TRAGIC PRINCESS

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 February 1935, Page 9

TRAGIC PRINCESS

STORY OF NEGLECTED GRAVE

A Translyvanian correspondent of the “Magyarsag” reports that the Rhedey family vault, in which lies the body of Claudine Rhedey, Princess Alexander of Wurtemberg, and grandmother of her Majesty Queen Mary, has fallen into a state of decay.

The Rhedey Castle, with one acre of garden, was bought for 270,000 lei by the Rumanian State this year; but since then nobody has been instructed to care for the vault. The memorial stone, two stone crests, and a tablet sent by Queen Mayy in 1905, have been brought from the crumbling vault to the old church belonging to the Rhedey family.

The writer recalls the tragic fate of the Princess, whose brief married idyll was spent at this castle. On one occasion, when Prince Alexander was taking part in the great manoeuvres at Graz, in Austria, the Princess decided to give him a happy surprise. Travelling to the spot, she appeared on the ground unannounced, and was run' down by a squadron of racing hussars. Before her death the Princess received a promise from her husband that she should be buried near her birthplace, the Rhedey Castle at Erdoszentgyorgy, and her body was driven from Graz to the family vault in thirty-eight days by Captain Sandot Torok of the Wurtemberg Regiment, the best friend of Prince Alexander. The heart of his wife, however, Prince Alexander kept in a glass case on his table for forty-four years. At his death the heart was placed beside his body in the coffin.