923.1 E88 (1) Keep Your Card in This Pocket Books will be issued (inly on presentation of proper library cards. Unless labeled otherwise, books may be retained for four week, Borrowers finding books marked, defaced or mutilated are ex- pected to report same at library desk; other- wise the last borrower will be held responsible for all imperfections discovered. The card holder is responsible for all books drawn on his card. 'Penalty for over-due book* 2o a clay plus coat of notices* Xiftt eards and ehang^ of raidenoo xmitt be reported promptly, PUBLIC LIBRARY Kansas City, Mo. Keep Your Card in this Pocket H.R.H. INFANTA EULAUA Courts and Countries After the War By H.R.H. THE INFANTA EULALIA OF SPAIN NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1925 T, 1025 BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, INC, Q. * - w PBINTIJ3 W tf, S, A, y \ THE VAH..BAU.QU fN W SE 25 '26 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAOH I PARIS DURING THE WAR .... i II SPAIN AND HER KING 1 8 III THE DUKE OF TOLEDO, AND THE STORY OF LAS URDES 40 IV MORE ABOUT SPAIN 67 V ENGLAND AND THE ENGLISH ... 90 VI AMERICA 114 VII GERMANY . . . . . . . . 136 VIII THE ROYAL WAR CRIMINALS "Gorr STRAFE ENGLAND" 155 IX BELGIUM, SWITZERLAND, AND AUSTRIA 176 X THE THREE GRACES, AND THE PERIL OF THE STRICKEN BEAR . . . .192 XI THE SUPER-MAN OP EUROPE EX- KING FERDINAND OF BULGARIA . 211 XII RUMANIA GREECE THE UNSEEN FORCE OF EUROPE 229 XIII ITALY 244 XIV POST-WAR MORALITY THE MENACE OF DEGENERACY MY IMPRESSION OF PRESENT-DAY CONDITIONS . .267 ILLUSTRATIONS H.R.H. Infanta Eulalia Frontispiece FACING PAGK Queen Christine, widow of King Alfonso XII ... 20 HJVt. Queen Victoria of Spain 24 The Royal Palace, Barcelona 42 Infanta Beatrice, Infante Alfonso, Prince Alonso, Prince Ataulfo, Prince Alvaro 44 The entrance to the Royal Palace, Barcelona ... 50 The Prince of Asturias, heir to the Spanish throne . . 62 H.M. the Queen of Spain in the National dress of Sala- manca 68 The Queen's room at the Royal Palace, Barcelona . 72, Queen Victoria of Spain with her daughters, Infanta Beatrice (right) and Infanta Cristino (left) . 76 Infanta Eulalia going to church with her sister, Infanta Paq, in Madrid 84 Infanta Eulalia talking to an old schoolboy of King Edward's School ....., 92 Infanta Eulalia inspecting the boys of King Edward's school . 100 The Ex-Kaiser walking in Doorn with his second wife 156 M ILLUSTRATIONS 3TAOINO Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria with his second wife, Princess of Luxemburg 170 Infanta Eulalia 1 86 Empress Zita of Austria with her children . . . .190 H.M. King Gustaf V. of Sweden 198 Ex-King Ferdinand of Bulgaria . . . . , .212 H.M. the Queen of Roumania 230 H.M, Queen Maria of Serbia 234 H.M. Queen Elizabeth of Greece 240 H.M. King Victor Emmanuel of Italy 246 Benito Mussolini, the Italian Dictator 256 [vi] COURTS AND COUNTRIES AFTER THE WAR CHAPTER I PARIS DURING THE WAR I WAS staying in Brussels in August, 1914, with my friend the Princess de Ligne, when war was declared between France and Germany . . . and how well I recall that lovely summer's day, when we received the news of what was destined to prove a world-wide catastrophe. True, I had heard vague rumours of unrest when I was in Munich, but my sister, Princess Ludiviez Ferdi- nand of Bavaria, and my nephew had laughed at the mere idea of war. This was only a few weeks previously, so when Elizabeth de Ligne rushed, all excitement, into the dining-room, crying, "War is declared," I naturally disbe- lieved hen "Elizabeth, you don't know what you are talk- ing about," 1 said. "But, madame, tfs true/' she persisted, "Us arriventour troops are now mobilizing, war must inevitably come to Belgium . . . you had better make arrangements to return to Paris as COURTS AND COUNTRIES quickly as possible ; it's really no distance from the German frontier, and I am apprehensive for your safety." "The best thing is for me to wire to my Em- bassy/' I told her; "we shall at any rate know the exact truth from the Spanish Ambassador." The reply from the Embassy left us in no further doubt. War had been declared between France and Germany, and my Ambassador counselled me to make up my mind at once as to my movements. "Your Royal Highness must either remain in Belgium, or return to Paris without delay," he advised. I could see that my presence at Mons would necessarily embarrass Elizabeth de Ligne, now encompassed by terrible anxieties, so I told her that I must leave for Paris that same afternoon. Never shall I forget that journey. A compart- ment had fortunately been reserved for me, but the train literally crawled: hour after hour passed, and still we crawled ; and it was late the next evening before we reached Paris. Here everything was confusion and excitement, the very air was charged with electricity; for France COURTS AND COUNTRIES as well as for Germany the day had cornel And I had a fantastic idea that even the crepe- wreathed statues of the Lost Provinces would presently become animate, and join the hurry- ing crowds who were singing the Marseillaise, and vowing retribution for 1870. It was impossible to get any conveyance at the Nord Station, so I was obliged to walk part of the long distance to my flat, until I obtained a "lift" in a fiacre by telling the kindly driver that I was a Belgian refugee. Next morning the tumult was, if anything, worse. From my balcony I watched the sol- diers passing and repassing the men sat happily on the straw-strewn boards of the waggons, all of them laughing, all imbued with a fierce patriotism allied to a desire for revenge, and all sustained by the dramatic instinct which is inseparable from the Latin race, Class distinctions were swept away, and the French became as one united family opposing a common enemy to domestic life. . . . "Ill bring you back William's moustache," shouted a poilu, waving his hand to me in greeting. He spoke as freely as if he were addressing his [3] COURTS AND COUNTRIES Maria or Susanne and yet, two days before, this same man would have been the first to realize the importance of showing deference to any lady! "You shall have a nice dish of Sauer- kraut/' called a boy full of enthusiasm. Every- one uttered some plaisanterie; nobody seemed to count the cost of .war; although at that moment death must have been following close on the heels of some of these laughing, singing soldiers. The French have always been described (es- pecially by the English) as a nation swayed by superficial emotions, but I assert with absolute conviction that their patriotism is remarkable and deep-rooted. The behaviour of the French during the War was wonderful, and it displayed much of that spirit which made those con- demned to die during the Revolution smile as they ascended the steps to the guillotine. I am proud to say that 1 remained in Paris through all the fateful days: I felt that I could not desert the city which had afforded so kindly a a sanctuary to my mother in her hour of need ; and I have never regretted the privations and discomforts which I thereby endured, For 1 [4] COURTS AND COUNTRIES was thus enabled to see the best and the worst side of humanity, the strength and weakness of the soul, and the fineness and corruption which are the inevitable results of any great war. I am a courageous woman, but, let me admit It, the raids were certainly nerve-shattering; these were often as many as four a night . , No lights were allowed after ten o'clock, our windows were sand-bagged, and, by Govern- ment orders, only ground-floor and first-floor tenants were allowed to remain upstairs after the first 'warning. It was one recurrent trek u to the cellars," But many marriages resulted from these communal hours of danger. And here again history repeated itself; for just as during the Revolution the condemned of both sexes found love under the shadow of the gull- litine, so love came Into the darkness where youth and age sat, wondering whether the next bomb might not launch them into eternity. But nothing quelled the heroic spirit of France; the Parisians after their first alarm laughed at Big Bertha -that miracle of exacti- tudefor so exact was she that we were able at last to time her firing, and to know where the COURTS AND COUNTRIES shells -would fall. After the War, I was told that one of my nephews had been entrusted with Big Bertha, and that, greatly troubled in his mind, he had written to his mother saying: "Whenever we fire, Fm terrified lest Aunt Eulalia should be hit" Certainly, I had one or two narrow escapes: once when the cannon was changed, and when by chance 1 took the left side of the rue de Ponthieu if I had gone to the right, I should have been killed! An- other time, when I was at Auteuil, a shell fell close by me and I was plentifully besprinkled with stones and earth. A gentleman sitting on a neighbouring seat went on reading his news- paper with admirable composure, but he found time to bestow a passing glance on me. Notic- ing my sorry plight, he remarked : Madame is not afraid?" "Yes, I am afraid," I said desperately; "but, after all, what can I do?" At the end of 1917 we had no milk in Paris, and hardly any nurses. One day, when I was waiting for a train on the Metropolitan, 1 no- ticed a soldier, evidently very ill, who was sitting on the same bench as myself, The poor man was [6] COURTS AND COUNTRIES spitting blood, and he told me that he was then going to the hospital. ... As I felt that I could not move without hurting his feelings, I re- mained, knowing that in all probability I should soon be down with malignant influenza. My forebodings proved true: the next day I was stricken, and for weeks I lay between life and death. Even now I suffer from recurrent at- tacks of fever a legacy from the complaint 1 One of the most interesting (to me) experi- ences in Paris during the War consisted in watching the effect which the brutalities of life had on the average young girl. French girls have always led more or less "cloistered" exis- tences until after their marriages when, in a spirit of contradiction which lacks a sense of proportion, they become too emancipated. It is not to be denied that many French girls are now more or less English in their ideas, and that they are infinitely more cosmopolitan and broad-minded than their mothers. But some- thing inseparable from their vie de famille still creates a barrier around French girlhood; tra- ditions of centuries are strong, and it is not considered desirable to brush the veloute from COURTS AND COUNTRIES the fruit or to allow the eyes of Innocence to be prematurely opened to the crudities of life. The stern necessities of war opened the eyes of innocence without any warning, and, with this enlightenment, a certain sex curiosity was inevit- ably aroused. . . . The Italians, however, were the first nation to recognise this, and the Gov- ernment rightly insisted that all nurses who at- tended the sick and wounded must be women of a responsible age. This wise provision re- sulted in the soldiers being more efficiently and more "steadily" nursed, and there was less of the emotional and temperamental side of nurs- ing than was shown in other countries. I am not, of course, saying that all young war nurses and all young V. A. D.s were victims of insati- able sex curiosity, but many of them suffered from it; and I do not think that it is advisable for even the most level-headed girl to be sud- denly confronted with the helpless "brute" in man when he is powerless to show any refine- ments towards those who tend him, and as often as not unable to exercise physical control, since control, moral and physical, is only possible [8] COURTS AND COUNTRIES for the strong. The great awakening of sex came on many girls who (by reason of their up- bringing) were utterly unprepared. Those who were by inclination and by nature vicious have been enabled thereby to satisfy their sen- suality; and those of a colder type, disgusted at the meaning of sex as thus conveyed to them, have resorted to forbidden vices and have fore- sworn marriage. Others have retired to the peace of a conventual life; and I know of six girls, daughters of duchesses, who, in a spirit of disgusted reaction, have taken the veil, and who do not apparently regret their choice. In many cases the nurses' uniform in France was a mere travesty of the original model, and it became a kind of revue garment, which barely reached to the wearer's knees, and exposed limbs encased in filmy stockings and expensive shoes. Small wonder that a celebrated surgeon of my acquaintance declared that all nurses ought to be temperamentally" certified, and examined, before entering upon their duties, I shall probably be most severely criticized for my condemnation, but let it be clearly un- derstood that I am only condemning a certain COURTS AND COUNTRIES aspect of nursing, and showing the danger that lies in it as a profession for sexually unbalanced individuals. We must never lose sight of the fact that sick-nursing is the most intimate of all professions adopted by women: the practical, clean-minded nurse comes as an angel to the house of suffering, but the super-attractive woman or girl (clever nurse though she may be), who practises the art of allure, knowing all the dangers of sex adventure, is more to be dreaded than the plague, and, as often as not, she is responsible for countless sorrows and mis- understandings in the families of her patients. During the war, the absorbing passion for in- discriminate dancing provided another outlet for sex curiosity, and girls, who before 1914 would have considered it almost a social inde- cency not to have been conventionally "intro- duced," now swayed to and fro with young men in the closest embrace, sleeveless, almost corsage-less, and practically skirtless. It was suddenly considered permissible for the most discreet Parisiennes to dance in public, and the history of dancing during the Revolu- tion repeated itself, with the differences [10]. COURTS AND COUNTRIES that the Carmagnole of '93 was the Shimmy Shake or the Bunny Hug of 1914. I re- member a tragic-comic result of this com- munal dancing which happened to a daughter of a friend of mine .whose name ranks high amongst the noblest in France. This charming girl often danced in public with an equally charming and well-bred man in fact, I think she would not have been unwilling to become his dancing partner for life. He, how- ever, never divulged his name or his position, and one can understand her feelings when she was calling with her mother for the first time at a certain house, and recognized in the discreet butler her partner of the day before; but, to do him justice, he did not betray the slightest knowl- edge of her identity. Corruption and sensuality are the accepted camp followers of war ; and the mistaken open- ing of the prison doors let loose a mass of the dregs of humanity, whose evil trail has spread everywhere. Surely, in the interest of the pub- lic, no criminal, even the most patriotic, should have been allowed his freedom solely on ac- count of his desirability as a soldier? COURTS AND COUNTRIES France Is Indeed a land of contradictions. Republican in her government, she remains in- tensely aristocratic at heart, and she realizes even more so perhaps than England the neces- sity of keeping the different classes apartsince the philosophy of the War shows that classes cannot mix with any good result Kach class possesses a different mentality, and you cannot expect small minds to realize the value of a larger outlook. In France, too, marriage is much more "tied" than in England : the stage and peerage rarely, if ever, intermarry; the common-sense mentality of the French, teaching them few such unions are successful, owing to the fact that any woman whose life lias been one false excitement of the senses rarely settles down to domesticities. In Spain you are noble or nothing; we do not recognize any middle class, so marriage is of necessity entirely of the nobility with the nobility. As a good Catholic, I suppose I ought to con- demn the very name of divorce, but, as an open- minded individual, and an observant "onlooker," I maintain that it should exist on certain grounds, first and foremost on those of extrava- [12] COURTS AND COUNTRIES , gance on either side. Taken as a whole, the bedrock of life is money; too much of it, or too little of it, are equal destroyers of comfort; and I know many instances where divorce might have afforded protection for the children, as well as a protection of morals. Marriage, however, remains a sacrament, and we cannot tp dispense with it; and so strong is the feeling in @ Spain, that ill-assorted couples will live openly n with their affinities rather than attempt to up-