AN IMPECUNIOUS PRINCESS

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1746, 26 July 1884, Page 4

AN IMPECUNIOUS PRINCESS

Some of the letters written by the Princess Alice to the Queen will astonish those people who labor under the delusion that lioyal personages ore i not troubled by the sordid cares of ordinary life. The Princess seems to t have been in a painful state of pecuniary embarrassment from tlio hour of 1 her arrival at Darmstadt, and when one remembers that a dowry of ,£30,000 | and an income of £9OOO a year were voted to Fer Royal Highness on her marriage, the revelations of the correspondence are certainly astonishing. The German Royalties do not maintain extravagant households, and the Prince and Princess ought to have been able to live at ease and comfort on such a sum, even supposing the bridegroom contributed nothing towards the maintenance of the establishment, The Princess, on first arriving at Darmstadt, complains that her house would be thought small and mean by plain middle-class people, while the dining-room is so stuffy and uncomfortable that they are unable to invite people to dinner. A year later, when the Princess is confined, the Queen sends money to pay the doctor, and provides the baby-linen and accompaniments. The Princess is invited to come to England on a visit, but replies that she cannotaffordto do so, She cannot pay an adequate salary for a governess for her daughters, nor can she buy curtains for the drawing-room (which are much wanted) unless the Queen will pay for them. The late Emperor of Russia, passing through Darmstadt on his way from Ems, comes to luncheon, and the Princess, (like the Primrose family) is beside herself with worries at the prospect of the expense at entertaining him, The Princess could not have suffered worse privation (for it was nothing less, considering the different circumstances of her early life) if she had married a clerk with Ll5O a year. The Queen spent L 20.000 on building a suitable house for the Princess and her husband, for the residence given to them by the Grand Duke Hesse at their marriage was described at the time as " a doghole of a place,"