Denial

Officials of the Holy See denied, last week, persistent rumors that His most Catholic Majesty, King Alfonso XIII of Spain has sought annulment of his marriage with Queen Victoria Eugenie (TIME, May 14).

At the Vatican it was additionally stated that if a royal annulment were being sought the matter would be dealt with in direct and secret communications between the Sovereigns concerned and the Supreme Pontiff, thus precluding the leakage of rumors which might occur if the case were passed upon by the usual Tribunal of the Sacred Rota. As everyone knows, all royal marriages are solemnized with such exceptional precautions that to find a flaw justifying a declaration of nullity is in most cases impossible.