Banker Brings Suit Against Princess

It Happened on
February 08, 1915

From The Washington Herald, Washington D.C.

BANKER BRINGS SUIT AGAINST PRINCESS

Asks $197,421 from Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy on Notes. He Is Now War Prisoner in France.

New York, Feb. 1. – The Princess Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy, painter of crowned heads and other notables, was sued yesterday in the Supreme Court by Carlo Wedekind, a German banker now held prisoner, It is said, by the French government because he knows too much concerning the turbine engine on French battleships.

The banker, whose headquarters have been at Nice up to the time of his arrest, had many branch houses. He demands of the princess $197,421 alleged due on notes. The princess lives in the Hotel St. Regis.

The complaint was filed by O’Brien, Boardman & Platt. The notes were given in settlement of dealings running for seven years, it is alleged.

Her Lawyer Explains.

Richard E. Weldon, an attorney with offices in the Woolworth Building, who represents the princess, said yesterday that Mr. Wedekind has control of more than enough of the princess’s property to offset the claim he has made.

“My client was a Hungarian princess when she married a Russian prince,” he said.

“At that time she was living in Nice but went to Berlin. Wedekind was living in Nice at the time.

“While the Princess was in Berlin she painted portraits of many notable men and women. The Kaiser sat for her seven times and Bismarck three times. Ultimately she returned to her native country, where her brother was a famous surgeon.

“Through his brother the princess met Wedekind and ultimately made him her financial adviser and business agent. She gave him power of attorney and in the end she transferred over to him all her stocks and bonds, together with two chateaus and their contents.”