ROYALTY IN EXILE

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 December 1940, Page 9

ROYALTY IN EXILE

EX-EMPRESS ZITA OF AUSTRIA NEW YORK, September 20. I When the Germans invaded Holland and Belgium on May 10, the exEmpress Zita of Austria fled hurriedly with her children, leaving most of their personal belongings behind. They were just in time, for shortly afterward the small 12th century castle, in which they made their home in the straggling Flemish village of Steenockerzeel, near Brussels, was razed by German Shelling, and its destruction completed by fire. They are now living in another village, Royalston, Massachusetts, in the home used as a summer cottage by a New York banker, Calvin Bullock. The empress is now 48. It is the second time that wars have cost her and her family their personal belongings during the years of their exile. The spacious house in which they lived on the Basque coast of Spain was looted during the first few weeks of the Spanish Republic regime and burned down during Franco’s campaign. The family had left it for Steenockerzeel in 1929, but they continued to use it as a summer home. The eldest son of the empress, the Archduke Otto, is now 27. The second son, Robert, is serving at the Admiralty in London. He is the only one of the eight children who is not in the United States. Another son, Felix, is on a lecturing tour. The four younger children have still to complete their schooling. The empress intends to send them to American colleges and universities, as she desires them to know how the people of the United States live and what are their ideals. Politics is no longer a welcome subject to the empress. Since her arrival her host has taken her for drives around the peaceful countryside, and she looks forward to taking an interest in the lives and activities of the 150 dairy farmers who constitute the poulation of the district. Life for her will be quiet, as she bravely and confidently faces exile anew.

PATRIOTIC FUND. £ s. d. Previously acknowledged 5284 11 6 Pupils Tech. High School 5 5 0 Staff Tech. High School 5 5 0 Staff Greymouth Motors, sth instalment 7 7 3 Karoro Sunday School 2 6 5302 11 3