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Show !Klng Frederick Augustus of Sax-enr Sax-enr is seeking a "war bride" for his ton, the Crown Prince George, jnoa as "the handsomest prince in Europe." And thereby hangs a strangely ro-pantic ro-pantic tale. The king, weary of a regal Ufe that has been filled almost to tho bursting point with bitter disappointments, disap-pointments, Is ready to abdicate. jot before doing so he must see that tho crown prince, who of course vlll succeed him, is married to "the f-j right sort of woman." In this caso "tho right sort of wo- zan" means not only one who I Trould bo affectionate and seemingly I obedient to her husband, but at the I jame time would dominate him cotn-I cotn-I pletely. Briefly, then, she must possess pos-sess a title, wealth, a loving disposition dispo-sition and bo a genius in diplomacy. For over tho throne of Saxony hovers the shadow of ex-Queen Louise, mother of Crown Prince George, the madcap member of ro-altr ro-altr ho eloped with Professor Giron, Gi-ron, her son's tutor; was married to ' aa Italian musician and has been forbidden to re-enter the country over which she and her husband held sway. KIXG FEARS SHE ' 1TILL RETURN. The king fears, and rightly so, that if ho abdicates or dies Louise -ill boldly return to tho royal court at Dresden, conjuro up the mother J love lying latent in her son's breast I end thus regain tho power she held ' over the throne before making herself her-self a social outcast. These things he fears she can do easily if Crown Prince George hasn't "the right sort ' of wife." ' But with a bewitching, tactful young queen occupying tho throne with, his son he feels that all intrigues in-trigues by Louise would bo set at naught. In other words, tho shrewd king Is sure that wife's love would triumph over mother lovo in this case, provided his son's queen were a diplomat. Therefore ho Is scouring that part of Europe within the boundaries of the Teutonic allies" in a royal "quest of tho golden girl." In that quest he has been seriously hampered by the crimsoa pl, 23. before tho outbreak of the war it would hnvo been comparatively an easy mat-. mat-. ter to find "the right sort of woman." wo-man." In fact, Frederick Augustus believed be-lieved ho already had found her irhen on June 28, 1914, tho Archduke Arch-duke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated assas-sinated and tho spark engendered 'I which threw Europo into a burst of ' flame. On June 14 of that year the ; king was discussing with the czar, I through tho cabinet in St. Petersburg, Peters-burg, tho possibility of an alliaDco between George and the Grand Duchess Tatania, tho czar's second daughter. PBINCE OF WALES 1 ALSO IN RACE. Tho handsome young Prince of Wales was at the same time consid- ering Tatania, but Crown Prince i George was ahead In tho race; : tot because of superior charms, but because the young folk of European royalty havo nothing to j say about tho preliminary negotJa-P negotJa-P tions for matrimonial alliances. It v is only after all tho pros and cona of a royal match havo been dis- cussed by accredited government of- flcials and a favorable agreement ; reached that tho young man in the case is permitted to begin bis courtship. court-ship. In the caso of Tatania everything seemed to favor a match with the C crown prince of Saxony. Tho kai-j kai-j ficr's approval must bo obtained for I all royal alliances within the Ger-i- man Empire. "William of Hohenzol-' Hohenzol-' lern favored this one, because he then was seeking tho good will of ; tho czar. Frederick Augustus liked the girl. Crown Prlnco George ; Wanted her for his bride, and sho " ; Wanted tho crown prince. ' Everything was ready for a for- !aal announcement of the engagement engage-ment whon flash! bang! Germany Ger-many declared war on RusBia, and the royal matrimonial gamo was at ao end. BITTER TILL' FOE 1 tOTJNG PRINCE. V The king and Crown Prince George ent to the front In Novemb'er, 1914, George was wounded in tho leg and sent back to Dresden, whero he I "Was nursed by his aunt, tho Prin-f Prin-f ccbs Matilde, who is at tho head of t. Ma household. ' After his wound bad J healed ho was eager to return to f Ma regiment, the First Grenadier, ! but meantime Frederick Augustus I had spoken to tho kaiser about his r onvnd tixggfcam an ordorfrom t the emperor retiring George for "disability." With the order waB tho coveted iron cross. George understood tho reasons underlying all of this. His father wanted him some day to bo tho ruler rul-er of Saxony. He was known as a "hotspur" on the field of battle. To permit him to return to tho front would mean almost certain death for him. So ho had to remain at Dresden Dres-den while his father fought and all good Saxons fought for the German cause. It was a bittor pill for tho young man. But he knew the meaning of discipline and accepted his sentence without outward Bhow of temper. Not long since Frederick Augustus, during ono of his visits to Dresden from the front, said to his son: "Young man, I havo beenseeklng a good wifo for you. The search has turned toward two young women. wo-men. They aro the Princess Stephanie Ste-phanie and the Princess Mario of Sigmaringen. At the first opportunity opportun-ity I order you to visit the court of their father, Prlnco Charles of Ho-henzollern, Ho-henzollern, Burgrave of Nurcmburg. There you will meet them." v Tho young man bowed his acquiescence. ac-quiescence. It really was a fine adventure ad-venture for Prlnco George, who Is 23 years old, stands almost six feet in height, is an athlete, a musician and full of romance. During the Christmas times ho went to Sigma-' Sigma-' ringen with Matilde and there met Stephanie and Mario. Tho former, born at Potsdam April 8, 1895, and therefore 20 years old, is quiet and studious. The latter, born Oct 23 1896, is witty and full of life. SORRY HE'S NOT A XORMON. Princess Matildo told her nephew that his father favored Stephanie. Tho verdict of tho crown prince, after aft-er meeting the young women, was: "Ach! Are they not delightful? Would I were a Mormon I would choose both. But as it Is, my dear aunt, I know not which to say I like better than tlio other." In short, his plight was like that of the swain in tho American popu- lar song," who said: "How happy would a b with either were t'other dear charmer away." Now, whllo Crown Prince George's choice of a bride is not confined wholly to the Hohenzollern princesses princes-ses either of whom, by tho way, is royal young ladies. But Geqrgo is believed to lean slightly toward the vivacious Marie, while his father is partial toward Stephanie. With George the leaning is one of heart instinct "With Frederick Augustus Au-gustus it is ono of cold, fatherly judgment Tho King of Saxony is a firm believer in tho saying that "blood will tell," and Stephanie not only is of HoTienzollern stock but sho possesses many Hohenzollern traits. Sho and hor sister aro members mem-bers of the elder branch of tho house of Hohenzollern, tho younger line of which is headed by the kaiser. FINALLT ATTAINED THE THRONE. The kings of Prussia and Prince William, tho latter) head of tho Sigmaringen Sig-maringen Hohenzollorns, aro do- !; Know all ye Royal.malds by theso presents. Greeting: ;! ! A future queen Is wanted for the future king of ;' ' Saxony. !; !; Sho must bo young, healthy, wealthy. One of tho j; Teutonic allies of tho Roman Catholic faith. A Fine ' ;! diplomat - 1; ; Sho must not bo merely a good housewife. Frivol- j; !; ous. Easily influenced by other women. Wholly a crea- ' ;! turo of her husband's whims. I; i ;. $ "fa "--MwV il - e above, ib tho Princess J ", 3SwtfSWCft!d Stephanie, who Is one of the .'v' UcSHWpv " s111?0 favorites of the younff V WWW S. $ '' prince's famUy, and at the right gMiMm J is 1rincess 3rarie of Hohcrusollern, jllr f 1Tho als0 rested as a Rkoly iJfCTT A 1 ATI bride for the young heir. One of ''fQIwaBJ jtf KV these princesses is sought as a Xfa tC fel r8 .governor for tho prince, who has W Slan 4rt-J H in tflo blood of Ms eloping JXfW7, LJJlLb motIlcr This is ex-Qucen Louise, TThose elopement with Professor Giron, her son's tutor, and her other madcap exploits caused her to bo exiled from tho realm of Saxony. Tho king fears sho will return and so he wants the crown prince to wed a woman who will forco tho prince to continue hor exile. acceptable to tho kaiser as a mate for the heir apparent to tho Saxon throne it, nevertheless, has narrowed nar-rowed down yerjj Sharply, thosc scended from Count Thassilo of Zol-lern, Zol-lern, in Swabia, who was one of tho generals of Cnarlomagne. Count' Frederick s successor, JmilitA castle on tho heights of Zollern Hill in Swabia, henco the famous name of Hohenzollern. As centuries rolled by tho older branch of tho family remained true to tho Catholic faith, but tho younger young-er turned to Protestantism and be-camo be-camo margraves and dukes and next kings of Prussia and finally emperors. em-perors. It was 760 years ago that tho elder (Swabian) and younger (Franconian) lines became dlstinot and In tho sixteenth century the elder lino was divided into two branches, thoso of Hcchiugen and Sigmaringen. In 1869 the Hechlngon branch be-vame be-vame extinct William of Hohenzollern Hohenzol-lern assumed tho headship of tho Sigmaringen house in 1S70. Ho died in 1905 and was succeeded by Prince Charles of Hohenzollern, Burgravo of Nuremburg. Thus it will bo seen that tho family Is distantly related to tho kaiser. Princo Charles in 1894 married Princess Josophino of Belgium, daughter of tho Countess of Flanders, Flan-ders, the only sister of the King of Roumania. Two of their children aro Princesses Stephanio and Marie. Tho countess was rather eccentric and very wealthy. It was only recently re-cently that tho Sigmaringen Ilohen-zollerns Ilohen-zollerns camo into her money. CROWN PRINCE'S BLOOD IS WILD. This, then, is tho stock to which tho two charmers who aro bewildering bewilder-ing Crown JPrinco George belong. It is good, clean stock. In it thero is little of tho human deadwood which is found in most royal families. Tho crown prince, on tho other hand, whllo a splendid specimen physically and thus far in his life thoroughly activo mentally, nevertheless never-theless has in him tho blood of ox-Queen ox-Queen Louise. That fact alono nnnenr. li nAl - -r-i-.i 8r.lr A t1 gustus to shako their heads when his name Is mentioned and say: "Tho boy must be watched; it is necessary jaUio have a good vfife.' mWM;' " -,sy 0y "' -' It Is the blood ties between Georgo and tho ex-queen and tho consequent conse-quent chances that somo day sho might exert an evil influenco over him that tho Saxon advisors fear, moro than tho Prussians onco feared fear-ed Napoleon. On Nov. 21, 1891, Frederick Augustus, Au-gustus, then crown prince, married Louise, princess Imperial and arch-duchCBS arch-duchCBS of Austria. Sho then was 21 years old. In hor memoirs, published pub-lished in September, 1911, tho Countess Count-ess Montlgnasa, as tho ox-queen was known after hor elopement, blamed the purltanism of tho Saxon court and tho personal hostility of tho lato King of Saxony who believed, be-lieved, or protended to believe, that Bhe was insane for her flight and abandonment of her husband and five children. Another child was born after sho had left tho court Frederick Augustus Au-gustus got possession of tho baby and the eloping queen never has been pormltted to sco it ' . Louise, according to her own story, deliberately compromised hor-selt hor-selt with Professor Giron at Salz-lurjsjtho Salz-lurjsjtho homo obJ$parents, so Here Is Europo's handsomest prince, who seeks a bride. Ho Is Crowi Princo Georgo of Saxony, aged 23, six feet tall and holdor of tho Irol Cross. Ho is affectionate and boyish and has money enough to make anj j aspiring princess happy. that sho would not havo to return to Dresden. In February, 1903, Fred-crick Fred-crick Augustus obtained a divorce. The decree, however, never has been sanctioned by tho pope. Giron did not long hold tho heart of Louise. In 1907 sho married Toselll and four years later dl vorced him. Since then sho has . been living in Italy. A story is told at Dresden to the effect that on Christmas, two years after sho had fled with Giron and whllo her friends wero trying to effect a reconciliation in her behalf with Frederick Augustus, sho went in disguiso to tho palaco and thero stood outsido in tho snow and watched tho Christmas festivities within. Her six children wero taking tak-ing part, yet sho did not daro reveal herself to them. Tho king has issued imperative ordors that if Louise ever appears within tho domains of Saxony she Is to be arrested. So it is thus that her shadow hovers over tho throno where sho onco held sway with her king. And so it is thus that tho king is seeking a diplomatic, affectionato helpmato for his son. Is thero a story, even in fiction, that can outdo this situation for thd elements of heart interest and homd tragedy that surround tho royal ruer of Saxony and his handsome son? RIGHT PRINCESS STILT. UNPOUND. And is there a princess who meas- s , urcs up to the standard set by the royal father, who will bring the happy hap-py chain of circumstances to the happy conclusion that all romanced of handsome princes and beautiful princesses should havo? i Tho final chapters remain to b J written, but it is safo to predict tha( : a suitiblo lady will bo found and that so far as the domestic life ol the royal houso of Saxony is con-i i corned tho hero and tho unknowfi heroino will livo happily over after, ,. u.,t (Copyright, 1916,), y- |