EX-EMPRESS IN POVERTY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 27 August 1925, Page 8

EX-EMPRESS IN POVERTY.

ALLIES TO "RESCUE OF ZITA

FAMILY’S PLIGHT.

Among the dethroned ex-enemy Royalties there is but one case that is deserving of sympathy. It is that of the ex-Empress- Zita of Austria, the widow of the late Emperor Karl, says the diplomatic correspondent of the Sunday Chronicle. .She was by birth virtually an Allied Princess, belonging to the house of Parma-Bourbon, and therefore closely associated with France and Italy. With the collapse of the Central Powers, Karl abdicated as Emperor of Austria, while reserving the rights of his son, the infant Archduke Otto, and at was a British colonel who rescued them from a “Red” mob. Karl, however, did not abdicate as King of Tlungarv, and continued to regard himself as fbch, as did most Hungarians, some openly, the others covertly. A WIDOW’S DISTRESS. Urged qn by the ex-Empress, Karl made two abortive efforts to .regain 'the Hungarian throne, reaching on the second occasion by aeroplane the. neighbourhood of Budapest, where he was met by the forces of the Regent ITortliy. ,The Allies then made arrangements for the unfortunate couple and tlieir children to reside in Madeira, instead of Switzerland, which was deemed too close to the danger zone. But Karl died shortly afterwards at Madeira in painful circumstances. There, was not even available the money to pay for the services of a specialist, and all the Imperial and Royal estates .having been appropriated his widow ! and children are now in actual distress, and subsist on the generosity of the house of Spain and of a few of tlieir loyal followers in Hungary, themselves greatly impoverished. ALLIED CHIVALRY. The British and French Governments consider that not only the most elementary chivalry, but the most elementary justice would demand that an unfortunate Royal lady who was merely technically an. enemy, and sought- to help the Allies, having lost her crown, her personal estate, and exhausted what little funds and jewellery she was able to save from the-wreckage, should be treated with some consideration. The more so as a Hapsburg.restoration was not prohibited by the Peace Treaties.

The Ambassadors’ Conference in Paris lias been instructed to find a formula to which each of the successive States would contribute its quota —out of the confiscated Imperial and Royal estates —towards a very small civil list.

But this plan is not likely to go through. Prague,. Belgrade, Budapest, Vienna even, will decline to contribute a. cent to the support of a dynasty they abhor. But Hungarian chivalry would probably respond, poor as Hungary is at this date. There is no reason why the Allies should not assign to the ex-Empress-Queen’s maintenance a small portion of the revenues from the former Crown lands.