Imperial Valley press., 1926-11-27
Ey JOHN MONTGOMERY
United Press Staff Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27.-Qucen
Marie Of koumania came 10 Amer
lea 10 escape the political intrigue
Of an old world court.
She became the unwilling center
rof another tango that cut short her
rejected tour of the United States
and virtually forced her to flee back
|; to RoumaDia.
And now comes word that the i'll
ness of her royal husband, Fcrdi
nand, is serious and not diplomatic
Illness; that his death NAV follow I:
and Queen Marie is on the high seas
with the prospect of the most in
VOWED intrigHcS Of all ahead Of her.
Compared To the questions of who
might become regent Of Roumania
all of the petty chickering's Of her
American trip become significant.
There will be tlte question of whcth=
cr She will remain the power behind
he throne; whether her hopes can
be realized that Prince Nicholas can
become head of the Kingdom; in
short The queStiO Of who viii retain
control. These problems she must
work ont in the midst Of all the in.
triguc and bargaining for which the
Balkans are famous.
With Marie on the Atlantic, the
book of her American tour is closed
and it is possible to review it and
take stock Of the amazing events OF
which the American public caught
only an occasional glimpse-evcnts
which may be donbly interesting in
view of the intrigucs to come.
Reasons For Trip
Queen Marie came to America for
the country; she wanted her son,
Nicholas, whom she is grooming for
the throne, to get a glimpse of af
fairs in the great republic, and she
undoubtedly had I'm eye to the flu
turc commercial or economic advan-
tagc TO Roumania of having its
queen we'll known and possibly we'll
liked by the American people and
iii American governmental, social
and financial circles But a fourth
and perhaps the primary reason, was
her desire TO escape the involved po-
litical intrigue of Bucharest and al
low her government faction to 'ad
Just affairs to her satisfaction with
out the embarras of her pres
ence.
Marie is the power behind the
throne Ferdinand is king and she
has no official status, but she wields
the unseen scepter and, in the Amer
lean phrase. what she says goes
The reasons for her abrupt re-
turn, at the request of the crown,
undoubtedly lay in the unpleasant
publicity over the squabbles which
marked her entire trip All hands,
including the queen, felt she was
losing face and a return ON the
good preteXt of the kings illness
was advisable What part the po-
litical developments in Bucharest
during her absence played in the
recall was not known here
Center of Storm
Cnrtailmcnt of the queen s tour
ended situation which virtually
was the transfer of the plotting of
y European court to a special train
speeding over the landscape of the
world S greatest republic
The center of the storm was Loic
Fuller Miss Fuller is an elderly
woman, former ballet dancer She
has known the queen since her maj
csty was crown princess and is her
intimate friend.
The chief objection to Miss Fuller
lay in the charge that she planned
series of benefit affairs bv her
troupe of ballet dancers at nearly
every important city touched on the
tour which the queen would attend
and by her presence attracted an
enormous and lucrative audience.
Opponents of Miss Fuller objected
10 the profit she would reap and
the "cXploitation' of the queen.
After the fiasco of the first per-
formance, held in the Metropolitan
Opera house in New York, the
American sponsors of the tour fore
ed cancellation of the others.
The leading persons in the turbu-
lent affairs of the queen 5 trip, in
addition TO Miss Fuller, were:
Ira Nelson Morris. retired
Ii,1nn,,+