THE HISTORY OF ROYAL LOVES AND LOVERS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2107, 9 January 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE HISTORY OF ROYAL LOVES AND LOVERS.

A story of love afiFdirs in tho loftiest social regions of Earnpo reveals ficts quite as curious as any to ba met with amongst, the loxer elissf>s. NovolhN, with the exception of Ainsworth, Reynolds, Damns, ami one or two others, haw seldom treated tis to stories based upon love-nvtlcinsr uader palace roofs, probably thinking thero is not sufficifnt materi il to work upon, and we have to co to the memoirs of some Court; favourite or ex-minister to a^cerfcaiu in what manner royalty has fallen victims to mischief- making Cupid. It is iuterp»Hng to compare tho different ages at which Her Majesty's children hive been married. The Prince-s Beatrice was marriod in her twenty-ninth year ; tho Princess Royal was married in her eighteenth year; the Prince of Wales married when in his twenty-He onri year, tho Pnnce < 5« Alice in her twentieth yoar, the Duke of Ediiaburgb. in his thirtieth year, the Princess Helena in her twentyfir«t year, the Priucess Louise in her twenty-fourth year, tho Duk* of Connaught in his twenty-ninth year, and the Duke of Albany iv his thirtieth year. A striking 1 instance of the romantic, bordering almost on tha improbable, is afforded in tho life of the Comte de Neipperg. On the fall of Napoleon 1., the Comt.» bpcime the constant companion of thp Empress Marii* Louise, and ultimately married her. The Corate was not a trood-lookino; gentleman by any means, nor did tho lo<-s of ona eye render him any tho more fasfh.atinsr ; but he was a gr*>at soldier, and the w trmest alh^ront to the fortunes of his Emperor. Thi* alliance to the BnonaMi rtes proved uufortunate. Their firbt daugitcr, the Countess de San Vitaie, w.ib one of the heroines of the Italian revolution. It was she who was known as the "'Godmother of tho Italian Tiicolour;'' she who lpd the funeral cortege of the patriots killed by the Austrian troops; of a fiery, passionate nature, her enthusiastic speeches and deeds srirmd up tho hearts of the insurgents, and lei them to battle. Strange company for th* 1 daughter of an empres-, md the graud-dau rhter of an emperor .md of a king ! Although wilful and wayward, th> counies- wa< a beautiful woman, an*! a curious story is to!d of her secret hf>tr<*thil to an Ausrriin general Her love s"pm>« to b,ive been as p-is-«ionate as hi r d« c is. Th« etory goes that one night as the Au-.tri.inh and Ittlians \v> re bivouacked within a mile of weh other tlio cuutesstole from the It Ii in ca f up into ill it t»f the Austrian. She 4 iv« the counterMitrn and pa*S3'i {'»•> first line of sentinels snfely. Then .she w.is r< cnguiaed. and thinking th it she Wris wte-iling into cimo to aMSussinate the general, a sentry fiied upon her, the bullet hitting her close to the left shoulder blude. The woman screamed, and instantly all became confusion. Shots echoed on every side, but the countens having thrown off her clock, t-ped for her life to the general's tent. Luckily, not one of the flying shots Htruck her, and still huskier the general, hearing the tumult, rushed into tho field ju-it in time to prevent one of his guards outfing her down. They were married privately that night, and a few hour-, later tho fair insurgent leader was escorted back. What a pretty romance has been spoilt! Why did not the countess, like a dutiful wife, u-e her power aud command tho revolutionists tn lay down their arms and go to tlifir homes' She and the gpner il mounted nide by side, should then have ridden into the Austrian capital, the admiration of all the world, and the saviours of her good name. Equally romantic might have been tho love making of the Grand Duchess Olga of Russia had she been allowed to have her own way. She fell deeply in love with M. Bresßant, the fascinating amoureux of the Coraidie Francaise, who was then performing in St Petersburg, and matters at length came to such a oirsis, that, like the Barons of old, her papu had to punish her with solitary confinement, and intimate to the object of he affections that bis room was better than his company, and further, that it would not be the most foolish thing he ever did if he stepped across the frontier. Early love affairs amongst royalty are a good deal more common than is generally supposed, and it cannot be wondered at. The romantic passion of the Princess Fedenca of Hanover for a aimple private in the army is, perhaps, better remembered than is the marriage of the Princess of Wurtemburg to on ob.-oure physician, chiefly because Princess Marie of Hanover is about to follow the example of her j eldest sister and marry a native Hubaltern. I W^oo two royal ei«tor& marry j

Roldiers, we are inclined to think the lower grades of the Hanoverian army mu'-t be very elegant fellovv-t. Whilu ou this subject it may be worth while to mention tiic names of those English Princesses who have married subjects. The first English Princess to he married in this in inner was Eleanor, the third daughter of the usuiper John. At the mature nge of five, she was betrothed to the eldest son of the yre.it Earl of Pembroke, the conqueror of Ireland, who had established Henry 111 upon the throne. The English nobles \**re jealous of tho match, and postponed the marriage for a loiiii tune, uigingin defence of tliis act, that the King's daughter should be mariied to a powerful foreign ally of Englaud, and not thrown away upon a mere subj> ct. However, tho friends of Pembroke contended that the earl was perhaps even more powerful than the King himself in Ireland and Wales, and brought forward precedents of French princesses marrying subjects, so the King at length decreed that the martiage was to take place immediately. The husband did not survive more than a couple of yeais, and Ele.mor being then seventce.i years of age had many suitors. Simon d* Montfoid was the lucky man, but in :nari)ing li'iu Elemor violited an oatli she had taken on her widowhood, never mote to become a wife. Isabella, the eldest daughter of that great and puUsint monarch Edward 111., married a Fiench nobleman, the young Lord de Coney, sent over to England after the battle of Poiotiers as a hostage. Ho remained a firm friend to England nearly all tluough the disastrous Fiench war. Eveutually Coucy. unable to leiunin any longer neutral, joined hi.-, countrymen and left his wife behind him. It is a most peculiar thing in English history that three daughters of ouu king, Edward IV., should marry sub jec's C-'iitia E'lw.ml I^'.'s tliird daughter, though engaged to a son of James 111 of Scotland, uover inai'iii d that prince, but gave her hand to Loid John Wells, a nobleman who had shared in the Duke of Buckingham's unsuccessful revolt The husband died &ome few years later, and Ocilia took the stiaugt' it oik of marryingmie Thomas Kyinhe, an übsum. Lin coliishirc pi-tsou of whom nothing is known. It was a love in a cottajje afFiir almost; she became ver> pour, and dird four years after her uinnugc, hem.; buiied iv the Abbey of Qtianeia— now in umi a — in the Kle or Wight. Anns, the filtii daughter, inarricd Loid Thomas How aid, the son of that Earl of Surrey whom Hem y VIII. committed to the Towoi The Piincejs died eaily in life, some chiomclers say of a bioken heart. Catherine, the sivth and last daughter of Ed.yard IV, mirried a Courtenay Slie u famous for the manner in which she and her husband defended Exeter against Ptrkin Warbeuk ami Ins bi other r<>Wi*ls Her koa was executed by Henry VIII. for dai ing to coi respond with his relative, the celeb atod Cardinal Pole. Hergtandton was the unfoitunate youth who was accused of shaiiug in the Wyatt conspiracy, and of aspiring to the hand of the Princess Elizabeth The lovo alFansof Mary Tudor are of a wonderful and fascinating character. Eiily in life Uie fell in love with Sir Charles Brandon, one of the bravest soldiers and most rt fined courtiers of the age. Louis XII. of France, an old king, fast hastening to his death, also fell in love with the gitl. Everybody knows the story of "The Squire aud Maria." Mary Tudor's marriage wa3 exactly similar. She decided to matry Louis, on the express condition that if she survived her husHand she should not again be oonstriued, but be permitted to marry whoever she pleased. The delighted old French King showed the Earl of Worcester, the Euglibh Ambassador, a huge chest brimming over with jewels, for one of which 100,000 ducats had been refused. "These are for my wife," said the King, " but she shall not have them all at once, for I must have divers kisses and thinks for them." "I assure you,'' the Earl of Worcester wrote to WoLsey, " lie is thinking evciy hour a day till he sceth her; he is never well, never till he heareth speaking of her." The doting old monarch wrote with his own haud to Wolsey : " Make my compliments to my good brother, the king, your ma-ter, and tell him that I beg him to send his sistei as soon as possible." Mary, however, was by no me-ins so eager to moot the bridegroom. Her reception was of a magnificent description, what with banquets, plifeauts. joust*, and the frrand coronation ceremony, when tho chivalrous Frat.fi-. of Val 'l* .-.tod noMud the younir queen and held th ciown above her lioaii, so th.it its w.iirht might not be opprewve. Brando. 1 , noiv Duke of Suffolk, attended on tin- oi-ci-sion, and di^tinyru:-»he 1 hii'>i 4 lf im tho wkle- ana frantic inannci {.. culur i) vliMppmttfd ] o, !*. In tho jous sln dealt anon* >->I«n so v.'OM^y as t> wjund one LV i.'Ji knig'itunt" <!iath, and Fi-rtnei-, wno had liim-el. b> on w mud" i. did the ui.t very pi..i&cw.»thy act <f hiring a gigantic G'-rmiu to so aud do butle with the E*i^li-ht.iun. Bis* S"{T"lk'H blooil wis up, and tho bi^r (Ji'iman wi« oveithiown. L»r>ui-, died (lircotly after tho mitt iinsf, and ih' Rivil widow then retired to th<" Hotel de Clviyny to hpeud iv bed the ii s u il six week-t in»i-trd upon l»v Fiench etiquette Du'int* ihis tjiue W»lriey an I H-'ory to hive frone b.ick on t'>eir promise, fir thoy wrote Miry pretty utrouj; letteis t<> the effect th it she w s not to in.irry with rut consulting then. Miry ie ; lied equally as strongly that, ■•}]•■ wou'l-1 mairy whom who plcab-'d, au,i. further, fc !> u wrote to Brandon and said th it if he moint to marry I'er luj must <U> it within lour d ivs. Soltoll; yi<-ldel. Would ho have been a true lover if he had not ? After the maniige. I'randon appears to have been s>orry tor w hat he had done. He wrote to Woisey saying that it was all the Queen's fault, " she would uever l<,t wo liave no rest," which was very shabby, and, above all, decidedly ungrammatical. Brandon had a narrow escape. Had it not beeu for Wolsey, that ruler of kings, he and his fair head would have parted company on Tower Hill. Long afterwards, when Brandon and Wolsey quarreled about the King's divorce, Wolsey said reproachfully, "Sir, of all men within this realm you have least cause to be offended with cardinals, for if I simple cairiinal had not been, you should have had at this present no head upon your shoulders." William the First was an original lover. He fell deeply iv love with M itilda. The tender passion was not returned, however, and the young lady gave William to understand that no amount of entreaty or persuasion on his part would induce her to change her mind. Such being the case, William, the historians relate, waited upon Matilda as she was leaving chapel one Sunday, and thrashed her with his riding whip.