PRINCESS HAUNTED BY JEWELS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 307, 27 December 1924, Page 19

PRINCESS HAUNTED BY JEWELS.

PRICELESS GEMS OF IXL-OSt EN ! "LEEDS' LUCK." i QUEEN'S RANSOM FOR SALE. Trim-ess Xenia of Russia, the beautiful wife of Mr. William Leeds and daughter-in-law of the laic Princess Anastasla ot Greece, will probably never wear the princess' priceless jewels. There !„ only one ren sou why such strings of jew<.] 3 should Dot ndoni .so white v throat. The reason is Unit, despite tbeir loveliness, the I ropes of pearly, emernlds, and diamonds ! left by the widow of Mr. William B. j Leeds, sen., the tinplate king, are not considered lurky shines. Naturally. "Billy" Leeds ami hie royal wile do not emphasise the tradition, but I It Is a matter of wl.lf kn.iwln<l ße that th(l enormously costly penis have reflected the I shadows of personal di-Hpnlr. political ( ji S - I appointment, ill-health—aud even deatu. Hoodoo. These episodes may seem unrelated, but to the superstitious they spell the dread word hoodoo with such certainty that no one is surprised that i'rlncess Xenla aud her husband prefer to have the Jewels outside the family, even if they are disposed A necklace of pearls worth a quarter of a million pounds lies in a heavy gi asSi double-padlocked case In a famous jeweller's shop. Beside it coiled within a velvet-lined box, rests another rare trophy of the lapidary's art—a great tiara adorned with inch long, pear-shapeu diamonds, from which depend cabochon emeralds the size of walnuts. The famous tiara, which once adorned the brow of the tinplnte king's widow, both before and after she became the bride of Prince Christopher of Greece, is far and I away the most superbly Impressive of the I bijoux. Beautiful women, Inspecting it In the Jeweller's shop, have turned away with a slfc'h of regret while their eyes still sparkled with delight. Their sorrow has not been caused by the price mark—lame though, it be —but rather by some psychic toueli of fear. I Romanoff Jewels. It Is a fascinating, although sad, task to trace the history of Princess Christopher as illuminated by the glow of the gems which are now casually offered to the tlrst purchaser—with the necessary bank account. Such a process offers a striking parallel to the somewhat sinister fortunes of the Romanoff diamonds, which raised the cry: "Take them out of Russia; they are accursed:" the Hope diamond, which has more than the usual quota of horrors accredited to It. and the collection :of the ill-starred Empress Zita of Austria. I The late Mrs. Leeds' streak of bad luck seemed to date from her acquisition of enormous wealth. Her first husband began his career on an extremely small scale. While he was still a young man he had become the owner of all the large tinplate mills In the country and of the Rock Island railroad, In addition to a controlling grip on several other Industries. Before long he had accumulated a fortune of £10.000,000. Of this titanic amount, f5.000.000 went to his wife. Just how many of the Leeds millions purchased flashing diamonds, winking rubles, and emeralds has never been even roughly r estimated. ' began a Berles of chessboard manoeuvres ; to link the Leeds millions with some penniless peerage outside the royal circle. Mrs. ■ Leeds, however, liad her way. She mar- ' rled her prince. King Constantine cast off his brother. Prince Christopher, and when the king died, the Leeds luck ordained that the Princess should not become Queen of Greece. Then she became sick, and after an illness which made her life a burden, she died. Peril of Death. The sole compensation for the presentiment that she was going to her grave was the princess* knowledge that her handsome son, "Billy," was happily bethrothed to the lively young Princess Xenla of Russia. The Leeds luck, however, has dogged him. The young couple have twice faced death In boating accidents during this year. The first time, while venturing across a treacherous eound on the Georgia coast In a small motor launch they were forced to take to a little bateau when the other Only a few weeks ago the Intrepid Mr. Leeds extinguished a petrol flre which wab about to destroy his palatial yacht Wildcat while he and his wife were on holiday In the Northern part of New York State. A match had been carelessly cast by someone on a petrol-coated portion of the lake, and the life of Mr. Leeds' royal wife was Imperilled. She would surely have perished but for his bravery and quick action. At the very moment when "Billy" Leeds was beating out the flames which played about Princess Xenia, other flames were flickering In a glass case In a jeweller's shop, the lustrous fire of diamonds, the radiant glow of pearls, and the darting flre of emeralds. The Princess may well be excused for not wanting to wear the fabulous Leeds gems.