This dispatch is from the London Daily Chronicle and published by the New York Times.
Not far from Brussels is the Chateau of Bouchout, located in the "midst of a park, which is the "asylum of ex-Empress Charlotte of Mexico," widow of Emperor Maximilian, who was executed by Mexican soldiers forty-eight years ago.
In 1866, when Charlotte realized that her husband's life was doomed "at the hands of the revolutionists under Juarez," she returned to Europe to "implore Napoleon III and the Emperor of Austria to save her husband." Her actions were for naught as Maximilian was executed at Querteraro. Not long afterward, Charlotte's mind began to dissolve, and she soon fell into a deep madness.
For some time now, Charlotte, the daughter of King Leopold I, has been living at Bouchout. Despite the Austrian flag flying over the castle's entrance, German troops have failed to "respect her misfortune and her rank," and a day does not pass "without soldiers or officers trespassing on the grounds."
The problem has become so serous that "the diplomatic representatives of the neutral powers" have asked German officials to see that the 78-year-old Empress is respected."
The German Governor of Brussels has now placed the following text at the entrance to the castle's grounds: "This habitation, the property of the Belgian Crown, is occupied by Her Majesty of Mexico, Archduchess Maximilian of Austria and sister-in-law of Emperor Francis Joseph.
I trust German soldiers passing here not to ring the bell and to leave the place intact."
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