It's over says Mabel

Mabel Corey

June 24, 1929

Oh dear, the marriage pans of Prince Luis  of Orleans-Borbon and the former Broadway star Mrs. Mabel Gilman Corey "have been abandoned," according to Mrs. Corey, who "broke her long silence" by talking with a United Press reporter.

The former wife of a Pittsburgh steel millionaire decided to break her silence to say that "everything is finished."  But she refused to reveal the reason for the break up of the "20 year romance" with King Alfonso XIII's cousin.

"You can never say anything is final," Mrs. Corey said over a cup of tea.  "Even archaeologists say no one had ever known definitely when the world began or will it end."

The marriage was called off largely to money.  Mrs. Corey admitted that she was "tired of the financial wrangling, involving the marriage contract."    Her offers of a financial settlement were never enough to please Prince Luis.

Mrs. Corey and Prince Luis' mother, Infanta Eulalia, remains strong.  The Infanta is also not happy at the "turn of events."

"Mrs. Corey took such a deep interest in my son, who needs a wife who is devoted but severe."

Prince Luis remains at his home in San Remo as he is barred from entering France.  Mrs. Corey is at her home, Villa Genis, in France.

The saddened Mrs. Corey said:  I met Don Luis on my honeymoon, and we have loved each other for 20 years.  It is hard, but impossible to turn the sacrament of marriage into a bargain counter. I do not know if I ever will love another. For the present, I do not care.

"I have always said American men make ideal husbands, although they lack the polish of many Europeans.  If I had married Don Luis, I would have had to remain in Italy, but now I shall never leave France.  Really, I don't think one man or ten is worth the sacrifice of selling my castle in France."

Although she maintains the interior of the castle, the "sunken gardens and parks are unkempt."