ROMANCES OF ROYALTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14244, 15 December 1909, Page 11

ROMANCES OF ROYALTY.

OOURT LOVE INTRIGUES. ? SOME REMARKABLE EPISODES. ijVKliB i». perhaps, "° more remarkable : . s()(le in the history of the Royal Courts [Pf Europe than that in which tho Chevalier I 'O'Eon, the wonder and puzzle of the •Thtee'nth century, figured. The chevalier m a human enigma, inasmuch as no one IS i] V knew, during his lifetime, whether Y» was » man or woman » nud many were 1 {he wagers made, and many the duels Wi (.ht, arising from the hot discussions conr Wrning him. According **> Mr. Thornton Hall, in his • ttrost>- s book ' "Love Intrigues of Royal BONsrfi»'s (Worrier Laurie), the bets made ncerning the chevalier at one time reached fdg enormous total of £70,000, and one \ the almost countless wagers actually bee t ] lo subject of a lawsuit, in which one RflaeM after another swore that D'Eon Lg, a woman, apparently on no stronger. .rounds than that he so successfully aa-f-Sied the role of female. it 26 he had the face and figure of a lirl of 18— a very charming girl, too. At the same time he was one of the most ikilful fencers in France, and excelled in many snorts. Struck by his feminine appearance. Louis XV. actually sent him, in the guise °* ft young 8' '- M secret ambassador to Elizabeth. Empress of Russia, with whom he was anxious to establish friendly relations. E "Tho Russian Empress was charmed by this fair ambassadress, with her ' milk and roses' and her pretty Mays, and metaphorically, if not literally, took her to her Imperial heart ; and when Mile. Lia— D'Eon oiled himself—confessed, with charming blushes and confusion, the little deception he had practised, so far from taking offence, the Empress loaded him with honour*." Incidentally he induced the Empress to consent to an alliance with France «id Austria, which resulted in the Seven Years' war. So the story goes, although gome writers have thrown doubt upon it.

MYSTERIOUS LADY OF VERSAILLES. There is no doubt, however, that the thcvalier visited England, and refused to • diralge the secret of his sex to the most fascinating of questioners. Ultimately, for political purposes, D'Eon actually confessed that he was a woman, and for many years was known as "mademoiselle," although when he died at 80 years of age the doctors | set til doubts at rest by declaring that, after ' •11, D'Eon was a man. ■ Equally astonishing is the story unfolded by Mr. Hall concerning the mysterious ••huh/' if Versailles, who died half a century »go. At least, everybody thought she was a lady, although her death revealed the /fact that " Mile, de Langes," as she had i been known for many years, was really a. man. Many thought that she was none other than the Dauphin, who long years before ; had been smuggled from his temple 'prison and had vanished. De Lange certainly bore a likeness to the Dauphin's father, Louis XVI., the murdered King.

• A LOAN OF 5,000,000FR. "Mile, de Lances," however, was really an impostor, who took the name and impersonated the character of a certain Jenny de Langes, who had died, and whose father had lent 5,0C0,000fr. to a certain Count DArtois, hoping to obtain the money. With this end in view " Mademoiselle" got a certain comtesse into her power, . and made her introduce her to her exalted friends, and even Royalty. " Mademoiselle" placed the part of the womanan injured ana long-suffering woman—to perfection. She flirted and .coquetted with men, and .wormed herself into the favour of great ladies by her patience under a great wrong. I la the end, however, the bubble burst, and. baffled and outwitted, this woman abandoned the quest of the 5,000,Q00fr., and lived an eccentric, life at Versailles until her death, when the astounding secret 'that she was a man was revealed.

I ; A DISASTROUS MARRIAGE. I |"A parody of a man." So Philippe of I Orleans, who married Henrietta, the young- / est child of Charles 1., has been described. I "To the ago of 13 he had been dressed in I girl's clothes. Most of his time as a young I jam was spent in dressing himself in gorge- | ous raiment, and he spent hours in rouging | md perfuming himself. Be was a woman, I! with all her faults and none of her virtues— I childish, feeble, j fond of gossip, curious, vain, suspicious, and incapable of holding ; lis tongue." Small wonder that, the mar- ! riage with the high-minded and high-spirit-I id Henrietta proved a disastrous one. I r Of the tragedies of the Royal Courts of I Europe none, perhaps, is" more sad than : I that of Ludwig of Bavaria, who succeeded Ito the throne of, that country when he was I 18 years of age. Ludwig was undoubtedly I nod, although he had his sane moments. I■ He was betrothed to his cousin, the beauti I |ful and universally-beloved Princess Sophie I Charlotte. '■","■ Medals were struck in honjour of the event, and at a cost of 1,000,000 ; .i I gulden a magnificent bridal carriage was if built for the Royal couple. And then, when I the preparations for the splendid nuptials i "'ere almost ' complete, Ludwig refused I point-blank to go to the altar. The bride * "as', sent home in tears, and his subjects • I *ere left to make the best of their disapI pointment." And many were the tricks he I flayed until he committed suicide. ' "l ; / LADY NEWBORCHTGH'S QUEST. I Tragic in the extreme was the disappointi tan - of Lady Newborough, who died in I l «3, and who to the last believed that she P ,a a daughter' of the Duke of Orleans I 'id the first lady in France. She spent '} tony years of her life and many thousands I «fpounds trying to establish her claim, I »nt without success, and she died a disapI feinted, lonely woman. I i According to some documentary evidence, I w had been changed at birth and placed I " the keeping of a constable of Florence, I *- litter's son being taken away in exchange If l [ il nobleman, said to be the Duke of 1 Weans, and his wife. The girl became a I wlet-daneer, and attracted the attention | J 'Lord, Newborough, who was visiting I 'lorcnce, and who married her in spite of H'« 'j o * l '^ ft ' he was old enough to be her if fandfather. After Lord , Newborough' I fath she married again, and it was ten I * a r» afterwards, in 1820, that she first I ? m ed fin inkling of the mystery of her if *■«. But, although her hopes were raised I fcu? leS by the discovery of certain clues ■IMch seemed to prove her real rank, they ;'P led to nothing in the end. |; ' ■ ==