was devoted. The
{ csptain made the mist1ke of follow
| 'ng her to Nice. which furnished the
! ground for the ch7rge that they
eloped with one another Unfortunate
/ Tv Queen Victoria left for England
! within a couple of days after the ar
| rival of the princess without seeing
her. and. being without resources and
unable 70 get any monev either from
| her enormously rich husband nor
! vet from her father King Leopold,
, she soon became involved by her
! we'll nigh insane extravaganza and
: utter ignorance of the value of
| money in all sorts of difficulties into
! which she drn gEed the captain. un-
| til. finally she WIS locked up in a
| lun"tic asylum, and he court-mar-
| tailed and cashiered as responsible
! fer her financial Irregularities. Then
he rescued her from the san'ta rum
at Dresden, where she WIS under re-
! straint which was regarded as a
/ second e'opment and she was
! divorced from her husband cast off
) by all her relatives even by her son
and dsughter. who declined to accord
/, her any reief as long IS she remained
| with the captain. Now that he Is
dead some of them possibly her
/ daughter. a very wealthy widow may
take pity on her and provide for her
welfare during the remaining years
Of her unhappy life.