ROYAL GROUPS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 71

ROYAL GROUPS.

— The death of the good old King of Denmark breaks up an interesting royal group of four generations, which included Christian IX ; his son, now King Frederic

Vlil ; his granasoir, now the. Prince Christian : and "his great-grandss*. little Prince Frederic! Queen Victoria le<f off with the first of these sets ~ which belong to r oar own times, having sat for •a, ph&i<c.£rapb which also gave the portraits of hei % eldest daughter, then German Crown Princess, Princess Charlotte of Prussia, and Princess Feodore of Saxe-Meiningen. In an.ideal quartet the younger persons should be of the, same sex as the great-grandparent, with the descent in the direct line, and na relations-in-law mixed in. The great age to which William I, German Emperor, lived enabled him to head a fine group of four generations, and to be pictured with a young great-grand-eon, now German Crown Prin'oe, on his knee, while- his only coa r Fritz the Noble, and his grandson, the' present" Second-to-None, stood to right and left of him. The only assortment of this 'type now left in Europe with the chance pf a throne as its heritage is to be found in liaA - aria, and includes the venerable . Prince Regent Leopold j ~ his ■ eldest * son, " Prince" ' Louis Leopold"; his grandson, Prince Rupert;, and great-grandson, Prince Leopold?' The Prince_Regent has reigned in .the stead of his nephew, mad King Otto, since 1886 j and it seems a "pity for himself and his descendants he" did* not "assume th« regal title long ago, as thjere 1 is no prospect of the- lunatic Majesty recovering his sanity. Prince Leopold, however,- elects to let the matter "bide; for King Otto was never clear-headed enough to abdicate formally, as did his grandfather, Kinf Louis, in 1848.

— A curious case of reverse in fortunes has been noticed by a Boston journal. In the town of Atlanta there- died a few weeks ago- an old woman who had ■ 2arned her livelihood by selling matches on the steps of one of the public buildings. After her death it was discovered that she had lived for many years in poverty of the direst kind, but among her papers were evidences that she was descended from % family by name Randolph, and that her father had v been a Senator of the United States. It seems that- when she was 20 yeara of age she was invited to a ball in Washington in honour of the visit of the Prince of Wales;' now "King of England. More than that, owingto the exalted position held by her father, she was one of the young ladies chosen to dance with the royal guest", and she actually danced -with the present King of England. When she had spoken of this incident, her friends put -it' down to the ravings of old, age; but now they 'see that the poor .'old woman spoke the simple truth. , - .