THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 1926. A THRONE RENOUNCED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19216, 4 January 1926, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 1926. A THRONE RENOUNCED.

A Prince has renounced his right to a European throne; Rumania now looks to a four-year-old boy as its next King. In consequences there is a buzz of inquiry and a simmer of {speculation. Unhappy love affairs are suggested confidently as the reason. Then comes the denial, substituting unwise political activity in Prince Charles as the determining circumstance. Official confirmation supports neither theory. The only authoritativo statement is confined ) to an announcement of the renunciation and its acceptance. The two explanations were inevitable, for every scion of all the surviving Royal houses is supposed to be hedged about with conditions restricting his freedom to choose a life partner, and in most countries where the monarchical system remains active participation in political controversy if not actually forbidden is frowned upon heavily. These are but two of the ways in which members of a Royal family are robbed of a freedom which every citizen of his country, from any section of society, enjoys in greater or smaller degree, according to circumstances which can be altered by force of character or a turn of fate. For the Prince there is 110 escape except through the drastic step Charles of Rumania has taken. If heir to the throne he is watched, disciplined and trained from his earliest days for what is now generally recognised as tho most arduous, nerve-racking and unceasing round of duties performed in his country. A monarch may rule by virtue of his office, but he is ruled by his office, unceasingly and relentlessly. So, when a Prince who knows tho fate in store for him revolts against it even at the cost of estrangement from his family and exile from his country, understandable motives should not be hard to find. Yet the marvel is that this act of renunciation has come so seldom, and that tho mere desire for freedom has not usually been the motive. Therefore the explanation in some definite circumstance continues to be sought. From Rumania the exact answer has not yet come. The sensation of tho event still :rules. It is not long since Rumania bad a coronation of a Bang who had filled the throne for eight years prior to the celebration. King Ferdinand succeeded immediately his uncle, King Charles, died, in October, 1914. Those were troubled times. Though Rumania had not then entered the war, her position was precarious, as neutrality had been declared in spite of an alliance with the Central Powers. There was no opportunity or desire for coronation celebrations. Two years later the declaration of war was made, but it was against Germany and Austria that sides were taken. Fate worked against Rumania. Eventually she was to be on the winning side, but before the day of victory dawned the elimination of Russia left virtually all the Balkans at the mercy of the German. Rumania was over-run. Court and Government had to abandon the capital, and see their country under enemy administration with the requisition mercilessly applied. This domination continued until the enemy acknowledgment of defeat in 1918. Then the King, who had stood by tho nation, returned to Bucharest. Finally, after all the adjustments, a coronation ceremony was held in October, 1922, when King Ferdinand was offered fervid and general tokens of loyalty and personal affection. Many dissensions have troubled Rumania even since the war, but the throne has not been assailed. It is a constitutional monarchy. By all the sign 3, it is a popular one. This threat to the succession will probably not be regarded lightly by the people. Tho Royal House of Rumania is allied to that of HohenzollernSigmaringen, and to that of Britain. The King is the second son of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmarin-gen. His Queen is the eldest daughter of the late Duke of Edinburgh, and is thus a first cousin of King George V. There is no native Royal family of long descent in Rumania. The monarchy dates back to 1378, when so much of tho immediate fate of Europe was settled by tho Treaty of Berlin. Previous to that there was a principality, established in 1858 by the union of Walachia and Moldavia, under the suzerainty of Turkey. It was then that the uncle of the present King was called to the position, the people having determined on a European Prince in preference to the elevation of anyone native to the newlyunited country. Prince Charles was approved by almost unanimous popular vote. When the kingdom was established the crown —made of steel from Turkish cannon captured at Plevna—went to him without question. The succession of King Ferdinand was accepted by the Parliament of Rumania, and the hereditary principle established. In

the ordinary course there could have been no question of Prince Charles filling the throne he has just renounced. However, by his act, a generation will be passed over, assuming that Parliament ratifies the King's decision that the son of the abdicating Prince shall be the next heir. The kingly office descends in the male line only, the alternative being popular choice from among the Royal families of western Europe. In default of the infant successor, King Ferdinand has another son. The chances are, therefore, that the place of the Prince who has renounced his birthright will be filled without trouble, and he will be allowed to disappear into private life as he desires.