TRAVELLING UNDER ASSUMED NAMES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1945, 4 June 1891, Page 36

TRAVELLING UNDER ASSUMED NAMES.

•• His Majesty (or whoever it may be) will travel incognito." Such is the familiar phrase with which paragraphs about royal , movements frequently conclude. The meaning is of course that the illustrious traveller does not wish his rank recognised. Like the late Prince Imperial qf France, who once rushed out ajid joined some boys whom he saw snowballing, or the little King of Home, Napoleon I's son, who wept long and bitterly because he could not make mud-pies with some dirty urchins playing on a quay of the Seine, royal .personages be come tired of the pomp and ceremony of courts, and long for a brief spell of liberty. Hence they decide to drop their rank for a time, so as to avoid the usual adjuncts of a rcyal journey — the etiquette, the loyal and dutiful greeting, and the rest. •=. The custom in question (as the postprandial speaker said of eating) "ca^n be traced back to a rather remote period." The Duchess of York, to mention a comparatively modern instance, frequently went to public amusements incognito. Queen Caroline, too, when Princess of Wales, emulated the freedom of the ladies at the court of Charles II by driving in a hackney cab to^B- masquerade, and walking home at midnight with a couple of confidante ?. Prince George, the younger son of the Heir Apparent, is said to follow in this respect the example of some of the most famous rulers in history. He will often go about without any escort whatever, and not long ago had to beat a hasty retreat because he was recognised. His object on these occasions is merely pleasure ; but the King of Sweden, when he moves about privately, is actuated by the highest of motives. Often touring over the whole of his country incognito, he hears and sees everything, and takes such steps as he deems necessary, for the well-being of his people.

If a royal person wishes to travel without having his or her rank recognised, custom prescribes that the august title must be discarded for the nonce, and a lesser one assumed. The form temporarily adopted — Which must not be that of duke or duchess, because they are next in precedence, or one remove from royalty — may be either an invention or a geuuine subordinate title,

Let us take an illustration. The Empress Kugenje, when travelling, usually calls' hersejt the Countess de Pierrefonds— a tiile conferred upon her by Napoleon 111 at the height of his power, and consequently her; by right. The Queen, on the other hand, during her visits to the Continent since the death of Jbhe Prince Consort — her stay in Italy in 1879, her holiday in Germany in 1880, and so on — has been known as the Countess of [Balmoral; while har Majesty's inevitable companion on such occasions, her j oungest daughter, bore the style of Countess Beatrice of Balmoral* These are purely imaginary titles, and were invented by the Queen out of the name of her Scotch country seat.

Some rulers, while they are inventing, go from one extreme to the other — from the lop to the bcttom of the table of precedence. For example, the Empress of Austria, while on a recent private visit to Home, was simply "Mrs Norris"; -just as one of the German emperors, on like occasions, used to .assume the .common name of Lehmann.

Precisely what is gained - by travelling 'ncognjjio, apart from the saving effected in Lhe matter of present which, in the case of England, inevitably means several thousand pounds, is not always apparent, The Queen's vi its to the Continent have all been royal progresses ; and " Carmen Sylva " led anything but a private life during the time she was last in England. It is said indeed that her Majesty was greatly offended because no notice was taken officially cr by the court of her arrival in London. When thereto c she was to have dined at Windsor Casil?, and sent a telegram at the last momeat announcing that she did not f<fcel well enough to fulfil her promise, people drew their* own conclusions. * It did not escape notice that Queen Elizabeth's indisposition was so i rifling that she was able to go elsewhere. Uat of course the poet-queen was treated In accordance with the rule 3of etiquette. When a sovereign annoances tbat she is i ravelling incognito, It is naturally suptosed that she wishes her privacy to be pspected. . Perhap3, like Napoleon 111 on one occasion, the Queen of Eoumania wished to have ler rank recognised just when it suited her will and pleasure. The Emperor once said Jo a gentleman who had scrupulously abstained from recognising his rank, and had tceatod him as a stranger—

"Have I not seen yon before someWhare ? "

But the gentleman kept up the fiction. " Perhaps you have," he said, bowing.

As a rule, however, the change of style secures as much privacy as can be desired. The consort of Francis Joseph I of Hapsburg. during the visit to Rome already mentioned, walked about the Eternal City for a couple of days without attracting anybody's attention, and even the proprii tor of the hotel where she stayed did not know who she was. Most of us can remember, too, that the Empress Eugenic according to the gossips has paid many private visits to London, gone about shopping, and eveu to the Crystal Palace, without being recognised. So it is at the present day with the King of the Belgians. His Majesty coming and going under an assumed name, regularly honours us with his presence,, without our being sensible of the honour.

With this liberty of action and freedom from ordinary trammels, it is not sarpiising that royalty, when really incognito, should indulge in uncommon pastimes and amusements. That is as natural as schoolboys leaping and jumping when they come out of school. Nevertheless, one would think it beneath the dignity of a queen to shoot with a rifle out of a high window at ear them ware bottles floating in the Bea, and placed there for the purpose. Yet this is what the late Qui?en of Portugal u?ed to do when staying privately at a certain watering placa.

Travelling incognito is, of course, not confined to pleasure trips only. Many royal personages have at different times thought it advisable to sink their identity and to assume for the nonce, an inferior title. The annals of war afford many cases in point. So do the secret records of most royal houses. But not to go into the byeways of pretty ancieut history, let us take, merely as one example, the circumstances in which Boumania gained its present king. When Prince Charles of Hohenzollern was offered'the rulership of that country, he was in the German army, and was stationed, at Berlin. His 'Highness was, for a moment, betwean two stools. If he did not accept the prize at once, it would be lost to him for ever; if he djd he" was liable to be arrested as a deserter.' Consulted as to what should be done, Prince Bismarck advised him to go, and promised to arrange matter:). Nevertheless the king-elect chose to travel incognito, and he actually first entered his kingdom under the name of Lehmann. It is a singular coincidence that afterwards his Majesty took his bride home in the same romantic way ; both bore, for the time being, imaginary titles.

Now and again diplomatic reasons impose upon members of the aristocracy the necessity of travelling incognito. A few years ago Lord Randolph Churchill— to take a case in pomt — became "Mr Spencer™ while he was on the Continent, and according to the Parisian journalists (not to be ture, very trustworthy authorities), he disguised himself in order to go on the boulevards without being recognised. The newspapers, however, recorded his lordship's movements with far more fulness than they would have dflne in ordinary circumstances. So far as privacy is concern td, the holiday was, indeed, a distinct failuie.

Other public men find it advantageous occasionally to drop their names when travelling, particularly when they are on so delicate a mission, as that which took M Chamberlain to America three or four years back. When that gentleman went across the Atlantic to be married to his present wife, he took upon himself the name of "Mr Willoughby Maycock," and by so doing avoided many of the petty trials which fall to the lot of a well-known visitor to the States.