A Saxony Scandal.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7514, 12 February 1903, Page 7

A Saxony Scandal.

M. GIRON'S DIARY

A rjewspapeu representative wjio obtained a letter of introduction to M. Giron found the tutor a tall slim man; dark, and of youthful appearance. -M. Giron complains about the way in which he is being assailed by newspaper correspondents One American journalist wrote offering £60 if the Princess would write a_ twenty-line paragraph for his pap-

A rough diary which the young 2£ eF.n glves some interesting reao tb:r ?fwl ber 13-On the night of the 11th the Princess left Salz- «* Archduke Leopofd in * caTnage, drawn by a coupler of Arab horses. They drove to Berchefisnenn, and had to wait in the third-class^waiting-room for a train to Bruch and Zurich. It was a fine moonlight night, but very cold " December 14.—1 arrived at Zurich ■ijweiiVy-four hoi^s later than- was expected. She had passed a terrible night. We left for Geneva." "December 21.—We went to the theatre " "December 22.—1 bought a Christmas tree for her."

In the course of. an interview with the special correspondent of the Vitnna Neve Freip Presse now in Geneva, M. Giron said the Princess \\as most unhappy, at the bigoted and formalist Saxon Court., where it was a crime even to laugh, while her hosrand was without intelligence aii'i a <o3rse creature withal. Absolutely her only rpgret in connection with her departure from Saxony was that she was obliged to leave- her cnMrer. behind her. M Guon declared that all the arrangements [or the flight were made by the Archduke Leonold Ferdinand

The Petit Bleu publishes an interview which one of its representatives had with M. Andre Giron at Geneva. Ihe lover of the Crown Princess of Saxony states that he had never seen her Royal Highness before he became tutor to her children. The relations between him and the Princess were discovered by Baroness de Fretich, Grand Mistress of the Court, who induced him to leave. Thereupon the Princess decided to s:o with him. On December 12 she left by the spiral staircase. They hid themselves in the station waiting-room at balzburg, and eventually left for Innsbruck, whence they went to Zurich, Avhere M. Giron joined them The Swiss Federal Council was requested by the German Government to expel the Princess and her companions from the country, but declines to do so. The Archduke Leopold and Mile. Adamovics are now at Montreux.

In high German social quarters it is believed that the Saxon Court scandal is likely to exercise a farreaching influence upon the future royal matrimonial arrangements in Europe. The flight of the Crown Princess is described as a tardy reminder to highly placed matchmakers that it is time to break with the traditions of marriages of political convenience. It is pleaded that imperial and royal parents should no longer consider it a mortal sin for princes and princesses to woo and wed outside reigning houses or into princely houses of less distinguished lineage. *

The Archduke Leopold Ferdinand has made a sensational statement to a representative of the Zeit that John Orth is still alive. In 1889 the Archduke John renounced his rank and took the name of- John Orth and married a poor girl. When last heard of he was aboard the Margenta, the ship that disappeared on a voyage from Buenos Ayres to Callao. Orth was believed to bb drowned Avith the remainder of the crew The Archduke Leopold Ferdinand firmly believes that he is living with his brother, Louis Salvator, another eccentric archduke, who spends fifty weeks of the year on a small island which he owns, and on his yacht off Cannes. The Archduke Leopold Ferdinand mentioned other circumstances pointing to the same conclusion. In connection with the present scandal in the Austrian Royal Family, it is interesting to note a series of mesalliances of the present generation of the Hapsburgs. The Archduke Ferdinand secretly married Philippine Welser, a lady not of royal rank.

Archduke John married Anna Plochal, daughter of a post-office official This lady was afterwards raised to the peerage as Countess yon Meran. Archduke Henry married Leopoldine Hoffman, an actress, who afterwards was created Baroness yon Weideck.

Archduke 'Ernest secretly married a woman of humble origin. His son, Baron yon Wall burg, is now the head waiter at a care at Budapest. Archduke John Salvador (John Orth) married a dancer, Emily Stabel. Both are supposed to have perished at sea.

Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, married Countess Sophie Chotek, one of the Court ladies.

Besides the above male mesalliances there are the cases of Princess Elizabeth, who married Baron Seefrie'd, and the Crown Princess Stephanie, who married Count Lony.iv. The affair of Archduke Leopold Ferdinand has assumed a new' aspect. When the Archduke left Salzburg he. was not only determined to renounce his rank and title, but also to icfuse all pecuniary support, his intention being to earn his living by iunnual labor. Now he has adopted quite a different attitude.

The Emperor, far from objecting to the Archduke's renunciation, is anxious to see the Imperial House rifl :i a member capable of acting as Archduke Leopold. Ferdinand has acted, and as soon as it was known i.hat. the fugitives were at Geneva the Emperor sent an emissary Shitiior with a document setting forth the terms of the Archduke's renunciation, to which the Archduke was requested to affix his signature.

The Archduke, perusing it, found that it provided not only' for the renunciation of his rank and title and his privileges, but also all pecuniary claims on the revenue of the Imperial House and his father's estate, while it further required him to renounce his Austrian citizenship and become a naturalised subject of some other country and promise never^ again to set foot in Austria. The Archduke Leopold Ferdinand, while adhering to his original intention of renouncing his rank and title, flatly refused to accept the other conditions. He demanded the payment of £8,000 a year which every Austrian Archduke receives from the day of his birth, and declared he would never cease to be an Austrian citizen, nor would he promise never to visit Austria.

The Tagblatt learns from an official source that the Emperor sternly refuses to make any .compromise with.the\Archduke, whose- father ,i the Grand Duke of Tuscany, acting on the Emperor's advice, kas made a new will, absolutely disinheriting him. The Archduke, in short, will not receive, a farthing now or) at any ojfcher time. Interviewed by the Zeit, the Archduke said : "I demand from.the Emperor j the payment of my proper allowance." The Emperor pressed me to sign i renunciation, but I signed nothing! I can still claim the rights and privileges of a member of the Imperial Family/ The Austrian Government threatens) repressive! measures unless I accept the conditions dictated to me. I am nevertheless determined not to be browbeaten into doing anything of the kind.'1 If the Emperor persists in stopping the allowanflfc of the Aichduke, the latter will probably decide not to renounce* his rank and title, of which no one can deprive him without his own cpnsentj. If thrown on .his own resources the Archduke told a representative of the Zeit that he contemplated) going to sea on a merchant ship, tie was an officer in the Austrian 'jnavy, and his seven years' training there would enable him to qualify] as an officer in the mercantile marine.