October 25, 2022: Happy Birthday to HRH Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant

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Duchess of Brabant, King Albert II of Belgium, King of the Belgians, King Philippe of Belgium, Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Queen Mathilde

Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant (Dutch: Elisabeth Theresia Maria Helena; French: Élisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène; born October 25, 2001) is the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. The eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, she acquired her position after her grandfather King Albert II abdicated in favour of her father on July 21, 2013.

The first child of the then Duke and Duchess of Brabant, Elisabeth was delivered by Caesarean section at 21:58 CET on October 25, 2001 at the Erasmus Hospital, the teaching hospital of Université libre de Bruxelles in Anderlecht, Brussels.

She was baptized on December 9, 2001 in the chapel of Ciergnon Castle in the Belgian Ardennes, by Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels. Her godparents are Archduke Amedeo of Austria-Este (paternal cousin), and Countess Hélène d’Udekem d’Acoz (maternal aunt).

Education

Elisabeth studied at St John Berchmans College in the Marollen district of Brussels, which had been attended by her older cousins, the children of her paternal aunt, Princess Astrid of Belgium. This is a significant change in the habits of the royal family, as it is the first time that a future Belgian monarch’s education has begun in Dutch.

In 2018, she continued her secondary education at UWC Atlantic College in Wales and received her International Baccalaureate Diploma in 2020. She also attended the Yale Young Global Scholars Program at Yale University.

After her secondary school graduation in 2020, she spent a year at the Royal Military Academy Belgium in Brussels, studying Social and Military Sciences. She began studying history and politics at Lincoln College, University of Oxford in October 2021, while remain attending Royal Military Academy Belgium’s annual summer camps and other practical and theoretical military classes.

Elisabeth speaks Dutch, French, German and English. She also took classes in Mandarin Chinese.

Position

Ten years prior to Elisabeth’s birth, a new act of succession was put into effect which introduced absolute primogeniture, meaning that she comes first in the line of succession because she is the eldest child.

On July 21, 2013, once Elisabeth’s father had taken the oath of office as King of the Belgians (his father, King Albert II, having abdicated shortly before), she became heir apparent to the throne and as such bears the title of Duchess of Brabant. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Belgium’s first female monarch.

August 29, 1935: Queen Astrid of the Belgians died in a car crash in Switzerland.

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Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, King Albert II of Belgium, King Baudouin of Belgium, King Harald V of Norway, King Leopold III of Belgium, King Philippe of the Belgians, Princess Astrid of Sweden, Queen Astrid of Belgium

August 29, 1935, 85 years ago, Queen Astrid of the Belgians died in a car crash in Switzerland.

The Queen was 30 years old and she had three young children with her husband King Leopold III.

Queen Astrid was born as Princess Astrid of Sweden, daughter of Prince Carl of Sweden and his wife Princess Ingeborg (born Princess of Denmark).

Astrid’s sister Märtha became Crown Princess of Norway and the current King Harald V of Norway is her son.

The current King Philippe of the Belgians and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg are her grandsons. 

Of the Queen’s children, only her youngest son King Albert II (86), who abdicated in 2013, is still alive today.

Her daughter Joséphine-Charlotte, who would become Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, died in 2005.

Eldest son King Baudouin died in 1993 (and was succeeded by Albert II).

February 23, 1934: King Leopold III succeeded to the throne of Belgium following the death of his father King Albert I.

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Abdication, King Albert I of Belgium, King Albert II of Belgium, King Baudouin of Belgium, King Leopold III of Belgium, Princess Astrid of Sweden, Royal Question, Succession, World War ii

Leopold III (November 3, 1901 – September 25, 1983) was King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951, when he abdicated in favour of the heir apparent, his son

Prince Leopold was born in Brussels, the first child of King Albert I of the Belgians and his consort, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria.* In 1909 his father became King of the Belgians, as Albert I, and Prince Leopold became Duke of Brabant, the title of the heir to the Belgian throne.

Astrid (far right) with her mother and sisters

Prince Leopold married Princess Astrid of Sweden in a civil ceremony in Stockholm on November 4, 1926, followed by a religious ceremony in Brussels on November 10. Princess Astrid was the third child and youngest daughter of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, and his wife, Princess Ingeborg of Denmark.

Her father was the third son of Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway, by his wife, Sophia of Nassau. Her mother was a daughter of King Frederick VIII of Denmark by his wife, Louise of Sweden. Astrid’s father was a younger brother of King Gustav V of Sweden, and her mother was the younger sister of kings Christian X of Denmark and Haakon VII of Norway. The marriage produced three children:

1. Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, (October 11, 1927 – January 10, 2005) Grand Duchess consort of Luxembourg, through married on to Prince Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
2. King Baudouin of Belgium, Duke of Brabant, Count of Hainaut, (September 7, 1930 – July 31, 1993).
3. King Albert II of Belgium, Prince of Liège, (June 6, 1934 -) He abdicated in July 2013.

On August 29, 1935, while the king and queen were driving along the winding, narrow roads near their villa at Küssnacht am Rigi, Schwyz, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Lucerne, Leopold lost control of the car which plunged into the lake, killing Queen Astrid.

Leopold married Lilian Baels on September 11, 1941 in a secret, religious ceremony, with no validity under Belgian law. The new Princess of Réthy was soon expecting their first child, the ceremony took place on December 6, 1941. They had three children in total:

1. Prince Alexandre of Belgium, (July 18, 1942 – November 29, 2009) married Léa Wolman.
2. Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium, (February 6, 1951 -) Her first marriage, to Paul Drucker in 1981, lasted 40 days (and formally divorced in 1985); she subsequently married Jean-Paul Gourges in 1989.
3. Princess Marie-Esméralda of Belgium, (September 30, 1956 – ) a journalist, her professional name is Esmeralda de Réthy. She married pharmacologist Salvador Moncada in 1998. They have a son and a daughter.

The Duke of Brabant succeeded to the throne of Belgium on February 23, 1934, as King Leopold III following the death of his father King Albert I.

The controversial reign of Leopold III would need several blog entries to detail this complex topic and which I will do in the future. Therefore today, I will simply summarize the information.

King Leopold III during World War II

Leopold’s controversial actions during the Second World War resulted in a political crisis known as the Royal Question. The Royal Question was a major political crisis in Belgium that lasted from 1945 to 1951, coming to a head between March and August 1950. During Leopold’s exile from 1944 until 1950, Leopold’s brother, Charles, served as prince regent while Leopold was declared unable to reign.

The “question” at stake surrounded whether King Leopold III could return to the country and resume his royal duties as King of the Belgians amid allegations that his actions during World War II had gone contrary to the provisions of the Belgian Constitution. In 1950, following a referendum, Leopold was allowed to return from exile to Belgium, but the continuing political instability pressured him to abdicate on July 16, 1951 in favor of his eldest son Baudouin.

In retirement, he followed his passion as an amateur social anthropologist and entomologist and travelled the world, collecting zoological specimens. Two species of reptiles are named after him, Gehyra leopoldi and Polemon leopoldi. He went to Senegal and strongly criticized the French decolonization process, and he explored the Orinoco and the Amazon with Heinrich Harrer.

Leopold died in 1983 in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert aged 81, following emergency heart surgery. He was interred next to Queen Astrid in the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken. Leopold’s second wife, the Princess de Réthy, was later interred with them.

Notable royal descendants

As of 2020 two of Leopold’s grandsons are reigning monarchs: Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg since 2000, and King Philippe of Belgium since 2013.

* Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria was the daughter of Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, head of a cadet branch of the Bavarian Royal Family and an ophthalmologist. She was named after her father’s sister, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known as Sisi, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungry. Her mother was Maria Josepha of Portugal, daughter of exiled Miguel I of Portugal and his wife Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.

Abdication: What To Call A Former Monarch, Part VI.

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Abdication, Duke of Windsor, Edward VIII, Juan Carlos I of Spain, King Albert II of Belgium, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, kings and queens of the United Kingdom

As we’ve seen, the overwhelming vast majority of monarchs that were both deposed or abdicated kept their royal titles. An exception being the three monarchs of the Netherlands (all queens) whom assumed the title of Princess upon their abdications. However, when both King Juan Carlos of Spain and Albert II of the Belgians recently abdicated they retained their titles. When Pope Benedict XVI resigned his position as Pope, the Vatican bestowed on him the title pope emeritus shortly after his resignation.

HRH The Duke of Windsor

Now let us examine why Edward VIII of the United Kingdom was not allowed to retain his royal title.

Duke of Windsor

On December 12, 1936, at the accession meeting of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, George VI announced he was to make his brother the “Duke of Windsor” with the style of Royal Highness. He wanted this to be the first act of his reign, although the formal documents were not signed until March 8, 1937 that following year. During the interim, Edward was universally known as the Duke of Windsor. George VI’s decision to create Edward a royal duke ensured that he could neither stand for election to the House of Commons nor speak on political subjects in the House of Lords.

HRH The Duke of Windsor

Letters Patent dated May 27, 1937 re-conferred the “title, style, or attribute of Royal Highness” upon the Duke of Windsor, but specifically stated that “his wife and descendants, if any, shall not hold said title or attribute”. Some British ministers advised that the reconfirmation was unnecessary since Edward had retained the style automatically, and further that Simpson would automatically obtain the rank of wife of a prince with the style Her Royal Highness; others maintained that he had lost all royal rank and should no longer carry any royal title or style as an abdicated king, and be referred to simply as “Mr Edward Windsor”. Personally, I am not aware of the precedent for lowering Edward VIII’s titles to either a Royal Highness or simply as “Mr Edward Windsor”.

On April 14, 1937, Attorney General Sir Donald Somervell submitted to Home Secretary Sir John Simona memorandum summarising the views of Lord Advocate T. M. Cooper, Parliamentary Counsel Sir Granville Ram, and himself:

1. We incline to the view that on his abdication the Duke of Windsor could not have claimed the right to be described as a Royal Highness. In other words, no reasonable objection could have been taken if the King had decided that his exclusion from the lineal succession excluded him from the right to this title as conferred by the existing Letters Patent.
2. The question however has to be considered on the basis of the fact that, for reasons which are readily understandable, he with the express approval of His Majesty enjoys this title and has been referred to as a Royal Highness on a formal occasion and in formal documents. In the light of precedent it seems clear that the wife of a Royal Highness enjoys the same title unless some appropriate express step can be and is taken to deprive her of it.
3. We came to the conclusion that the wife could not claim this right on any legal basis. The right to use this style or title, in our view, is within the prerogative of His Majesty and he has the power to regulate it by Letters Patent generally or in particular circumstance.

Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

As we’ve seen retaining the royal title is the established precedent. Also, if he retained the title of King that also would have ensured that he could neither stand for election to the House of Commons nor speak on political subjects in the House of Lords. There was a great prejudice toward Edward’s spouse, Wallis Simpson, and the denial of both the kingly and royal styles and titles were an attempt to deny them to her. It is my opinion that is the main reason Edward VIII did not retain his kingly status.

HM King Christian IX of Denmark

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Alexander III of Russia, Christian IX of Denmark, Dagmar of Demark, Ernst August of Hanover, Father in law of Europe, King Albert II of Belgium, King Harald V of Norway, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, Saint Isaac's Cathedral, Thyra of Denmark, Waldemar of Denmark

This is the last of the three part series on King Christian IX of Denmark. In this section I will examine his reign and the vast family connections that lead to the sobriquet “the Father-in-law-of-Europe.”

Immediately after he succeeded to the throne the question of the Schleswig-Holsein duchies came to a head. The issue lead to a short war with Prussia resulting in a loss of the duchies from Denmark. I will not relate the long complex history of the war here for in many ways it is more for the story on the unification of Germany than that of the reign of King Christian IX. The initial defeat tainted the early days of Christian’s reign and for a while made him unpopular. Increasing his unpopularity was his support of the authoritarian Prime Minister Estrup who ruled Denmark as a virtual dictator between 1875 and 1894. This occurred in an era when Parliamentary democracies were on the rise throughout Europe. His first step toward constitutionalism was when in 1874 he granted Iceland, a Danish possession at the time, its own constitution. It wasn’t however, given its independence.

It wasn’t until 1901 when the king began allowing these types of transformations in Denmark. He begrudgingly asked Johan Henrik Deuntzer to form a government which resulted in the creation of the Cabinet of Deuntzer that included members of the Venstre Reform Party and was the first Danish government not to include the conservative party. This began the tradition of a Parliamentary style government and from then on until his death a few years later the poularity of Christian IX grew. Højre, even though Højre never had a majority of the seats in the Folketing. This was the beginning of the Danish tradition of parliamentarian democracy and this improved his reputation for his last years.

Similarly to Queen Victoria, the Children and grand-children of King Christian IX and Queen Louise linked the Danish Royal Family to many other royal families of Europe. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, King Albert II of Belgium, King Harald V of Norway, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg. The consorts Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Queen Sofía of Spain are also agnatic descendants of Christian IX, as is Constantine II of Greece (the former and last King of the Hellenes).

The eldest son, future King Frederik VIII of Denmark, was married to Princess Louise of Sweden & Norway the daughter of King Carl XV of Sweden & Norway and his wife Princess Louise of the Netherlands. They had eight children and the first two became kings in their own right. The eldest, Prince Christian, became King Christian X of Denmark in 1912 and the second son, Prince Carl was elected to the throne of Norway when that country won its independence from Sweden in 1905. Prince Carl of Denmark married his paternal first cousin, Princess Maud of Wales, and upon accepting the throne of Norway he changed his name to Haakon and became King Haakon VII of Norway. Haakon & Maud are the grandparents of Norway’s current king, Harald V.

Christian IX’s eldest daughter, the lovely Princess Alexandra, married Prince Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales on 10 March 1863 married at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. With Queen Victoria still in official mourning for the Prince Consort the wedding was more like a funeral than a wedding. They had six children. The eldest son, Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, died from pneumonia in 1892. The second eldest son became King George V of the United Kingdom and is the grandfather of the present queen, Elizabeth II. Their daughter Maud, married, as we have seen, her cousin, King Haakon VII of Norway.

The next son, Prince Wilhelm of Denmark, entered the Danish Navy at the age of 17 and soon found himself elected to the throne of Greece. The unpopular King Otto of Greece was deposed in 1862 but Greece wanted to remain a monarchy. One of the first choices was Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Britain’s queen Victoria, but this offer was declined. The choice then fell to Prince Wilhelm of Denmark who ascended the Greek throne as King George I of the Hellenes. Christian IX’s son became a king a few months before Christian himself inherited the Danish throne! King George I married Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, the daughter of Grand Duke f Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. George and Olga were the paternal grandparents of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

The next child was Princess Dagmar. Initially she was betrothed Czarevich Nicolas Alexandrovich of Russia eldest son of Czar Alexander II of Russia. He did before the wedding and upon Nicholas’ wishes she married his younger brother in 1866 who became Czar Alexander III of Russia in 1881. She converted to the Russian Orthodox faith and was renamed Maria Feodorovna. They were also the parents of the ill-fatted and tragic Czar Nicholas II of Russia. At the start of the Russian Revolution she was able to leave Russia and return to Denmark where she died there in 1828. On September, 28 2006 the remains of Empress Maria Feodorovna were returned to Russia and after a service at Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, she was interred next to her husband Alexander III in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, 140 years after her first arrival to Russia.

The last two children of Christian IX and Louise, Thyra and Waldemar, did not make as notable of marriages as their older siblings. Thyra married, Ernst August II, Duke of Cumberland, Prince of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Ernst August was heir to the defunct throne of Hanover which lost its throne in the war against Prussia during the time of German Unification. Thyra’s and Ernst’s son, Ernst August III, married Victoria-Louise of Prussia, the only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II, as a means of mending fences. Their descendents did marry into both the Greek and Spanish thrones. Waldemar married Princess Marie d’Orleans in 1885. Princess Marie d’Orleans was the daughter of Prince Philippe VII, Comte d’Paris, pretender to the French throne.

King Christian IX died on February 15, 1906 at the age of 87 and after a reign of 43 years. An interesting King who lived through very interesting times and whose descendants still occupy the thrones of Europe.

 

HM King Albert II, King of the Belgians. (1934-)

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Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, Brussels, Duke of Modena., Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, King Albert II of Belgium, King Baudouin of Belgium, King Harald V of Norway, King Leopold III of Belgium, Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, Pope John XXIII, Prince Albert of Liege, Prince Charles, Prince Laurent, Princess Astrid, Princess Paola Ruffo di Calabria., Stuyvenberg Castle, the prince of Wales

The King was born on June 6, 1934 the second son of King Leopold III (1901–1983) of Belgium and his first wife Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905–1935). Albert was not expected to be king. His elder brother, King Baudouin (1930-1993), succeeded his father upon his abdication in 1951. King Baudouin was married to Fabiola de Mora y Aragón and although the union was a happy one, they did not have any children. Even then Albert was not expected to be king. It was understood that Albert’s son, the Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, would eventually succeed his uncle the king. I was surprised, and read that many Belgians were also surprised, when Albert assumed the kingship upon his brothers death in 1993. The king is first cousin to the reigning King Harald V of Norway and the uncle of the reigning Grand Duke Henri of Luxemburg.

He was born in Stuyvenberg Castle, Brussels. In 1940 when Belgium was occupied by Germany, Prince Albert, his elder sister Princess Joséphine-Charlotte and his brother Prince Baudouin, left the country where they spent time first in France and then later Spain. When they returned to Belgium later that year the young Belgian royals continued their studies at school until they were deported byu the Germans in 1944. Liberated by the American troops in 1945. But because of political unrest in Belgium, which would even tally lead to his father’s abdication, King Leopold and his family moved to the villa “Le Reposoir” in Pregny, Switzerland, and then they moved to Austria where they remained until returning to Belgium in July of 1950. .

Known as Prince Albert of Liege he represented Belgium (a Catholic country) at the Vatican for the papal coronation of Pope John XXIII in 1958. While at a reception at the Belgian embassy Albert met Italian Princess Paola Ruffo di Calabria. The two soon became an item and were married on July 2, 1959 and have three children. The eldest child and heir to the throne is Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant (1960-) and is married to Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz . Their next child is Princess Astrid (1962-), married to Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, Duke of Modena. Princess Astrid was falsely rumored to be the future bride of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, back in the late 70s. Their youngest child is Prince Laurent (1963-) who is married to Claire Coombs who was created a princess of Belgium. The five children of Princess Astrid and Archduke Lorenz were also created princes and princesses of Belgium.

Prior to becoming king Albert’s main job was the Honorary President of the Board of Directors of the Belgian Foreign Trade Office. He held this office for 31 years where he presided over trade missions throughout the world and visited Belgian companies that were operating in the field export. As king his duties are representative. Here is the section on his duties as king from the website of the Belgian Royal Family.

http://www.monarchie.be/monarchy-today

The Monarchy today

The King of Belgium’s duties include contacts with a wide range of representatives of Belgian society: members of the federal government, of the community and regional governments, MPs and political leaders, representatives of the economic, social, cultural and scientific sectors, academia, the media …

The King and the members of the Royal Family also keep in close touch with the citizens of Belgium, promoting private and public initiatives that help bring about social improvements. The King and the members of the Royal Family represent Belgium abroad at the highest levels (State visits, trade missions, participation in international meetings).

The king has been on the throne for 19 years and has been a solid representative of the Belgian nation. In 2010-2011 when the was no government for 451 days the king was a stabilizing presence while the politicians worked through their deadlock.

May he continue in good health and long may he reign.