Former Dowager Empress and 2 Grand Dukes held at Kiev

May 13, 1918


The New York Times reports on a dispatch from the Ukrainian Press Bureau, which has "received information from Odessa" regarding the whereabouts of the former Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholaivitch, and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovitch.
The three members of the former imperial family living at Dulbar, near Aitodor, in the Crimea, are now said to be in the hands of the Germans.

"Special dispatches from Moscow," published last Saturday, report that the Dowager Empress had arrived in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. It has also been reported that Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovitch is also in Kiev, and had taken a prominent role in the coup d'etat by "which the Ukrainian Radu was overthrown and a Dictatorship was established."

The Dowager Empress has lived in Crimea "in straitened circumstance." Grand Duke Nicholas is the former Commander in Chief of the Russian armies and "is regarded as one of the greatest of Russia's military leaders." He has apparently been living in retirement at his estate in the Crimea, "although there have been various reports connecting him with royalist plots."

Grand Duke Alexander, who is married to Nicholas II's sister, Xenia, has probably been living in the Crimea, although little has been heard about him since the Revolution.

Now the Queen can reach out and touch

May 12, 1896

An "elaborate system of private telephones" has been installed at Windsor Castle, connecting it with the post office, railway stations, Marlborough House and Buckingham Palace. It is expected that this system will be "extended to government offices, Balmoral Castle and Osborne House," according to the Chicago Daily Tribune.

Princess Christian patron of a New York school

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 May 12, 1896

Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, third daughter of Queen Victoria, has, at her own request, "been appointed one of the patronesses of the New York School of Applied Design for Women."

According to the Chicago Daily Tribune, this is "probably the first appointment or acceptance of English royalty of connection with any American institution."

Mrs. Dunlop Hopkins, who founded the school, has obtained a "large grant of money from the County Council to establish a similar institution in London." Princess Christian has taken a great interest in this project.

Wilhelmina sends her thanks to King George

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 May 12, 1940

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands sent her "heartfelt thanks" to King George VI "for the message he sent to her yesterday decrying the 'brutal and wholly unwarranted attack' upon her country," the Associated Press is reporting.

"I desire to express to Your Majesty my heartfelt thanks for your kind message, proving that in this moment of grave tribulation Your Majesty and Your Majesty's people throughout the British Empire are ready and anxious to give us all possible moral and material support.

"I wish to your Majesty how happy I am that our peoples' fleets and armies are fighting against ruthless aggression. I feel certain that the cause of freedom and justice will triumph in the end."

King George V also received a message from King Leopold III of the Belgians, "to whom he sent a promise of support."

"Your Majesty's far-reaching and encouraging message has touched me deeply. It brings me in the grave hour through which my country is passing valuable proof of the fidelity of the British people to their pledged word.

"The cause which Belgium is defending is sacred to my fellow countrymen, and I share the unshakable confidence which your message expresses the free and independent future of our two countries."

The Netherlands and Belgium have been invaded by German troops.

Princess Beatrix wails during christening

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May 12, 1938

The New York Times reports today on the baptism of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, who was born on January 31.

The first child of Crown Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard was baptized in the Groote Kerk of St. Jacob, where her parents were married last year.
Beatrix "wailed lustily" when the Rev. W.L. Welter, the 80-year-old former court chaplain, said in a solemn, but quavering voice: "Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The Lord Bless you and keep you. The Lord have mercy upon you. the Lord grant you peace."

The ceremony was witnessed by Queen Wilhelmina and King Leopold III of the Belgians, several royal princes and princesses, the "elite of the Netherland nobility, civil, military and ecclesiastical authorities and representatives of foreign nations."

The baby "continued to cry at the top of her lungs," despite all that her mother, Princess Juliana "could do to quiet her." After the ceremony, Beatrix finally stopped crying --the "sermons, the peal of the organ, and the rest of the ritual." Exhausted by all her tears, the little princess "fell asleep in her mother's arms.

Princess Juliana, with Beatrix, and Prince Bernhard were the first to leave the church, followed by the godparents, Queen Wilhelmina, King Leopold, Princess Armgard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (Bernhard's mother), Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, and the Duke of Mecklenburg.

The baby "made the short journey" from the palace to the church and back to the palace with her parents in Wilhelmina's golden coach, a gift from the nation when Wilhelmina ascended the throne forty years ago.

Princess Beatrix wore the Brussels lace robe that her mother and grandmother wore at their christenings.

Albrecht challenges Otto on loss of rights

May 12, 1938

Archduke Albrecht, who recently was stripped of his "royal prerogatives" for having married a commoner, issued a statement today "questioning the validity of this action, reports the New York Times.
Albrecht "declared that Hungarian laws were definitely opposed to it." He added that Archduke Otto, pretender to the throne, had not "consulted other members of the Habsburg family," and he did not "have the right to expel him fro the family."
Former Kaiser Wilhelm II has sent Albrecht a "congratulatory telegram," recalling his friendship with Albrecht's father, Archduke Friedrich, during the World War.

Hello 'Cuz

Queen Elizabeth II welcomes her new Prime Minister, David Cameron. Both are descendants of George III. David Cameron is a descendant of William IV and Dorothy Jordan and Elizabeth descends from William's younger brother, Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent.

The photo was released by the Press Association.

Large crowds for Curzon wedding

May 11, 1920

It was certainly the wedding of the year. Lady Cynthia Curzon, middle daughter of the Earl Curzon, was married today at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, to Lt. Oswald Mosley, MP.

The New York Times reports that the "almost unprecedented crowds gathered to witness" Lady Cynthia's wedding.

The ceremony was "honored by the presence of not only the British King and Queen but also of the King and Queen of the Belgians."
Lord Curzon had looked after King Albert's three children after Germany had invaded their native land.
Lady Cynthia "deliberately set herself to shatter wedding superstition by being married in May." She also chose to add "touches of green introduced into her gown," which was chalk-white crepe, simply cut, with crossover corsage and long sleeves, cut mittenwise over the hands." She wore a "Grecian wreath of lilies and magnificent pearls and carried a bouquet of lilies." She also carried a "Honiton point lace handkerchief" that her mother used at her wedding.

The bride was attended by seven bridesmaids and one page, the former wearing "chiffon gowns and water lily wreaths and carried bouquets of water lilies."

Lady Cynthia's mother, Mary Leiter, the daughter of Levi Ziegler Leiter, an American millionaire who founded the Chicago department store, Field & Leiter. He was a descendant of a German Lutheran family that founded Leitersville, Maryland. Lady Curzon died in 1906 at the age of 36.

Mr. Mosley, the youngest member of Parliament, is the son of Sir Oswald Mosley, BT.

Queen Emma hurt in car accident

May 11, 1906

The Dowager Queen Emma of the Netherlands, the mother of Queem Wilhelmina, was "thrown from an automobile to-day," at Steinfurt, Westphalia, the New York Times reports. The Queen was attending the silver wedding celebrations of the Prince and Princess of Bentheim-Steinfurt.
The car hit a butcher's wagon, and Queen Emma and the Prince of Bentheim-Steinfurt were thrown out. Queen Emma sustained some bruises, but she resumed her ride.

The klepto Princess

May 11, 1906

The Marquise de Fontenoy's column features a story about Princess Adolf of Wrede, who has been "charged with kleptomania in connection with the discovery of a quantity of silver" stolen from many of Europe's leading hotels. The princess stashed the silver at Schloss Bastow, in Mecklenburg, which her husband had leased from Count Hahn.

Maria de Carmen Alvear Pacheco is the widow of Apolotnario de Benitez, an Argentine.

The future Princess "first attracted attention in Europe," when she was named as the co-respondent in an unsuccessful divorce suit initiated by the "eccentric" Lady Abdy against her "roué husband."

Mrs. de Benitez traveled from Argentina to London to testify in court. She said she "was innocent of any wrongdoing with Sir William Abdy," but she had never even met him or his wife. She told the court that she only took notice "of the affair was the persecution to which she had been subjected for several years," as Lady Adby had sent letters to herself and her friends, "containing the most slanderous charges against her."

Mrs. de Benitez soon met Prince Adolf of Wrede. His previous marriage, "by dint of much litigation," ended in divorce, and in 1896, he married Carmen, born in Argentina in 1855. The Prince is the chamberlain to the crazy King of Bavaria, and he divides his time between his German castle and a townhouse in Madrid.

The Prince's first wife, Ludmilla Maldaner, "the prima donna or divette," as described by the Marquise, was born in Vienna, the daughter of a shop owner. Twenty years ago, she married an Austrian Pole, a Dr. Dobrinski. Both were Roman Catholics, but after moving to Moscow and becoming Russian citizens, they joined the Russian Orthodox church. Eventually, the marriage collapsed, and the doctor obtained a divorce from a Russian ecclesiastical court. Ludmila then married Prince Adolf in Paris, but they lived together for only a short time before he abandoned her "on the ground that he had discovered that the ecclesiastical court in St. Petersburg had exceeded its powers in granting a legal dissolution of the marriage contracted by two Roman Catholics in Austria before being naturalized in Russia.

In Bavaria, the Prince obtained a decree declaring his first marriage null and void. The Bavarian court held that Ludmilla's first marriage had not been legally dissolved, and that she remains the wife of the Austrian doctor. French courts have a different view and will not register the Bavarian "decree of dissolution," and the consequence is that the Prince is a bigamist in French law. According to the French, the Prince remains married to the Austrian divette, and the "woman of kleptomaniac habits is looked upon as his belle amie rather than his wife." But everywhere else in Europe, the first Princess Adolf is "treated with unlawful usurpation," as a "pseudo-noblewoman and an adventuress." Both women are "subject to caution."

Victoria of Wales to marry George of Greece

May 11, 1900

Athens newspapers are reporting tonight that the Princess of Wales and her daughter, the Princess Victoria, are soon expected to arrive in Corfu, according to the Chicago Daily Tribune. It is understood from the Athens' reports that the "betrothal of Princess Victoria with Prince George of Greece will be announced.

Princess Louise locked up

May 10, 1898

The Viennese correspondent of the London Daily Chronicle has sent a dispatch regarding Princess Louise of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He notes that the Princess was taken tonight to a private asylum. She has "clandestinely passed the last few weeks" with her lover, Lieut. von Mattachich, at his castle near Agram, Croatia. "In the meantime her debts few to millions of florins and bills bearing the alleged forged signature" of her sister, Archduchess Stephanie of Austria, "came into circulation.
Louise's husband, Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha had the Lieutenant arrested as it is believed that Louise's lover is responsible for the forged signature. The Princess has been placed under the care of guardians, and her father, King Leopold II of the Belgians "is prepared to pay her debts and arrange the matter of the forged bill.s

Olga and husband leave Denmark for Canada

May 10, 1948

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, sister of the late Nicholas II, and her husband, Col. Nicholas Koulikovsky, left Denmark today for Toronto, Ontario, where "they will settle." Since the early 1920s, Olga and her family have lived on a small farm in Denmark, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Umberto approved as "King of May"

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May 10, 1946

The Italian cabinet today approved Crown Prince Umberto's assumption of the throne, following the abdication of his father, King Victor Emmanuel. The new King Umberto II will reign with limited powers, according to the Cabinet, until June 2, when Italians go to the polls to decide if they "want a monarchy or a republic."

The Associated Press report states that the cabinet decided at an "extraordinary session" that Umberto could approve decrees "up until the referendum date." He will be able to sign as Umberto II, King of Italy, but the Cabinet ordered the elimination of the phrase "By the grace of God and the will of people."

The cabinet's limitation of powers reaffirmed previous laws enacted last March restricting Umberto's powers "as lieutenant-general of the realm during the political campaign."

Socialists are calling Umberto the "King of May," as they believe the monarchy will be turned out by the public referendum.

King Umberto appeared "eight times on the palace balcony to acknowledge the acclaim of an estimated 10,000 cheering Romans." Tonight, the new king called upon the Italian people to "gather around the flag under which the fatherland was unified and four generations of Italians have known how to live laboriously and die heroically."

Spanish heir turns 23

May 10, 1930

The Prince of Asturias, heir to the Spanish throne, celebrated his 23rd birthday today, reports the AP. A "recent decided improved in his health lent especial cheer" to the birthday celebrations.
Madrid was in "gala dress," and the national flag was "flown everywhere." The Royal Family attended a special mass in the royal chapel, and "many prominent personages went to the palace and autographed the Prince's album as an "expression of felicitation."
The Prince suffers from hemophilia and his health has been the "cause of great concern in palace circles. At one time, the prince's younger brother, Jaime, might be designated as heir, but Jaime is a deaf mute. He has learned to talk by "scientifiec instruction, and has developed an "ability as a linguist."