ACTRESSES AND PRINCES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9193, 24 March 1908, Page 2

ACTRESSES AND PRINCES.

SOME WELL-KNOWN CASES. Never has the Shakesperean dictum that " One man in his time plays many parts," been more thoroughly realised than in the case of the women who, having, by chance and. the managerial word, been clothed (says a writer in the "Penny Magazine") in the Imperial purple and worn the Royal crown upon their heads on the stage, have -laid, aside the mimic orb aud sceptre and have sat, if not ; upon the throne itself, yet on a chair placed not much below it. After the death of his first wife, the only daughter of George IV., the Prinoo of Goburg, who later became King of Belgium, married Charlotte Bauer, ' a very celebrated actress, with whom he lived happily until his acceptance of the throne made it necessary that the marriage should be dissolved; for kings, and. those who are destined to be kings may not make their lives like ordinary men, but have to fulfil the requirements of their high office, and a royal marriage is of necessity one of them. Charlotte's father was Heinrich Bauer, a captain in a > horse regiment in Wurtemburg, and. the cousin of Christian Stockmar, who afterwards became confidential secretary to Prince Leopold. Gifted' with a handsome face and a pleasant, melodious voice, as well as charming manners and a carriage full of grace, Charlotte* Bauer too*. j popular fancy; but her ability, judged by a high standard, is said to have been only mediocre quality. Still, she must have been a very versatile woman, for she sang in opera and danced in burlesque, and she played both in tragedy and comedy. She made her first appearance in society at a Court ball, to which she accompanied the prince. She was an exceedingly good-natured woman — a fact which was demonstrated on one occasion when a German actor named Dolle, in poor circumstances, induced her to consent to appear at his benefit in Riga. Just before the performance she caught a severe cold, and on the appointed day found (herself so hoarse that she could hardly speak. The actor's despair may be imagined, for it was her association with the enterprise •which had ensured the sale of the tickets, and the money would have to be refunded if she did not appear. He therefore went to her, explained the situation, and begged her to try an unfailing remedy which he knew._ Charlotte Bauer asked what it was. He told her that she must drink a quart of beer, but it had to be swallowed slowly and uninterruptedly, and as hot as possible. It seemed absurd to make so much fuss about the remedy, and when she said so the actor replied, " But before you drink the quart of beer yon must put a tallow candle into it, a candle four of which go to the pound, and stir it until nothing is left but the wick." Then Charlotte Bauer appreciated the heroism of the treatment. Rather than : disappoint a poor comrade, however, she consented to go through the treatment, and, strange as it may appear, when the evening cam© her voice was completely restored. By Charlotte Bauer the Prince had a son, who was known as Baron von Eppinghoven, and who later married the daughter of a British Consul. Prince Ferdinand of Goburg, who married Queen Marie and was created King Consort by an Act of the Legislature, was another Sovereign who married 'an actress, some time after the death of the Queen. In her lifer time the Queen was so devoted to him . that, although he was only really King in name, she soiight to bestow all the authority of the State upon him. This, however, created so much dissatisfaction, among the people that a revolution ensued and the King had to go into retirement, from which he did not emerge until the death of the Queen. Then he became Regent for two years, during the minority of his eldest eon. Later on, left free to follow the bent of his desires, he married Elsie Hensier, an American by birth. _ When Prince Alexander was reigning in Bulgaria and his desire to marry a sister of the Kaiser was frustrated, he retired to "Austria, where he commanded a regiment, and married a wellknown opera singer, who was raised to the peerage as Countess of Hartenau. Until his death they were regarded as the handsomest couple in Europe, ana after his decease the Countess made her home in Graz, in Styria, where she had lived iv perfect amity with the one-time prince. . The House of Hesse is another ot those which recognises an actress amono- the members of the Royal family She is the wife of Prince Henry, the only surviving brother of the Grand Duke Ludwig IV., who married our own Princess Alice. Prince Honrv s first marrias-e was a morganatic alliance contracted at Darmstadt with Caroline Willish. who was created Baroness von Nidda on her wedding dav. She died within a year of her marriage, a couple of days after the birth of her son. and tor thirteen years the wince remained a widower. Suddenly. however, when he was fifty-four, he fell in love with Eimlie Mathilde Hedvige. the daughter of Simon Herzic, of Topuska. She was a youncc onera. singer engaged at the Darmstadt Theatre, exceedingly nrettyr^ full ot charm and of an unblemised reputation.' 'Although she was only twentyfour, and there was thus a difference of thirty years between them, to say nothing of' the difference in their rank, the prince refused to listen to any objections, and determined, to marry to please himself, instead of /to please his relations, who were anxious that he should marry in his own station of lifo. O n her marria-ffA the actress was made Ra-roness von Dornburo-. The prince and his wife went to Mnnich to live, where, curiously enough, Duke Ludwi e:, of Bavaria, whose second wife, the Baroness yon* Bartoff, nad also been on the stage, also lived. Another resemblance between them was that hoth husbands were much older than their \ nephew of the Emperor Francis .ToW was the Archduke John Salytor, of Tnscanv, who-e fate is sHll a question of speculation ; though be W never h***" heard of since his shin left M^nte Video msny years a<?o, he i« still -believed to he pljve. Tn enite of the inevitable otvposition^ of hi« Imperial relatives he mirr.i«»d Lud-uillft Hiibel, an a-t-resw. who. like so Tiisny Continental wctre^-os was also n singer F«r her F"k«» he re^uwod M« r-nlc. relinquished any possible claim to the throne for himself at'd hi- heirn, a.i-7 ustairnpJL the nam* of Jo_'a__t Gr_J_