A QUEEN'S JEWELS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 69, 14 December 1907, Page 11

A QUEEN'S JEWELS.

. Ono of.,the saddest romances in' the;annuls"', of. jiiiropean royalty is" recalled'by .tnt repeated announcements of, tbei'J'orthcomjng siio'of the' jewels' of the'late Queen' of'-thiS Belgians. . i'lieso' jewels: were■'. left' to'-' 'trie Queon's eldest''daughter, Princess J/ouise; wno, at ■ 'sixteen,,' was married ■ to ITincu Pliilip'of Saxe-Coburg. This unhappy-union with a man 'limcn older than' herself, was terminated by. her;' elopement.' arid-subse-quent incarceration in. an asylum,' irom which srie'escaped: \ '■',-' -~ , ..;.•..' ,'J'lie jewels are of great value, and were to be'.sola to:. liquidate the-'.l'micess-'s -debts. "T very much fear," wrote 'king Leopold wiien' informed oi his daughter's "extravagance, ''that if my,daughter,'continues . to iive'iii this way she will aie,:in'poverty." ,' i'liblic opinion in ' Belgium ' ivas greatly shocked. >!>};. the projected ':Sale,. for .the .treasures include, a voir of Brussels .'-point' lace costing £41)00,'J presented lb', the : late Queen by.' the: women >of -Belgium,- - on.-: h'er! silver-werhimg-dny-,-. and a. wonderful- diadem, -eon-; taihing 116 .brilliants,' presented'.oh the same, occasion,.'at a cost 01 ''.-&6UOU. Beautiful necklaces, raro brooches, and .opal earrings were alsb distrained', on by the'-'/Princess's creditors, 'who;, it.-,is. sairl,. vainly offered:.to give. Ihb'm up to .her lather on payment of £'8t)0O:.' One brooch, consists ;bi, A• miniature, of, the 'King'-, of the'- Belgians.' studded'- with live hundred brilliants and 'diamonds'. -The feeling in Belgium'has been ■; tna.fr the jewels' presented "to .'the. late .Queeji. by the pcqplp of .the. land .were intended"-by. both ,'do'nors and' recipient .to be'in .'the'nature of heirlooms, arid ought not to t ;be' allowed" to leave and that the diadem in: particular, ought to bo handed down from'queen to queen., ,' ' . .' .On 'tbbi. occasion 'of the divorce' proceedings ' two years ago mention was- made/'of nno-thei/curious auction sale of tho Princess's goods '■': at,Nice, .when ' a -'vast"quantity- of wearing .apparel-wa's bought up by. her. husband's agents as evidence of her extravagance.' ' Counsel'said then that the Princess possessed 120 pairs of boots, sixty umbrellas, J 61' hats| and seventy'-tivc'. pairs ''of silk stockings. .... .-"'■■ The Princess is very tall,and fair, : and lias more of the Coburg look than the Bourbons, from whom she is descended.