Archduke Friedrich of Austria issued an official statement from his palace in Budapest regarding his son, Archduke Albrecht's marriage. The statement was sent by wireless to the New York Times. The statement "removes all doubts as to the attitude" of Albrecht's parents toward his marriage with the divorced wife of Louis Rudnay, Hungary's Minister in Sofia.
Friedrich "brushes aside Archduchess Isabella's desire to forgive their son with the downright declaration" that they will not recognize the marriage or receive Albrecht's wife as a member of the family.
This announcement came after an all-day conference with leading Hungarian jurists who were summoned to Friedrich's palace "in an endeavour to contest the legality of the marriage."
Because the Habsburgs no longer rule in Hungary, the Habsburg family law cannot be enforced. Archduke Friedrich's decision to not recognize the marriage is a "personal matter, and does not enable him to overthrow the marriage because it did not comply with the family law."
Thus, the jurists sought reasons for the objection. They discovered three obstacles to why Albrecht's marriage is not valid in Hungary.
* Hungary required that a divorced person cannot remarry until ten months after the divorce.
Irene Rudnay divorced her husband "only a month or so ago." Albrecht "neglected to see a dispensation for the publication of banns of marriage in Hungary.
* Albrecht also failed to "declare in writing before a notary that so far as he knew no obstacle to the marriage existed."
The jurist had long discussions regarding the marriage, and they came to the conclusion "that it would be unwise to take these failures to comply with the law to court."
The couple was married in England, under British law, and Hungary, by treaty "is obliged to recognize marriages concluded in England."
Friedrich, unable to have the marriage declared invalid, "issued his refusal to recognize it."
Archduke Albrecht ardently desires a Roman Catholic wedding, but a difficulty regarding this desire is seen in a statement by the Lutheran Bishop of Subotica. The bishop, in a statement, said that Irene Rudnay's first marriage took place eighteen years ago at the Subotica Lutheran Church, and "was recognized as valid by the Catholic Church."
Prior to 1910, all marriages between Catholics and Protestants were recognized by Hungary, said the bishop. He asserts that "it is outside the province of the Vatican to contest the validity of the marriage, only the Lutheran Church being able to deal with the question."
Albrecht has begun the process to register his civil marriage with the Hungarian authorities. He and his wife are living apart until they can marry in a religious ceremony.
The archduke hopes King Alfonso XIII of Spain will use his influence with the Pope to declare Mme. Rudnay's first marriage was "to be invalid."
Albrecht told reporters today that he will live in the country, and "refrain from politics."
No comments:
Post a Comment