QUEENS WHO AREN'T QUEENS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 95, 30 July 1910, Page 10

QUEENS WHO AREN'T QUEENS.

ROYAL WIDOWS WHO HAVE RE SIGNED THEIR CROWNS.

A King's life ends with his reign. His greatness belongs to ten from the moment that he is proclaimed a ruler until he has drawn his last breath, and he never hears the acclamations that greet liis new successor. But queens are subject to a different rule. "The Queen is dead—long live the Queen!" does not apply in their case, and they have to pasa from the position of the first woman in the land to one of comparative | obscurity, resigning their mantle ol greatness to younger shoulders, j The autumn days of our own Queen ; Mother, Alexandra, will be spent quietly at Marlborough House. During her j reign she endeared herself to her sub- | jects by innumerable acts of sweetness, j Her visits to hospitals, her words of I cheer, and her personal generosity in all eases of need that came under her notice, more than justified her title of i ''Alexandra the Good." On one occasion, when a cheap eating-house was opened for the poor, slie was herself among the i first cstomers to.sit at the small wooden I tables, and as she paid her few coppers I afterwards, she remarked that she had enjoyed her meal thoroughly. •She will probably spend a portion of each year in her native Denmark, where, a short while ago, she built herself a summer residence on Klampenborg Bay. Here she will be joined by her sister, the Dowager-Empress of Russia. The events which led up to her sister's Royal dowagerthood were far sadder than in those of her own case. The DowagerEmpress of Russia has not only lacked her people's confidence at times, 'but has also been the victim of such terrible I misfortunes that she is regarded as one of the most pathetic figures in history. 1 They began with the sudden death of her first lover, whose brother, Alexander 111. of Russia, she subsequently married. ] f>on afterwards her father-in-law was assassinated in her presence, ana &ne be* ' came Empress under the shadow of the terrible Khodensky Plain tragedy which followed. ,

Then came the death, by consumption, of one of her sons, while the finishing touches to her cup of bitterness occurred when she nursed her husband through his last long illness. Perhaps the Dowager Maria Christina of Spain possesses the most interesting record, for it is without parallel m history. In 1885 she and her husband, Alfonso XII., were on the throne, happy in the possession of two little daughters, but praying that their next child might be a son. The King, however, never knew whether their prayer was answered, for he succumbed suddenly in the dark November days, and, with the secret still unrevealed, the Queen's title fell upon the small shoulders of her eldest child, the Princess of Asturias. But, six months after, the little Queen had to resign her kingdom to a baby brother. The prayer had been answered, and the Royal House of Spain rejoiced in a new male ruler. The Queen-Dowager still continued her rule as Regent, and has only lately fallen away from public life. The Dowager-Queen of Portugal, on the other hand, is still an active figure m her country. Like her Royal sisters, she proved the stern quality of which queens are made, and ,after her first paroxysm of grief at the assassination of her husband and son, schooled herself into a calm frame of mind.

The Dowager-Queen of Holland is a strong believer in the simple life. She is thoroughly domesticated, and is particularly proud of her culinary skill, while her lack of false pride has greatly endeared her to Dutch hearts.

'Equally popular is the Dowager-Queen of Sweden, who has never allowed a barrier to grow up between her and her people. But, unfortunately, ill-health has lately prevented her from appearing much in public. She devotes most of her time to art, reading and travelling.