SECRETS OF ROYAL "MATCHMAKING."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 98, 22 May 1909, Page 3

SECRETS OF ROYAL "MATCHMAKING."

The news that negotiations hay- h completed for the marriage > of Saxe-Coburg. youiisff*t ilAUgimi > Kliljr K.t0».«1. m »? t Uu.on'^r ™r- " M i,.T-in""«"™:^»« • ,-<„ i-iUi- 1.1-n-i' lt«v"l >o,iseiit io'^r^i:::.':- 1 , ut.^.^.. i matter of custom mid iliH.\. ""i lu „f •in Eimlish Vrincess without the wn , -,',f,,u Kin" would be mill iiml voul, jvenif the "kn..f w« tied by all the ;W hW.i»iv ill tin- ltinffilinuCIIOOSINU A HOVAL UKTDK. When a vouug King wishes '» »>*!*> lu can seldom choose his own bride those- parents begin to conside, tin Koval museries of Europe, and mark down suitable Rnnecsscs or th . 1> ■ So it hi.in.ciw that when the he. t thThvomi arrives ~t. u uiarriagca,lc age a cfi-lsiiii number of eligible partnci* an mentioned to him, ami his ««« must not only please his' parent* ! also the Ministers of his countri, th. Parliament, and the'people. When the c-i.Ka»i'iii«nt of K, »f 'J'. ward, then lV.nec of Wales, was hom I. expected, Lord I'ahncrstun stated that the bride, in accordance ■with Royal law, •■must he handsome, must he we,i brought up. mid must be a Proliant. <)ucen Victoria chose a (lerninii l ' ""/ for the King, hut he hiinsell prclciied the beautiful daughter of tin, Mug » Denmark. His Majesty- lirst met Qiiee" Alexaiulra at a children's party at II ckiughau, Palace who,, he was only thnteen years of age. but he did not nit her ouain until six years l,iu passed. Tl » ivhtivos arranged an "aeeideiital meeting between the. Koyal couple in the Cathedral of Speier. and shortly n tcrwards their engagement was publicly I announced.

OWES VICTORIA'S ComTSllfP. Almost from his cradle the idea of a union between Prince Albert and QiK'Ri Victoria had been a favorite day-dream j,l his father, the lliikc of Co'buvg: ami llis wish somehow found an echo, in the Koval nursery, where Albert's' nurse wo'uld amuse him with tales of Ills bride-to-be across the sea. Queen \ ictoria first saw Prince Albert in Wild, when he visited England with his father and brother, l'i'lnee F.rucst, and spent a month at lluckinghum Palace, from that dnv onwanl the I'rincess and the I mice we're drawn together, but when Ihe latter visited Inland for the second tunc in ISM it was with, no thoughts <if marraw. He had been informed that the voun" Queen had made up her mind to 'remain single for another four years, and be was far too manly to attempt to persuade her to aIU'V her decision. Love, however, found out the way, and hi Queen Victoria's (iwu words: "T do feel sq guiltv . . . Albert has completely won mv heart; and aU was nettled between iis this morning. . . I feel certain that he will malic me very happy. I wMi 1 could soy that I felt as certain of making him happy; but T shall do my best."

A FAMOUS MATCHMAKER. I Queen Victoria used her influence on ' several occasions' to further the cause of I love's young dream. When tile engage[racnt was announced between Princess I Frederica of Hanover and Baron von Pawel-ißannningen, the King of Hanover's secretary, all the members of the I Royal Families of England and Ucrninny '• opposed the match, ami the. Queen of I Hanover was so cross with her daughter i that she practically cast lier off. Queen | I Victoria thereupon stepped in and acted i i the part of fairy godmother. Our late I ' Queen not only encouraged the match,] i but gave the bride away, and provided ' a home fov her and lies- husband at ". Hampton Court Palace. Again, it was' Queen Victoria who encouraged the deep . i. attachment of the Princess Louise for] -'the Maruuess of Lorne, now Duke of; • 'Argyll, when all her relations were vio- [ lent'ly opposed' to the match. )| The, German Emperor's marriage on his twenty-second birthday to the Prill-

ces« Augusta Victoria Of •Si'hleswig-ilol- | stein, ii niece of Prince Christian, was immensely popular throughout (iermanv, I tlie reason being the fact that the bride J wan' a native Princess and not one from ! n foreign clime. It is said that Queen I Victoria brought about the uniira bej tweeu the Raise,, and the Princes*, and , we all know that tin- Kinjieror made his [future wife's acquaintance at lialinoral ; when he visited his grandmother in IS7B. I The acquaintance was renewed in SiImiii in the autumn «f the following year, when tin* Kaiser was shooting on the estate of Wake Frederick of Schleswigdlolstein, the father of Princess Victoria. Here an engagement was' arranged, and the marriage was soli'innked I on 27th February, 1881. I

Horn in 1802. Prince Henry, the Kaiser's brother, married, on'24th May, 1888. his cousin, Princess Irene of Hesse, daughter of the late- Grand Duke of Hesse and Prince* Alice. Queen Victoria Indued to bring this union about, and it is said that she was partly responsible for the marriage of the Kaiser's sister willi the Hereditary Prmce of Saxc.Ueiningcn, (iJC.B.. on 18th February, 1878.—Home paper.