A ROYAL ROMANCE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 187, 17 November 1910, Page 5

A ROYAL ROMANCE

THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Rome, November 15. Queen Margherita, Princess Clotilde, the Countess of Flanders, the Dukes of Aosta, the Abruzzi and Genoa, and many royalties and notabilities were present at the marriage of Prince Victor Napoleon and Princess Clementine. A snowstorm spoilt the civic decorations. The presents were valued at £BO,OOO, and included gifts from the Pope and most of the kings of Europe.

The story of the betrothal is a romance. It was six years ago that the Princess Clementine first gave her heart to the heir of the Bonaparte dynasty and the Pretender to the French throne. As a pretender he was not formidable. It is true that there is a body of men in France who still cherish the traditions of the Napoleonic regime and who still dream and talk of a new Emperoi of the French. To them Prince Victor is marked out as the Man of Destiny, and for that reason the French .Republic declines to have him within its borders. Prince Victor himself has no illusions on the subject. For years he has been an exile in Brussels, living comfortably enough on his moderate income of £2OOO a year, and discountenancing the foolish little plots into which his adherents have tried to drag him. As a comparatively young man of 42 he fell genuinely in love with Leopold's daughter Clementine. They met many times at the house of the Countess of Flanders, mother of the present King of the Belgians, and the Princess, unhappy in her home life, and on bad terms with both her parents, desirea earnestly to be married to a man who had considerable strength of character and a simple heart. But the old King Leopold refused his consent to the betrothal. He favored the Orleans family, he hated the Bonapartes, and it did not suit his policy with the French Republic to have his daughter married to one of the Royalist Pretenders. The Countess of Flanders interceded for them, but Leopold refused to reconsider his decision. The aged Princess Eugenie, with whom Prince Victor has always been a favorite, travelled to Brussels and pleaded for the lovers, but with no more effect. Princess Clementine fell ill, and the Court physician told the old King of the Belgians that the shattered nerves of the Princess and her enduring unhappiness reproached her father. Monsignor Simon, the Court chaplain, was another champion of true love, but Leopold would not give way.

The Princess, living apart from hei parents, and Prince" Victor, an exile from France, met each other in private houses of friends and in the drawingrooms of the Countess of Flanders and the present King. But they never appeared together publicly, and both were absentees at Court. •A celebrated incident which caused some sensation a year or two ago, took place at a paper-chase on horseback, which was won bv Prime Victor. Princess Clementine had been appointed to give away the prize, and when the victor came for his reward and she pinned tlie ribbon upon his breast she burst into tears, so that all present were profoundly touched.

Upon ttie death of King Leopold the two lovers again appcared'at Court, ana shortly afterwards it was announced that young King Albert had given his cordial consent to their union. Princess Clementine is now 38 years old, a charming and beautiful woman, in spite of her extreme pallor and her sad dark eyes. Her future husband, who is now 4S. is a square-built, soldierly man, who would bear a stronoresemblance to the greet Napoleon if he did not wear a bis black moustache.