TITLES IN GERMANY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20364, 19 September 1929, Page 13

TITLES IN GERMANY.

PRUSSIAN EMBELLISHMENTS.

"REIGNING" PRINCE'S DEMANDS

In spite of the public interest aroused by tlio very remote possibility of the exKaiser returning to Germany—a newspaper topic of the silly season—he is not, after all, considered the arch-Hohcn-zollern, born to be a thorn in the flesh of Republicans, no matter how consolidated the Republic, says the Borliu correspondent of a London newspaper. In the little capital of Sigmaringen, chief city of that strip of Prussia enclosed in the State of Wurtemberg, which is the Original home of the Hphcnzollern family, the "reigning" Prince has once more upset Prussian officialdom in Berlin.

Not only does the Prince still complain to headquarters, a year after receiving official intimation to the contrary, that the civil servants who administer his State affairs do not invariably address him as "Your Highness," as ho has expressly commanded, but he requires the members of his private entourage and household to be designated on official envelopes and in public by tlio titles he has been pleased to confer upon them. His private secretary, chauffeur, and head groom, as well as the chief administrators of his estate, have all, it is understood, been dignified by quite distinguished additions to their names, of which "privy councillor" for the secretary is pleasantly reminiscent of past glories. Having decided that "Prince of Hohenzollern" is a family name, and that members of the household have every right to be addressed by it, the central Government at Berlin makes no complaint at the Prince's signaturo nor at his objection to be referred to as plain "Mr. Von Hohenzollern." This right has been conceded to all ex-royalties. But such embellishments as "Your Majesty," "Your Highness," or "Your Grace", are strictly forbidden. It is only by courtesy that members of the Hohenzollern or Wittlcsbach family are addressed in the third person when encountered socially in Germany to-day, and the chief reason for tlio unpopularity of the ex-Kaiser's wife, Princess Hermine, is her insistence upon the words "Her Majesty" when booking hotel rooms or accepting an invitation. There is. indeed, in somo circles a very strong feeling against tlio uncomplaining manner in which Socialist members of tlio Cabinet permit themselves to bo called "Your Excellency," the time-honoured title for members of the Government in Germany. The practice of granting of new "household" titles has been reserved to the feudal house of Hohenzollern-Sig-maringen alone.