ROTHERMERE SUED

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20957, 9 November 1939, Page 8

ROTHERMERE SUED

ACTION BY PRINCESS BREACH OF CONTRACT INTERESTING DETAILS POLITICAL ENTERPRISE (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Nov. 9, 3.15 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 8 Alleging that Lord Rothermere engaged her as a personal foreign representative, the Viennese Princess Stefanie of HohenloheWaldenbourg, the divorced wife of a Hungarian magnate, sued Lord Rothermere for breach of contract.

Her counsel, Mr G. H. Beyfus, K.C., declared that Lord Rothermere sought a feature for the Daily Mail, and the Princess persuaded him to champion the cause of Hungary. She supplied him with information for an

article which appeared in the Daily Mail on June 21, 1927, which ever since has been celebrated in Hungary as a day of national rejoicing. The Princess, during 1932, rejected a suggestion that his son, Mr Esmond Harmsworth, should be nominated as King of Hungary. Thereafter there was some coldness in her relations with Lord Rothermere, who, hearing that she was publishing articles about her part in the Hungarian treaty revision campaign, paid her £SOOO not to publish any more. Mr Beyfus suggested that Lord Rothermere did not want anyone to share his glory. Next, Lord Rothermere appointed the Princess as his personal foreign representative at £SOOO a year, as he had decided to seek to restore the Hohenzollerns and Hapsburgs to their thrones. Mr Beyfus declared that Lord Rothermere wanted to be a modern “Warwick, Kingmaker,” and asked the Princess to contact the Empress Zita and the ex-Kaiser, and acquaint them of this campaign to establish a monarchy as a bulwark against Bolshevism.

Lord Rothermere corresponded with the ex-Kaiser, the Crown Prince, Hitler and the Regent of Hungary on equal terms as though he were a sovereign power himself, and the Princess acted as ambassadress.

Lord Rothermere suggested offering the Empress Zita an annuity of £25,000 for five years, although only a year or two before he had told the Princess it was difficult for him to keep his head above water. The Princess advised Lord Rothermere not to deal with the Empress Zita or the ex-Kaiser, but to contact the Crown Prince. As a result, Lord Rothermere accepted the invitation the Princess obtained for him to go to Germany, where he was given a Royal reception. Lord Rothermere promised the Crown Prince to restore the Hohenzollerns, and told the Princess that Hitler should make her a duchess. Publicity Not Desired Mr Beyfus pointed out that the Princess had accepted Lord Rothermere’s advice not to take action against articles libelling her in the French press. '’Lord Rothermere, fearful of publicity, assured her that all would be well. Lord Rothermere promised to pay her £SOOO a year for life saying: “I never let down a woman.”

Mr Beyfus stated that Lord Rothermere had paid the Princess £46,000 during -5£ years, and requested her not to keep accounts of her expenses, which included expensive gifts for various notabilities.

The Princess continued in Lord Rothermere’s service, and she secured an invitation for him to meet Hitler at Berchtesgaden in 1936, and escorted him there from the frontier. Lord Rothermere sent her on a vital mission in January of 1938 to Hitler to discuss the return of colonies to Germany. Thereafter the Princess and Lord Rothermere quarrelled over an in-come-tax return. Lord Rothermere dropped her without a single word. Sir William Jowitt, K.C., who is appearing for Lord Rothermere, did not dispute the contract, but contended that a year’s notice was sufficient to terminate it. The hearing was adjourned.