The royals had many superstitions of their own. This article talks mostly about Kings and Emperors who had superstitious rings and other trinkets, but it is an interesting read.
Royal Superstitions
By John N. Cobb
Omens of death are found in many royal families. At the Hofburg, the imperial palace of Vienna, the dread specter of the White Lady is said to roam about every time a misfortune is about to overtake the family. It was last alleged to have been seen on the eve of Empress Elizabeth’s tragic assassination in Switzerland.
At the imperial palace of Berlin a gigantic, ghostly street sweeper carrying a broom is due to appear a week before the death of any member of the hohenzollern race.
According to tradition, a little man dressed in scarlet tainted the Tuileries until the day the Republic was proclaimed in France and the torches of the Commune reduced the grand old pile to ruin and ashes.
The present Czar of Russia is a firm believer in the old superstition current among his people that a beautiful woman dressed in white and carrying a great wreath of white roses is the death messenger of his family. A curious story is told how, on the morning of his assassination, Alexander II., grandfather of the present Czar, found on his bed a branch of white roses veiled with crape, which it was asserted had been left there by the apparition.
Superstitions in Italy
There is an Italian superstition that whenever a King belonging to the house of Savoy dies a huge eagle is to be seen crossing the Alps over the valley of Aosta in the direction of Savoy, and the conviction prevails among the inhabitants of Aosta that this eagle guides the soul of the dead sovereign to join those of his ancestors in Savoy. When King Charles Albert died at Lisbon, King Victor Emmanuel died at Rome, and King Humbert was assassinated at Monza in 1900, the eagle was seen winging its way across the Alps. All other eagles crossing the Alps don’t seem to count for much.
The royal family of Italy has another remarkable superstition. It is believed that dire misfortune will befall the reigning monarch if the chamber of his predecessor be interfered with till at least two generations have passed. Therefore, the room of the late King Humbert at the Quirinal is shut, no one except members of the royal family being permitted to enter it. Thus it will remain, silent and unused, like the apartment of King Victor Emmanuel, King Humbert’s father, which is just as it was at the time of his death some thirty years ago.
Czar Nicholas has a ring that he is said to believe necessary to have always about him. In its absence he will not move a step from the palace. The ring contains what is supposed to be a small piece of the Holy Cross. The fact that when he was assassinated Nicholas’ grandfather had not the precious ring with him has enormously strengthened his belief in its protective virtues.
The present Ameer of Afghanistan is another potentate who puts faith in a ring he received from his father. The latter was a great believer in the efficacy of the ring, and invariably wore this as a charm against the plottings of his enemies. Although he was more often reported dead than any other monarch of his day, this ring, according to his own belief, enabled him to live a great deal longer than he would have without it.
The Royal Spanish Ring
A ring studded with diamonds and pearls hangs suspended by a golden chain round the neck of the statue of the Virgin of Almudena of Madrid, which is located in one of the most frequented parks of that city. It is safer there than in the strong room of the Bank of Spain. Thousands of people pass it every day and admire its beauty; but the greatest thief in Spain would rather die than touch it, as it is believed to deal out death to whom it belongs. This ring was presented by Alfonso XII, to his consort, Queen Mercedes, who died within a month afterward. Ere the funeral had taken place the King bestowed the ring on his sister Maria, and she was dead in a few days.
The fatal circlet then coming again into his possession, he presented it to his late Queen’s grandmother, Queen Christina, who died three months afterward. The King then placed it in his own casket of precious relics, and he lived less than a year. The Queen Regent was not disposed to run any risk, and refused to accept such a deadly possession, and had it hung on the statue as stated.
Many Spaniards believe this ring to be possessed of mystic powers, by which unworthy wearers of it are slain. To a worthy sovereign they claim it will assure prosperity and a long life, and to its magic influence attribute the young King’s escape from injury in the bomb explosion on his wedding day.
Emperor William’s Superstitions
Emperor William has a ring he wears at all times and regards as his own peculiar talisman, though few are aware of this fact. A curious history is related of it. It is to the effect that in the days of Elector John of Brandenburg, one of the early Hohensollerns, a toad entered that worthy’s room one night and placed a small stone on the bed. The toad then disappeared, and ever since the stone, which has no real value, has been treasured as one of the most precious possessions of the house of Hohenzollern. By the father of Frederick the Great it was set in a ring, which since that time has always adorned the finger of the head of the house.
The Emperor has also another ring he highly prizes, which for centuries has been credited with supernatural power to protect its wearer from harm of any kind.
This ring has a very romantic history, dating from far-off days when his ancestors, the Margraves of Nuremberg, followed their leaders to the capture of the holy sepulcher from the Moslems. The ring, which was captured in a hard fought battle under the walls of Jerusalem, came into possession of the Margrave Ulrich, from whom it has descended as a highly prized heirloom. The ring is of massive gold, with a square, dark colored stone, and is worn by the Emperor on the middle finger of his left hand. The sentence from the Koran that adorned the ring when worn by Saladin and his successors has been removed and a Latin cross engraved in its place.
The Emperor has many pet superstition. He has a horror of cats, and none is ever permitted to appear in his presence. At the time of his last visit to England all the cats at the castles he was to visit were rounded up and sent into exile until he had departed.
Whenever the Emperor meets a fox he raises his hat. This is following a superstitious reverence which the peasant of North Germany has for Reynard, who is regarded so sacredly that his name must not be pronounced, and he is alluded to by some euphemistic title, as “Blue Foot,” or “He Who Goes to the Forest.”
The Emperor affects the agate, as this stone is said to have the property of assuring its possessor long life, health, and prosperity.
There exists in Germany a superstition that the Empire will be overthrown when the Emperor has seven sons. William II has six. The Emperor is always careful that the ancestral cradle of the Hohenzollerns should be used for each infant member of his family in succession. This cradle is over two centuries old and is of curiously carved black oak. It is supposed to protect the baby who sleeps in it from convulsions and other childish ailments.
A widely prevalent superstition in Germany is that lead or iron bullets are powerless to kill or wound a Prussian monarch, and that it is only silver or gold that will prove effective against them. This superstition was thought to have been confirmed in 1878, when Nobiling attempting to assassinate Emperor William. When the bullet was removed from the body of the Emperor it was discovered to be of silver. The Emperor recovered; but it was claimed that the bullet would not have touched him at all had it been of lead or iron.
Table Knives and Ravens
King Edward of Great Britain will on no account allow two knife to lie on the table before him together. At all dinners held at Buckingham Palace a clean knife is placed beside each guest with every course, and this rule must be rigidly observed at all public as well as private dinners attended by his Majesty.
Princess Louise of Lorne wears a ring of jet as a preserver of health, while a number of royal children wear necklaces of coral in order to ward off evil spirits and the diseases incident to childhood.
The Hapsburgs regard the raven as a herald of woe to the family. At the moment when Emperor Francis Joseph began his troubled reign at Olmutz a number of ravens flew over the town.
It is told also that when the ill fated Maximilian was about to leave Europe for his fatal imperial career in Mexico, a raven persisted in following him and his wife as they strolled in a garden, and that the afternoon before the Empress Elizabeth was assassinated at Geneva a raven swooped down on her and knocked a peach out of her hands.
When Maria Christina was starting to receive the crown of Spain, which was one day to be so grievous a burden, a raven flew over the horses’ heads and accompanied the carriage to the railway station.
Sultan and Shah
The lately deposed Sultan of Turkey has a strong aversion to having his portrait taken. As a young man he is said to have dabbled a good deal in magic, and he firmly believes that an enemy acquired his portrait would thereby gain power over him. He is probably more convinced of this than ever since his deposition; for shortly before this event happened souvenir postcards bearing his portrait were being surreptitiously sold in Turkey.
During the coronation of the late Shah of Persia in 1906 the tiara fell from his head, and his subsequent ring was one long series of mishaps which finally culminated in his deposition.
The Shah is said to possess over two hundred talismans. One is a gold star of five points, which is supposed to have been possessed by the legendary Rustem. It is called Merzoum, and has the reputation of making conspirators immediately confess. When the Shah’s brother was accused of treason some years ago, the star was shown him and, terrified and overcome by remorse, he confessed his iniquities. Unfortunately for the Shah, the talisman seemed to have lost its power during the recent revolution that caused his deposition.
Another is a little box of gold, set in emeralds, and blessed by the Prophet. It is believed that it makes the royal family invisible as long as they are celibates.
Another is a cube of amber that fell from heaven in Mohammed’s time. It is supposed to render the Shah invulnerable, and he wears it about his neck.
Another is a diamond set in one of his scimitars, which renders its possessor invincible.
There is also a dagger with the same property, but it is ordained that those who use it should perish by it. It is therefore carefully shut up in a sandalwood box, on which is engraved a verse from the Koran.
Source: New-York tribune. (New York [N.Y.]), 16 Jan. 1910.
