LUNCHEON WITH THE KAISERIN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 4817, 14 March 1918, Page 7

LUNCHEON WITH THE KAISERIN.

DOCTOR AND WOUNDED GERMAN PRINCE. A correspondent in France writes to The Times. “There is a certain Trappist monastery not far from hero that is known by reason of its having witnessed the death of Prince Max of Hesse in October, 1914. He was m the '2nd Dragoons of the Guards and had an outpost on the hill which had laid out a cavalry patrol of ours, (killing two officers and two troopers some of the 16tli Lancers. They are buried :n the monastery grounds. Later on retribution came from on_o of our horse batteries —“K,” I think—-and a reinforcement of the Cavalry Br.gide. The windmill by the monastery was shelled — the mark is on the walls now —and tho cavalry, advancing, shot this Prince Max (the favourite nephew of tho Kaiser and °f the Queen of Greece) through the stomach. They also laid out four German troopeis, who are buried alongside the British troopers inside the monastery walls. “The Germans took their young commander and left him with the monks on their retreat. Hero our cavalry field ambulance found him, and tlie two medical officers, L— : aI? cl J , stayed with the Prince until he died. A very nice fellow lio was. L ' tells me, and, if he had lived like a I-lohenzollern, ho certainly died as a prince should. For he asked them if there was any hope, and' thev, having none of the requisites for a surgical operation on He abdomen —ho was wounded through the spleen and bleeding internally—told him the frank and brutal, truth. At this the prince professed himself satisfied. and, a little later, died. His boclv was then taken by our field ambulance to C- and handed oyer to tlie cure of the village for burial. But the ambulance having departed, the mayor of the commune, a wily fellow, appeared and claimed the body and buried it in a secret place. “Later, the Queen of Greece wrote many inquiries to L , and appeared very grateful for tlie little they were able to do for the jouug hope of the House of Hesse —-he was only 19, a fine, upstanding fellow well over 6ft, and spoke English very well. She then sent a neutral deputation to find the body; but, when this cleputation (who no doubt did p bit or spying on their way) arrived, they found that they bad struck a snare the foxy may*. For he would only surrender the body on payment of tbe damage which the Germans had d no to his commune —whereas they had really done no harm, being only too busy trying to get - away—and the modest,estimate at which ho priced the moral ancl material damage was 20 million francs. Now Tino and Sophia did not have 20 million francs lying idle at the moment, and the deputation departed sadly—no doubt, after a fine bit of work behind our lines,-so that their errand‘should not be whollv unsuccessful. “J 1—- was taken prisoner shortly afterwards, and he, one day, while' , seing a sick British prisoner, was waited' on by the General and the Commandant, and taken to a big car with the Imperial arms emblazoned on it. and driven out of the camp to a neighbouring town. There he lunched with the Ivaiserin rind the parents of Max of Hfesse They were very Find to him, and obliged for what lie told them ancl for what,' be bad clone. Bach month afterwards ho received a special hamper of cigarettes, cigars, ancl nice things from a mysterious source, and very shortly came his release.”