A QUEEN OF SORROWS

NZ Truth, Issue 604, 13 January 1917, Page 5

A QUEEN OF SORROWS

DOWN ON HER KNEES, SCRUBBING A HOSPITAL : .•'.■■ - -v- -. ■ :\ v .'■/ : ■"■■■■ ; EX-QUEEN Of SERBIA LEARNING TO FORGIVE AND FORGET A Page from the Blood-tkirsty History of a Balkan State

From Paris, via New Yotk, comes the story that after the most troubled life of aiiy woman In Europe, Queen Nathalie, of Serbia, is now atoning for all her sins by scrubbing the floors of a war hospital. It is rather trite, to say that truth is stranger than fiction, but it must be said that m all the pages of fiction there is nothing stranger, or more dramatic than this career of Queen Nathalie, And we must not forget that strange as the- events of her life are as purely personal occurrences, they form the background of the present colossal world war, for the- most superficial observer knows that distraoted Serbia is the IMMEDIATE CAUSE OP THE WAR, or, at J any rate provided Germany the long awaited-'for opportunity of attempting world domination. Made a queen at the age of sixteen; subjected to t the tyranny 6t an unspeakable brutal husband; the heart of endless political conspiracies; defying her husband: driven -, from her palace with" groSs humiliation; divorced; her husband deposed; reconciled to her husband; her son and his queen ' (whom Nathalie had bitterly > attaclced) muTdered, and finally doomed to see' her- country almost annihilated m the centra of the greatest war m all history! These are a few suggestions of the 1 tragic- events >m Queen' Nathalie's life. And now consider her present con* dltioa. ■"■■"■ While investigating the military medical service at Bordeaux, Jean de Bonnefon^ the well-known Fronch Catholic author and journalist, - was astonished to discover the QUEEN SWEEPING A HOSPITAL. ,FLOOR. ' Ho Tecognised lier at once, m tho. rough hospital" helper's clothes, be? cause ho had frequently attended tho court ceremonies at Belgrade, the Serbian capital, during her religri. The author knew. that at the beginning of this war Queen Nathalie had given her palace at Biarritz, tho French' watering place, to : her kinswoman, the Princess Qhlka, to bo turned into a military hospital After that ho lost sight of her until he found her In this hospital. "When I last saw her at the Belgrade Court," writes De Bonnefon, "King Milan's widow wore a blazing diadem and looked a haughty ami queenly beauty. She. was attired In a purple velvet cloak lined with ermine. Now she wore brown Holland overalls instead of' tho pUrpld cloalu" The wounded soldiers are totally ignorant of the Queen'a identity. They spoke gratefully of her "aaintly goody ness" and her untiring efforts to aid them. At the Queen's request tho exact location of the hospital is kopt seoret, as she Intends to continuo working Incognito there until the end of the waT. The Queen consented to dlBCUss her recent experiences with M. de Bonnefon because of their old friendship. Ho found that after giving up her palace at Biarritz she went away by train entirely unattended and currying tlte smallest, amount of personal belongings possible.- She looked about until she found some hard work to do m a hospital. Being . EXCEPTION AtiLY STRONG PHYSICALLY, she was well suited to be a hospital helper. "I am merely trying to atone for some of the alrin and wrong* I have commuted," ftald tho Queen, "and to relieve a little of the awful misery I set*. All my Hfo I have been head, strong, proud, paaalonate and revengeful. I felt that I wa« grievously ortondetl and wronged, and I Bough,t revenge rtercely on all who oftondml me. Now I know that I was wrong. "The truth came to me after I Joined tho Catholic Church and learned its teachings, and it has been improasod upon me by the awful tragedy of this war, for which I feel that 1 am In Home degree responsible. I know that the. War has been caused by tho unchristian posmlons of greed and revenge. This unhappy world can only bo Bet right, If wo practise Christian charity,, forgiveness and aelf-doniat and make atonement for our sins by walking humbly In the footsteps of our Savior." How great a change has como over Queen Nathallo can best bo understood by comparing this statement to a letter which she published when her son was ruling In Belgrade and had married Queen- Draga, whom Nathalie fought bitterly. Draga had some time before this helped to causo tho expulsion of Nathalie, then Queen-mother, from Serbia. Thl» i« how Nathalie referred to her son's wife. "This 'Queen 'Of Serbia' aceu»e« mo of sending her Insulting postal «>ardn. This la more than 1 can bear. It is a stupia, infamouH bit of mnllgnlty on her part, tho vengeance of a dismissed chamber woman. It was all got up to servo ju? a pretext to dismiss tho few officoru of my household still remaining m Belgrade; tho few faithful one« who clung to me for the sake of tho paat. ! "And it Is all so undignified, so un- | called for, bo base. SHE IS A VIPER. H am forced to appeal to. tho public and oak U to judge between me, as a mother and A queen, and the hearties* woman who has stolen my hou from me, "Thrco years ago ! came to 11 va In retirement In this «woot, quiet corner of hoapltablo France. 1 had hoped to live, I will not say a happy Hfo. for that la no longer possible, but at leant a peaceful one, exem pi-' from family trouble* and with the right to bo Hpared culuinmy. AIa«l no. "My poor «on! My unhappy country! They at* Hlnklng denper and deeper Into tho moraoH of un. scrupulous diplomacy Mid intrigue, where peace, honor ami , independence «r<> lorn. I flJtk you If I <lo not <lo rlKhl In breaking elk-nee n»d Hftlns my volc-e airalnHt the woman whom I ch«Ti*het! In my bosom for yeara, «nd who ha* now become tho chief agent of all thta miuory." Th* Qticen, who n6w »erub» a hospital Hour wu« originally named Nathalie Koohko, a«u4bt«r of «. Ru*aiao colon*!

living m Serbia, She was married m ' 1875, at the age of sixteen, to King Milan of Serbia, of the dynasty of pbrenovitch. Her wealth was perhaps the chief consideration that led a king to offer marriage to a commoner. Nathalie was m her youth a ravishing beauty, with raven hair, deep black eyes and. a brilliant complexion. Perhaps the only defect m her beauty was ah excessive animal Vitality,' which showed itself m later years m a cer« tain grossnoss.r King Milan proved himself a wild man or the- mountains. The records show that he was a descendant of a swineherd; his -conduct would have Shocked his rude aricjistbrs, - He gorged himself xvith raw tneat at 'the bailquet table of the palacA and drank goblets of champagne and brandy indiscriminately. With vromen-he had NO DECENCY OR RESTRAINT. No adventure was . tob wild for" hirm He was m many deadly affrays jmd was often, picked up . drunk In the guttef. 1 „.,- ..-..;.,* ; Early m 'the waf, or. at any Tate, When the Huns succeeded In over- ' running And devastating Serbia, they y «aye it out that Serbia's new kins ' would be an illegitimate son of this descendant of Obrenovitch, but of late no more has been heard of the new "King" which the Huns proposed' to inillct on the Serbs. Queen Nathalie was a girl of high spirit and hot temper. .From. the first .> her married life was a fight with thy» King. After the birth of her only son, the late King Alexander, the rupture became open, and the Queen lived apart from her husband. : In 1886 King Milan drove her out of Belgrade with every kind of insult and humiliation, sending her away under military escort at night without suniciont clothing to protect her, He also deprivod her of her income m Serbia, - She then went to Wiesbaden to live. In IS3S King Milan divorced nor formally, tho Serbian courts issuing a decree at his command. Queen Nathalio firmly asserted that the dlvorco was contrary to tho laws of the Orthodox Church of Serbia, to which they ' both belonged. She carried On a long * religious controversy and obtained v decision from tho Metropolitan of Bel* • grade that THE DIVORCE WAS INVALID. ; Nathalie had many adherents m Serbia, and this, together with the outrageous conduct of King Milan, : gav« rise to a strong movement against him. ' A revolution broke out and he was forced to abdicate In 1889. His young • eon, Alexander, became King, and Nathalie returned to tho, country to assist m tho Government. Alexander a. boy of tremendous physical strength and apparently a degenerate m Intellect, ns his vanishing forehead indicated. He amused himself by twisting iron bars with his lingers, ahd often caused serious Injuries to others by his playfulness. A new revolution among the regents of Alexander drovo Queen Nathalie Into exile. Then »ho became reconcllecl with her' husband, King Milan, whose brokehHiown condition excited her sympathy. Tim pair engineered a oountor-revolutlim In Serbia and returned In control of their eon's destinies. In lfc?3 tho young King called his regents before him and, presenting a revolver to their heads. . declared himself of ago and told them THEY WERE NO LONUER XKIODICD. 110 sent his father nnd mother Into ,\ exile once more, and ruled for several years with considerable sneeoxs. Then lie fell under tho Influence of n faction that was hated by majority of tho Serbians. Tlilh was chiefly tho fascination exorcised uyi»r him by ; Miulamo Draga Musehiu. v relative nf one of this party, m IHOO ln> manK-U this woman, exoitlni,* the iuro or Queeii ' Nathalie ami thousand* of Serbian*. She was a widow. Iwclvo years older than the King, and of doubtful, unlu- !' cedents. She used her power largely for tho benefit of her younger brother. Colonel Nltodern Lunjcvicn, an unscrupulous adventurer.' Queen Natlialio fought her with nil her might. Tho deposed King Milan, by the way, dietl In Franco In 11*07 from the oftV«ot*» < his dissipations. A strong agitation against Alexander and Draga, supported by many of the former adhorontH and friends of Queen Nathalie, broko out m "Serbia. A desperate plan by Queen Dragu to declare her brother heir m Uu> throne, us sbo could have no children hcnse!/, " UROUGH^ THE AGITATION TO A HEA.TX On the night of May 29, 1003. the revolutionaries, supported by .soldiers, smoahod their way into tho KonWk, the . royal pSWaeo, and murdered King* Alexander and Quven Draiya with <«very Imaginable atrocity. After «hootin^ tho King and Queen they Hlimhetl ' ; u tholr bodice to ribbons with their swords until they wero no longer recognisable They broko down the hot], smashed tho furniture and lore Urn clothing and linen of tho Queen k> tatters. They even threw mimy <>i these things out of tho windows?. The brutal murder of Queen Nathalie's sun mum have boon n cruel blow to her, but «he had helped In a way to bring it about, for she was tho untiring cnnm'y- of Queen Dnifta, and those who carried out tho njMtit&itn )• j tlon had been her nupporlor«. m \vr {priat sho thought of Draga an ih« causo of her non'ti ruin anil v?O'»ik Queen Nathalie won th«m living m Ifranee, and had boon received Into the. Catholic Church m 1502. v I Tho Obrcnovltch family beMrr.o ■extinct with tho death of Alexan'tar innt the KATagreorgovlich family rojirt'm at- " «<i by *>M Kinff Pator, wn« pVi »pa\ «m the throne. Then follow*.*.! a r,-\lv.s! «.f ngftremtlvft Serbian national *<<■»( >nn-m. and v Kerk-M of Halkan warn oon.jr.fi. * A mad obullliloit of Uil« nentmuM m j formetr Serbian territory brought nt>»»t¥t " the asiM*s«l nation of ihu AUSTRIAN HEIR TO. THIS THKONR, J and thin, a« everyone khov.fi, was <>Kt^fl *park that turned tb« preitein worM^H war. . When her son was kUlr-d Queen N'.t. thallo hud beffun lo rcMJSno :•);»« h:iu«, revenue and bloo<U»»?d rouhj ms^r bring happlnoftfi. Now tht> npr.-.-t.-i.-'i,. of ondkw death and suft'erirj}? I* w) i« h «ho is enfftilfed luu drlv^u iu?r tv nmko hor prwent Atoitimeai.