Evening Star Newspaper, July 16, 1930, Page 4

VENING ' STATUS OF QUEEN HELEN AND MAGDA LUPESCU REMAIN VEXING PROBLEMS IN ESTABLISHING KING CAROL ON THRONE HE HAS CLAIMED AGAIN i * Domestic ~Difficulties Seen One of Most Important Un- settled Factors in Coup. - effaced herself. She has been as splen- did a ‘mother as royalty perhaps has ever recorded. Carol Proud and Stubborn. For these mnr Rumanians love Helen. Even Carol's ardent supporters can no honest grounds for crit- her. That is why, for the sake of unity in the royal household and the sake of the Rumanian dynasty’s future, there is still earnest hope in Rumania that Carol and Helen may yet be re- united. Yet it is so delicate a question and so many factors come into play that none dares predict the outcome. There are Helen’s wound and disillu- sion over five years. There is Carol's pronounced pride and perhaps his stub- oornness. There are personal jealousies STAY, WASHINGTON, D directly responsible for it, would react unfavorably upon his popularity, which today is certainly great among the —— e Marie, Queen of Royal Actresses.? ‘Thus Rumania’s royal tangle remains unraveled, with Carol, Helen, ‘Lupescu and Dowager Queen Marie all in the knotted skeins. Of all the family, only two associations seem reliable. The whole-hearted support of Nicholas for his brother. The deep rooted devotion of Helen for Michael and of Michael for his mother. And this leads us back to Marie, the queen of intriguers and |the queen of royal actresses. She has left Bucharest for_the Summer palace at Baltic, on the Black Sea. Her last |public assurance was that she was July Store Hours, 9 to 6-—Saturdays Till 2 / and animosities in the royal family and among those who have the King's ear. | E0INE to scek seclusion from public life, {and peace. Her days of regal splendor “ RUMORS FILL CAPITAL! i Mother of Michael Popular; With Rumanian Subjects | Because of Her Loyalty. This is the fourth of a series of six articles describing the events leading to i5¢ ~sequently developing in the festoration v; varol on the throme of Rumania. The Afth will appear to- morrow. BY LELAND STOWE. | Special Dispatch to The Star. BUCHAREST, July 16.—Without | doubt the most important unsettied | factor in the advent of Carol II on the | throne of Rumania is the domestic problem created by his elopement five years ago with Magda Lupescu, the | daughter of a humble Bucharest shop- | keeper, whose fiery tresses and inani- mate face have formed a baffling qu tion mark for gossipy Eurcpe ever| since. No sooner had Carol been received with enthusiasm in his native land, no | sooner had the prodigal prince become | overnight the preserver of the Hohen- zollern dynasty, than his domestic | tangle—so ccmfortably ignored in exile | —rose to plague him. All Rumania pondered and talked discreetly about the new King's personal affairs. | Carol had achieved the perh: un- precedented feat of ascending a \irone | which had been occupied both his | father and his son. Rumania had had | a boy King whose mother was not and | never had been a Queen. Rumania had had a crown prince who, by national law, was no longer her crown prince. Now the former exile had overthrown all barriers and assumed what birth and tradition had designated as his rightful place. Two Questions Uppermost. Carol was confronted by a unique situation. Princess Helen, the mother of his legal successor, was no longer his wife. Exactly two years before the Rumanian courts had ruled that Helen had just grounds for divorce. Similar- 1y, national law and the regency had Helen as the rightful pro- tector of the boy King Michael. Had not Rumania already possessed one dowager Queen in Marie, perhaps Helen might have been decreed dowager Queen as a_tribute to the great love she had shoiwn for her son in the face of sorrow and adversity. Now, with the proclamation of Carol as King, Bucha- Test was swayed by two questions: Would Carol reconcile himself with Princess Helen, seek annulment of the divorce and invite her to share the throne with him? Would King Carel do what Prince Carol had so firmly refused to do and renounce his friendship with Mme. Lupescu? The Royal Triangle. Up to this moment Carol has failed to do either one or the other. Before the King can have complete tranquillity and perhaps complete solidarity in his reign he must solve this delicate and emban problem. Out of fairness to Carol, it must be said he has already attempted in some measure to do so, although how fully or with what de- gree of generosity cannot be known outside the royal family and a few of their intimate friends. Nevertheless, to date little or no prog- ress has been made. Rumania's royal house remains divided. Mme. Lupescu is still the titian-crested question mark in the Hohenzollern dynasty and in Rumanian state affairs. There T a royal triangle, unchanged and dis- turbing, with two sharply contrasting ‘women in opposite corners. The Prin- cess Helen of Greece and Rumania and Magda Lupescu, a woman of humble erigin with a strong will and an intan- gible lure. In such a situation is was natural that conflicting reports should fly across Europe from the moment Carol re-entered Bucharest. rts of rec- onciliation with Helen, or_renunciation of an exile’s romance. Reports that Helen would leave Rumania; that she would stay. That Lupescu had been forgotten, that she was returning to Bucharest as the King's favorite. That the King would have nothing more to do with the woman of ‘his exile; that he secretly Fl-nned to bring her back into Rumania. Correspondents Confused. Surely, Tumor never danced on more sprightly and conscience-free feet than in Bucharest for the opening weeks of Carol's reign. So whimsical were these that Helen, at the same moment, might be reported reconciled in Carol's arms and motoring in stony anger from the capital. Correspondents came to the frame of mind where an incident must be heard from four different sources and these all “highly authoritative” before plac- ing confidence in a report. After that remained the task of finding as many as four “highly authoritative” sources. In addition, out-of-date telegraph and telephone systems were jammed to a standstill, so that the truth—if and when discovered—Ilay buried on a tele- graph desk while rumors seeped out of the Balkans and into the world’s press disguised as fact. This by way of explaining the printed statements that Princess Helem, recon- | mot QUEEN HELEN. nection with Marie's return as related to the King and his former wife. I have previously cited the significant fact that the laring omissis | o dor AT e A ontanny | and abroad. . When the royal appropri- tactical blunder in Carol's acceptance speech was his failure to mention Princess Helen, even indirectly, at a méent when 'a few generous words spoken in public would have opened the way for his former wife to accept | the new King's advances. Even if Helen | had still refused, Carol could have felt | that he had held out his hand, The opportunity, intentionally or otherwise, was neglected. And in the next three ys the King and the woman who | should have been named Queen with him remained on the same cool speak- | ing_terms. Now Marie was returning. She had left Bucharest six days before on the, morning of the very day of Carols| coup ~detat, without the slightest| knowledge of the well Jaid scheme to| overthrow the regency. Privately, | she was not anxious to have Carol| return. His ascension to the throne| threatened to transform a beautiful | and self-assertive woman into what | American slang calls a “has-been.” | But even more than that was the| distinct mother-in-lawish _jealously which Marie has always felt toward the Princess Helen. Perhaps Marie would secretly be as well pleased to find Helen still outside the royal fold. Actuated possibly somewhat by this | fact and probably more so by the in- creasing necessity of making some pub- lic gesture toward Helen, the King signed a royal decree just three hours before Marie's arrival. This decree stated that “his majesty the King au- thorizes her Toyal highness the Princ- ess Helen to bear the title of majesty.” Erasing the Word “Queen.” On the strength of this newspapers stated that Carol had caused Helen to be named Queen and, coming just be- fore Marie’s arrival, it was a shrewd move. But there are certain facts about this decree which merit study. First of all, it is worded so discreetly that it does not directly confer the title of Queen upon Helen. That is done only by inference and according to interpretation. In Bucharest I heard one explanation—which may or may not be founded on fact. This was the claim that the decree when handed to King Carol closed with the words “to bear the title of her majesty, the Queen.” It was whispered that Carol erased the word Queen, then signed the decree. ‘This report is supported by one in- escapable fact. Whatever the general public’s interpretation of the confer- ring upon Helen of the right to be called “Majesty” may be—and abroad it has been accepted as meaning “Queen Helén"—the official govenment and royal palace view of the matter is radically different. One of my last conversations before leaving Bucharest was with a lifelong intimate friend of the King. He said significantly:. “The former Princess Helen is now Queen Helen—but she is not Queen of Ru- mania.” These same words had al- ready been carefully transmitted to me by government officials. “Queen Helen —but not Queen of Rumania.” An Eyelash Distinction. If one asks why, the answer is that Helen's divorce still stands, that no successful move has yet been made to annul the decree, that there still is no_reconciliation between Carol and Helen, and, beyond all these, that since Helen' is not the King's legal wife at the present moment she therefore can- not be “Queen of Rumania.” It may be difficult for the foreign mind to grasp the eyelash distinction between being Queen Helen and “Queen of Rumania.” The average American may ask: If Helen is not Queen of Rumania, then what is she the queen of? Neverthe- less, under strict Rumanian protocol and logic, that distinction is a great one and represents Carol's own estimation of his unusual situation with Helen. As long as Helen’s divorce remains on the Rumanian statute’ books—and for all one knows that may be for the rest of her life, although it may not be if royal pressure can have its way—Helen will be “Her Majesty,” but not “Queen of Rumania.” This is, in fact, the symbol of the unchanged domestic_re- lation between Carol and Helen. Per- haps it also symbolizes the greatest weakness in the chain the new King hes forged about 1is regime, but that| remains for time to demonstrate. | As to progress toward reconciliation, | I am prompted again to quote the words of the’ King's intimate friend. “His Majesty is most anxious for a rec- onciliation, but it will be very, very difficult.” When one takes into con- MAGDA LUPESCU. Princess Helen came so late as to lose its effectiveness, his second act in rela- tion to his former wife has also been subject to comment -within - Rumania ations list was publisited it provided the King with 50,000,000 lei a year, Dowager Queen Marie with 20,000,000 and both Helen and Michael, Prince of Alba Julia, with but 7,000,000 lei each. In other words, the combined amount for the support of Helen and her son, successor to the throne, was set at only two- thirds that provided for Marie. By supplying Helen with an income one- third that glven his mother, Carol ap- peared to be relegating Michael's mother' to an inferior third-rate place in the royal household. This is not considered by many Rumanians as con- stituting precisely a generous overture to the woman who remained in Ru- mania for the last five years educating his son. A One big factor in Carol's domestic tangle is the popularity of the Princess Helen. By her rare dignity, by her re- strained attitude of never uttering a public criticism of Carol, even when he had just deserted her, and by her great devotion to the boy King, her son, Helen has won completely the hearts of her adopted countrymen. In the entire royal household she has been the one dependable, unchanging character. She has accepted the blows of fate with silence. She has been serene. She has There is political expediency and Magda Lupescu. Lupescu cannot be forgotten. While Carol was attempting reconciliation with Helen these past weeks, what of the favorite he had left in a villa out- side Lucerne? What of the statement the Carolist press that Carol had left Lupescu? 1Is & departure a renuncia- tion? ‘These are questions whose an- swers Rumanians would like to know, but still cannot be certain about. Actually, King Carel has thus far no- tably failed to signify by any action since his return that he has abandoned his red-haired favorite. Every indica- tion is that they are still friends, and as long as this is true it seems certain Helen will never consent to return to wedded life with the King. Carol and Lupescu on Train. Purely by coincidence, I saw Carol with Mme. Lupescu only six weeks be- fore he returned to Rumania. As I was leaving Paris on Easter Monday morning by express for Basle and the first directors’ meeting of the Inter- national Bank, Prince Carol, Mme. Lupescu, the prince’s aide, M. Deme- trescu, and his wife entered the train and installed themselves in the com- partment next to mine, Carol sald it was impossible for him to make any newspaper statement al that time—that they were going to Switzerland for a holiday. These four, all close friends, who had remained to- gether through years of exile, formed a | for Baltic. congenial, happy party. It is difficult to believe that anything, in six short weeks, has fundamentally altered that comradeship. Likewise, there has heen seemingly reliable evidence to indicate Mme. Lupescu planned to return to Rumania more than two weeks ago, but at the last moment the project was canceled. Every probability points to her re- turn, if not sooner, then later, and that will only result in heightened domestic tension. Many of Carol's sin- cere friends hope he will see the wis. dom of the opposite course. They say such an added humiliation to Helen, were over. And yet—— A picture comes back of Marie's glit~ tering re-entrance to Bucharest to be ted by the new King, her son, with |all the splendor of Graustarkian tra- dition. As one correspondent so aptly | phrased it, “the Merry Widow returned to Bucharest today.”” But was Marie | merry? She looked it. Above her |orchids and beautiful pearl necklace |the same charming, remarkably youth- ful smile flashed. Thrice she kissed |her son Carol. Glowingly sie bowed |and laughed in recognition of the plaudits of thousands. Marie Believed Disappointed. “What a happy mother,” an unsus- pecting emotionalist might have said. And yet those who have known Marie for years say she did not want Carol to return; that she knew nothing of his planned coup d'etat; that she was bitterly disappointed, for with Carol on the throne she became definitely and | irretrievably the Dowager Queen. The |long, exciting and glamorous years of | the spotlight were ended at that mo- ment—and Marie smiled gaily. It was | & beautiful plece of acting. Marie of Rumania has always been able to rise to the occaslon when the curtain went up. Marie ¢ame with the announcement her one desire was to unite the entire | royal family, which meant aiding re- conciliation between Carol and Helen. Nevertheless, three days later she left Nothing had been accom- plished. The royal estrangement and consanguine jealousies remained. Will Carol reign without a queen to share his throne? Will Lupescu become the royal favorite? 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