Evening star., 1923-04-06
nv THE MAnauIsE DE FoNTENoY,

Ii Il
Much as the marriage, at Rome, to-
morrow Of Princess y Yolanda OF Italy,
eldest daughter OF King Victor En-
manuel, to a young cavalry officer, OF
an entirely modern family OF the
Piedmontese petty nobility, possessed
of no fortune, short OF stature, not
| particularly good looking, but who
seems to have won the heart of his
popular and beautiful bride by his
magnificent equestrianisrn, appeals
to the romantic instincts OF her fell
How countrymen, and especially of her
| countrywomen. there is something
that will still more profoundly stir
public imagination in connection with
| the marriage. For the ceremony,
which takes place in the chapel of the
| palace of the Quirinal. which. by
| papal edict. has been closed for all
| divine service ever since 1S7o-that
| is TO say, for more than half cen
! tury-will be preceded by the investi-
ture of the thirty -eight-year-old pre-
| mier, the blacksmith's son and ap-
prentice, Benito Mussolini, with the
| Order of the Annunciation, by which
he is fpse facto converted into titu-
lar cousin of both his king and OF the
| princess.
| Benito Mussolini, in his capacity as
| prime minister, is called upon to per-
| form the preliminary civil portion of
the marriage ceremony as grand no
tary OF the realm. and 1t is a matter
l Of custom and tradition that the dig
nitary fulfilling this role at a royal
wedding should receive the Order of
thu ADnpociatto0
1t is an order which ranks in i'm
| portance with that OF the Garter, in
| England, and of the Golden Fleece, in
/ Spain. Indeed, it is far more spar
| ingly bestowed than the Golden
| Fleece. For, outside the princes of
few foreign sovereigns, there are not,
all told, more than eight or ten nom
+; royal Italians who are Knights of the
Annunciation. AS such, its holders
! have the pas" over all the other dig
nitaries of the kingdom. They rank
Immediately after the royal princes
and princesses, and above even the
greatest mobiles and princes and dukes
of the most illustrious and historic
houses of the italian patriciate.
ton of all ordinary tribunals. and
can only be tried after having been
duly impeached in parliament by the
! senate, sitting as the highest court of
! ju stice in the land.
! Moreover, their wives share their
! honors and prerogatives. and it may
| be recalled that during the reign of
| the late King Humbert n cabinet I
| crisis was caused by the refusal of
Queen Marguerite to accord the hon
! ors, and the prerogatives at court,
! claimed by the notorious Dona Lima
| Crispi after her husband. the. at one
| time all powerful Premier Francesca
Crispi, had become d knight of the
| tAnnunciation. Nine. CriSpi was a
woman of the most unsavory antece-
| dents, who had figured on the police
registers of Syracuse, and who lived
| for many years openly with Crispi,
until after their daughter had grown
up, when he married her IN order to
Ilegttimatize, after a fashion. the girl
on the eve OF the latter's becoming
the wife OF a noble of a distin-
guished Sicilian family.
Il .f ::
BY marrying Dona Lima before he
had relieved himself of the bonds of
| two previous matrimonial ventures,
Premier Crispi incurred public
charges of bigamy, and the minister
of justice, Senator Nicotcra, who had
made use of his official position to
quash the charges and to authorize
and to register the bigamous union.
was obliged to retire into private life
amidst the storm of popular execra-
ton.
Matters were complicated by the
fact that the second OF Premier
hsroires Of "Garibaldf1 historic