AT THE PISTOL POINT

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 December 1923, Page 2

AT THE PISTOL POINT

PRINCE’S AMAZING STORY. LONDON, November 19. The Berlin correspondent of “The Daily Mail” says that a sensation has been caused by the announcement that the Prince of Pless is seeking to annul his 1 marriage with his wife, Mary, formerly Miss Cornwallis-West, who. when a beautiful girl of 17, married the Prince of Pless in London in 1891The marriage was the great social event of the season. The Princess of Pless is the sister of Constance, first wife of the Duke of Westminster. During the war, though her position in Bavaria was naturally difficult owing to her English connections, she nursed the wounded in Berlin. The marriage has not been a happy one. It would be easy enough for the Prince to obtain a divorce in a German Court on the ground of incompatibility of temper, but, despite his 62 years, he desires to marry a countess, the daughter of the late Prince von Dietrichstein, belonging to one of the great Austrian Catholic families. The Catholic Church forbids the marriage of divorced persons, and the Countess’s family would not permit her to defy the Church by contracting a secular marriage with the Prince of Pless after his divorce. Therefore the Prince of Pless is bringing a case for nullity before the matrimonial court of the Vatican. His advisers consider that, although the marriage was contracted 32 years ago, and three children have been born, the Prince has prospects of securing an annulment by the Roman Court on the ground that he was not a free agent, but was forced to marry against his will. The Prince of Pless, who is a Protestant, declares that his wife’s father, Colonel Cornwallis-West, held a pistol to his head and threatened to kill him if he did not marry his daughter. He also claims to have witnesses to substantiate Miis story a