Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Princess Louise hides out in Paris

Embed from Getty Images 
 

September 9, 1904  

After escaping from a sanitarium, Princess Louise of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is holed up in Paris. She has sent a letter to a socialist newspaper Belgium -- she is the daughter of King Leopold II -- where she attacked her father and her husband, Prince Philipp.

 "We princes and princesses are creatures of flesh and blood just like the rest of mankind, although in our youth every attempt is made to thwart nature. Our education time comes when nature, to be avenged, strips us of all etiquette."

 In her letter, the princess described her childhood as cold. She said her father was seldom at home, and "usually neglected his family for others." She said that her mother "confided her sorrows to a well-known general in Brussels." 

When Louise reached the age to marry, her father chose Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg after consulting with several ladies-in-waiting. "I was extremely sad, for I had a great affection for a young gardener of distinguished character and bearing." After only two weeks of marriage, Louise discovered that her husband was a drunk and violent man. One night, he said, he broke into her bedroom with three other men, all drunk, and he demanded that Louise open her nightgown and expose herself to the men. 

 She refused and was said she was beaten by her husband. "I bore the traces of his brutality for weeks." Louise said she complained to her husband to no avail, and she said she did not regret running away with Count Mattaiach. "I am old, but my heart remains young, and I seek affection. I do not want to be a princess any longer. I want to be a woman, respected, and environed with love and regard. I have had enough of all the duplicity and the corruption of the courts. All the courtiers of Europe are corrupt. They give me a feeling of nausea." She says that as Geza's wife, she is "free."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who's Count Mattaiach?

Is he the same person as Count Keglewitch?

Thanks

Allan Raymond

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

The papers spelled Geza's surname differently in various articles. It is actually Mattachich. He was not a Kegelvich (correct spelling). He was the stepson of Count Oscar Kegelvich.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't aware Louise's lover was actually Géza Mattachich who had adopted the Kegelvich surname.

Keglewitch is the name mentioned in a book I have "The Private Life of Two Emperors - William II of Germany and Francis-Joseph of Austria" by an anonymous author. I think the book is also published under a different title The Secret Memoirs of the Courts of Europe: William II, Germany; Francis Joseph, Austria-Hungary by Mme. La Marquise de Fontenoy, would you be aware if this is so?

Allan Raymond

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

I do not have either book, so I cannot say if they are the same.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion the memoirs of Count Geza Mattachich (yes, different spelling of his name) are far more interesting than the memoirs oif Princess Louise of Belgium.

"Folle par Raison d'Etat - Mémoires du Comte Mattachich", edited again in 1998 by 'Le Cri' editions. The original memoires were written in 1904 by Count Geza Mattachich.

Eric VdV