MORGANATIC MARRIAGES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 184, 25 July 1908, Page 3

MORGANATIC MARRIAGES.

I PRINCESS AND CHAUFFEUR. Princess Amelie of Furstenbere, who I lias scandalised the Courts f Europe by eloping with her chautloui-, belongs t„ the konigsberg branch of the family , f luirstenberg, which can trace an unbroken lineage back f«r eight centuries and can record the doughty deeds -of warrior ancestors at the time of Charlemagne bue is a well-known beauty and, thou-h only twenty-four years of age, has lomr been recognised a 3 one of the leaders 01 \iennesc society. It is alleged that tlu> .young lady had declared herself "madlv in love with her chauffeur," and that slie would •' marry him or die." Whelher or not her relations will be able to wean her from her infatuation for tin lerseus of the motor-ear, may lie seen when they discover the whereabouts of the fugitive lovers, which, at the time of writing, they have not been successful in doing. ELOPED WJTH A JOURNALIST. The history of numerous royal houses is rich in stories of romantic unions contracted under circumstances similar to those which have led the Princess of luirstenberg to renounce her aristocratic connections, to count as naught the adulation which is one of the privileges of every beautiful woman who moves in high society, to relinquish name and fortune, and even to risk her fair reputation for the object of her Jove. Princess Josephine of Spain, great-aunt of the King Alfonso, became enamoured of a journalist who wrote some verses and dedicated them to her. One evening when dusk had fallen, Josephine left the royal palace at Madrid, where she resided with her sister-in-law. Queen Isabella, and fled with her lover to Valladolidi whence, after a secret marriage, the couple made their way to Paris. Queen Isabella made repeated but fruitless efforts to have the marriage annulled, and I finally-submitted .to the inevitable. She recalled the high-born wife and plebeian husband to Madrid, where they were permitted to live in happy contentment; but, of course, they were not received at Court,

ROMANCE AND A HOPE-LADDER. Another great-aunt of King Alfonso, when spending a holiday on the Freii-'h Riviera, met the handsome Polish Count Gurowski, with whom she promptly feTl head over ears in love. Knowing full well that her relatives would never permit her to marry Gurowski, she consulted to elope with him. Some weeks later, after the Princess's return to her house at Enghien, the Count brought a carriage to the garden gate in the dead of night, Isabella descended to the ground by means of # rope-ladder, and fled with her lover to England. The marriage, however, did not turn out happily, and within a few months the ill-mated'couple separated for good and all. GRAND DUKE MICHAEL'S LOVE STORY.

The Grand Duke Michael llichaelovitch of Russia, who was at one time I spoken of as a likely husband for a ■ member of our own royal family, conceived a strong affection, for a Russian Countess in his younger days, and openly proclaimed the state of his feelings with regard to the lady. When he approaches the Tsar, and* begged permission to marry his inamorata, the Autocrat of All the Eussias flatly refused to listen to him, whereupon Michael hinted that he would follow the dictates of his own heart, Imperial opposition notwithstanding. The Tsar straightway ordered the pertinacious Grand Duke off to the Riviera, there to remain until he was cured of his passion, and took steps to remove tile Countess from her lover's influence.

BETWEEN SCYLLA AND OHARYBDIS This .was not the/way to improve matters. Michael damply fell between Scylla and C'harybdis. He met another lady, the Countess Sophie von Mercnberg, on the shores of the Mediterranean, and immediately became oblivious of the very existence of the Russian Countess in his overwhelming love for the 'beautiful German girl. This time, however, he adopted different tactics. He wooed the lady in secret; finally, he ran away with her, and they were married. The Tsar was angered beyond measure at this and many years elapsed liefore he pardoned the Grand Duke, whose wife (the Countess Torby) is not recognised by the Russian Imperial family, and cannot, therefore, be received officially by our King and Queen, although privately they are on terms of intimate friendship with her. THE COWARDLY OFFICER. Lieutenant Bariatinski, another Russian, loved and was loved by the beautiful Grand Duchess Olga, the favouriie daughter of Tsar Nicholas I. The young girl was prepared to sacrifice everything to her passion, and, on Bnriatinski's suggestion, they arranged to elope to America, to spend the rest of their days there, secure in.each other's love. At the last moment the lieutenant's courage failed him. He went straight to the Tsar and niade a clean breast of the whole affair, declaring, Adam-like, that '• the woman tempted me." The unhappy Princess was married out of hand to Prince Charles, afterwards King of Wurtembcrg. and the cowardly officer was rewarded with such rapid promotion that he became a field-marshal before the age of fifty.

BANISHED FOR ELOPIXG. ' The mother of Margherita DowageiQucen ol" Italy, was banished from that ( country, for ten years by lier brother- ! in-law, King Victor Emmanuel 11., for eloping with an officer of artillery, who, speedily tiring of his royal bride, deserted her, and eventually committed suicide. Victor Emmanuel afterwards condoned the very fault which he had punished by contracting a morganatic alliance himself. ARCHDUKE AND SIMPLE LIFE. The records of the House of ilapsburg contain more instances of mesalliances than those of any other royal house; and, unfortunately, provide also a greater number of cases illustrative of the unhappincss resulting from these unequal unions.. In this category is the case of the Archduke Henry, who married Leopoldine Hoffman, an actress. Arcliduke Ernest married a woman of still humbler birth, and his son by this union is now a waiter in a cafe at Vienna. At the time when the, ex-Crown Princess of Saxony shocked all Europe by eloping with M. Giron, her children's tutor, her brother, the Archduke Leopold, caused a sensation by running away with Fraulein Adamovics, a musichall performer. Herr and Fraulein Woellling, as they became known, adopted the simple life; but the Archduke found it a tedious business, and divorced his wife shortly afterwards. THE MEYERLING TRAGEDY. The most grievous case of all was that of the Crown l'rince Rudolph, only son of the Austrian Emperor. Rudolph married Princess Stephanie of Belgium, and went to his doom at Mcyerling for love . of the Baroness Vecscra. As to how tUi i ill-fated man met his death, that remains a mystery, for the lips of those i who knew were sealed with much goll. One account states that the Baroness, ■ finding that Rudolph would not' incur the moral" anil political responsibility of dii vorein" his wife, and then flying with i herself into exile until affairs had (piloted down, look poison; and when tli" ' Crown Prince discovered that she was no more, he shot himself. Another stay l- is that Rudolph, in a lit of passion, first I shot the Baroness Veesera's uncle, Baltizzi who had interceded with him on his niece's behalf, and then, appalled at his crime, turned the weapon on the woman, and at last killed himself. A LIKELY STORY.

The most likely version of the affair was given bv an innkeeper's daughter who hail it'from the coachman who drove the Crown Prince Rudolph jo Mevcrling on the fateful night in 18hJ —the last journev he was to make in this world. According to this young woman, the coachman stated that when Rudolph arrived at the chateau at Meyerling he discovered another member of the Austrian Court with lha Baroness Vocscra. The two men foiifrW lon» and furiously. Blinded with jealousv, Rudolph swore that neither of them should leave the room alive. The Baroness, a horror-stricken spectator, at last saw the heir to the throne of Austria struck down. She fled from Hie] scene, and. it is said, lives to this day. though dead to the world, in a small town in Bohemia.