ROYAL ALLIANCE NOT LOVE MATCH

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 568, 17 May 1913, Page 3

ROYAL ALLIANCE NOT LOVE MATCH

It can hardly be said, even by a stretch of the imagination, that the engagement of Princess Victoria Louise, the only daughter of the Kaiser, and Prince Ernst of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Braunch-weig-Luneburg, who has been eroneously called the Duke of Cumberland, is a love match. Despite the often reported statement that the Kaiser's daughter would follow the dictates of her heart, and would never be sacrificed on the political altar, the impression prevails that the alliance is largely, if not entirely, political. I It is a typical German "practical marriage," an alliance wherein the heart's inclination may not be excluded, but where love probably figures less than high politics, just aa many marriages is other strata in Ger man society where practical questions in regard to property, society and bu iness are usually considered first and are regarded as the soil in which love will sprout later. UNION TO END LONG FEUD. The alliance of the young couple will bring a oractical solution of the Guelph question and will end the forty-year feud between the English Gueplh house and the reigning house of Hohenzollern. Prince Ernst |b the grandson of the English King of Hanover, blind George ; who was deposed in 1866 by Prince Bismarck and the Kaiser's grandfather. Hanover was annexed to Prussia because King George refused to join Prussia in the war against Austria. Prince Ernst s mother is a sister of Queen Alexandra of England. As a result of a resolution of the Federal Council of the Empire, no Cumberland can mount the throne of Brunswick until the Cumberlands renounce their claims to the Hanoverian throne. While it is said that this renunciation will shortly be forthcoming, that being one of the conditions of the marriage contract, other reports have it the present duke has refused to renounce his claims, but that his son will do so after his father's death. ALLIANCE PLEASES GERMAN PEOPLE. In political circles the alliance with Geramny is considered as being the happiest possible solution of the old feud. It is expected that the old Guelph party, which has always managed to elect several members of the Reichstag, now will disappear as a political entity, though it never was a considerable factor. The house of Guelph is one of the oldest of the noble families of Germany, older even than the Ilohenzollerns. It traces its origin to Richard Benno, A.D. 761. The death of Prince Ernst's elder brother in an automobile accident in 1912, when the Kaiser expressed his condolences in an unusually sympathetic manner, which action was followed by Prince Ernst calling on the Imperial family at Potsdam to thank the Emperor, was one of the first steps in closing the gulf between the Hohenzollerns and the irreconcilable Guelph Duke of Cumberland, who still maintained his claims to the Hanoverian throne. ALLIANCE LONG TALKED OF. The negotiations between the Kaiser and the Duke of Cumberland, the claimant of the Hanoverian throne, for the latteri' son to marry Princess Victoria Louise have been going on since last autumn. The Duke of Cumberland, it is reported, for a long time declined to even listen to a proposition that his son should marry a daughter of Hohenzollerns. When the Kaiser and the Duke met recently there was an awkward pause, but the Kaiser, with his usual tactfulness and graciousness of manner which few can resist, saved the day with a hearty greeting and the remark that he was glad to meet the father of his future son-in-law. The coming bride and bridegroom made their royal entrance into the capital through the Brandenburger gate, thence up Unter der Linden through crowds of cheering people. They were escorted by the entire regiment of the famous Zieten Hussars, who were commanded in their time by the great grandfather and the grandfather of Prince Ernst. The Empress sat by the side of her daughter on the front seat, the Emperor and Prince Ernst facing them. MARRIAGE SET FOR AUTUMN. The marriage will probably take place on the birthday of the Empress, October 22nd. Princess Victoria Louise will be twenty-one years old in September. She has been much petted, but has not become spoiled. She is a favourite with the Imperial family. She cannot be termed beautiful, but is attractive and has a certain charm. She is a favourite with the German people, because of her girlish simplicity, her unffected a manner and dress, and her close attention to her mother, the Empress, which has always appealed to German people. There seems to be some probability that Prince Ernst will be given the throne of Braunchweig-Luneburg later on. There is even talk that the Kaiser may endeavour to have Braunch-Luneburg raised to a kingdom so his daughter may be a queen Prince Ernst is now an officer in the Bavarian heavy cavalry. It is announced that he will receive a commission in the Zietan Hussars, one of the oldest and most famous regiment »n present commission. REPORTED ENGAGED SEVERAL TIMES. Princess Victoria Louise has been reported as engaged to almost every eligible young prince in Europe. Last year it waß reported that she had fallen in love with Count Fugger, an officer in the Emperor's bodyguard. Count Fugger is a scion of a family which was the financial Rothschild of Germany during the reign of Charles V. The Kaiser soon took her to Corfu, for the purpose, it was said, of enabling her tu forget the count. ?A few months later it was reported from Neustrelitz, where she was

visiting, that she had fallen in love with Prince Adolph, the heir to the thrones of the grand duchy of Meek-lenburg-Strelitz, and that the engagement might soon be expected. Princess Victoria Louise was brought home and the prince was sent away for a time. The Cumberland family is one of the richest in Germany to-day. It is said that Princess Victoria Louise's dowry, for that reason, was not much of a factor, but for the sake of regularity it was specified in the agreement it will be sufficient for pin money for the future Duchess of Brunswick.