The Washington times., 1936-12-19

Pthe trouble She caused. ReaC
Plutarch to get some startling
parallels between the old ano
new worlds, when it comes tt
the question of whether g
sovereign may live his own life
With such monarchs as Cath
crime of Russia and Peter the
Great, who married a servant
girl, there was just no argument
about it. They just let theil
errant fancy range and it was
nobody's business. George vi ot
England, when he was a prince
had love affairs which later
historians have referred to as
the one redeeming feature Of his
career.
Disregarding a trem en- dous S
underestimate stir among his cabi,
net and courtiers, he married
Mrs. Maria Fitzherbert. But, to
all the rest of his realm, he kept
his marriage a dark secret and
forbade any record of it to be
made. 1t was not until 1905, more
than 100 years later, that his
torians found proof of his secret
marriage, although it had been at
tested by many unverified stories
The episode was unhappily ended
when the king made a cowardly
remuneration of Mrs. Fitzherbert
SaddeSt of all tales of royal ro
mantle dead-ends is that of the
Archduke Rudolf of Austria-Hun
gary and the spirited and beauti
full little Baroness Marie Vetsera
The Archduke, the only son OF
Emperor Franz Josef, loved the
Baroness devotedly and made a
brave fight against his family
councillors and family to win he1
for his bride. But he was finally
bludgeoned into marrying Prin
cess Stephanie. He and the Baron
eSs disappeared. A few days later
they were found dead in a hunt
ing lodge at Myerling, neal
Vienna.
The Archduke Franz Ferdinand
became enamored of the charm
ing Countess Chotek, a member
of an old and distinguished Bo.
hemian family. Again there was a
storm at court, and the battle OF
young love against the Sitting
forces of royal tradition. They
were finally married, but after an
oath of renunciation of the throne
and many other disvowals which
stripped away much of their regaI
status. A pistol shot at Sarajevc
ended the Archduke's life-ano
an epoch.
SAME OLD APPEAL
The world has never been tht
same since, except where the low
of king for a commoner is con
cerned. That seems to be th'
same old Pandora's box of trouble
intrigue, avid mob eXcitemen
and gangway for all the thwartec
buSybedieS of the world who wan
to get in on the uproar.
This country has taken officia
romance in it's stride. There wa
perky little Peggy O'Neill, a bar
keepers daughter who married 1
Secretary of War, split Andrew
Jackson's Cabinet wide open ant
wrecked the political career o
John c. Calhoun. There wa
nothing against Peggy, but a 10
of Sniffy old ladies in Washing
ton kicked up a fuss and mad
all the trouble-finding bar sin
lister. so to speak, in Peggys par
entage.
Grover Cleveland's affairs OF
the heart became a roaring ant
resounding issue in his first cam
paign for the presidency. Tha
was our first big tryout with (
gaudy sensation of this kind. W.
showed that we could stand VI
to any nation when it came t.
an outbreak of noise, vulgarit!
and bad taste.
Staunch old four-square Grove
blew all the smoke away in NJ
time. when he got around to it
by a blunt, honest statement o
| facts, subject to verification b,
anybody who wanted the truth
That was all there was to it, ant
his assailants had no comeback
Copyright, 1898. by King Features
Syndicate, 1ns.)