Their Majesties First Ladies of Europe

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 116, 6 August 1927, Page 17

Their Majesties First Ladies of Europe

(Written for THE SVH by

ERIC RAMSDEN)

The dra wing room doors of modern Europe fold back, and bowing with that gracious dignity which she knows so well how to command enters the First Lady of Europe — Mary, Queen of England, and Empress of India.

The herald —zve will call him Contemporary History—announces the Royal Presence. With due solemnity we make our bow as the first of the Royal Consorts makes her stately entrance. You, merry maidens, will make your dutiful curtsy.

QUEEN MARY of England is the most outstanding Royal personage in the world to-day. The awe In which the English throne has been held by foreigners can only be apreciated by a study of memoirs. The prestige of the British Royal Family, which was achieved under Victoria, is even greater under Queen Mary.

It was the Empress Marie of Russia, Queen Alexandra’s sister, who was responsible for the marriage of Princess May of Teck with Prince George. Marie remembered her own marriage, for she married Alexander after the death of Nicholas, to whom she was engaged at the time of his death.

Princess May was engaged to the Duke of Clarence, the eldest son of the Prince and Princess: of Wales (Edward and Alexandra). The favourite son of Alexandra died, however, and then May was betrothed to George, who ascended the throne as George V. Queen Mary has occupied her present exalted position for 17 years. Undoubtedly her tact and patience, the high moral tone of her court, and her own example, have done much to cement the deep-rooted ties between the Royal Family and the British peoples. There are few well-informed people nowadays who do not pay full tribute to her gracious bearing and the notable manner in which she has fulfilled her exalted past. "Every inch a Queen!” aptly desJribes her. Queen Mary has borne six children, five of whom are living. The Prince of Wales has much to thank his mother for. The Queen carefully supervised the education and training that her children received. On the other hand, the most brilliant Queen in Europe to-day is undoubtedly Marie of Rumania, daughter of King Edward’s brother, the Duke of Edinburgh (who visited New Zealand in the ’sixties and was our first Royal visitor).

Marie, an astute and beautiful woman —few realise that she is 52 — has played an enormous part in the destiny of her country. Time will probably show that Marie will not take a back seal: during the minority of little King Michael, her grandson, and the son of intractable Carol.

The Queen of Rumania soon realised that her country was the pivot nation of the Balkans, and she made more than one match of importance for her family. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Marie and Ferdinand, was married to King George 11., who was forced to leave Greece in 1923. Since then the Royal couple have spent a good deal of time in England and Italy, with repeated sojourns at the Rumanian Court.

It was George, by the way, who succeded his brother Alexander, the King w ho died as a result of a bite from a monkey. Elizabeth’s marriage was an entirely political, affair skilfully engineered by her mother. Marie, the second daughter, was married in 1922 to King Alexander of ■lugo-Slavia (formerly the kingdom of Serbia). p o r years Alexander wan-

dered round Europe crown in hand in search of a bride. Like Manoel of Portugal, he met with repeated snubs, though for very different reasons. The Great War, however, resulted in Alexander’s kingdom being considerably enlarged. He was considered a very much more eligible parti. Marie arranged a mutually advantageous union with her daughter. Carol, now in exile in Paris, has of course been her most bitter disap pointment. He married Helen of Greece, and their small son, born in

1921, is the new King of Rumai ~ Helen is known as the Princess of Rumania and resides in Bucharest. There is another ex-Queen of Greece —formerly Sophie of Prussia — now living on a pittance in Florence. The widow of Constantine, twice deposed, she is also the sister of the. exKaiser. Her mother was the Empress Frederick of Germany, Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter. Sophie has always been accused of being the cause of Constantine’s trouble on account of her German sympathies. But Beverley Nichols, a brilliant young man who has sat at the feet of most of the important women in this world, emphatically says, “No!” Since Constantine’s death in exile the ex-Queen has found life very difficult. To begin with her “dot” was only £IO,OOO, and even in the period of her prosperity, as she told Mr Nichols, she always had to count the cost of her few gowns. One of the most tragic figures still lingering on the Royal stage is that of the ex-Empress Marie of Russia Now in her 80’s she lives in that home near Copenhagen, the scene of her humble girlhood, which she built in conjunction with her sister, the late Queen Alexandra. The death of Alexandra was the most recent of the many blows which the old ex-Empress has suffered. Alexandra and Marie were by no means reared with the possibility in view of ruling, as consorts, over the two greatest Empires in the world. The Danish Royal Family was poor—-poverty-stricken is perhaps a more accurate description.

Dagmar was betrothed, after Alexandra’s marriage to the Prince of Wales (later King Edward), to the Grand Duke Nicholas, heir to the Russian throne. On his death-bed a few months later, however, he placed her trembling hand in that of his brother Alexander. Dagmar, accord ing to Russian custom, assumed the name of Marie Feodorovna. The part she played in cementing the understanding between England and Russia, even after the unexpected death of Alexander 111., has never been sufficiently realised by contemporary historians. She hated the Hohenzollerns and made no secret of that feeling. If she had had her way at the time of the Franco-Prussian

War of 1870, France would never have been so completely crushed as was the case. There would have been no German Empire, and the recent history of Europe would have been written very differently. Through the instrumentality of a British warship the Empress Marie in 1917 escaped from the Crimea. Later she was to learn of the foul murder of her vacillating son Nicholas 11. With him perished the beautiful Empress Alix (grand-daughter of Queen Victoria) and his family. Since then this woman of so many sorrows spent much of her time in England. On Alexandra’s death she withdrew to her home in Denmark, the last link with that brilliant court of Alexander 111. which set the pace for all Europe. Now she is patiently awaiting the summons to her last Court.

Monarchical Germany was thoroughly scandalised —for all the lack of morals on the part of petty Germany Royalties they were always most censorious of each other and easily upset—when the ex-Kaiser, to render less irksome the routine of Doom, took unto himself a wife. Hermine, the widow of a minor German princeling with a fair-sized family, was the object of Wilhelm’s unexpected attention. Victoria Augusta, the passive and submissive Empress whose spirit the

Emperor had crushed in their married life, had only been dead a comparatively short time. Still, Wilhelm had a way with him, and the ambitious Hermine was willing. So they were married. Young Vanderbilt, the American journalist who not long ago hid in a haystack in the Royal grounds after being rudely refused an interview, tells us that Hermine now considers herself of the Blood Royal. She is awarded the longed for “Majesty.” The ex-Kaiser never abdicated the throne of Prussia, so his wife might with some justification be termed Queen, though to be sure she has never been crowned. Some months ago she obtained per mission to occupy the ex-Kaiser’s famous Berlin palace on the Unter den Linden much to the annoyance of the

Hokenzollerns who frankly consider her an upstart; also to the disgust of the Republicans who realise that Berlin is more ideally situated than Doorn for her propaganda. There are few sovereigns whose marriage was the cause of such heartburnings as Alphonso XIII of Spain. He was a king from the moment of his birth. The Queen Mother and Regent. Christine Maria, and the shrewd Edward VII., decided upon Princess Patricia of Connaught (now Lady Patricia Ramsay) as his bride. But Alphonso on visiting the English Court fell deeply In love with Ena of Battenberg, granddaughter of Victoria, whose golden hair and blue eyes fascinated the susceptible Spaniard. Eugenie, the aged ex-Empres3 of the French, had a finger in this matrimonial pie. When she died in IP2O part of her great fortune went to the beautiful Victoria Eugenie of Spain, her goddaughter. The horror of Ena's wedding day, when her gown was splashed with Spanish blooti, has not yet been forgotten. Though the most beautiful consort of Europe of her day—barring, possibly, the other English Princess', Marie of Rumania she has had her sorrows. Alphonso soon proved himself possessed of all the Bourbon fickleness, though he is not without ability. It was only recently reported that two of the Queen’s sons, for very good reasons, had been debarred from the succession. Portugal has two living Queens, though neither may live in Portugal. Amelie, the Queen-Dowager, lives in France. Victoria Augusta, wife of Manoel 11., resides with the ex-King

in England. Amelie had the horrifying experience of seeing her husband and eldest son murdered before her eyes. Manoel’s “consort” is a Princess of Sigmaringen, the Homan- Catholic branch of the Hohenzollerns. Presumably she has forgiven her husband his racy reputation—was it not poor Gaby Deslys who was given the credit for casting his crown in the dust? — and together they eke out a very comfortable existence at Twickenham on their joint incomes. The most tragic figure of all is Zita, ex-Empress of Austria-Hungary, wife of the Emperor Charles, who died a prisoner of state, at Funchal, Madeira, only a few short years ago. Zita of Bourbon-Parma reigned with Charles after the death of naughty old Francis Josef. Driven from Austria after the war they found an asylum in

Switzerland. But Charles had the unfortunate habit of returning suddenly to his native land, and thereby disturbing the peace of Europe. To keep him out of harm’s way Charles, the last Hapsburg monarch, was sent to Madeira. And it was

there, a few months after his death, that Zita’s last child ..was born. In dire straits she appealed to Alphonso for help. The King permitted her to reside in Spain. There she maintains petty state, demanding that the curly-headed Archduke Otto shall be addressed as “The Emperor." So poverty-stricken did Zita find herself a few months ago that she appealed to the Pope for financial assistance. Now she is said to be in receipt of a pension from the Vatican. Princess Catherine Radziwill, whose piquant gossip has intrigued and amused most of us, says of Zita: “She had been ’ -ought up as a nonentity in an atmosphere of petty interests, religious fanaticism, and more or less worldly frivolity. She is a fond : ' ther, an affectionate wife, and a lovely little woman who cares only for her household duties. She goes regularly to church, fasts on prescribed days, and is fond of dancing." There are no gaieties for poor little Zita these days. Her cup of sorrow has been drained to the last bitter dregs. To-day she is building castles in Spain with a vengeance, longing for the day when at least the Hungarians will call her Otto to occupy the throne of the inefficient Hapsburgs. Qr.:en Wilhelmina of Holland is a mon rch who has won the goodwill and esteem of all Europe. The daughter of the selfish and bad-tempered old William 11. and youthful Emma, a minor German princess. Wilhelmina was a sovereign from early childhood. It was said of her father that he was so annoyed with his brother Henry for marrying a young and attractive German princess that he determined to do the same. Emma, after William’s death, proved a capable QueenRegent until Wilhelmina came of age. Henry, the youngest son of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg - Schwerin, was selected by the ex - Kaiser as her

consort. A young man of Indifferent reputation, it is said that lie was on the point of emigrating somewhere out of the reach of his creditors when Bismarck ordered him to win the hand —and fortune —of the girl Queen of Holland. Among other things Henry was informed by the Kaiser he was never to forget that he was a German prince For many years he was not a success in Holland. The birth of the Princess Juliana, when history repeated itself by giving the Dutch an heiress instead of the long-looked*for son, did much to increase his popularity and restore the affection of the Queen. Juliana, who, incidentally, came of age only a few weeks ago, is one of the most attractive Royal matches now offering. Queen Wilhelmina has a large fortune inherited from her father. The family of Orange-Nassau

likewise possesses lucrative investments in the Dutch East Indies. It has been suggested that one of our own Royal Princes might become Prince Consort of Holland. Juliana’s fortune, even if she has few personal charms, may prove the deciding factor. The name of Queen Elizabeth of Belgium will always be enshrined in the hearts of her subjects together with that of the exceedingly practical and popular Albert. The heroic part she played in the world struggle, despite the fact that she was German born and bred, is too well known to necessitate comment. Since the w-ar she has raised the moral tone of the Belgian Court to a level it never knew in the days "of that wicked old man,” Leopold 11., with his French mistresses and his plebian tastes. The Court of Brussels was regarded by all Europe as a positive sink of iniquity. Elizabeth and Albert have changed all that. The Queen, who was the daughter of Karl Theodor of Bavaria, is a frequent visitor to England. More often than not she flies across the Channel unobtrusively to shop in Bond Street. The Queen of Norway was our own Princess Maud. Edward VII., one of the greatest men of his day, despite his long and trying apprenticeship, soon saw the necessity of following ;he example of his consort’s Danish relatives, and having as many connections as possible on neighbouring thrones.

He was only too happy to permit I Maud, his third daughter, to marry j the soldierly Haakon of Norway. Olav, her only child, was always a warm j favourite with Queen Alexandra, his grandmother. Queen Maud is immensely popular in her adopted country. Though she has never attempted to pull strings and force herself before the public, she has faithfully carried out her duties, and won the reputation, dear to Queen as well as commoner, of being a good wife and an excellent mother. The Queen of Sweden was formerly Victoria of Baden. In her day she was considered a great match for Gustav, direct descendant of Berna dotte, one of the marshals of the great Napoleon, who was a man of lowly birth. Victoria was rich and the alliance was important, as she was the favourite grand-daughter of the old Emperor Wilhelm 1. The chess board of European politics, however, has been re-set. The German alliance matters not one “tinker’s cuss” thesdays. It was always said that Victoria's essentially German sympathies estranged her from her daughter-in law, the late Crown Princess Margaret (daughter of the Duke of Connaught, and sister of the former Princess “Pat”). Princess Margaret’s marriage with the Crown Prince, who a year or so ago married a second British princess, a member of the Mountbatten family, was another astute move on the part of King Edward. One of the wealthiest sovereigns is the Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, that tiny State which Kaiser Wilhelm so desperately coveted. • Charlotte succeeded her sister, Marie Adelaide, on her abdication in

1919, and is married to Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma. It was Marie Adelaide who snapped her Ungers at Wilhelm 11., and refused to have her small dominions increased at the expense of afflicted Belgium. Charlotte, the present grand duchess, has an heir. Prince Jean, born in 1921, and three daughters. She is, by the way, a cousin of the Queen of Belgium. Royal Europe sniffed appreciably when Victor Emanuel 11., of Italy was married in 1896 to Elena, daughter of the warrior king of Montenegro. Nevertheless, the match has proved most happy and successful. This couple also had to thank the Empress Marie for their happiness. Their marriage was the death-knell to the old Triple Alliance, and did much to bring Italy into line with the Allies in the Great War. Elena, too, has been a matchmaker in her day, though Yolanda, her firstborn, flouted convention. Like our own Princess Mary, she married a private nobleman. The Queen has four daughters and one son, the Prince of Piedmont. Montenegro was one of the comic opera kingdoms which crumpled as a result of the war. The wily old Nicholas died in exile in Paris, where the ex-Crown Prince and his wife now reside. Jutta of Mecklenburg (Danilo's princess), grand-daughter of Princess Augusta of Cambridge, is one of those Royalties the Powers do not address as “Majesty." For many years Copenhagen has ceased to be the diplomatic centre of Europe. No longer Is this court father and mother-in-law to half the important Royalties, i Alexandrine, the present Queen, is a sister of the ex-German Crown Princess Cecile. She is described as an ■ “amiable creature,” much devoted to tier family of two sons.