AN AMBITIOUS MONARCH

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVI, Issue 14913, 4 December 1912, Page 9

AN AMBITIOUS MONARCH

KING FERDINAND AND HIS CONSORT. BROKEN PROMISES. References in to-day's cables to resentment nt King Ferdinand's ambitions liv the other Allies lends interest to an article on the Bulgarian Royal Family by ''Ex-Attache" in the New York bune."

The "Queen" ("Czarina") of the Bulgarians who was born on August 22nd, 1860, as Princess Eleanor oL : lteuss ("Branohe Cadette"), makes one think of this in pity and regret, since she happens to bo perhaps the most homely wearer of the purple that exists to-day. She is "exceedingly good," it is true. Her lack of personal pulchritude is, however, not tho only reason why that po-ir "Czarina" should inspire sympathy. iShe is the consort of the self-proclaimed

"Czar" who onco was known as Ferdinand, Prince of Saxc-Coburg and Gotha, and there truly lies the hoariest burden of her sorrows.

When Prince Ferdinand of Coburg got him a crown—the ambition of his life—it need not be thought that lie felt much happier for it. To begin with, he did not at -first obtain recognition as a monarch from the Great European Powers; also, he saw no prospect, either immediate or otherwise, of becoming the ma-ster of what is releasing!}- called Greater Bnlraria, and which, to speak plainly, means the annexation of every inch remaining between the Danube and the Yardar, and everything south and east to Salotiica. and Constantinople'. Ho had promised to get this insignificant advantage for the country of which he had mado himself sovereign and king. He had sneered at his predecessor in Bulgaria, the entrancing Prince Alexander (of Battenburg), and had silently pointed out —he is a politicsilly silent man. a. la. Nanoloan HI. —tiio crimes of omission committed by that golden bcirdcd one, whose "departure"' gave him a chance to show what could bo achieved in the Balkans .provided one only know how. and was afraid of nothing, not even of assassination.

Aias! his first lesson came when he dis.-overod th;it. these famous Bulgarians of his wore grateful neither for words ncr cveu for preparatory deeds, since there is no disputing the fact thai some, deeds there' Mere. For itis not, quite in rain that he is the son of that extraordinary Princess Marie Clementine of Orleans, clever almost beyond belief, who did her uttermost to govern all Eurono during a- verv lengtby succession o'f years. Renllv. when o::e tomes to think of it to-day. Prince Ferdinand, ruler, sovereign, king, or ■•Czar,'' has accomplished bv

a curious combination of suppleness of .spine and praiseworthy stubbornness, a good deal for himself, and then for the land ot his adoption.

J I is first wife was no beauty, but was possessed of one of the most interesting j faces and graceful personalities that | can be imagine;!. Marie Louise, Prin- * 1 cess of Boui bon-Parma, was her name. fj j and her married life can justlv be de-j-j , signaled as "utter wretchedness." i; j Ferdinand of Bulgaria has probabiv j] j broken more oaths and promises tlniii •j ! anyone else in the public eye. In oxtenu«j ! atioi: of this little defect, it mav be eony. reded, however, that the Bulgarian '■< ■ nation is not above prevaricating when i ; the truth fails to til. !'■ Tiiis fact being well established, it is •j l^searc -ly to be wondered at that the ] j solemn contract noon which Ferdinand -, I had entered when he married Marie i j Louise of Bourbon, ami which included j; a lormal. signed aml i-ountcrsi'_i:iC'd enf ; gagement concerning the religion of J: his future .offspring—name! v. the Ro- ;] | man Catholic one—should " ji:>\> been y broken, bung aside and iramiiied u; en ! | : when their first born son, Boris was j| ! KtiH_ quite :;. baby. | j The antagonism of the of - ; liir.Siii w ie; ;i crushing weight upon !l : Im-diiiaiid's shoulders. At, any juice the ,- j Great White Czar must be, conciliated, j. I \\hnt could really please the autocrat? >| j I his problem haunted tho busv mind of i 1 little Boris's father until Prince. Boris H , was speedily uurhristened and rechrisi to nod, and the child was made, without ; ' benefit of consent, a Greek Catholic or ', ; Orthodox.

Roman Catholic monarch.-- did not admire Ferdinand's "resolute step" at all : and as to his wife, a deeply genuine Catholic, who never'smilcd now, and merely fulfilled her consortorial duties out of sheer weariness of struggle, she actually brtd the perversity to quil prematurely a world which bad afforded her no j;).vs. but countless disappointments and sorrows.

The ruler of Bulgaria Parted once more to force the admiration of the classes an.d the masses to whatever nationality th.-so might belong. Tho funnies; part of it is'that ie has to-day almost reached his aim. He is net only fully recognised by his "brother sovereigns." but he has; been received at the courts of St. 'Petersburg. Berlin, England, and of other Realm's. He wears his dashing uniforms in the i.nst debonair fashion, and can assuredly flatter himself on being the nead'rf an army which leaves yevy iit-tie to be desired.

The 'Czarina" Eleanor, who suffers cruelly from gout, hobbles about, leaning on a cane now. amiable in her pedantic way. intent always on doing gi < d in her husband's subjects, ami -"'•e.isionally gazing kindly, "but without, the

•'mother look." upon her handsome stepson, the heir apparent, who is certainly very agreeable to gaze ..pon. He hn s not inherited liis father's in-| < rious eyes nor his conquering nose, but reminds one more of the dead metier, whom ho remembers and mourns, lie is a very serious, almost sad, youth, and somehow or other one cannot heln feeling terribly sorry for him. Still," he is what the French call "trcs renssi," and may give the world a surprise, p'erohane'\ when he. comes into power, if he ever does.