THE ROMANCE OF COUNT ERBACH

The Love Story Of A German Nobleman

Gave Up A Princely Inheritance

To Wed A Washer-Womans’ Daughter

(By. H. Elpherg, In New York, ‘Times Democrat’)

The Star

February 10, 1906

Count Francis Erbach, a young German nobleman of exalted rank, has created a sensation in Germany by marrying a washerwoman’s pretty daughter.

Some of the details given here in connection with it have not even been published in Berlin, but have been received from a reliable correspondent in the neighborhood of the Count’s ancestral estate in the German Grand Duchy of Hesse.  I think it will be agreed that the story they tell of sacrifices for love’s sake has had few parallels in either fact or fiction.

To begin with, it should be remembered that the German aristocracy is far more exclusive and far more jealous of its rights and privileges than the aristocracy of England, or France or Italy.  Germany counts and barons with a line of ancestors extending back to the darkest early middle ages look down with contempt on the mushroom families which have sprung up in England and other countries during the last three or four centuries.  The Erbachs are not only a noble family, but they are a mediatised family, which means that they enjoy absolute equality of birth with all the Royal Families of Europe. The Counts of Erbach trace their descent back to noble warriors of the tenth century.  Ever since that remote period every male and every female ancestor of the present reigning Count of Erbach has been of noble birth.  The children of those who contracted mesalliances have been excluded from the succession.

PRIDE OF RACE

Eight hundred years ago the Counts of Erbach were the independent monarchs of a state situated in South Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine, and they continued to rule over their dominions, which were some 300 square miles in extent, until the year 1815.  Their dominions were then absorbed in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. After the loss of their actual suzerainty the Counts of Erbach received the guarantee that their rank and that of their descendants should be considered equal to that of all reigning houses forever and ever.  At the same time the head of the family who is still entitled to call himself the ‘Reigning Count,’ received the right of styling himself ‘Serene Highness.’ In common with the members of the various reigning families in Germany the Counts of Erbach can never be arrested and are exempt from the necessity of appearing in any law courts, either as defendant in a civil action or as a witness to give evidence on oath.  If their evidence should be necessary a special commissioner is required to wait upon them in their own home and to take their evidence privately.  In such cases their simple assertions are considered as weighty as the evidence of ordinary mortals given on oath.  A Count of Erbach is thus absolutely equal in rank and birth to the German Emperor or the Czar of Russia, and his line of descent, from a genealogical point of view, is undoubtedly far purer than that of any monarch at present reigning in Europe.  It is necessary to bear these circumstances in mind in order to estimate the enormity of the offense which Count Francis Erasmus Erbach has committed in marrying a plebeian peasant girl.

The Counts of Erbach possess not only high rank and birth, but also large estates and great wealth.  Their landed possessions are dotted about in Hesse, Wurttemberg and Bavaria, as well as in the Austrian provinces of Bohemia and Salzburg.  The estates cover an aggregate area of rather more than 10,000 acres, and are a source of rich annual revenue to their owners.  The reign Count of Erbach possesses three stately castles, situated on his estates in Hesse, Wurttemberg and Salzburg, as well as a magnificent palace in Berlin, a smaller palace in Munich and a third town residence in Vienna.  A villa on the shores of Lake Constance, another villa at the fashionable South German summer resort of Baden-Baden, and half a dozen hunting lodges on their various estates, complete the number of houses at the disposal of the Erbachs.  The annual income of the reigning Count of Erbach is known to exceed  £200,000.

Count Francis Erasmus Erbach is the eldest son of the reigning Count, and was thus;

HEIR TO ALL THE WEALTH AND GLORY OF THE FAMILY

He was brought up in the strict seclusion, and his tutors took especial pains to imbue him with the family pride and with respect for the family traditions.  He was taught to regard as Erbach as a superior being, w ho must not on any account contaminate himself by contact with persons of plebeian birth.  He was taught to recite the names of his ancestors back to the tenth century, and to remember that those who had married women of lower birth than themselves had been expelled from the family in disgrace.  Count Francis Erasmus lived and grew up in this suffocating intellectual atmosphere until he reached the age of eighteen when, like most other young German noblemen, he became a student at the University of Bonn.  Here, for that first time, he came into contact with the outside world and gained some practical knowledge of other classes of society.

Being an intelligent, good natured and amiable youth, the young nobleman rapidly became a favorite among his fellow-students and had every opportunity of participating in all the riotous pleasures which characterize life at a German university.  He learned to be a swordsman and to be an expert shot with a revolver in order to fight the duels which fall to the lot of every well-born German student.  The rough and tumble life at Bonn knocked a good deal of the hereditary nonsense out of his head, and caused him mentally to revise many of the principles which his tutors had endeavored to impress upon his memory.  About a year after he began his studies at Bonn he was riding one day in the forests of the ancestral estate at Erbach, in Hesse, when he saw for the first time the girl who has now become his wife.  The young count, who made a striking figure on his spirited steed, accosted the peasant girl on the pretext of asking her which road he ought to follow, and contrived to enter into conversation with her.  He found that she was as intelligent in conversation as she was attractive in appearance.  Henceforth, the youthful aristocrat courted the peasant girl with unremitting patience, notwithstanding all the obstacles which were placed in his way.  His discovery that she was the daughter of the village washer-woman, Frau Schulz, did not dampen his ardor.  The meetings of the young couple had to be clandestine, for the Count recognized the

IMPOSSIBILITY OF COURTING

THE WASHERWOMAN’S DAUGHTER IN PUBLIC

Consequently they met in secluded paths of the surrounding forests and wandered arm in arm along the unfrequented ways where they were comparatively safe from observation.

It was impossible, however, that a young man of such distinguished appearance and so well known throughout the neighborhood as the young Count should walk abroad with a pretty peasant girl without sooner or later attracting attention.  The first opposition came from the relatives of the girl, whose father heard the rumor that she was keeping company with the young nobleman.  Happening to meet the Count on a country road soon afterward the sturdy peasant accosted him and said:  ‘My neighbors tell me that Your Serene Highness haunts the neighborhood of my cottage when I am away from home in order to pay attentions to my daughter Anna.  I do not want any fine gentlemen pursuing my daughter, who is a good girl and will marry a man in her own station of life. I must, therefore, beg Your Serene Highness to be good enough to cease your attentions to my daughter, and not to turn her head by flatteries, but to leave her in peace.’

Count Francis Erasmus, who was considerably disconcerted by this unexpected attack, replied that he was deeply in love with the girl and that he saw no reason why she should not continue to see her.  A scene occurred, in the midst of which, Anna’s brother appeared to back up his father.  More words ensued and finally the two sturdy peasants seized the young aristocrat, dragged him into an adjoining shrubbery, and there administered to him the soundest thrashing which their muscular arms were capable of inflicting.  Undaunted by this chastisement,  however, Count Francis Erasmus continued to woo the peasant girl, and Anna Schulz, who was very much in love with her handsome and high-born admirer, repudiated all responsibility for her relatives violence and…..

CONTINUED TO MEET HER LOVER IN THE FOREST

After that time, however, they took more care to keep their meeting secret.  Matters continued thus for nearly two years, the Count meeting the peasant girl as often as he came from the university to spend his vacations at home, and as months went by the people of the neighborhood began to gossip more and more about his romantic attachment.

The story of the thrashing administered to the Count by the girl’s father and brother also began to be whispered about and lost nothing in repetition. The result was that Count Francis Erasmus’ father, the reigning Count, heard of the affair and demanded explanations from his son.  A violent quarrel ensued, in the course of which Count Francis Erasmus informed his infuriated parent that he was fully determined to marry the washerwoman’s daughter as soon as he came of age.  On this occasion Count Francis Erasmus, who was then within a few weeks of his twenty-first birthday, received his second thrashing in connection with his romantic love affair.  His father lost control of his temper to such an extent that he seized the nearest horsewhip and belabored the obstinate son with the butt end.

During the whole period of her attachment to the young Count, Anna Schulz continued to work in her mother’s little village laundry, and could be seen standing before the washtub, mangling or ironing the linen, or hanging the clothes on a line in the garden, from early morning till evening. She was a hard working, honest girl, and nothing could be said against her except that she loved a man far above her rank and station, a circumstance which excited both the suspicion and envy of her fellow villagers, as well as

THE ANGER AND RESENTMENT OF HER OWN PARENTS

Count Francis Erasmus had to face many other obstacles to his misalliance. All the members of the Erbach family agreed among themselves not to speak to him or to recognize him as a relative until he had given a solemn pledge to abandon his matrimonial project He was boycotted not only by his own relatives, but by the members of the other aristocratic families in the neighborhood.  On two occasions this social boycott involved the self-willed young nobleman in duels with other young aristocrats, whose neglect to treat him with the ordinary marks of respect irritated him to such an extent that he challenged them to combat.  One duel was fought with a certain Baron Gablenz and the other with a Count Buchwaldt.

The first duel was fought with swords, and Count Francis Erasmus, who had become most proficient in the use of this weapon in Bonn, disabled his antagonist by a wound on the right arm.  The other duel, with Count Buchwaldt, was fought under the most severe conditions.  The combatants took up their stand opposite one another at a distance of fifteen paces, and it was agreed that they should exchange shots with pistols until one of them was disabled.  In this case again, Count Francis Erasmus emerged from the encounter as victor, having disabled his opponent by a well-directed shot which lodged in the right shoulder. The social boycott, however, which continually extended, caused him much inconvenience and annoyance, and at times made life almost unbearable, but never for one moment did he waver in his devotion to the washerwoman’s pretty daughter.

As soon as he had attained his majority last December Count Francis Erasmus began to consider definite plans for marrying Anna Schulz.  In his own neighborhood he found the obstacles insurmountable.  In Germany a multitude of documents are necessary before a marriage can be solemnized, and the young Count was unable to obtain the necessary papers.  He was also unable to find a clergyman who was willing to marry him to the washerwoman’s daughter.  He soon decided that the marriage could be arranged in England with less difficulty than elsewhere.  A few weeks ago he walked out of the ancestral castle early one morning and announced that he was going on a hunting expedition, so that he would not return home until late at night.  An  hour later he met Anna Schulz at an appointed place in the forest and proceeded with her to a village a few miles away where,

A MOTOR CAR WAS AWAITING THE FUGITIVES

Mounting on the automobile they sped off in the direction of the French frontier, which was only some 150 miles distant.  Count Francis Erasmus chose this method of secret flight because he feared that if his design were prematurely discovered the powerful influence of his father might cause forcible measures to be taken for his detention.  Before sunset the lovers had crossed the French frontier and proceeded by train to Paris, whence they crossed to London.  After a residence in London of three weeks they were able to be married by special incense.  As soon as he reached London the Count informed his father of his intention, and in the intervening three weeks he was submitted to great pressure to abandon his design.  A special emissary of the  Erbach family came across to London and sought to dissuade him by all possible means from his intention of marrying the plebeian peasant girl.  This emissary was present at the wedding and telegraphed the news of the family disaster to the reigning count.

The ‘House Laws’ of the Erbach family which have been in force for the last 500 years provide that the head of the House may disinherit any male Erbach who marries a woman not of royal rank.  The reigning count on receiving the news of the misalliance contracted in London called a family council to consider the question of the family succession.  Without any ado whatever this family council resolved that Count Francis Erasmus must be

DISINHERITED AND REGARDED AS A SOCIAL OUTLAW

The council then proceeded to decide who should be nominated successor to the family title and estates in his place, and this question presented some difficulties.

Two of the reigning Count’s younger brothers both contracted morganatic marriages, so that their sons were excluded from the succession.  His third brother is only five years younger than himself and is married to a Princess of Bentheim-Tecklenburg.  Their eldest son, Count Conrad, aged twenty-four, has already contracted a morganatic marriage, so that he too, was excluded from the succession.  Consequently the choice of the family council fell on the reigning Count’s nephew, Count Eberhard, aged nineteen, who will thus on the death of the present reigning Count succeed to the position.  Count Francis Erasmus, the husband of the washerwoman’s daughter, has been reduced to an annual allowance of £200. By his marriage he sacrificed not only one of the foremost positions of Europe, but also an annual income estimated at £200,000.  Questioned, on his return from London, by a newspaper interviewer, Count Francis Erasmus said:

‘My relatives have offered me an allowance of 4000 marks a year, but only on the condition that I renounce my princely rank and abandon the name of Erbach.  I have no intention of accepting their offer on this condition.  I intend to remain a Count Erbach and to reject their money.  They can disinherit me so far as the property is concerned, but they cannot rob me of my own name.  I do not for a moment regret the step I have taken, on the contrary we are perfectly happy.  I intend to work for my living, and I have already taken steps to find employment.  I am not sure yet what form of work I shall obtain, but I believe I shall choose the newspaper field.  After undergoing a course of training in a newspaper office in Germany I believe I shall go to Paris or to London as the correspondent of a leading German newspaper.’

1.       Graf Erasmus zu Erbach-Erbach.

23 Dec 1883, Erbach - 10 Feb 1920, Frankfurt am Main

PARENTS:

2.       Graf Georg Albrecht IV zu Erbach-Erbach.

22 Aug 1844, Erbach - 19 Apr 1915, Ober-Mossau

m. 12 Sep 1878, Stolberg

3.       Gräfin Erika Julienne zu Stolberg-Stolberg.

15 Jul 1856, Stolberg - 20 Mar 1928, Rottleberode

GRANDPARENTS:

4.       Graf Eberhard XV zu Erbach-Erbach.

27 Nov 1818, Erbach - 8 Jun 1884, Erbach

m. 2 Nov 1843, Michelstadt

5.       Gräfin Klothilde zu Erbach-Fürstenau.

12 Jan 1826, Fürstenau - 18 Oct 1871, Erbach

6.       1.Fürst Alfred zu Stolberg-Stolberg.

23 Nov 1820, Stolberg - 24 Jan 1903, Stolberg.

m. 15 Jun 1848, Arolsen

7.       Prinzessin Auguste zu Waldeck und Pyrmont.

21 Jul 1824, Arolsen - 4 Sep 1893, Norderney

GREAT GRANDPARENTS:

8.       Graf Karl II zu Erbach-Erbach.

11 Jun 1782, Erbach; d. 14 Apr 1832, Erbach.

m. 6 Jan 1818, Fürstenau

9.       Gräfin Sophie zu Erbach-Fürstenau.

25 Sep 1796, Fürstenau; d. 14 Jun 1845.

10.     Graf Albrecht zu Erbach-Fürstenau.

18 May 1787, Fürstenau - 28 Jul 1851, Krahenberg

m. 26 Jun 1810, Oehringen

11.     Prinzessin Emilie zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen.

20 Nov 1788, Breslau - 1 Oct 1859, Fürstenau

12.     Graf Joseph zu Stolberg-Stolberg.

21 Jun 1771 -  27 Dec 1839

m. 22 May 1819

13.     Gräfin Luise zu Stolberg-Stolberg.

13 Jan 1799 - 15 Aug 1875

14.     Fürst Georg zu Waldeck und Pyrmont.

20 Sep 1789, Weil am Rhein - 15 May 1845, Arolsen

m. 26 Jun 1823, Schaumburg

15.     Prinzessin Emma von Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym.

20 May 1802, Schaumburg - 1 Aug 1858, Pyrmont.

GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS:

16.     Graf Franz zu Erbach-Erbach.

29 Oct 1754, Erbach - 8 Mar 1823, Erbach

m. 1 Sep 1776, Durkheim

17.     Gräfin Luise Charlotte zu Leiningen.

27 May 1755, Emichsburg - 13 Jan 1785, Erbach

18.     Graf Christian Karl zu Erbach-Fürstenau.

18 Sep 1757, Fürstenau - 10 May 1803, Fürstenau

m. 25 Jul 1786, Heilbronn

19.     Gräfin Luise von Degenfeld-Schonburg.

12 Mar 1765 - 14 Dec 1827, Fürstenau

20.     Graf Christian Karl zu Erbach-Fürstenau.

18 Sep 1757, Fürstenau - 10 May 1803, Fürstenau

m. 25 Jul 1786, Heilbronn

21.     Gräfin Luise von Degenfeld-Schonburg.

12 Mar 1765 - 14 Dec 1827, Fürstenau

22.     2.Fürst Friedrich Ludwig zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen.

31 Jan 1764, Ingelfingen - 15 Feb 1818, Slawentzitz

m. 8 Apr 1782, Gleina Div.1799

23.     Gräfin Amalie von Hoym.

6 Oct 1763, Droyssig - 20 Apr 1840, Marienhof

24.     Graf Carl Ludwig zu Stolberg-Stolberg.

18 Feb 1742 - 2 Aug 1815

m. 22 Sep 1768, Lichtenwalde

25.     Gräfin Charlotte von Flemming .

17 Sep 1748, Lichtenwalde - 12 May 1818, Stolberg

26.     Erbgraf Friedrich zu Stolberg-Stolberg.

12 Nov 1769 - 23 Dec 1805

m. 17 Mar 1797, Div.1799

27.     Gräfin Marianne von der Marck.

29 Jan 1780 - 11 Jun 1814, Paris

28.     Fürst Georg zu Waldeck und Pyrmont.

6 May 1747, Arolsen - 9 Sep 1813, Rhoden

m. 12 Sep 1784, Otterwisch

29.     Prinzessin Auguste von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

1 Feb 1768, Sondershausen - 26 Dec 1849, Arolsen

30.     Fürst Viktor II von Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg.

2 Nov 1767, Schaumburg - 22 Apr 1812, Schaumburg

m. 29 Oct 1793, Weilburg

31.     Prinzessin Amalie von Nassau-Weilburg.

6 Aug 1776, Kirchheimbolanden - 19 Feb 1841, Schaumburg

GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS:

32.     Graf Georg Wilhelm von Erbach-Erbach-Reichenberg .

19 Jul 1686, Fürstenau - 31 May 1757, Wiesbaden

m. 3 May 1753

33.     Gräfin Leopoldine von Salm, Wild- und Rheingrafin in Grumbach.

17 Nov 1731 -  28 Feb 1795

34.     1.Fürst Carl zu Leiningen.

14 Aug 1724, Durkheim - 9 Jan 1807, Amorbach

m. 24 Jun 1749, Rödelheim

35.     Gräfin Christiane zu Solms-Rödelheim und Assenheim.

24 Apr 1736, Rödelheim - 6 Jan 1803, Strassburg

36.     Graf Georg Albrecht III zu Erbach-Fürstenau.

14 Jun 1731 2 May 1778, Fürstenau

m. 3 Aug 1752, Neustadt an der Orla

37.     Prinzessin Adolfine Wilhelmine von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

2 Feb 1737, Sondershausen -  27 Jul 1788, Michelstadt

38.     Graf August Christoph von Degenfeld-Schonburg.

21 Mar 1730, Frankfurt am Main - 17 Apr 1814, Eybach

m. 3 Aug 1762, Frankfurt am Main

39.     Freiin Helene Elisabeth Riedesel zu Eisenbach.

14 Aug 1742, Hollrich - 3 Aug 1811, Eybach

40.     Graf Georg Albrecht III zu Erbach-Fürstenau.

14 Jun 1731 2 May 1778, Fürstenau

m. 3 Aug 1752, Neustadt an der Orla

41.     Prinzessin Adolfine Wilhelmine von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

2 Feb 1737, Sondershausen -  27 Jul 1788, Michelstadt

42.     Graf August Christoph von Degenfeld-Schonburg.

21 Mar 1730, Frankfurt am Main - 17 Apr 1814, Eybach

m. 3 Aug 1762, Frankfurt am Main

43.     Freiin Helene Elisabeth Riedesel zu Eisenbach.

14 Aug 1742, Hollrich - 3 Aug 1811, Eybach

44.     1.Fürst Heinrich August zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen.

10 Jul 1715 - 13 Feb 1796

m.

45.     Gräfin Wilhelmine Eleonore zu Hohenlohe-Oehringen.

20 Feb 1717 - 30 Jul 1794

46.     Graf Julius Gebhard von Hoym.

d. 14 Feb 1769, Dresden

m. 5 Oct 1754, Thalwitz bei Wurzen

47.     Christiane Charlotte von Dieskau.

20 Nov 1733, Trebschen bei Grimma -  6 Jul 1811, Berlin

48.     Graf Christoph Ludwig zu Stolberg-Stolberg.

14 Mar 1703, Stolberg - 20 Aug 1761, Stolberg

m. 4 Mar 1737, Rossla

49.     Gräfin Luise Charlotte zu Stolberg-Rossla.

5 Jun 1716, Rossla - 15 Jun 1796, Stolberg

50.     Graf Karl von Flemming.

17 Nov 1705, Iven - Aug 1767, Dresden; bur. Frauenkirche, Dresden

m. 23 Sep 1745, Wölkau bei Pirna

51.     Princess Henriette Charlotte Lubomirska.

18 Jul 1720 - 24 Feb 1782, Dresden

52.     Graf Carl Ludwig zu Stolberg-Stolberg.

18 Feb 1742 - 2 Aug 1815

m. 22 Sep 1768, Lichtenwalde

53.     Gräfin Charlotte von Flemming.

17 Sep 1748, Lichtenwalde - 12 May 1818, Stolberg

54.     King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia.

25 Sep 1744, Berlin - 16 Nov 1797, Marmorpalais nr Berlin

m.

55.     Gräfin Wilhelmine Enck von Lichtenau.

19 Dec 1753, Dessau - 19 Jun 1820, Berlin

56.     Fürst Karl August Friedrich zu Waldeck und Pyrmont.

24 Sep 1704, Hanau - 29 Aug 1763, Arolsen

m. 19 Aug 1741, Zweibrücken

57.     Pfalzgräfin Christiane von Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld.

16 Nov 1725, Rappoltsweiler - 11 Feb 1816, Arolsen

58.     Fürst August II von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

8 Dec 1738, Ebeleben - 10 Feb 1806, Sondershausen

m. 27 Apr 1762, Bernburg

59.     Prinzessin Christine von Anhalt-Bernburg.

14 Nov 1746, Bernburg - 18 May 1823, Coswig

60.     Fürst Karl Ludwig von Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym.

16 May 1723, Schaumburg  - 20 Aug 1806, Schaumburg

m. 16 Dec 1765, Braunfels

61.     Prinzessin Eleonore zu Solms-Braunfels.

22 Nov 1734, Braunfels - 19 Apr 1811, Schaumburg

62.     Fürst Karl Christian von Nassau-Weilburg.

16 Jan 1735, Weilburg - 28 Nov 1788, Münster-Dreyssen

m. 5 Mar 1760, 's-Gravenhage

63.     Prinses Carolina van Oranje-Nassau.

28 Feb 1743, Leeuwarden - May 1787, Kirchheim-Bolanden

NR

© 2011 The Esoteric Curiosa. All Rights Reserved

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A bright shining sun, spilling onto a sparkling sea reflected on shimmering cliffs, surrounding a port full of magnificent yachts, nestled below grandiose casinos full of billionaires and beauties; posed against the picture perfect postcard inspired houses, period buildings and the great pink palace of the Grimaldi’!

With such a Proustian inspired lead-in, it is not hard to guess that this principality on the Mediterranean is very much a fairy-tale world, and even the charming name of Monaco itself is enough to bring the place vividly alive in most people’s minds, especially in that of the esoteric.

In the popular imagination of those current in the mid-late 20^th century and the early 21st, the recent history of the centuries-old city-state is primarily hyper-focused on the marriage of a beautiful American movie star, Grace Kelly, to the then reigning prince, Rainer III. In April, 1956, Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier were married in a televised ceremony that attracted international attention like the recent royal wedding in Britain.

In Monaco, not unlike that in France, a civil marriage must take place before a religious ceremony can be celebrated; as a result, Grace and Rainier held two weddings. On Wednesday, April 18, 1956, the couple was legally wed in the elegant baroque throne room in the Palace of Monaco in a ceremony attended by their close family and friends. Grace wore a beige lace dress and hat, and after exchanging their vows, husband and wife made a brief appearance on the palace's balcony to wave to the swelling crowds of Monegasques waiting below.

The next day, Thursday, April 19th at 9.30am, Grace and Rainier held a religious ceremony at the Cathedral of Monaco, attended by around six hundred guests and watched on television by an estimated audience of thirty million worldwide. After the wedding ceremony, dubbed the 'Wedding of the Century' the newly wed princely pair drove through the streets of Monte Carlo in an open-top vintage Rolls-Royce; a gift from the people of Monaco, to wave to the thousands of well-wishers.

Notable guests at the almost week long nuptial celebrations included Hollywood stars Cary Grant, David Niven and his wife Hjördis, Gloria Swanson, Ava Gardner, religious leader and crowned head, the Aga Khan, socialites' Gloria Guinness, Daisy Fellowes, Etti Plesch, and Lady Diana Cooper; hotelier Conrad Hilton. Frank Sinatra initially accepted an invitation but at the last minute decided otherwise, afraid of upstaging the bride on her wedding day and not to be left out was Monaco’s nuisance; the Greek ‘heavy weight’; Aristotle Onassis!

Flash forward fifty-five years later and it now seems unlikely that the wedding of Grace and Rainer’s son; Prince Albert of Monaco and Miss Charlene Wittstock will be televised live in the United States.  Clearly the éclat associated with the marriage of Hollywood royalty and that of European royalty all those years ago is not anticipated with the nuptials on July 2^nd of this year.  It is to be expected that major American networks like CNN or Fox will have reports throughout the day of the religious wedding, but decided not to purchase the broadcast rights outright for the wedding.

Collectively, the American and British news organizations don't have the interest nor the cash to splash out on ‘this’ royal wedding! All their time, energy and ‘ducats’ were centered round ‘the’ royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge this past April.   

As mentioned before, in the comparing of apples to oranges to peaches of royal weddings, there will be far less world interest in the Grimaldi wedding in Monaco.  Granted Prince Albert is half-American, a former Olympian and the only son of former screen goddess, Grace Kelly, but those hallmarks won’t present enough of a connection to warrant the networks in purchasing the broadcast rights for a wedding that will be performed in French.

On the upcoming big day in a few weeks, current bride and future Princess of Monaco, Charlene will be ready to make her own way down the path trodden by the past Princess’ of Monaco before her.  If the picture above is any indication, she is well on her way!

Along that vein; Charlene has revealed, although she is an almost exact doppelganger of the late princess, how she has no intention to try and outdo Albert's late mother, Princess Grace, once they are married.

She said: ‘I didn't set out in this relationship to try and fill someone's shoes or to walk in someone's footsteps. I've always said that to try to be somebody else is going to be the biggest contradiction to myself.’

‘I could never compare myself to Albert's mum and I wouldn't want to; I wouldn't want to try and be like her because I wouldn't think that's natural.’

One princess that Charlene nor Grace herself could ever outdo, even if they had tried was Prince Albert’s paternal grandmother, the Hereditary Princess Charlotte of Monaco, Duchesse de Valentinois.

This ‘Gallic’ firecracker was a headline maker practically her entire life, or at the very least from a young age.  Although I have posted about her in the past, there are a few entertaining articles below to relish in reading about the life of this enigmatic princess who led an existence more reflective of a Harold Robbins’ novel as opposed to real life!

THE END OF THE PROUD MONACO DYNASTY

IS THREATENED BY DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

April 9, 1930

For over a thousand years the family of Grimaldi has ruled their principality from the picturesque rock of Monaco.  The present Prince of Monaco has only a foster-daughter to succeed him and there is a considerable doubt now whether she or her children will ever assume control of the picturesque miniature estate.

The Grimaldis have the longest unbroken royal line in Europe, for they have a thousand years of authentic history behind them and another three hundred years which may be added to that since the first Grimaldi, according to tradition, was given Monaco to run in the year six hundred.

Little by little, the principality has shrunk, what with conquests and secessions, until today, ‘the principality of Monaco consists of just eight square miles. However, that eight square miles are important out of all proportion to geographical extent, for Monaco is famous for many things, its history, it beauty, its gambling, its oceanographically  and anthropological researches, and for its curious civic status. Monaco stands on a rock jutting out into the sea off the coast of France. Its prince and people live on the proceeds of the folly of other nationalities, for it is the greatest and most celebrated gambling place in the world.  There are two things which distinguishes its citizens – they pay no taxes and in return, they must not gamble.  Sufficient to let their visitors do that for the benefit and advantage.

The last Prince of Monaco, Albert the First, was ne of the greatest of the Grimaldis.  In 1911 he gave this toy-principality constitutional government and a national council, but above and beyond that, he made Monaco celebrated the world over as the home of oceanography, the science and study of life in the sea whence all life came.  His Serene Highness, as Prince Albert was called, realized that in and about Monaco was unlimited evidences of the early life of man. In its caves were anthropological remains which did, indeed, add volumes to the study of man on earth, but out beyond, in that dazzling blue sea, were mysteries no man had ever tried to fathom.  So Prince Albert took his share of the money wasted by gamblers and bough ships and equipment and proceeded to bring up specimens of life from as far as nine thousand feed under the sea.  Then he founded an institute and museum where such things could be studied and put to the use of science. 

However, his heir, Louis the Second, the present Prince of Monaco, did not follow the example set by his father. He is a man of great wealth, but he prefers to live chiefly away from Monaco.  His foster-daughter, Princess Charlotte, married Count Pierre de Polignac, ten years ago.  There are two children, little Princess Antoinette and little Prince Rainer, named for a celebrated Grimaldi of the thirteenth century. Now they have decided that they cannot live together again.  The princess is tired of Prince Pierre and Prince Pierre wants the custody of the two children.  He rather enjoys his princely prerogatives, and although his wife is heiress to the principality, he intends to stay right on in Monaco and carry on the duties which he has assumed in the course of the last few years.  But what is to happen to the dynasty? Even at best it will be bolstered up by an adopted heiress, but if Princess Charlotte secures the divorce she is after, her children would be compromised, while if she secures an annulment Prince Pierre will be simply Comte de Polignac again and the children without legal status.

Meantime the little principality is in an uproar over it all and its parliament is trying to solve the dynastic tangle, Prince Louis, however, declines to have anything to do with it, and remains comfortably on his estates near Paris. Now the Princess, now the Prince, dash into Monaco to talk the matter over, careful to time their arrivals and departures so that they need not meet.

Princess Charlotte, immensely popular in Monaco and the people are delighted whenever she is in residence at the royal palace there. Consequently, they are somewhat resentful of Prince Pierre and they base the next election campaign, which takes place this month, upon the divorce.  It lends a comedy touch to the affairs of this romantic and sunny principality. 

CINDERELLA PRINCESS

RENOUNCES THRONE

Beautiful Charlotte
The Laundress’ Daughter

Who Became Heiress

To The Principality Of Monaco

Abdicates To Marry Italian Nobleman

The Milwaukee Journal

March 12, 1933

MONTE CARLO -  A newcomer stepped up to the firing box at a pigeon shoot here last summer.

‘Bang!’ A poor bird, ripped to shreds, gave a squeak of agony and fluttered down to earth, never to rise again.

A wave of polite hurrahs went up from the ultra-fashionable throng and then, as the marksman turned to bow an acknowledgement, women looted at one another with jealous eyes. ‘What a silhouette!’ they whispered in admiration. ‘What a handsome devil!’ ‘What shoulders!’ ‘What eyes!’ He turned out to be the Marquis di Strozzi, an Italian, and he had such good looks, such a daring way, that the eligible ladies feted him like a demi-god come down to earth.

The shot was more vividly dramatic, more fateful in consequences, than anyone could dream at the time.

A woman’s heart was also shattered in the same volley, so much so that the beautiful Hereditary Princess Charlotte has just renounced her rights to the throne of Monaco, given up her home in this lovely principality, and abandoned a fairy-like destiny to follow the man of her inclinations.

For high flame, for a revelation of the deep, overpowering passions which sway their human marionettes, the gaming rooms across the harbor have never witnessed the like. 

His most Serene Highness, Louis II, the bachelor reigning Prince, faced a grave problem some years ago. He lacked an heir to carry on the 700 year old Grimaldi dynasty, if he passed away heirless, the succession would go to a German branch of the family, whereupon France would lay its hand on the principality without an instant’s hesitation.  With a magic pass, Prince Louis, then heir apparent, reached behind a veil of mystery, a veil that dates back to the time when he was a young officer in the French Foreign Legion in Algeria in 1898 – pulled out the daughter of a very pretty but obscure laundress to carry on his princely line and legally adopted her.  The other royal houses of Europe almost fainted with astonishment, even though they are the same clay as other mortals and have shadows in their closets.

It is like a fairy story. In the twinkle of an eye, the time it takes for a clock to strike 12, the daughter of the laundress was snatched from a modest home in Paris and found herself a princess in the castle at Monaco with the title of Duchess of Valentinois.  In fact, the Prince himself kidnapped her in a motor car.

Prince Albert, who was then reigning, was dumbfounded by this slight of hand manner of procuring an heir, but it seemed to be the most just, the happiest way out of an unhappy predicament.

The little Princess, then 13 – it was 1911, grew up in the great castle where charming and blue-blooded Grimaldi princesses of past centuries, all from great French feudal families, smiled down at her.  At the foot of the great rock jutting into the sea, on which the castle and its gardens are built, stretched the fairest and richest little kingdom in the whole world; a jewel of a city nestling luxuriously on the steep hillside above the blue Mediterranean.  The place where men need not worry or struggle for a living, for 2,000,000 fools came every year to woo the tempting wheel of fortune and leave everything but their skins behind.

From a worldly point of view, the perfect paradise, where beauty, riches, fashion and nobility sparkle and scintillate day and night, like the myriad lights along the coast, and financial anxiety is unknown even today.

A real Cinderella could not have received more gifts, more honors, and more homage than the little ‘Mademoiselle of Monaco.’ She herself was charming, a lively, vivacious brunette, gracious to all her future subjects.

In 1920 Prince Albert, her grandfather, found her a perfect husband – the young Comte Pierre de Polignac of the great French family of that name, who took Monegasque nationality to be her consort.  They were married under a shower of roses. 

He was pale, quiet, well bred, and even tempered, a model of politeness and discretion.  She was gay, light hearted, and romantic with all the ardor of a girl born under Algerian skies.  Old Monacans shook their heads.

In 1922, Prince Albert passed away, Prince Louis II succeeded, and Princess Charlotte became the direct heir.

The young couple had two children, Antoinette, now 12, and a boy, Rainer, now 9, but also many spats.  Prince Louis gave a sigh of relief.  The succession was assured – a succession broken only on two occasions since 1220 A. D., when it had to pass through the female side.  He could wiggle his fingers at the French, who are ready to step in, and also at his German cousins.

Prince Albert’s sister, known as ‘Aunt’ Florestine, had married into the Ducal Urach family of Wurttemberg in 1863, giving her husband, Count Wilhelm, four sons and four daughters.  By the Grimaldi statues the succession would pass into this line if the main branch became barren, and when Prince Albert wanted to step on France’s toes, for one reason or another, he promenaded some of the Urachs ostentatiously up and down the tiny but strategic coastline, an ideal submarine base.

France simply suffocated at the thought of a German Duke descending the throne of Monaco, for it is an enclave within French territory, has been a French fief for centuries, and could become dangerous in a Mediterranean conflict.

The marriage of state which Prince Albert arranged between his granddaughter by adoption and Comte Pierre de Polignac could not last. Hardly anyone expected it would.  Their temperaments were utterly different and while the principality below smiled smugly the old castle on the rock above resounded with their tiffs.  It ended four years ago with a bang: the husband, known as Prince Pierre of Monaco, leaving for his home in France with the two children.  Princess Charlotte complicated matters tremendously by falling in love with an Italian doctor named Dalmazzo, who had been attending her.

‘The daughter of the laundress has succeeded brilliantly in turning out badly,’ some French commentators remarked sarcastically.

‘I am the most unhappy woman in the world,’ Princess Charlotte retorted frankly.  ‘I have been given everything but the one thing I desired, that is, to love a man of my own choice.’

A German shadow across the rock of Monaco was bad enough, but when the Princess threatened to get the marriage dissolved and marry the Italian, the chancelleries of Europe were almost panic stricken.  Charlotte was the heir apparent and would succeed her father, Prince Louis, who is 62 today. If the latter passes away before Prince Rainer becomes of age, an Italian influence behind the throne and a German shadow over it, with France at daggers drawn with these two countries would be a pretty stew.  Prince Louis, who isn’t as smooth a diplomat as his father; hardly knew what to do!

Monaco is not only a gilded web into which silly moths swarm to singe their wings on the flame.  It is an ideal center for a German or Italian espionage net to be flung over French military and naval movements, on land and on the whole Mediterranean, either in peace or in wartime. During the war, when Prince Louis was attached to a French army headquarters staff, it was a notorious German spy nest, for they were hidden under so many vague nationalities they could not be entirely rooted out.  The casino itself was packed with them.

Premier Clemenceau finally got so mad in the summer of 1918 that he made a new treaty with Prince Albert under which France could intervene at anytime, any future ruler must be of French or Monacan nationality and France could blackball any heir apparent of whom it disapproved.

To impose this treaty on Germany, Clemenceau made it Article 436 of the Versailles peace treaty and thereby eliminated the Urachs, so he hoped.

The love affairs of the daughter of the pretty laundress were therefore a very delicate international concern, for an Italian Romeo slid in behind the throne and she was reigning Princess, the armies of France might be forced to march.  Italy might have something to say and Germany also, not to mention all the signatories of the Versailles Treaty.  It was a fantastic situation. 

An Italian hovering in the background might stir up as many jealousies as poor Rizzio, the secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots.  The Princess never held out her hand to Dr. Dalmazzo to kiss, but that the news was flashed instantly to the great chancelleries.  Suppose this charming young woman, she is 35 today and fresh as a rose – did something precipitate? Suppose, and it was highly probable, that she fell violently in love?

So grave a view was taken that Former President Poincare was chosen to arbitrate between Charlotte and her husband and decide what their status would be.

He decided that the two children were to remain 10 months of the year with their father in France, only spending two months in Monaco, but he frowned on anything more than a legal separation. To let her free entirely from the marriage, to dissolve it, in fact, as Charlotte demanded, would be a calamity, from a political viewpoint.

The Princess, raged, pleaded and wept.  She had never really love Comte de Polignac and never intended to in the future.  Indeed, she had never asked to be kidnapped from her mother and to be made Princess of Monaco.  Now that she was definitely separated from her husband, all that she desired was to be allowed to live her life in peace and love some man of her choice.  She loved her children, as any mother, but she didn’t care a whoop for the riches and honors heaped on her.  If she wasn’t freed, well –

The powers that be shook their old heads, but they couldn’t block an instinct that was welling up in her.

Dr. Dalmazzo faded out of the picture . . . he wanted the Princess to do some heavy financing, it turned out but – the moment the Marquis di Strozzi stepped into the firing box at the pigeon shoot last summer something clicked.  It was THE MAN.  A short time later the telegraph lines to Paris were buzzing and ominously, too, for he was an Italian.  Another Italian silhouette thrown across the rock and a silhouette, too, of a devil may care fellow with a gun in his hands was too much.  Rome might exult, but Paris would surely rage.  It seemed almost like another fine Italian plot to get the upper hand in Monaco, which is already overrun by Mussolini’s subjects. From the viewpoint of the princess who is exceptionally vivacious, it is a supreme tragedy to be condemned to spend her life in solitude just for political reasons and if it is true that she has been too frivolous it is also true that she had much provocation. From the day she entered the palace, at 13, she never had a mother.

At the time she arrived, in 1911, Prince Albert have already divorced his two wives, Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton, mother of Prince Louis, and the former Alice Heine of New Orleans, U. S. A.

The romance of Princess Charlotte and the Marquis di Strozzi was rapid fire and she again asked permission to have her marriage dissolved in order to marry the Italian.

A reply from Paris brought a dramatic climax to her career as Hereditary Princess of Monaco.  The French government stated very regretfully that it would be reluctant to see her ascend the throne eventually, which simply means that she is out and that Paris doesn’t care what she does.  The Princess herself took the lead to wind up the final formalities.

‘Having given to my family and to the country the two children who are the legitimate hope of the dynasty I believe that I have accomplished my duty,’ she wrote to her father in a public letter on Jan. 9, ‘and that reasons of state should not condemn me to remain tied by the bonds of a marriage contrary to my feelings for the sake of political interests whose responsibility I do not feel the strength to assume.’

Prince Louis had no other choice than to accept this abdication and he will now undoubtedly help her to have the marriage dissolved and to make a new life.

He has always loved her as his own daughter, as she is.  He wanted to marry Juliette Louvet, the pretty laundress, when the child was born.  He honestly recognized the girl as his own on the birth certificate. His position as the Hereditary Prince of Monaco and an officer of the French army prevented his marriage. He still loves her, in spite of any heartbreak and if she ever cares to return she will be welcome.

The shot which winged the pigeon and also the Hereditary Princess was a master stroke of ironic fate.

Aimed at the most humble, it landed squarely in the all highest of the principality, the dynasty that has held the great rock in both fair weather and storm for 700 years.  In Charlotte the volley reached the one vital person who could step in and carry on the reign in case of a critical break in the dynastic succession.

Her father is 62.  Her son is 9.  If the two lives do not overlap a regency will have to be set up and regencies almost invariably collapse.

Louis II knows it.  The deepening lines on his face show that he knows it, but he has only infinite tenderness for the one who may end the rule of his race.

MARRIAGE OF PRINCESS MAY

SOLVE PROBLEM OF MONACO

Palm Beach Daily News

February 1, 1936

Paris, Feb. 1, - (US) – Paris society gossips today matching Sir Basil Zaharoff, multi-millionaire munitions king, with Princess Charlotte of Monaco, and devoting a large share of Zaharoff’s wealth to straighten out the tangled finances of Europe’s tiniest principality.

Those close to the oldest royal family in Europe, the Grimaldis of Monaco, understand that Princess Charlotte, only child of the gambling state’s reigning Prince Louis, is about to obtain an annulment of her marriage to Comte de Polignac, otherwise known as Prince Pierre of Monaco.  The couple has two children. They have been separated a number of years and divorced proceedings have been begun in Paris courts, but the princess is awaiting a decision of the sacred Rota tribunal in Rome, hoping that her marriage will be dissolved.

Her smiling brunette beauty and flashing wit have captivated the octogenarian Sir Basil and the princess, the gossips have it, would be willing to marry him were she free. They say that for her it would be a choice of country over love. 

By so doing she would help her father, Prince Louis, secure the affection of his people.  Recently there has been rioting in the streets of Monte Carlo against Prince Louis. 

Now a major general in the French army, the Prince, when a young lieutenant became the father of Princess Charlotte! Later he legitimized her birth and created her Duchess of Valentinois. 

What his subjects hold against Prince Louis is the fact that Monte Carlo’s gambling and tourist business has fallen off, the casino has stopped paying heavy taxes and they, the citizens, are subsequently more heavily burdened.

In the dilemma Sir Basil is said to have made known that he would leave a part of his money to Monaco if only Princess Charlotte would become his wife.

But Charlotte has been seen a great deal in Florence in the company of a handsome Italian, Count Strozzi, and many wonder what she will do, whether love or duty will win.

NR

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