WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 307, 24 June 1912, Page 8

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eileen.") A ROYAL ROMANCE AUSTRIAN ARCIIDUCHESS' LOVE MATCH. The Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, the doyen of the monarch*, is adored by his children and grandchildren. He certainly views the love affairs of the third generation with quite exceptional leniency. The younger Archduchesses are well aware of the Emperor's romantic ideas and his wish that everyone should be made happy, and it has thus come about that his granddaughters have always turned to the Emperor for sympathy. Archduchess Elizabeth, the only daughter of Crown Prince Rudolf, and the grand-daughter of the Emperor, was marj ried to Prince Otto Windisch-Graetz in . Janu«ry, 1002. Although the match was considered quite below the Arch- ■ duchess, who might have aspired to tin | hand of royalty, the Emperor permitted ■it to take place, as he said happiness was more important than anything else i in the world.

In the following year a second granddaughter of the Emperor, the eldest daughter of Archduchess Gisela, also made a love match. Count Otto von Seefried was at the time of his map riage with the Archduchess Elizabeth of Bavaria (Archduchess Gisela married Prince Leopold of Bavaria) merely a baron. The Emperor raised him to the ra\ik of count later on. Now the third "Elizabeth," all of whom are named after their late grandmother, has followed in the footsteps of her cousins and selected a man of her own choosing as her future husband. Archduchess Elizabeth Franciskji resembles her grandmother, the ill-fated Empress Elizabeth, very closely. She is a handsome girl, and at the time of her first appearance in public, at the Court ball two years ago, was already very popular with the Viennese. The Emperor has always spent much of his time with his daughter Valerie and her nine children. He usually goes to visit them at Christmas and Eaater, while the children frequently reside in Schonbrunn, where they may be seen walking with, their grandfather, who has had a great share in educating them. At Ischl they have a small pavilion for themselves at a short distance from the Imperial villa. Tlve children are very fond of dancing and acting ,and get up entertainments for their grandfather. Attired in "Old Vienna" costumes they give theatrical performances and dance minuets and other stately dances which were fashionable in the days of the Emperor's youth.

WHEN THE LOVERS MET. • f Archduchess Elizabeth was perhaps the most graceful and certainly the most handsome of all the youthful figures, and although she has a somewhat staid and womanly appearance for her age, her parents have only commenced very recently to think of her marriage as a possibility. Meanwhile the brothers of the Archduchess, who received much care and attention from their elder sister, who is accustomed to take the mother's place during her absence, had a new governor and tutor, Count Waldburg. It seems not to have occurred either to father or mother that the 'Juvenile Archduchess might look upon the young lieutenant in •the light of a lover. They met in Tschl in 1911. It would seem from all accounts that it was a case of love almost at first sight. The Archduchess, however, very doubtful of how her parents would look upon the romance, appears to have said nothing, except to her grandfather, who encouraged her in her intentions. Several royal suitors presented themselves at the villa in lachl. The Archduchess discovered someTatal objection to each, and although she waa reminded that the choice of an Austrian Arch- | duchess will not change her religion, is 'limited to a very small number of possible suitors, sue was firm in her refusals. | She has now succeeded, with the aid of the Emperor, in convincing her parents that she should be allowed to follow the wishes of her heart. ' Count George Waldburg belongs to the younger line of an ancient family which can trace its descent back to the Middle Ages. The romantic alliance cannot be called a mesalliance. As the Waldburgs were formerly reigning princes and still rank as such, the Archduchess will re-' tain her rank and style as an Imperial and Royal Highness. The young lieutenant has no property and no prospects of inheriting any land, as he is a younger son of a very numerous family.

BREVITIES New tailored costumes show more fancy trimming. Stiff cuffs on tailor-mades have lace frills at the edges. Big hat crowns of ermine take curling brims of black velvet. - White and ecru are strong favorites in cotton materials of all kinds of uses. , Whole hats are of tulle, several colors I posed one upon another and swathed in rope-like strands around foundation ! shapes. I Some of the very smartest of dark blue 'tailor-mades show little square-cut collars of cerise silk and a touch of colored piping here and there. Fashion has decreed the practice of notching the hobble skirt in front, so as to reveal the feet and ankles. Hairpins that are exact reproductions of the ordinary hairpin, only larger in size, are now being worn. They are made of gold, surmounted by diamonds. The latest fashion freak from Paris ia -a skirt, very narrow, with a slit at the side extending well above the knee. A trade announcement regarding the new garment says: "If the directoire stocking, made of silken network with very 'large meshes, is to be worn with the dress, as it is said, the effect will be striking." GENERAL A San Francisco millionaire presented to his only daughter on her sixth birthday a railway train—consisting of a beautiful "parlor car," a sleeping car, and a kitchen car, for her own private

use. The little girl actually travels by this train when going to children's partics in neighboring towns. Mrs. Rose Hutching, the wife of an American ju'limmiirp, has promised that she will try and manage with £SOO a month for household expenses and pinmoney, though she really doesn't see how she is going to! Her husband has been allowing her £2OO a month only, which, •he lay*, doesn't even pay for absolute necessaries. The Duchess of W-estminster possesses a very sweet, well-trained voice., which is frequently heard at private concerts given in aid of various charities. Her Grace is also a keen sportswoman, and one of the finest riders to hounds in the Old Country, while the charms of polo hare erer been known to claim her as an active partisan. The Duke of Westminister is one of the richest peers, his income being computed to be £IOOO a day, while the jewels which fall to the lot of the "duchess are both wonderful and priceless, and always provoke much admiration when she wears them at Court functions and at the opera. The Duchess of Westminster is an ideal hostess, and her parties at Eaton Hall and at the Duke's Scottish shooting lodge are marked by an informality rarely found in ducal establishments. The Queen of .Spain invariably spends a few days with the Duchess of Westminster when she pays a visit to England.