GABY AND MANUAL

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 25 October 1924, Page 10

GABY AND MANUAL

HOW A PLOT WENT ASTRAY. SAN FRANCISCO, Sept.' 10. AH America has been rocked l by the secret just revealed by a Los Angeles newspaper'.reporter, Harry Carr, who has a worijj reputation, and has enjoyed the intimate acquaintanceship of many world-renowned people, and coincident with the death in Los Angeles at the end of August of Governor Henry T. Gage, who for some years was the chief executive of California, Mr Gan* revealed some details •of a “romance” of Gaby Deslys and Manuel of Portugal, hitherto never given to the public. Subjoined is the narrative as given by Mr Carr in the columns of tlie Los Angeles Times: Governor Henry T. Gage told me a tremendous diplomatic secret not long before his death, which occurred last Thursday. Had it been known while Gaby Deslys was living it would have rocked' all Europe. The Governor wouldn’t let me tell it at the time. But now that he is dead and Gaby Deslys is dead, and King Manuel is in exile, there can he no harm in telling it-. It is the real story behind the romance of the beautiful French dancing girl and King Manuel of Portugal—the romance that cost the King his throne. The facts came into the possession of Mr Gage while he was the United States Ambassador to Portugal. 11l brief, the story was . this: That the supposed romance was, in fact, an affair of diplomats ; a “lore affair” arranged by the Portuguese Government. It seems that Manuel came to 'the throne at a troubled time. It was the beginning of the storm in rebellion that was destined, in the end, to sweep away nearly every throne in Continental Europe.

Had Manuel been the type of popular hero—had he been like the Prince of Wales, for instance—he might have ridden safely through the storm. But he lacked the flaring, vivid qualities that popular idols are made of. He was a quiet, studious boy, with no talent for publicity. According to the story, as told to Mr Gage ,at the time, the Portuguese Royalists played Gaby as a last trump card.

They had looked over the world and observed that the popular monarchs were all romantic blades. Most of them were /heroes with women—Edward VII., King Alfonso, the German Crown Prince, the idolised Franz Josef of Austria; they were all romanticists—to state it in the most tactful way possible.

They thought if Manuel could only be made the hero of a great romance that the tide might he turned. It is an almost incredible story; hut they told Mr Gage that they sent to Paris and picked out the most beautiful, dashing and romantic figure that could be found; this was Gaby Deslys. She was a beautiful girl at that time; a woman of high spirit and great accomplishments. She was an excellent and sensational dancer, a vivid and picturesque figure and the idol of Paris.

Gaby at that time was sitting on top of the world. She was the most colourful character in the world—without being too— -well, shall we say—lurid? According to the story as the diplomats told it, she was brought to Lisbon and the romance was manufactured to order. That famous oearl necklace, which mad© _ such a stir, and which eventually cost the King his throne—was bought and paid for by the Portuguese Government from the public treasury. Manuel was an innocent and probably a bewildered spectator at his own “love affair.”

The irony of it all was that the effect of the Gaby incident was exactly opposite from that which ha-d been anticipated. It gave the revolutionists fuel for the spreading flame. It roused the public to fury. Manuel, was deposed. He now lives in exile in England—again a quiet, studious, unassuming figure—almost forgotten. Gaby—lovely Gaby—is dead.