"THE WHITE PRINCESS."

Otago Witness, Issue 2736, 22 August 1906, Page 71

"THE WHITE PRINCESS."

Apropos of your notes upon the Russian grand duchesses who have borne the name of Alexandra (writes a correspondent in Modern Society), I beg to remind your readers of the curious episode in the reign of Catherine IT, of which her granddaughter Grand Duchess Alexandra jras the heroine. This girl was the eldest of thefour daughters of the Hereditary Grand Duke Paul (afterwards Czar), and sister of Alexander I and Nicholas? I, successive Emperors of Russia. She was but 15, tall and remarkably well developed for her age; very fair, with sweet blue eyes and clouds of magnificent hair — the pet and pride of the great Catherine, who loved young folk and adored her grandchildren. The husband she had selected for this lovely child was Gustavus King of Sweden, a youth of 18, still under the rule of his uncle, the Regent Duke of Sudermania. But Russia and Sweden had long been at enmity. The Regent hated Catherine and all her works, and promptly affianced his young charge to a Princess of Mecklenburg. Catherine, who brooked no opposition to her will, threatened terrible things, and ordered preparations for an immediate campaign. Finally, threats, cajoleries, promises, and bribes induced the Regent to abandon the Mecklenburg alliance and consent to the young King visiting the Russian Court. "If," he wrote, "when the young people see each other they should prove mutually to please, we can consider the means of making them happy." So the boy King, travelling under the name of Count Yon Haga, attended by the Prime Minister and a large suite, arrived ac the residence of the Swedish Ambassador in St. Petersburg. The following day he and his attendants, dressed in the historic gala dress of the northern court, which made a brave if somewhat barbaric show, presented themselves before Catherine.

The Empress, surrounded by the Imperial Family, received him with immense graciousness. She caught Alexandra's hand in hers and presented "Count Yon Haga" to her granddaughtei . The Grand Dv chess, naturally shy and gentle, was'full of embarrassment and selt-cbnscioiisness, and, to her own dismay, began "to cry like a baby." It was not long before the King managed to apologise to her for the annoyance of which he had been the innocent cause. The young people fell deeply in love. The Empress, delighted, ordered a series of splendid Court fetes, balls, dinners, and concerts. Added to these were reviews, where the might of Russia was unrolled in glittering lines before the Swedes.

One difficulty lay between the pair — namely, religion. Gustavus was an ardent Lutheran. He hated "superstition," as he called the Greek and Roman ritual ; and he immediately broached the subject to Alexandra. He talked, indeed, conbtantly on dogma and doctrine ; and the girl, who had dutifully believed what she had been brought up to consider the truth, looked at him bewildered. "The Queen of Sweden must receive the Sacrament according to Lutheran rite," he said to her. "Can you do this for my sake?" The answer was characteristic. " Certainly, if grandmamma consents !"

Catherine faced the question at once, and demanded that the young Grand Duchess should not be interfered with regaiding her religion. Gustavus agreed ; he would promise anything just then. But the Swedish Prime Minister kept a clear head. The Queen of Sweden could not be allowed the paraphernalia of the Greek Church in Stockholm ; and this he explained to the Russian Minister of State. The latter, an indolent man, let the matter lie in abeyance, and did not trouble to draw up the contract of marriage until the very day on which it was to be presented for signature.

For that day of the formal betrothal the Empress had ordered magnificent State preparations. AH possible splendour was to surround a ceremony which is almost as important in Russian eyes as marriage itself. At 7 o'clock in the evening the marshals and generals of the Empire, covered with orders ; the ladies of the Court, in gala attire ; the Ministers of State, in official robes ; the Ambassadors and the great nobles ; the Tartar and Polish Princes, in their dazzling costumes, had assembled in the vast hall of the Winter Palace. These were joined by the Grand Duke Paul and his Grand Duchess, their elder sons and their wives , and then came the young bride herself, dressed all in white and silver, attended by her little sisters — a group most charming to behold. Presently the Guards flung open the great folding doors of the private apartments, and Catherine herself entered, clad in cloth-of-gold scintillating with jewels ; crowned, powdered, her cheeks heavily rouged, her magnetic eyes bright and piercing. Silently she took her seat on the throne : the great dignitaries of the household*, her ladies-in-waiting, and her gentlemen-in-arms ranging themselves around her. The Empress of All the Russias well knew how to arrange Scate effects 1

She griTiced about her, her eyes r-estinjjr for a moment kindly and softly on the 1 timid, blushing girl she so dearly loved. Then, as her glance swept round, shenoticed the bridegroom's place was empty Neither the King of Sweden nor any oner of his suite was present! Unpunctuality? — or was it aiscourtesy? After waiting for a while the Empress sent anequerry to demand what kept the Swedish' King. Her messenger, returning, said 1 something in a tone so low that none 1 but Catherine caught its meaning Bubthe courtiers saw the blaze of passion 1 on that Imperial brow, and trembled. Curtly the Empress dismissed the assembly, giving no explanation. Only the* parents of the bride and the young girl l herself heard the truth just then. The Minister of State had that evening? taken the contract of marriage to the* King ; and he, glancing through it, saw 1 that it stipulated that Alexandra should have her own priests and her own Greek* 5 Church in Stockholm, " according to the* promise of the King." Gustavus furiously declared he had promised no such thing. The Grand Duchess might keep her faith — - he would force no one's conscience — but' no Greek priest or Greek chapel should Ibe permitted in his palace or his capital! In vain his suite urged him to yield ; but the more Gustavus was urged the" firmer he became ; and in the end he* walked off to his bedroom and bolted the" door.

l To flout the great Czarina in her own | Court was a thing so audacious that scarcely any Russian believed it could be j true. Catherine's Ministers hinted to their mistress that the lad was in her' power ; the fortress by the Neva had' good accommodation for obstinate men, royal though they mi^ht be. But in the face of Europe even Catherine did not dare' to go so far. The " Count yon Haga'' departed to vis own land. He wrote to the girl he had really cared for, saying if -his people would consent to have a Queen who professed the Greek faith he would come again and make her his wi r e. This letter the Grand Duchess was not ptrmitted to answer.

lhe violent fanaticism of Giistnvu* IV increased witu his years. His reign was a most unhappy one. His people at last drove him from throne, and he died in exile. The girl he might have married 1 — " the White Princess," as she was called' b£ the Russians — the only sweet and innocent thing at the Court of the great Catherine — never recovered from the shock arising from liis conduct. She married an Austrian Archduke — Joseph Prince Palatine of Hungary — but died within the year.