More scandal for the Coburgs

July 6, 1905


Medical authorities "appointed to examine the mental condition" of Princess Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha have definitely "decided that she is perfectly sane," writes the Marquise de Fontenoy in her latest column.   There is also no evidence to show that she "has been demented in the past," and that her "incarceration in lunatic hospital" was unwarranted.

Her estranged husband, the "utterly disreputable,"  Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha,  has stopped her allowance (which he paid until recently) and has filed for divorce.  He now "takes the ground" that if his wife has been "sane all along," then she is responsible for "two sensational elopements with former Captain Geza Mattachich.

Princess Philipp  (Princess Louise of Belgium) may have "considerable difficulty" with the accusations made by her estranged husband, but she "may be relied upon to defend herself" by offering "equally grievous" charges against Prince Philipp.  She proposes tp prove him guilty of "cruelty, neglect, infidelity," as well as drunkenness.  She will also sue him for "conspiracy and perjury" for having her incarcerated in a mental institution even though she was sane.

This new scandal appears to be as "unsavory as any that have gone before in connection with the Coburgs."

It also seems that Prince Philipp has lost the support of Austrian Emperor Franz Josef, who on previous occasions, threatened to banish Philipp unless he provided financial assistance to his wife.

The estranged couple are Roman Catholic.  They will not be able to remarry after their divorce, "unless they change their religion."   Princess Philipp most probably will renounce her Catholic faith, in order to "legalize after a fashion, though tardily, her association" with Matttachich.

Neither the princess nor her lover have any financial resources.  Her father, King Leopold II of the Belgian, is not in communication with her, nor is she on good terms with her sister, Princess Stephanie, Countess Lonyay.