A KING, HIS MOTHER, AND HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2090, 27 May 1907, Page 4

A KING, HIS MOTHER, AND HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW.

It seems that there was considerable trouble at Madrid when it was known that King Alphonso had promised to provide a chapel in the palace for his mother-in-law where she could attend English Church services. There was great outcries against heretics,, and even the Pope was consulted on the subject. Such an innovation had never before been known i ll Catholic Spain. The Royal Family are very poor, and their poverty has been made greater by a most unfortunate occurrence.. During the war 'between Spain and America flip Queen-Mother, Maria-Christine, who dreaded a revo- < * should things go badly with Spain, sent her entire fortune, several millions of francs, to her mother, the Arch-DucJjess Elizabeth of Austria, from whom, however, sjio received no receipt. When her mother "was taken ill, the Queen hastened to lior in prder to regain her property, but, before anything could bo dope the ArchDuchess died, and there were no proofs to show that the large sums deposited in her name in a Vienna house-wore the property of lior daughter, To this day the Queen Ims had no compensation, nor has she been able to prove satisfactorily that she had given money into her mother’s keeping. Since this loss the Queen-Mo-ther has curtailed i lier expenses as much as possible, and has, with great injustice, boon called -mean. King Alphonso. is not himself a rich sovereign; he has little money, and is quite unable to make his mother the allowance which is fitting for her position.