Books on Sunday: Princess Marie-José - Between Belgium and Italy : A royal wardrobe

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Recently I bought a royal book from the library in Sint-Niklaas. I received a hint from a wonderful colleague and he discovered a real treasure. It is a book about Princess Marie-José of Belgium, who became the last Queen of Italy and her royal wardrobe. 



Source picture: Bookcover



Who was Princess Marie-José of Belgium?


Princess Marie-José of Belgium was the third child and only daughter of King Albert I of Belgium and Queen Elisabeth (born Duchess in Bavaria). Her brothers were the  later King Leopold III of Belgium and Prince Charles (Regent of Belgium).

Princess Marie-José was born on 4 August 1906 in Ostend (Oostende). During the First World War she was evacuated to England and later she attended the College  of Santissima Annunziata in Florence, Italy.

On 8 January 1930, Princess Marie-José of Belgium married Crown Prince Umberto of Italy. They would have 4 children. She became president of the Red Cross in Italy.

During World War II, Princess Marie-José became a diplomatic channel between the German/Italian camp and the other European Countries in War. 

After World War II, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicated on 9 May 1946. Marie-José became Queen Consort of Italy. However the monarchy was abolished on 2 June 1946. 

The family went in exile in Portugal, but she and Umberto separated. Marie-José and some her children moved to Switzerland.  However the royal couple never divorced.

Marie-José of Belgium, Queen Consort of Italy died on 27 January 2001 in  Switzerland.


About the book


Prinses Marie-José - tussen België en Italië - is a book written in Dutch on the occasion of an exhibition of the Royal Museum for Art and History in Brussels (5 October 2012 - 3 March 2013). 

Although it is written in Dutch, the book shows a lot of amazing beautiful  pictures of dresses mostly from the 1930's.Which gives an excellent idea of the fashion of that time. It was published by Lannoo.



Source picture: Wikipedia





Location: Rome, Italië

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