THE PRINCE IMPERIAL'S LOVE AFFAIR.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1587, 29 April 1887, Page 3

THE PRINCE IMPERIAL'S LOVE AFFAIR.

A EOMANTIC STORY. The cirious ftorr about the private marriage of the Prince Imperial of France to an Englishwoman has been revived. A morning paper, however, state? that thore wa« no marriage, and that tho son born of the union is, therefore, illegitimate. It is hinted that the family of Prince Napoleon have had inquires made about the matter, so as to obviate the recurrence of the Bonaparte-Patterson difficulties, and that no traces whatever of a marriage contracted in England by the young Prince have been found The following details, which establish a foundation for the rumours of the marriage, are given by the same authority. It is said that when Prince Louis Napoleon went to amuse himself in London, ho always put up at Dumont's, the well-known French coiffeur. Ho there had a small apartment, modestly furnished, which he called in fun, " A real sub-lieutenant's abode," and in which he received his friends without formality. Ho went hero to dress for dinners or soirees. According lo the informant of the writer in the morning paper the room and its furnituro still exist intact, and M. Dumont has also religiously preserved some of the neckties worn by the ill-fated Prince before bis departure for Zululand. Dur"ng one of his periodical visits to London the Prince met a young Englishwoman in the train, and entered into conversation with her. This casual acquaintance soon ripened into intimacy, the pair meeting frequently, and the young Englishwoman being completely ignorant of the identity of her foreign lover. Two reasons are assigned for the conduct of the Prince in disguising his real name and position from his acquaintance. In the first place he was afraid of a noise being made about his liaison, and in the second his financial resources were insullieient to enable him to keep the lady whom he had met in a position worthy of a prince. One day his mistress saw some photographs of the Prince Imperial in a shop wiudow, and remarked on the resemblance between her lover and the Emperor's son. But the Princo passed tae matter on in a joking manner. Before leaving for the Cape the young heir of the Bonapartes was very near telling the truth to his mistress, but at the last moment he simply said that he was going on a long jouruey, and that when he returned he would be able to keep her in a more opulent manner. When the news of tho Prince's death was spread through London, and whea his photographs were everywhere exhibited, the young woman, having had her suspicions thoroughly aroused, went to Dumont's, and th-re learned that her lover was really Prince Napoleon. a long time sh« retrained from troublitg the Piinee'a family as to her claims, fielding, however, no doubt tj advice, Bha went with her chi.d in her arms one day to Camden Place, Cnisleiiurdt, but was not received. After this she was completely lost Bight ot, aud do more was heard about the sou of the Prince Imperial. Such is the story, which is now retold with more circumstantial details than ever, and it is need less to say that it has greatly excited tae curiosity of the Parisians.