Carol's Week

The coronation of Carol, buck-toothed King of Rumania, was suddenly and definitely postponed last week from Oct. 15 to an indefinite date in the spring of 1931. Every Rumanian knew the reason. Patient, hazel-eyed Queen Helen, whose presence at the coronation is vital if Carol is to retain any of his present popularity in Rumania, suddenly decided that reconciliation with the man who deserted her five years ago to elope to France with a red-headed Jewess was more than she could stomach. She fled to Mamaia with her son Prince Mihai for a vacation in the clean fresh air of the Black Sea.

Characteristic of Carol was his first move, to turn in petty rage on his former wife:

"When I left Rumania and abandoned all of my rights it was the duty of my wife to follow me. The whole world, including my parents, was perhaps justified in opposing me but my wife was not. Despite all, she left me, and went over to my enemies' camp. ... My sentimental wanderings had nothing to do with my departure from Rumania which was of a purely political character."

Two rumors quickly spread from Bucharest: 1) That Carol had abandoned all hope of reconciliation with Helen, was trying to arrange a wedding with a member of the house of Bourbon-Orleans of France, "probably the Duchess of Guise." 2) That Carol would be crowned alone, would have a morganatic marriage with red-headed Mme Magda Lupescu. Correspondents realized that even a morganatic marriage with Mme Lupescu would cause the finest series of anti-Semitic outbreaks Rumania has ever seen, that the Duchess of Guise is 52, and married to the Pretender to the throne of France. Married too are her three daughters. Rumania quickly discounted both rumors.

Like Kings George of Britain and Fuad of Egypt, King Carol is a philatelist, has a collection of 11,000 stamps. Stamp dealers in Paris last week reported a large order of rarities for the royal album, hinted that the new and gorgeous Carol postage stamps ordered for the October coronation would be put on sale in Rumanian postoffices anyway, coronation or no coronation.

Rumania's Minister to Jugoslavia made fervent protest in Belgrade last week against a Jugo-Slav operetta, His Majesty in a Bathing Suit, which, said he, was an obvious caricature of the love affairs of King Carol II. King Carol's spectacled brother-in-law. Dictator-King Alexander, ordered the offending scenes censored.

Smiling toothily in the glory of a new white uniform, Carol stood on a platform at Brasov (formerly Hungary) to review Rumania's air forces. A flight of battle planes appeared, landed successfully before the reviewing stand--all but the squadron leader who got lost on the way, was still missing at nightfall. Prince Nicholas, who has recently abandoned roaring motor cars for airplanes, arrived at the field nearly two hours late in a French Potez 25 reconnaissance plane, bounced off the ground twice in attempts to land, finally brought his plane careening to earth. Just as the review was starting, S. O. S. calls sent rescue squads dashing, up a nearby valley to extricate fallen aviators from the shrubbery. Two second-hand Spads collided while taking off in front of the grandstand, a fifth smashed its landing gear while landing, nosed over.

Said a French aviator observing from the sidelines:

"No wonder they have accidents; their planes are incomplete! Every one of them has missing parts and cheaply made substitute pieces which endanger the pilots' lives every time they go up."

Wrote a U. S. correspondent: "The King came away from the sad exhibition of today in a very pensive mood."

P: Back in Bucharest His Majesty pulled himself together, sent Benito Mussolini Rumania's highest decoration, the Grand Cordon of Carol.

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