Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1906. ROYAL COURTSHIP.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3631, 31 March 1906, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1906. ROYAL COURTSHIP.

Those who have kept a keen eye on Foreign cable items appearing in New Zealand journals of late months cannot help but feel thank' ful that they are "nobody’s” compared with Royalty. At least, we should imagine SO) when we realise that every act of appreciation Orl the part of King Alfonso and Princess Ena of Battenburg toward each other is flashed across the globe by cable and so made public. As an exchange puts it. King Alfonso’s official cou.tship of Princess Ena is carried on, so to speak, in the full glare of the footlights, his methods of love-making criticised, and tile effects of his daily meetings with his inamorata duly noted’ and made public in the newspapers. We. are told that the King goes forth to see the Princess "gay and sprightly," and returns to Spain " downcast and pensive." Every purchase (and its value) the King makes for his future Queen, is recorded and noised abroad, while the young couple cannot enjoy a moment alone in the moonlight without being disturbed by a host of reporters and snap-shotters. Worse than all, it appears that every piece of the future Queen’s trousseau, down to the daintiest item of lingerie must, in accordance with some ancient custom, be publicly exhibited in Madrid. It would seem that a Roval couple can never enjoy that sweet comniunjon which is be-towed on engaged couples of lower rank, and thus many victims of Venus rejoice—fir their own sake’s, of course. The courtship under review is being carried out on strictly official lines, and under close supervision all the time. This would not matter much if the King’s marriage was simply one of expedience, but, if it is true, as alleged, that he is deeply in love with the Princess, and that love is reciprocated—well , we can all imagine their fellings and sympathise with them heartily.