FAMOUS ROYAL MASCOTS.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVIII, Issue 15029, 2 October 1914, Page 3 (Supplement)

FAMOUS ROYAL MASCOTS.

Royalty arc every bit as superstitious as ordinary people as far as “luck” is concerned, and so it is that most, of the famous rulers of Europe have in their possession some mascot .or other to which some interesting legend is attached.

Pethaps the most interesting of these i.« r lucky coin in the possession of the present King Alfonso of Spain. It was given to him by a gipsy, who told him to take good care of it for it would guard him from danger. It is said that the virtue of this coin as a mascot has been successfully tested on many occasions. According to one story, the young king, whilst on an official visit to Paris, was showing it to President Lou lie t when tho bomb attempt on his life was. made, and his marvellous escape is ascribed to tho mystic power of the lucky coin. THE OTHER COIN. A very pretty story in regard to the same mascot is going the rounds in Madrid. There it is widely believed that when the gipsy handed King Alfonso tho mascot she told him there was only one other whicli resembled it, and that this was in the possession of a princess. “ Marry none olffier than this princess,” she told him, “for she alone will make you happy.” Judge of the young king’s surprise, threfore, when, on a visit to England in quest of a bride, he found that the other coin was in the possession of Princess Ena of Battenborg, now his queen. AN UNLUCKY OPAL. The Spanish Royal Family once had in their possession an unlucky opal. It was given to King Alfonso XII. as a wedding gift by a Court beauty.who had wished to wed the king herself. This opal is said to have brought an uninterrupted speH of bad luck in its train. The king gave it to his wife, and she died shortly aftenvards. All the members of the Royal Family who in turn possessed it died very soon after it came into their possession, and after the death of the King it was said that ho had taken to wearing the opal himself a few months before. THE KAISER’S RING. There is a quaint legend in regard to a ring in the possession of the Kaiser. The ring is an heirloom, and has been handed over to each Hohenzollern ruler on hig death-bed to liis successor. It is set with one black stone which, according fo a legend, was dropped by a large toad on the bed of the wife of the Elector of Brandenberg immediately aftei; the birth of her sen. The etono was afterwards set in a ring, and has ever since been kept with the greatost care. In tho possession of the Czar is a ring widen, like the mascot of King Alfonso, is said to shield him from danger. It is said to contain a piece of the true Cross, and the ruler of all tho Ilussias will never go anywhere without it. NAPOLEQX’S TALISMAN. Napoleon also possessed a ring which acted as a talisman in danger. It was handed down to liis family, and Napoleon 111. was .also a great believer in it. The story goes that the Priuco Imperial refused to have it removed from his father’s hand after death. Superstitious people paid that evil would come to tho young prince without the talisman, and. as is well known, he died a tragic death in Zululand in 1879. Tho Koh-i-noor diamond, which was nresentod to Queen Victoria when the thinjab came under British rule, has also invariably been associated with mystic powers of "ood luck. In India it is believed’ that if placed in water it should invest that water with the power of curing illness. The stone is thousands of years old, and was the mascot of one of India’s greatest heroes who lived over 5000 years ago. KRUGER’S UNLUCKY DIAMOND President Kruger had an unlucky diamond, to which, by superstitious people, his many misfortunes are ascribed. It belonged in the first place to a famous chief, who was murdered by his brother. The latter took possession of the gem, and was also murdered. Several peoplo owned it after this, and each died a violent death. At last it fell into the. Boer President’s hands, and it is said that all his bad luck dates from then. More curious still is the story told about a pipe which ivas in President Kruger’s possession, it was said that he bought it from an old gipsy woman, who foretold tliat each accident which happened to it would mark an important cricis in his life. In 1881 lie broke the btem of the pipe, and 1881 was the year that saw the great Boer victory over the English at Majuba Hill. Many years later a piece of the bowl of the pipe was broken and the Jameson raid occurred Eoon after this. Finally the whole pipe was smashed to Dieces just before the fa to of the Boer Republic was sealed and Kruger’s fall from power finally brought about.