Evening star., 1923-12-06

4 pny slcldE. BOtu were Roman CdtnO-
| lies, but. on migrating to Russia. the
| doctor became a convert to the Greek
| Church, his wife remaining a Roman
! Catholic. Subsequently they quarreled
| and the doctor obtained a divorce In
| the Russian ecclesiastical court. On
the strength of Tins the lady con-
tractsd. in Parts. In 1892. a marriage
with Prince Adolf Wrede, who only
lived with her a short time and then
abandoned her. on the ground that he
had discovered that the ecelesiaStj teal
courts at Petrograd had exec ed ed
I their powers in granting a legal dis
solution OF the marriage contracted
by two Roman Catholics in Austria,
before being naturalized in Russia.
On this plea the princes marriage was
! not only declared null and void By the
| courts of Bavaria--that is to saw. Of his
native land-but also by the hoiv synod
az Petrograd. The prince appealed to
the French courts to prevent the
| woman from continuing to style herself
Princess Wrefle. but failed in his ef-
| forts. and she forthwith came to Amer
! lea. where for a time she had a certain
vogue as a vaudeville artistic and music
| hail divette, seeking and obtaining a
| considerable amount of newspaper no.
| toriety.
The prince, on the strength Of the
dissolution OF his marriage By the Ba-
var|an courts. thereupon married at
Geneva in 1895 Spanish South Amer
! ican, Carmen de Alvear.- y Pacheco
| widow. OF Appollinario de Benetes. This
! second Princess Wrede has had ca
| reer OF almost as peculiar a character
as that Of her predecessor. She first
! attracted attention in Europe by being
| cited as correspondent in the unsuc-
cessful lawsuit brought against Sir
J Willy Abby by his eccentric first wife
| Nine. de Benetes travelled all the way
I tn IN, ~
in court to the fact that, not only was
she innocent of any wrongdoing with
Sir William Abby. who was a helpless
| cripple. but that she had never'even set
| eyes upon him or upon his wife, both
of whom were perfect strangers to her
| She explained In court that the sole
| reason that had led her to take any
| notice Of the affair was the persecution
several years previously in South Amer
| lea by Lady Abby. who, although a
| stranger, had addressed letters to. her
| and to her friends containing the most
slanderous charges.
~ + = $500.
il! Nine. de Benetes, on marrying Prince
Adolf wrede. settled down with him at
| Madrid. The attractions palled after d
time on the prince and princess, and
! accordingly they rented the, estate of
Bas sebow. in Mecklenburg- Schweriri,
from Count Frederick Hahn. There
| they remained until, in consequence of
a denunciation furnished by a revenge
| ful servant who had been discharged,
| the German police made a descent upon
nnense quantity of silver, bric-a-brac
and linen, stolen from most of the lead
ing hotels of Europe. From the Hotel
| D'Orsay, In Paris, alone there were no
Hess than fifty-eikht silver dishes and a
| dozen silver coffee pots, while among
| other hotels thus victimized were the
Kaiserhef in Berlin and the Hotel of
the Four Seasons Of Munich.
1t is only fair to Prince Adolf
hwrede to explain that he was COM
pletely cleared by the prosecution
from all completely in these amazing
thefts, while the princess w as de-
clared to be suffering from a remark
able form Of kleptomania and to be
mentally irresponsible. She was,
therefore, consigned to a sanitarium,
from which, eventually, she was dis
| charged as cured. But her liberia
tion did not result in any rgconciiia-
tion, and tho separation which had
| ensued when the police made. their
| seizure became permanent tShe took
up her residence at Montreux on the
Lake Of Geneva, and thenceforth de-
| voted all her energies to snbjectins
the Eprince to every sort@$ef annoy
! ancc. Thus. her denunciauons led to
his being arrested. by the Swiss au-
thorities in 1917 for acting as a Ger
man spy and for smuggling large
quantities of goods into Germany, ac-
| cusations of which he found no diff
Guilty In clearing himself. though not
until he had spent several days In
Jail. 20
The Wredes: are a very ancient
family; ha1ling originally from. West
phalia, but having been settled for
centuries in Bavaria They were
harons OF the. old and now defunct
Holy Roman Empire. were created
French counts by Napoleon /. in 1909,
and Bavarian princes In 1914, In
recognition of the gallant attempt oi
the Bavarian field marshal. Count
Charles Wrede, to block the retreat
of Napoleon: to Ffance, at Hanau
after-the battle Of Leipzig