FUGITIVE PRINCESS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7637, 21 February 1903, Page 4

FUGITIVE PRINCESS.

THE PRINCESS TELLS HER STORY. {Daily Chronicle, Dec. 81.) The Crown Princess of Saxony indignantly denies the many statements attributed to her. Sho informed the representative of the " New York Herald " (Paris edition) that ska had neither seen nor spoken to. any newspaper representative except Hcrr Richter, oi the " Allegemeine £eut/ung,'* of Chemniljß. She then made the following statement ia answer 'to questions :■>— The Princess Ba.id: — "M. GMron is the only man I irave 6Ver met wliom I felt I ccuid lovo, whom I muab love. It was a question of mutual love and aifinity i whioh made my lifo impossible witlioub lum." "Id was not a 'coup de tete^ ma'dame?" the oon'espondenfc aisked. " Nob dn tho l&ftst. I had plenty of time to think it oVer. I have known M. Giron a yienr, and wais a great desal With him last; summer. I would not alter anything. I am perfectly happy olid content." "Whbc do you say, Pr',ne£ss l to the charges of recklessly breaking; up your household?" To this cams the somewhat patlietio story of the usual Court "manage de ' convenaiice." "As you know," said the Princess, ".wo ladies of Royal families axe married, so to speak, without our consent. Ib h true I was twenty-one at tho time of my nmrriage. My father was quite se* upon it; my mother's greatest wish was to see it. I was told how gramd it would be to heoomo a Quean, attid I unwillingly yielded. " My husband and myself were of exactly opposite di?positiCns — ho a rough and gruff military officer, with no time for or thought of sentiment. The Court wus intensely Csitholic." "But you are Oath-olio, of course?" " Yes," replied her Imperial Highness, " but lam exceedingly broad-minded. Id was dull, dull and hard, tho lifo in that' Court," " And yourself, Princei-3?" "Ah," hho replied, smiling, "I am an Austrian, which! is qu'ilo a different thing. You m:iy imagine wha!b it v/ns. I wais nob even ullowed to have sai opinion. I loved my children, but. could not bring thtml up xi I wished. Between, my husband and myself theru was no bond of sympathy. He was a typical, rnngh officer; I myself Was full of idcais, often wondering how dangerous it would bo if some man I could love were to appear. How miserable that Court life was" — ai:d tho Princess shuddered at tho thought— "l tried so haird to bear it I" THE PRINCESS IN TEARS. " Yds, for tjtve «aka of my darling children, whom I ndore, fter tha sake of the fiaxen people, whom I lov-8 deeply ,_ as they lovo me. Yes, when the time came, whenI found M. Gircn and loved him and felb 1 could bear the situation no longer, I fully rcolis-ed how teirible ib would be, the King Wifelers, my cliildren " — here the Princess's eyes filled with tears—" without their mam.---ma-; my people 6o shiocksd. "And I weighed also -all the wicked thiKgi3. which would bo said of me, as are being said now, in tho Pitesa. But all that could not alter my resolution. The ills of my life- ab thab Court wero too great to bear." "And now?" I asked. "Now," sho replied, "I am waiting developments, Avail-ing to eee what will come frum Dresden. Bub such things must needs be arranged slowly." " You, of courae, are prepared for divorce, Princess V "Naturally. Bub my husband ia a. devout Catholic. He will, I fear, never consent. He will never marry again. I am naturally very much put out by the false position in Avhich I am living with M. Uiron, but ifc is not intentional on either i.f our parts. Each would like to regularise our situation by marriage the moment tho technicalities of the law admit." THK ELOPEMIOKT PREMEDITATED. "Wtuld you tell me, Princess, was your elopement premcditatcdV" "Ib was,' shn replied, ."rather brought about by a combination of circumst.-tnoes which made nny other course impossible." "Is it true thab your brother, the Archduke Leopold, recently thrashed your Jiuabaud so violently that he was reported as having had an accident '! This was recently published." , Tlie Princess laughsd heartily at this, and replied, ''Oh, yen, I read that ruporfc Avibh many others. iMy brother and husband are on excellent tcrniH. Tha latter was out fliooting and fell j tho resb is absurd. I would like uh-rt to fay that the report that 1 wrote, a, let! t;r containing coarse remarks about; my hurbund on leaving Haxony is totally unt nic. People- in our rank of life dn not do such things:. I am far tno- refined in my sentiments to think of acting so commonly." * THK FLIGHT. Smiic notes from M. LJiion's diary give pnrtiniliits <f tho flight of the Princess. Tliey rtiu tiniH : — Dec. 13.— In tha night of the 11th she left -Halsburjr with (lie Archduko Leopold Ferdinand, who entered her abode half an hour nftor miilnight. She takes away with h'Jr a little linen and some jewellery in a portmanteau. Two Arabs are harnessed to it brougham. The moon is shining splendidly, and it is very cold. Ab BerchefTshuim the- station is closed. They stay in the thinl-cLuss waiting.-room. At last she ,goes un by Hruek and Zurich. Dec. 14. — I arrived at Zurich twentyfour hours later than Was expected. She had spent the night in a condition of despair. We- ore leaving for Geneva. Dec. 21. — We have been to the theatre, and have made some purchases. Dec. 23. — I have bought her a Christmas tree. ,- Asked, what they meant to do, M. Giron replied : "To marry. Once united, we shall go and live in France — doubtless in Paris, as the Princess is Very fond of Paris — and there I shall work. The Princess has very simple tastes." When will the wedding come off? Did he know the date? "All, no," M. Giron answered. "We are here for a. good time longer, and it ec ems that this is the only town where we cannob he arrested. IVe hope that the Court -will decide on applying for the annulment of the marriage. Aft for the Prihcess, she is alwaja thinking of her children."