ROMANCE OF AN AUSTRIAN ARCHDUKE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2736, 25 January 1890, Page 6 (Supplement)

ROMANCE OF AN AUSTRIAN ARCHDUKE.

During his stay of several hours in Bozen, the Emperor Francis Joseph paid % visit to the Archduke Henty, on which occasion the Archduke's consort, Baroness Waideck, and their daughter, Baroness Maiie, wp.re introduced to his Majesty, Tim announcement, short as it is, says the Vienna correspondent of the Standard, possesses much interest for those who are acquainted with the romance of the Archduke's life. In his marriage that Prince had committed such a breach of the traditional rules and usages of the Hapsburg family that for 21 years he has lived estranged from the Head of the Imperial House.

On the 4th of February, 1863, Archduke Henry married Fraulein Leopoldine Hofmann. She was the daughter of a very humble official employed iu the Assessment Office at Krems, in Upper Austria. In all princely families it is a strict and invariable rule that the sanction of the head of the house must be previously obtained to aDy proposed matrimonial alliance; but to the marriage of the Archduke Henry not only was the Emperor's approval not obtained, but the prohibitation of the nuptials issued by his Majesty was disobeyed, with the result that tho Archduke was for many years expatriated. He forfeitad his appointment as general in command of a divison of infantry, nnd his name was struck out of the list of honorary colonels of Austrian regiments. Moreover, hie appanage from the Imperial Civil List was stopped, and the disgrace he had fallen into was marked in many other ways. Archduke Henry felt deeply the loss of military rank, and still more his exile, but otherwise his marriage brought him unalloyed happiness. At length the Emperor's displeasure began to disappear, and the Archduke was allowed to take- up his permanent residence in a Tyrolese town. With bis wife, who had meanwhile been raised to noble rank under the title of Baroness VVaideck, and with the only child of their marriage, a daughter who is now 18 years old, the "civilian" Arehduko Henry for some time lived the quiet-, contented life of a landed proprietor. His chief anxiety now arose from the fact that his estates, which are situated near the river Adige, frequently suffered from inundation,thus often reducing his slender income below the modest requirements of a household in which charity on a liberal scalo formed the chief item in the budget. The repatriation of the Archducal family was permitted in 1873, and ever since that time the house of Archduke Henry in Bozeu has been a centre of intellectual life for u wide district in the Tyrol. Authors and musicians, actors, journalists, and painters, former military comrades of tho Archduke, or friends of the Baroness, whatever their position in life, have at all times been welcome guests. The Archduke has been in the habit of visiting Vienna only once a year privately. Ho has never set foot in the Hofburg. His last appearance here was on the melancholy occasion of Crown Prince Rudolph's funeral. Even then he kept away from the rest of the family, only joining them in the mortuary chapel of the Capuchines. The last thing he expected was that the Emperor would ever pay him a visit; but that event having taken place, and his family having been introduced to his Majesty, the doors of the Hofburg are at length open to them. Ere long, therefore, the daughter of the tax-office clerk will be received by the Empress in the palace, and welcomed as a relative, as ehe has long been by Archduke and Archduchess Rainer. Archduke Henry was the youngest eon of the late Archduke Rainer, Viceroy of Lombardy. He was born in Milan on the 9th of May, 1828, and is therefore, 61 years old. When a youth of 20 he committed a very foolish act, by writing a private letter to a friend, in whioh he spoke in disrespectful terms of the young Emperor Francis Joseph, who had just ascended the Throne. The friend was not discreet; the letter was published in a Turin newspaper, and the Archduke was summoned to Vienna to be censured, as he deserved, by Archduchess Sophie, the young Emperor's mother, who for a time was the virtual ruler of Austria. The punishment of Archduke Henry was to be that he must enter holy orders and abandon the military career, to which he was devotedly attached. Eventually, however, the Archduke was allowed to return to his regiment. Iu course of time lie was promoted to the rank of general, and was stationed in Graz, It was there he made the acquaintance of Fraulein Hofmaun, a singer at the theatre, with the monthly salary of 50 florins. She was by no means a great singer. Her best role was that of Pamela in " Fra Diavolo;" but she was pretty, quickwitted, the very type ot a Viennese girl, and, above all, irreproachable in her conduct and manners. The acquaintance, which never ceased to be a most honourable one, had already lasted some time when war broke out in the north as well as in the south, and the Archduke had to taka the field in Italy. Before leaving he gave his word of honour to the girl he loved that he would marry her if his life were spared, and this promise he faithfully kept. The Chamberlain of the Archduke thought it his duty officially to inform the Emperor of the engagement that had taken place, which called forth tho interdict already mentioned, and occasioned also offers of large snmsof money to the girl from persons whose intention it was to make themselves agreeable to the Court. She was to be persuaded either to marry someone else or to leave Europe and hide her address from her lover ; but she did neither, and went to reside with her sister in Hufcteklorf, near Vienna, where the Archduke, on his return from Italy, found her. Shortly afterwards they were legally married in the parish church of Bozen.