Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893), Saturday 29 June 1878, page 12


A ROYAL BETROTHAL.

The announcement of the approaching be-trothal of the Duke of Connaught to the Prin-cess Louise of Prussia is one that will give much satisfaction to the people of this country His Royal Highness entered upon his twenty ninth year on May 1, and tbe intimation of his projected marriage comes, therefore, with singu-lar appropriateness. Apart from his genial popularity, the Duke has won golden opinions from those with whom he has been brought into contact in the performance of his military duties. He is credited with being an excellent and efficient officer ; not merely an ornamental soldier, but one willing to take the rough with the smooth, in order that his training may be both practical and useful. The Princess to whom he is about to be betrothed is the daughter of a soldier whose name will occupy a prominent place in the history of the military events which in our time have led to the resu citation of

the German Empire. The gallant deeds of the Red Prince aro known throughout the world, and in the mouth of every Prussian peasant they are familiar as household words.

The Princess Louise, whom tho Duke of Connaught ia to murry, is the third and youngest daughter of Prince Frederick Charles and of the Princess Marie, daughter of the late Leopold Frederic, Duke of Anhalt. Her sister, the Princess Elizabeth, who is some three years older, was , it will be remembered, married in February last to the Hereditary Grand Duke George of Oldenburg, at the same time that the Princess Charlotte, eldest daughter of our own Princess Royal, was united to Prince Bernhard, of Saxc-Meiningen. Tbe eldest daughter of Prince Frederic Charles, the Princess Marie, though she will be the last of them to be mar-ried, is now but twenty two years of age ; whilst the future Duchess of Connaught has not yet completed her eighteenth year. Her mother, the Princess Marie of Anhalt, is one of the leading favourites of the Prussian Court, and it is said that the graces of the mothor are re-flected in her daughters. Of this we may be sure, that the bride of Prince Arthur will not only be welcomed at the Court of Queen Vic-toria, but she will recaiva a cordial greeting from all her Majesty's subjects.