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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1905)
AO 10, p1: - WHAT New Year's gifts will IMS bring to the royalties of Europe? Tills Is one of the most interest ing questions the world can ask itself on the last day of IPCS. It it a question, no doubt, that more, than one who Is seated upon a European throne is asking himself with more or less seriousness, today, for the state of affairs in Russia as the old j'ear goes r out is highly suggestive. Of course, no one thinks for. a moment 'that a general toppling of thrones is at hand. Yet for a few of the Crown Princes. ii the heirs .apparent and the throne-followers, the weather Just now is somewhat uncertain and in every royal and imperial ' palace in Europe the Joyous spirit of the New Year must be tempered by some de gree of depression, a depression that can not be ignored, even it n most cases It is based upon sympathy and not at all upon fear of the future. Just at present there arc nearly 40 roign ing monarohs in Europe Dukes, Gnind Dukes. Prince?, Kings and Emperors; SS is said to be the exact number, but it isn't worth while to enumerate and some scores of families whose members are qualified by birth to lc rulers if only the people will accept them. About CO of these families date their status back to the ancient German Empire, which at the height of Its power and extent was com posed of nearly 200 Independent units. In. eluding duchies, grand duchies, princi palities and kingdoms. These' families, embracing some hun dreds of people. 'form a class, a social order, "born equal" and eligible, so far as rank and recognition by the order as a whole are concerned, to any post they may attain by reason of their own force or the favor of the people. This class of royalties and "cllgibles to royalty" is dominated by a few family groups. The "Wettlns of Saxony (descended from the Duke of "VVitteklnd, whose origin dates -about 1100 years back), whose most prominent representative today is Edward Y1I of Great Britain, have more Tullng members today than any of the others Wettlns being seated on nine modern Eu ropean thrones in England. Belgium. Por tugal, Saxony. Saxe-Welmar. Bulgaria. Saxe-Altenburg. Saxe-Melnengen and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The fact that live of the Wettin-ruled countries are parts of the German Empire, dominated by the Emperor "William, and that of them all England alone is one of the world's great powers today, takes off the edge of the Wettin greatness a bit. Yet most of them have made decidedly creditable records a? sovereigns, all the same, and most of their thrones are as" likely as any In Europe to" be preserved for the occupancy of those who now ex pect to sit upon them. The Ilohenzollcms have only one great reigning representative. "William of Ger many, and his throne seems safe so long as he lives, at least. The Hapsburgs, also, have only one great reigning representative. Their throne, too. seems safe during the life of the Austrian Emperor, but the boldest prophet of world events would hardly venture to "make a prediction' as to what will happen after his death. Only One Reigning BourboH. Of the Bourbons, once so powerful, there is only one reigning monarch, the tin. married King of Spain, though any of the Bourbon men Dukes and Princes of Orleans would be eligible to Ray throne to which he might called by- the peo ple, and several of the Bourbon, women, as wives, are today member l reigning royal famraec The BA partem, who overthrew the ; f eh ; r-mmm-. iitv. vi overammmmmmmmmnmmmmnmmm-M- v rjv'i - AmmOES. 1 1 aw5str i - tiilEi i r ' ' Tiic eldestson of King Christian, v I -iiHBKiaHlBiWy Frederick, rather of King Haakon, has W 1 XUtBUiiSMSmX Jmf lmmmmtlmmmmmmmmmmmmK7 the distinction . of being the oldest yiVCS 1 HWot' 1 jHklv; Crown Prince In Europe, also of hav- mmafmmmmm ?& mWmVilmmmmmmmmmmP" I " Ing IT his wire the tallest, the richest I ! V Ui, i.v1v''J'iAKK i and the nlainest rnr.il Indv of her I VM ?70tflijB I, I 1 lh Princess Louis of Sweden, an SO. . Vl ymHEVmmmml rAl?PS 3 i of O.-car. the Bernadottc. Crown HU nephew, the Prince of Wales nuy V A2m. "mmBP- Jflmf rr T-i vM c not need to wait any longer than Prince . ? -m-Jm-mm: l 1 house of Orleans in France and elsewhere. have no reigning representative: neither is nnv woman of Bonanartc blood a mem ber of any royal house through" marriage. though the reigning KJng of Sweden, us car. beloved of his people. Is-descended from Bernadottct who was placed upon the throne by Napoleon and thus founded a reigning house not descended from any of the ancient royalties. It is doubtful, indeed, whether the de scendants of Napoleon are included In their charmed circle at all. by those eli gible to European thrones, though the Bernadottes are. Theoretically, a family must reign for a hundred years to be termed "legiti mate"; the Bona partes reigned only a fraction of a century, but their lack of theoretical "legitimacy" was forgotten with r vengeance during their meteoric career by nearly every Toyal house ex cept that reigning In the British Isles, whose armies Anally stopped the Napo leonic advance. Acceptance of Bonaparte in their days of power, however, was a matter of force, not desire, on the part of i.niP rnvoi nflt-hhars. "But even Great Britain's royal family recognized them in a way. alter mc ovcrmrow i poleon III. for It was In England that the Empress Eugenic took refuge and Is now living, a lonely old woman who has experienced almost the worst that any reigning royalty or prospective ruler can dread today. In passing It might be remarked that, exclusive a the "royal order" in Eu rope may he, It doesn't differ essen tially from any other exclusive social circle. " "Whoever forces himself to a seat within Its boundaries Is accepted. In ..Av,t time a eoiinl to the older mem bers, as witness the marriage of a Bernadotte Princess with a Crown Prince of Oldenburg descent. It must be admitted, though, that money alone has -never yet bought a place In royal circles; and none has ever attained to royal rank except by birth or by fighting his way for him self and his kin as Napoleon did. The Oldenburg Monarch. Next to the Wettlns tba Oldenburgs are numerically the most "powerful of all the royalties In Europe today. True, none of them Is monarch of a great nation, hut there are three Oldenburg Kings Christian IX"of Denmark, his son George I of Greece, a ad Chriaikin's grandoen, Haakon VJI ef Norway -while two Oldenburg women. the Qupen of Knxwnd Jind the EHwarr Kmprfees of Jtumria, have rcfcl th THE TJOTA.T OKBGOXIAX. PORTLAXD, DECEMBER SI," 905. - Mmmmmmmmfcv S - tV t Gloom In Danish Palace. I highest point In royalty next to per sonal sovereignty, one being: an im perial and royal, the- other an Imperial consort. The story of the Danish royal fam ily as Kings and Queens and Em presses is familiar wherever the print ed page Is read a more than twice told tale. The most precarious of the -Oldenburg-held thrones is In Greacc, whose monarch. George I. was made King In 1C3. the samo year that his father as cended the throne of Denmark. King George has threatened to ab dicate more than once in the 42 years of his reign, and whether the Crown Prince Constantino (whose mother 4s an aunt of the present Car and sister of the hitter's stronger father) will ever rejgn Is something that none can foretell. Besides being Crown Prince. Con stantlne of Greece Is also Duke of Sparta. He Is a man of 37. and his wife, one day to be Queen of Greece, unless the throne Is weakly Riven up or wrested from Its occupant. Is a sis ter of the German Emperor; thus King; George's oldest son and next In line for the Grecian throne Is uf Oldenburg, Romanoffs and Hobensollcrn blood; Danish, P.ussian and German, with no body knows how many otner strains In his veins. There Is more than one reason to suspect that few of the European Crown Princes can regard the coming new year "with less apprehension than Conslantlne. the Duke of Sparta. "Whether he .would much regret giv ing up his expectations to the throne Is another matter. King George, his father, though monarch of a -poor country. Is said to have the pleasant yearly Income of 5250.000 five times as much as our President and to save about half of it. The King is worth more than J 1.000.000 now. and wouldn't Ktarve even If he should lose his Job. He hated to take It when chosen as their King bv the Greeks. The Crown Prince it Norway, who has been an heir to a throne less times than any other ia his class, .Is a lad of only 3; he Is now Olaf by name, though as the son of a Danish Prince he- was christened Alexander Frederick Edward Christian. On the face of things he is more cer tain to reign than some others among his royal cousins. "While the Norwe gians might easily have made their country a republic upon seceding from Sweden, they choe a constitutional monarchy !ated; profiting by hw father's experience, the eJct Kmc will preMMy he aVfe prmantly te resln the regard of hi new subject wMcn he "ew so evidently enjoys. That the gloom of the new year In the Danish royal palace will, be mainly sympathetic, and not apprehensive, is more than probable, for the Danish Crown Prince Is likely to reign long after his father has passed away. Yet Denmark is one of the most social is tically Inclined of all the countries In Europe, and through all the earjy years of his reign the King and his people, humiliated in the very year of his accei sion by the forcible theft of a part of the kingdom by PrusrJa. assisted by Austria were mostly at odds. Their differences began on the day pf his accession to the throne. He did not Inherit it. oclng only a poor Duke in his young manhood. But bis predecessor. Frederick VII. of the older Oldenburg house, being without issue. It was ar ranged by treaty In 1S52 that Christian of the house of Schleswig-Holsteln-Son-derburg-GIucksfcurg. an Oldenburg, branch, should succeed him. Being born on German and not Danish soil. Christian's new subjects spoke of him as "the German." also because of the treaty which made him their King as "Prince Protocol.'. He heard the people In the streets calling out these epithets ana "JLong live the constitution:" while waiting to be crowned, and knew from the start that he had a big task before him if he would win the popular regard. Until 1501 King Christian was constant ly fighting with bis people over certain provisions of the constitution which he never would heed, but long before that year he had won the people so completely by his honesty and common sense that be became, and he still L. the most popular monarch In Europe. Over and over again he violated the organic law; over and over again he dis solved the Legislature when it adopted measures which he didn't like, and he might have gone on In this way to the end. his people liking him all the better for it, apparently, had not Crown Prince Frederick thought to be perverse, after his father's fashion. In a speech about some measures pending before the Legis laturc. They could stand perversity In the father: he was then over SO. and bound soon to step down and out, and they could forgive him: but from the Prince, who 1 to reign after Christian's death, they could take no such nonsense, eo the King way outvoted 5 to 1. with such demon sirations -of disfavor that the Prince, backed by the Conservative Ministers themselves, begged the King to summon a Liberal Ministry. lest the break beceme really serious. Then old Christian yielded, and nude himself ten-fold mere peenmr than ever by so doing. The Incident added to the Prince's popularity ale, and today he ! almoot as great a faverMe an Ms father. Prince ef Wak axd HI Relatives. Crewr Prince. Frederiek, then, ie aaent as secure In the Wire eecsncy e the Danbh tkrene Oeerge. the Prinec frf Wales, fe mare ef joeenpytag the throne of Great UriMfe. Prince KrederWfc hi of about the oame age Ktog Mward Til: King Christian is only three years less than SO. . His nephew, the Prince of "Wales, may not need to wait any longer than Prince Frederick, for though King Edward vll Is 23 years younger than King Christian, the British King's lease of life is appar ently no more secure than the older man's. PrlncAGeorce is . Like all the chil dren- of Edward VI L he married a British subject (Mary. Princess of Teck. who was the fiancee of Prince George's eldest brother, who died some years ago), and is a dutiful son as well as an cxempiarj Crown Prince. Possibly his complete submission to me wishes of his royal father Is his most noticeable characteristic: heccrtalnly has no such reputation as a pleasure-seeking man 6t the world as was earned by his ffiihivr 'PrlrwIs,nf Wales. Nor Is he. as yet. as popular as hls father was In the years he was waning for the crown. But: humanly speaking. Ihere Is. no reasonable doubt of his suc cession when the time for it snan come, so that If the New Year shall bring gloom to him It will not be the gloom of apprehension. , As a "Wettin Crown Prince. Albert of Belgium, .son of King Leopold's brotner. Philip. Is probably fairly nafe In his ex pectation of ascending the throne of the little countrv that for half a century or more was known as "the cockpit of Eu rope." Still the government may be made mntiMtean bv the Belgian people, or Bel gium may be wiped off the map altogether as a European nation oy tne coming gen rai war which has been mistakenly pre dieted so long that few now really look for It at all. , , , There have been many phophecles with in the past few years that Belgium would become a republic, the overthrow of Leo pold being looked for half a dozen times, but in spite of his many objectionable personal peculiarities he has maintained himself as king to far. and most of the time has kept his popularity with his people Intact. The Aged Leopold. His age he will be 71 in April next makes It seem "probable that there wil be no change In the form of Belgium's gov ernment at least while he lives, and the record of his dynasty Is such that the" Belgians, though largely socialistic In sentiment, arc hardly likely to prevent Prince Albert's ascent to the throne. It Is remembered by few. probably, that the first Leopold, son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg. wae also a sonIn-law of George IV. of England and brother of the Duchess or Kent, mother of Victoria. But he was. and thus was uncle of the young girt who. on the death of William IV. without heirs, became England's ruler, and so wise In her place as to pass down into history as the "Great White Queen." Leopold L. who passed much of his time in England, was eteeted king or the Belgian In 1SW. when Belgium seceded from Hollapd an Norway recently seceded from Sweden. He-had been ajmoet a father to Victoria and the showed the greatest gratitude toward him UK hbi death In Vm, and te hi son after that. unHt her vm death. It was the Interventmn of her gown meat ln.W thnt pi t.vwd, the Preach, and the Prueomos from ashling ot their war on Belgian soil, as some of the Napo leonic wars had been fought out. "When Belgium was separated from Hol land several of the powers guaranteed continual independence to the former . country, and that has had something to do with its long continued tranquility no doubt. But the fact remains that, save only Its northern neighbor. Holland, Sweden and Norway and little Switzer land, no other continental European coun try has had a stable government as long aa Belgium has. Belgium was undisturbed in 1S43 when the government of nearly every other co'untry of continental Europe was shaken and some were overturned, and. beyond a doubt, the two Leopolds, whatever may be said of the reigning Leopold's person ality, have had much to do with Bel gium's stability. The fact Is. thanks largely to Leopold, that the" Belgians have more political freedom than any other European coun try, even the English. This has been the case since 1S33, when universal suffrage for men over 23 though qualified by "plural votes" for the heads of families, men of some property and the graduates of colleges was granted. Blots and Revolution. Over and over again, to be sure, there have been riots and threatened revolution, but the threatenlngs have hever been di rected very seriously against the king, for he has always been a good enough politi cian to observe the constitution as in force when his father was elected and since amended from time to time. And In aplte of the low wages received by the Belgian working people and the uneven distribution of wealth in the-kingdom, it has prospered as a whole, so that even the socialistic leaders seem to think it better to continue ithe constitutional mbnarchy than to venture on a repub. llcan form of government. There Is little doubt, then, that Prince Albert will be allowed to reign after bis uncle has been gathered to his fathers. How long he shall sit upon the throne will rest entirely with the young man he Is not yet 31. having been born in 1S73. If he remembers, as Leopold has, that the foundations of the throne rest upon the contentment of the masses and treats them as well as Leopold has; if he snubs the aristocrats occasionally, also as Leopold has. Albert's reign may last throughout his life. Much less was heard of Prince Albert than of most prospective ' monarchs till he married the clever Bavarian glrh Princesa Elizabeth. In 19C0, though two years earlier, than that he visited this country and made many friends here. .The Princess Is not the daughter of a reigning duke, but of a "working roy alty" whose official title Is "Duke Carl Theodore in Bavaria." aa hers before marriage was "Princess Elisabeth In Ba varia." Duke Carl, who occupies the old castle ef Tegeotsee, seer Munich. 1 a regularly educated oculist, and long ago won the mild scorn of his retgalng relatives by praetfcmg his profession and' enfldaeting &; hespiml. His wife, the- future Belgian Qneea'M mother, has alee studied medicine, and 1 the Dohe's most efficient aefcitt. Prince Albert i mther uerlo-m-mmdL -tall And JwMicry in hie bear ing it iid 'decidedly a iiandsome maa; His wife Is a young woman of much. ability and excellent training. They hax'e two sons Leopold, now years old, and Charles, 2. Future King of Belgium. Though the future King of the Bel gians is a Wettin, he has also tiie blood of the Bourbons in his veins, for & grandmother, second wife of his grandfather, Leopold I. of "Belgium. was tne daughter of Louis Philippe of France. Bourbon blood also runs In th vslns nf nnnfhKr TVftt n Prnwn Prince Loui3 Philippe, etc., Duke of Braganza, son of King Carlos and heir to the throne of Portugal. Marie Amelle. the mother of this lad he is only 18 had for her father that member of the Orleans family who is best known in this country as the Count 6f Paris. It will be remem bered the Count was a member of the Northern Army in our own Civil War. consequently the Portuguese Crown Prince, his grandson, should be especially interesting to Americans. Prince Luis, as he is officially known in Portugal, should be very much like his cousin, the coming King of Bel gium, If blood counts in making char acter; not only are they both of Bour bon and Saxon blood, but Austrian blood flows also in the veins of both, through marriages of their ancestors with archduchesses. They are both very pronounced ex amples of the composite, so far as race goes. Prince Luis especially; for be sides his Saxon. French and Austrian strains, the Portuguese Crown Prince hau also Italian blood in his make-up: his grandmother, the Dowager Queen Pia. wife of King Luis. King Carlos father, was the daughter of Victor Emanuel. Prince Luis must not be supposed to be entirely without Portuguese descent, however. His great grandmother, whose second husband was the Saxon Duke Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Ko-hary, from whom the Crown Prince gets hs Saxon blood, was the famous Maria da Gloria, who was declared Queen of Portugal In 826. Her father, the late Dom Pedro of Brazil, on hla father's death made over the Portuguese crown to her. For two years this disposition of the throne made all sorts of trouble. Dom Miguel, her uncle, tried to take it. and the re sulting civil war wa,s contemporary with similar disturbances In Spain, but since then Portugal has been, reason ably tranquil. The Crown Prince, however ifke his father, looks 'more like a Saxon than llktr a Portuguese. He may have some trouble In maintaining himself. Xing Carlos main props are the weakness cf xhe Portuguese Republicans a ad the friendship of King Edward; Kjng Carlos himself, though a fine' snot, a clever painter and. with nhe., literary tastes is not believed to have mtfT'cient strength of character 10 Iut dwn a revolt of any real, Importance., united, there, H'. a great chanee that CoacId on Pag 13,