Princess Louis of Bourbon seeks alimony

May 4, 1907

Princess Louis of Bourbon's suit for alimony against her husband "possesses a certain amount of interest to Americans," writes the Marquise de Fontenoy. Although born in Havana,the former Amelia Bellow-Hamel was raised and educated in the United States and for "intents and purposes," is an all-American girl.
Prince Louis, the Count of Aquila, and Amelia were married in New York City in 1869. The couple have two children, Maria Gennara, who is married to an Englishman, William Freeman, and Luigi, who is married to Enrica Weiss.

The princess' alimony suit is not before a court in Paris, and the proceedings will show that she was "compelled by the conduct of her husband to obtain from him a judicial separation in the year 1891." The prince had been ordered to pay his estranged wife $1,200 a year, but has not complied with the court order. His mother, Princess Januaria, sister of Dom Pedro, the last emperor of Brazil, "furnished the alimony in his stead," until her death six years ago. Finally, in 1904, after exhausting all over possibilities, Princess Louis, "finding herself in a state of complete destitution," filed an appeal with the French courts. The original order was upheld, and her husband made intermittent payments. This was not sufficient, according to the court order, and the princess has now "secured a judgment, by which the extensive property left by the prince's mother has been attached for a sum sufficient to furnish the capital of the alimony." A trust has been established for elderly princess, who will receive the income for the trust for as long as she lives.

Some claim that the marriage between Amelia Hamel and Prince Louis is morganatic, and that she should be be known as the Countess of Roccagugliema, but "code of the state of New York where the marriage was contracted nor that of Italy, to the former reigning family of which Prince Louis belonged, nor yet that of France makes any provision for morganatic marriages." A marriage "contracted in accordance with the laws is a fully-fledged marriage," and, the former Amelia Hamel is the "fully-fledged wife of Prince Louis.