A THRONE FOR LOVE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 9, 12 January 1926, Page 6

A THRONE FOR LOVE.

I Prince Charles of Rumania has evidently decided that a Balkan throne is not an object to be placed against the claims of affection. Bismarck said thai being King of a Balkan State was likely to be a pleasant memory in old age. The Crown Prince of Rumania does; not appear to have any desire for even this pleasant memory. The actual reason for his sacrifice of royal honours is not quite clear, but it is generally assumed that he has laid them aside in order tbat he j may be free to devote himself to Madame ] Lupescu, who appears to have captured ; his heart and imagination %p the exelu- i sion of his lawful wife. Had he been a private individual it is probable that j very small comment would have been 1 made on his action, but the fierce light that beats upon a throne will not be j denied. Very little has been said in cort- j demnation of the moral aspect, and most of the comments have been on the merits and demerits of the "alleged beauty." Some describe her as a prodigy of feminine grace and perfection, while others can see nothing in her likely to attract. The publicity given to the affair illustrates the artificial atmosphere in which Royalty lives. The Archduke John of Austria, when he disguised himself as a seaman and vanished for ever from the tyranny of Courts, was regarded as insane. As a matter of fact, he was probably one of the sanest of men. The two priceless privileges of freedom and obscurity are denied to all kings and princes. They live in a prison, walled off from their kind, and are ever pursued by intolerable limelight. It is perhaps small wonder that occasionally princes desire to break away from the marriages for purposes of State, the artificial atmosphere of ceremonial, and the eternal obeisance of the crowd. The British Monarchy has been described as "dignity without power," but even in Great Britain, where royalty enjoys greater freedom than in any other country, the throne must be something like a gilded cage for its occupant. Much more could this be said of the throne of Rumania. There is probably no Court in the world, unless the Spanish, where a greater degree of ceremonial and etiquette is maintained than in the Rumanian Court. Prince Charles has won a measure of sympathy from many who have small respect for the elaborate ceremonial of Balkan "royalty. His action in deserting his wife in favour of another cannot, of course, be commended, but in view of the artificial life he has been compelled to lead his desire for freedom has met with a measure of condonation. To renounce a Balkan throne in the present state of Balkan politics may not be the sacrifice some apparently take it to be; it may be simply an instinct of self-preservation