Divorce à la Mode

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7199, 23 April 1930, Page 13

Divorce à la Mode

Princess Xenia Bids Friendly Goodbye to Millionaire Husband and Departs for London * . * O the intense surprise of her friends and the publie it is announced that a divorce has been iMCSBnPJ granted to Mrs. William B. Leeds, formerly Princess Xenia of Russia. The decree was signed by Mr. Justice Strong, of the Supreme Court of Justice, at- Huntingdon, Long Island. The award, he said, was based on the findings of Mr. Percy Stoddard, the referee In the action. No further information is available. When it was sought at the Leeds country estate on Long Island considerable surprise was expressed at the news of the divorce. The former Princess Xenia' and Mr. Leeds were said to be in Florida. Mr. Leeds is a son of the late WilHam B. Leeds, known as the “Tinplate King” because of the huge fortune he made through the manufacture of tinplate. After the death of his father Mr. Leed’s mother married Prince Christopher of Greece, and it was while visiting his mother in Athens that young .Leeds became engaged to Princess Xenia, the daughter of the Grand Duchess Marie and a niece of King Constantine. At the back door of a little house in New York the young millionaire bade farewell to the Princess Xenia, with the remark, “We part the best of friends." She replied with a smile and a nod of the head, the two of them laughing over their peculiar mode of parting. He then kissed her, saying, “Goodbye, Tommy, see you soon,” to which she replied, “Good-bye, Bill, see you soon.” Then she slipped away and looked for a taxi-cab. “There’s a wonderful lady for you," was Mr. Leed’s final comment. A small army of reporters and photographers had laid siege to the front door of the Leeds house in Washington Mews, and so, creeping stealthily

out at the back, Princess Xenia began her new life. “No Quarrel’' The couple were married In 1921. Mr. Leeds was then 18 years of age, and the Princess was 17. They deny that they have quarrelled. While she will have the care of their child Nancy, he will have the right to visit the little girl at any time he chooses. The financial terms of the separation are not disclosed. Neither will admit any intention of remarrying. The princess will spend her time between Europe and the United States, and Mr. Leeds, it is believed, is about to go abroad. The reasons for their friendly divorce are still kept secret. Even the judge declares that he has not read the papers. He ordered them to be sealed and they have been filed away at the County Court of Mineola, Long Island.