Long Speculation On Husband For Irene

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30364, 13 February 1964, Page 2

Long Speculation On Husband For Irene

[By

SUSAN VAUGHAN]

The choice of a husband for Princess Irene of Holland has been a subject of conversation among Europe’s Royal matchmakers for several years. Crown Prince Constantine of Greece was once said to be a suitor. So was Crown Prince Harald of Norway. Her engagement to a Spanish Catholic, Prince Carlos Hugo, coming so soon after Irene’s own conversion to Catholicism, is not at all unexpected; the story has simply been taken further than stories of previous romances and its consequences are therefore more far-reaching. The fuss made over Irene’s romance is less concerned with the love life of a balanced 24-year-old woman than with its effect bn the throne. It demonstrates the fragility of the world’s few remaining monarchies, the anxiety of a dying breed to placate their subjects with a favourable image. Not unexpectedly, some of the younger members of these royal families a.e sometimes at odds with their elders. Britain’s Princess Margaret was and so is Irene. The second of Queen Juliana’s and Prince Bernhard’s four daughters, she was born at a restive time—a month before the beginning of the war. She was baptised

at Buckingham Palace in London in the presence of King George VI. As a young adult she channelled her high spirits into athletics. She became a brilliant skier, she took to tennis, sailing and riding. Fast cars thrilled her. Royal duties pleased her less. She came in for criticism by Dutch people who contrasted her behaviour with that of her eminently correct elder sister, Crown Princess Beatrix. Irene suffered a nervous breakdown. She came under the influence of her paternal grandmother, the German Princess Armgard, a Roman Catholic convert. It is Princess Armgard who is said to have done most to influence Irene to change her religion. In a spirit of rebellion, Irene began to develop close ties with royalty whom the Dutch Royal family has taken some pains to avoid; the Greek Royal family, and the family of the Spanish Pretender. Both the Greek and the Spanish families are extreme Right-wing and are constantly under attack by the influential Dutch Socialists. In Holland it is said that Irene is now more interested in Spain than she is in Holland. In Holland she was sworn in as a law courts interpreter but did not become one. She announced that she planned to translate foreign books into Dutch, but so far she has not translated any. On the other hand, her enthusiasm for Spanish matters has twice taken her on a trip to see Spanish relics in Mexico. Well, why not? The charm of monarchy, it has been said, lies in the fact that it is irrational. But if it is intolerant too, the charm soon fades. (AU Rights Reserved.) Rotary Exchange.— The first exchange of visits between Rotary clubs in matched districts in New Zealand and the United States and Canada wiU take place next month when a group of 48 Americans and Canadians arrive in Auckland. They will spend 14 days in New Zealand living with Rotarians in Auckland, Hamilton and Rotorua.