Kira and Anton wonder if Serb cousins will invite them

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May 29, 1939

Prince Regent Paul and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia are about to make a State Visit to Berlin, according to the Chicago Daily Tribune. This will be "an important test for the once powerful Habsburg and Hohenzollern families." They wonder if Paul and Olga, "as official guests of the Nazis, will remember their dethroned cousins." Grand Duchess Kira of Russia, who is married to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, and Archduke Anton of Austria, described as the "closest relatives of the visitors," are said to be the "most keenly interested" in the visit.

Kira is Olga's first cousin as Kira's late father, Grand Duke Kirill, and Olga's mother, Grand Duchess Helen, were siblings.
She views the matter of the visit "with smiling philosophy." She is happily married to Prince Louis Ferdinand, and she recently returned from Doorn, where she "proudly displayed her young son to the ex-kaiser."

If Paul and Olga treat Kira as a "poor relative," she will "probably display her critical smile."

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The matter is more serious for Archduke Anton, who is the husband of Princess Ileana of Roumania. He is "going through an ordeal which is even hardier and younger men than the scion of the Habsburgs find quite difficult. The 38-year-old Archduke is "serving in Berlin as a private in the German army." He is required to "stand at attention and take orders."

The archduke is an "expert aviator" and he wants to serve as an officer in the German Air Force, but he must "serve six months as an ordinary private."
It is said that the German dictator Adolf Hitler has no time for the "displaced aristocracy," which makes things even more difficult for Archduke Anton. He would "enjoy a friendly chat" with his Yugoslav relatives. But he does not know if he will be able to leave his barracks during the visit.

The Nazis attitude toward the Habsburgs is illustrated by the "fact that the family was dropped from this year's Almanach de Gotha."

The Nazis have ordered all the towns that will be visited by the Yugoslav couple to fly the German and Yugoslav colors "and to decorate their streets and buildings for the official visitors."