WED PRINCES TWICE

Te Aroha News, Volume XLI, Issue 6408, 30 October 1923, Page 2

WED PRINCES TWICE

ENGLISH GIRL’S CAREER ROMANCE THAT ENDED IN TRAGEDY Behind the tragic death from a revolver shot in her home at Alexandria, Egypt, of Princess Abbes Halim is the remarkable romance of an English girl of 26, thrice married, twice to princes, in the brief space of six years. She was the second member of her family to marry a person of royal blood, her sister Beatrice having married Prince Louis of Bourbon cousin of King Alfonso of Spain, in London, in 1914. The father of the two princesses is Mr James Harcourt Harrington, proprietor of the Spread Eagle Hotel, High Street, Wansworth. Their brother was an officer in the Royal Horse Guards (the Blues) during the war.

The Harrington family consisted of four daughters and one son. The eldest daughter died some years ago, the second married Prince Louis of Bourbon, the third is still unmarried, while the fourth was Princess Abbas Halim. “The Harrington girls,” said one intimately acquainted with them, “were three of the, handsomest (girls in London, and that two of them made such remarkable marriages surprised no one who knew them.” ON THE STAGE Mr Harrington, who lives at Putney, said to a Daily Mail reporter: “I can tell you nothing about the actual circumstances of my daughter’s death, but I am by no means satisfied with the accounts that have reached England. “My wife and son leave for Egypt almost immediately to make inquiries. My unmarried daughter was iin Alexandria with her sister, but whether she wak in the house or not at the time I cannot say. Speaking of his daughter’s early life, Mr Harrington said:— .r “It was never intended that she should earn her own living. She had not been educated for that purpose, and there was no need for her to do so; but when she was about 19 she had a great desire to go on the stage, arid left home to follow the theatrical profession. It was while she was thus engaged that she met Captain Arthur Evelyn Ellis, a grandson of the sixth Baron Harold de Walden. They were married at Datchet, on the Thames; They entertained lavishly and were apparently happy until differences arose and my daughter divorced her. husband. .The captain had been most generous to her, and when she found herself free she was possessed of a very considerable amount of money. She was always fond of nice things, and spent her money lavishly. One night at a dance she had met an Egyptian, Prince Mahomed Djem-el-ed- Din Mahmud, a member of the Royal House of Egypt. It was a case of love at first sight. The prince, a man of great wealth who was many years older than my daughter, lavished gifts upon her, including the most magnificent peai’ls. They were married at the Strand Registry Office. They seemed perfectly happy but the Prince became very jealous;he hated anyone to look at his wife, and there is no doubt that his conduct gradually chilled my daughter’s affection for him.

“They lived in England for some time, entertaining’ on a royal scale. They went to Switzerland en route for Egypt about 18 months ago. I have not seen my daughter since, but I believe that while in Switzerland the breach between them widened, and arriving in Egypt the Prince secured a divorce. “A constant visitor to Prince Djemal-ed-din’s house was apparently his cousin, Prince Abas Halim, a much younger man. He was attracted to my daughter and when the divorce took place he married her. Unlike his cousin, he was not a rich man. “She was to have left Alexandria with her husband for Deauville, and I expect that it was while she was preparing for her departure that the accident occurred. After Deauville she was coming to v London. NILE BATHING PARTIES Mr Harrington described his daugh ter as a tall girl, with a mass of fair hair and wonderful blue eyes. “She was an all-round sportswoman,” he said. “She could shoot, ride and swim. When she lived at Darbet she was always swimming, and I believe she used to have swimming and bathing parties in the Nile at Cairo.”

Those who knew the princess when as Jockey Hamilton—her real name was Jessica Harington—she appeared in the revue “5064 Gerard” at the

Alhambra, recall that she was the envy of all her stage associates. She had most magnificent dresses, and used to arrive at the theatre in a handsome motor car. It was at this period that she met Captain Ellis. During the days of her marriage to Captain Ellis she was popular as a hostess in London, but the parties were mostly of the rather easy-going variety which characterised so much of war-time entertaining. After her marriage to Princes Djemal-ed-Din things were different, for the rank and wealth of her husbtnd, coupled with her good looks, opened to her every door in smart Mayfair during the season of 1922. For the greater part of this season she was in London, living at Claridge’s Hotel. PROMINENT AT ASCOT ker wonderful clothes picked her out at Ascot as one of the most beautiful women present, and later she took a house at Lavant, near Chichester, where she entertained a party for Goodwood races. Both she and her husband were ardent motorists, and they owned their own high-pow-ered car.

But it was apparent that her life “behind the scenes” was not so happy as her smiling face would have had others believe. It was rarely that the prince moved about unarmed, and it is even said that he invariably slept with two revolvers beside his bed.

Before they left England to return to Egypt late last year they had parted more than once but always they came together again. It was generally after these occasions that the princess would receive one of the many magnificent pieces of jewellery which she possessed. An official inquiry into the death of Princess Abbas Halim at Cairo resulted in a verdict of death by misadventure.