Belgium a Royal History - 1830 till now

The royal family of Belgium and its history

 

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium - National Day of 2017 - screenshot

royal palace of Brussels, Belgium

Belgium is a country located in Western Europe. It became in 1830
independent from The Netherlands.

Belgium is a rather difficult country with three official languages
(Dutch, French and German) and as many communities.

Belgium is famous for his beers, chocolates and fashion, think about
NATAN, Dries Van Noten & much more.

A yummy Belgian dessert

On this page I gave a short survey about Belgian's Royal History.

I hope you'll enjoy it!

Leopold I (1831-1865)

 

Own picture - painting of Leopold I in the National Bank of Belgium

Own picture of painting - Location Royal Palace of Brussels

Born: 1790 in Coburg (Germany)
Died: 1865 in Brussels (Belgium)

He married twice

1/ 1816: Charlotte Augusta 
(Crown princess of England)



Born: 1796 (London)
Died: 1817 (Esher)

2/ 1832: Louise -Marie
(Princess of Orléans)

Own picture of painting - Location Royal Palace of Brussels

about her life on this link. 

Bookreview Louise Marie d'Orléans on this link

Born: 1812 - Palermo (Sicily - Italy)
Died: 1850 in Ostend (Belgium)

More about the former Palace of Queen Louise-Maria 

in Ostend on this link. 

They had 4 children:

1/ Louis - Philippe

Born: 1833
Died: 1834

2/ Leopold II

Later king of Belgium





3/ Filip (1837 - 1905)

Count of Flanders



Born: 1837 - Brussels
Died: 1867 - Brussels

He married

1867: Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen 



Born: 1845 - Sigmaringen (Germany)
Died: 1912 - Brussels

They had 5 children

1/ Baudouin (1869 - 1891)
He died young

2/ Henriette
Born: 1870 - Brussel
1896: marriage with Emmanuel of Orleans - Duke of Vendôme
Died: 1848 - Sierre (Switzerland)

3/ Joséphine
She died young

4/ Joséphine
Born: 1872 Brussel  
1894: marriage with Karl-Anton of Hohenzollern -Sigmaringen
Died: 1958 - Namen (Belgium)

5/ Albert Leopold Clement Marie Meinrad
later King Albert I

4/ Charlotte (1840 -1927)

Born: 1840 - Brussels
Died: 1927 - Meise

She married 

Maximilian Of Austria (1832 - 1867)
Emperor of Mexico (1864 - 1867)




He was the younger brother of emperor Franz-Joseph of Austria.
He became the emperor of Mexico in 1864 and was executed in 1867.

Leopold II (1865-1909)

Quote:
Petit Pays, Petit esprit - translated: Small Country, small minds

See also this link

Born: 1835 - Brussels
Died: 1909 - Brussels

1853: he married Archduchess
Marie Henriette of Austria 



Born: 1836- Budapest (Hungary)
Died: 1902- Spa (Belgium)

More about King Leopold II on this link. 
More about Marie Henriette of Austria, Queen Consort of Belgium
on this link. 

They had four children

1/ Louise



Born: 1858 - Brussels
1875: Marriage with Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Koháry
Children: Léopold-Clement and Dorothea 
Died: 1924 - Wiesbaden 

More about her on this link. 


2/ Leopold



Born: 1859 - Brussels
Died: 1869 - Brussels

3/ Stéphanie




Born: 1864 Brussels

1/ 1881: Marriage with crown prince Rudolf of Austria
(son of Emperor Frans Jozef and Sisi)

They had one child: Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria.

2/ 1900 Second Marriage with count 
Elemér Lónyay de Nagny-Lónya and Vásáros-Namény.

Died: 1945-Pannonhalma (Hungary)

See also the History / OnThisDay blogpost on this Link


4/ Clementine 





Born: 1872 - Brussels
1910: Marriage with Napoleon Victor Bonaparte

Princess Clementine's husband, Victor, Prince Napoléon,
was the grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte and
Catherine of Württemberg.

Children: Princess Marie Victor Bonaparte and 
Prince Louis Jérôme Bonaparte
Died: 1955 - Nice (France)

More about her on this link. 

Albert I (1909 - 1934)

Quotes: Belgium is a nation not a road!

Born: 1875 - Brussels
Died: 1934 - Brussels 

1900: Marriage with 
Elisabeth Duchess of Bavaria




An aunt of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium was Empress 
Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi).

Elisabeth, Queen of Belgium died in 1965

More about this bookreview on this link. 

Queen Elisabeth of Belgium had a love for Egypt. More about this 

on next link. 




They had 3 children:

1/ Leopold III

Later King of Belgium

2/ Karel / Charles, Count of Flanders

Future King Leopold III, Queen Marie José of Italy and Prince Charles

Prince Charles of Belgium

Prince Charles of Belgium among artists

Born: 1903 - Brussels
Regent of Belgium (1944-1950)
Died: 1983 - Ostend

I made a History/OnThisDay about him, check this link

Raversijde - Home of Karel (Charles) of Belgium

3/ Marie-José (last Queen of Italy)

Born: 1906 - Ostend
1930: Marriage with Umberto II of Italy

A book review about her on this link

A book review about her wardrobe on this link. 

Children

Princess Maria Pia; 
Vittorio Emanuele , Prince of Naples; 
Princess Maria Gabriella; 
Princess Maria Beatrice.



May 9th. 1946: 

Umberto and Marie-José become king and queen of Italy.



June 2nd. 1946: 

Referendum about the future of the monarchy. 
Most of the Italians wanted a republic. 
Umberto and Marie-José were known as the May King and Queen

Princess Marie-José died in 2001 in Genève (Switzerland)

The first three Kings of Belgium - Own picture taken in 

Church of  Saint Jacques sur Coudenberg in Brussels

Leopold III (1934 - 1951)

King Leopold III own picture taken in 2019 in the parliament
of Belgium

Born: 1901 - Brussels
Died: 1983 - Brussels

Queen Astrid and King Leopold III -
own palace taken at the Royal Palace in Brussels

1/ 1926: Marriage with Astrid of Sweden

Born: 1905 - Stockholm (Sweden)
Died: 1935 - Küssnacht (Switzerland)

Chapel in Küssnacht - Switzerland own picture

More about Queen Astrid of Belgium on this link .

Interesting books about this royal couple:

About the role of King Leopold III of Belgium during WWII on 

this link .

They had 3 children:

1/ Josephine - Charlotte

Born: 1927- Brussels

1953: Marriage with Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 1964-2000

Children:

* Marie Astrid, Archduchess of Austria;
* Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg;
* Prince Jean;
* Margaretha, princess of Liechtenstein;
* Prince Guillaume (uncle of the Hereditary 
Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg)

Died: 2005


2/ Baudouin

 Later King of Belgium


3/ Albert

 Later King of Belgium



2/ 1941: Second Marriage with  Lilian Baels



Born: 1916
Died: 2002

They had also 3 children

1/ Alexandre

Born: 1942 - Brussels
1991: Marriage with Léa Wolman
Died: 2009 - Sint-Genesius-Rode

2/ Marie-Christine

Born: 1951 - Brussels

Married twice:

- Paul Drucker (1981)
- Jean-Paul Gourgues (1989)

She lives in the United States

3/ Maria-Esméralda

Born: 1956- Brussels

1998: Marriage with Salvador Moncada
She is a journalist writing under the name Esméralda de Réthy. 

Children:

Alexandra Leopoldine
Leopoldo Daniel

She lives in London (United Kingdom)

More about her on this link

Baudouin of Belgium 
(1951-1993)

King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of Belgium own picture taken at the parliament

King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola Te Deum in 1993
screenshot 

own picture of a statue of King Baudouin of Belgium
in Ostend

Statue of the king in Ostend (own pictures)

Source picture: Wikipedia

Born: 1930- Brussels

1960: Marriage with Fabiola de Mora y Aragón 

Died: 1993 - Motril (Spain)

They where very popular but they had no children. 

King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola at the Breakfast.

Picture from postcard which I received from Oscar Meijer.

Oscar Meijer is the creator of the Dutch blog : 

De Staat van Oranje

King Baudouin died on July 31st. 1993

Queen Fabiola died on December 5th. 2014.

King Baugouin hosted many state visits.

In 1960 he hosted a State visit from King Rama IX of Thailand in

Brussels. More about this event on this link. 

Albert II (1993 - 2013)

Quotes:

Belgium is modernizing itself and it gives me joy

King Albert II

Queen Paola and King Albert II

picture taken by Bjorn Hoex

More about King Albert II of Belgium on this link. 

Born: 1934 - Brussels
1959: Marriage with Paola Ruffo di Calabria 

Salvatore Adamo made a beautiful Italian song 
about Dolce Paola. 
You can listen to the song on this youtube link.

They have 3 children:


1/ Philippe

King Philippe of Belgium - screenshot - National Day 2017

Born: 1960 - Brussels

1999: Marriage with Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz

Queen Mathilde of the Belgians

picture taken by Bjorn Hoex

They have four children:

1/ Princess Elisabeth

On 25 October 2019, she turns 18 years old. She can become Queen of

Belgium. More on this link.

In 2022 Princess Elisabeth of Belgium has undertaken several official 
duties such as the B-day party of Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

* In June 2022 she christened the ship Belgica, which was done very
well. 

2/ Prince Gabriel

More about him on this link. 

3/ Prince Emmanuel

More about Prince Emmanuel of Belgium on this link

4/ Princess Eléonore

2/ Astrid


Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz - picture taken by Bjorn Hoex

Born: 1962- Brussels

More about her on this link. 

More about her baptism on 21 June 1962 on this link. 

1984: Marriage with Lorenz, Archduke of Austria- d'Este

They have 5 children:

1/ Amedeo

2/ Maria Laura

3/ Joachim

4/ Luise Maria

5/ Laetitia Maria 

In 2022 there will be a royal wedding in Belgium. Princess Maria Laura,
the daughter of Princess Astrid and Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-d'Este

will marry William Isvy. They both live and work in
London (United Kingdom). 

3/ Laurent

Born: 1963- Brussels
2003: Marriage with Claire Coombs

Prince Laurent and Princess Claire

Picture taken by Bjorn Hoex

They have 3 children
1/ Louise
2/ Nicolas
3/ Aymeric

4/ Delphine 

Princess Delphine pictures taken by Bjorn Hoex

The husband of Princess Delphine

James O'Hare

Picture taken by Bjorn Hoex

Delphine Boël was born on 22 February 1968 as the daughter of King Albert II
of Belgium (then Prince of Liège) and Sybille de Selys de Longchamps. In
2020 the civil court decided that Delphine was allowed to carry the surname:
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She also was granted the title Princess of Belgium.

Philippe (2013-

On July 21st. 2013, Philippe became King of the Belgians. 

Since then we have two Kings and 2 Queens (Queen Fabiola died in 2014). 

King Philippe of the Belgians - Screenshot

Queen Mathilde of the Belgians - Screenshot

King Albert of Belgium - Screenshot

Queen Paola of Belgium - Screenshot

American President Barack Obama quote: 'Brave little Belgium'

Queen Mathilde with the Nato Spouses in 2017 

Source picture: Wikipedia

2017: Remembrance of the Battle of Passchendaele

link 1

link 2

Annual Royal Events

17 February: Remembrance of the deceased members of the Royal Family

11 July: Feast of the Flemish community

21 July: National Day, more on this link

31 July 1993 Death King Baudouin of Belgium, more on this link

3rd Sunday of September: Feast of the Walloon Region

15 November: King's Feast + Feast Day of the German community

2018: 5 years Philippe, King of Belgium new portraits on this link

On This Days

8 September 1831: VIP diner @ the royal palace of Brussels, link

28 September 1918 - World War I , more on this link

22 November 1918 - Joyous Entry in Brussels, more on this link

4 December 1999 - royal wedding in Belgium, more on this link

18 December 2019 - Christmas Concert at the Royal Palce

in Brussels, more on this link.

Royal Art

In the Summer exhibition of 2018, King Philippe shows his

paintings from King Baudouin more on this link

History of music with the Royal Music Chapel of the Guides

of Belgium on this link

2019 Summer exhibition, more on this link

Others

More about the Royal Trust on this link

More about the family of Queen Mathilde on this link

The pictures of 17 February 2022 are made by Bjorn Hoex,
he admires the Belgian royal family as well as the
royal family of The Netherlands (where he lives).

From 2 till 4 May 2022, a state visit to Greece
takes place. More on this link. 

Royal Cards

It's always nice to receive royal cards. Due to
copywright I can't show the inside of the
card. However I enjoyed the royal monogram
very much!