Baudouin of Belgium
| Baudouin | |
|---|---|
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| Reign | 17 July 1951 – 31 July 1993 |
| Predecessor | Leopold III |
| Successor | Albert II |
| Consort | Fabiola de Mora y Aragón |
| Full name | |
| Baldwin Albert Charles Leopold Axel Maria Gustaf | |
| House | House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| Father | Leopold III of Belgium |
| Mother | Astrid of Sweden |
| Born | 7 September 1930 Stuyvenberg Castle, Belgium |
| Died | 31 July 1993 (aged 62) Villa Astrida, Motril, Spain |
| Leopold I |
|---|
| Leopold II |
| Albert I |
| Leopold III |
| Baudouin |
| Albert II |
Baudouin (Dutch: Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Marie Gustaaf van België [ˈbʌu̯dəˌʋɛi̯n ˈɑlbərt ˈkaːrəl ˈleˑjoˑˌpɔlt ˈɑksəl maˑˈri ɣʏsˈtaˑf vɑn ˈbɛlɣijə], French: Baudouin Albert Charles Léopold Axel Marie Gustave de Belgique [bodwɛ̃ albɛʁ ʃaʁl leopɔld aksɛl maʁi ɡystav də bɛlʒik]; 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) reigned as King of the Belgians, following his father's abdication, from 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the eldest son of King Leopold III (1901–83) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905–35). Having had no children, the crown passed on to his brother, King Albert II of the Belgians (formerly HRH The Prince of Liège), following his death. He is the first cousin of King Harald V of Norway, Princess Astrid of Norway, and Princess Ragnhild of Norway. Baudouin is the French form of his name, the form most commonly used outside Belgium; his Dutch name is Boudewijn. Very rarely, his name is anglicized as Baldwin.
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Ascent to the throne[edit]
Baudouin was born in Stuyvenberg Castle, near Laeken, Brussels, in Belgium, in 1930, the son of Prince Leopold, the Duke of Brabant and his wife, Astrid of Sweden. His father became King of the Belgians, as Leopold III, in 1934. Baudouin's mother died in 1935.
Part of Leopold III's unpopularity was the result of a second marriage in 1941 to Mary Lilian Baels, an English-born Belgian commoner, later known as Princess de Réthy. More controversial had been Leopold's decision to surrender to Nazi Germany during World War II, when Belgium was invaded in 1940; many Belgians questioned his loyalties, but a commission of inquiry exonerated him of treason after World War II. Though reinstated in a plebiscite, the controversy surrounding Leopold led to his abdication.
King Leopold III requested the Belgian Government and the Parliament to approve a law delegating his royal powers to his son, Prince Baudouin, who took the constitutional oath before the United Chambers of the Belgian Parliament as Prince Royal on 11 August 1950. He ascended the throne and became the fifth King of the Belgians upon taking the constitutional oath on 17 July 1951, one day following his father's abdication.
The Congolese called the young king Mwana Kitoko ("beautiful boy").
Marriage[edit]
On 15 December 1960, Baudouin was married in Brussels to Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón. The King and Queen had no children; all of the Queen's five pregnancies ended in miscarriage.[1]
Notable events[edit]
During Baudouin's reign the colony of Belgian Congo became independent. The King personally attended the festivities; he gave a speech that received a blistering response by Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.[2]
In 1976, on the 25th anniversary of Baudouin's accession, the King Baudouin Foundation was formed, with the aim of improving the living conditions of the Belgian people.
He was the 1,176th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain in 1960 and the 930th Knight of the Order of the Garter.[citation needed]
Baudouin of Belgium was the godfather of Prince Leka of Albania.[citation needed]
Religious influences[edit]
Baudouin was a devout Roman Catholic. Through the influence of Leo Cardinal Suenens, Baudouin participated in the growing Catholic Charismatic Renewal and regularly went on pilgrimages to the French shrine of Paray-le-Monial.
In 1990, when a law submitted by Roger Lallemand and Lucienne Herman-Michielsens, liberalising Belgium's abortion laws, was approved by Parliament, he refused to give Royal Assent to the bill. This was unprecedented; although Baudoin was nominally Belgium's chief executive, Royal Assent has long been a formality (as is the case in most constitutional and popular monarchies). However, due to his religious convictions, Baudouin asked the Government to declare him temporarily unable to reign so that he could avoid signing the measure into law.[3] The Government under Wilfried Martens complied with his request on 4 April 1990. According to the provisions of the Belgian Constitution, in the event the King is temporarily unable to reign, the Government as a whole fulfills the role of Head of State. All members of the Government signed the bill, and the next day (5 April 1990) the Government declared that Baudouin was capable of reigning again.
Death, succession, and legacy[edit]
Baudouin reigned for 42 years. He died of heart failure on 31 July 1993 in the Villa Astrida in Motril, in the south of Spain.[4] His death was unexpected, and sent much of Belgium into a period of deep mourning. Within hours the grids of the Royal Palace were covered with flowers that people spontaneously brought. A viewing of the body was organised at the Royal Palace in central Brussels; 500,000 people (5% of the population) turned up to pay their respects. Many waited in line up to 14 hours in sweltering heat to get to see their King one last time. Queen Elizabeth II attended the funeral in person; by tradition the British monarch attends only those funerals which are of close family members (they were only third cousins) or such politicians as prime ministers who die while in office.[citation needed]
King Baudouin was interred in the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken, Brussels, Belgium. He was succeeded by his younger brother, who became King Albert II.
Ancestry[edit]
| Monarchical styles of King Baudouin of the Belgians |
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|---|---|
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| Reference style | His Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
| Alternative style | Sire |
Titles and styles[edit]
- 7 September 1930 – 17 February 1934: His Royal Highness The Count of Hainaut
- 17 February 1934 – 10 August 1950: His Royal Highness The Duke of Brabant
- 10 August 1950 – 17 July 1951: His Royal Highness The Prince Royal, Duke of Brabant
- 17 July 1951 – 31 July 1993: His Majesty The King of the Belgians
Honours and awards[edit]
- This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Italian Wikipedia.
- Belgian
- Grand Master and Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold
- Grand Master of the Order of the African Star
- Grand Master of the Royal Order of the Lion
- Grand Master of the Order of the Crown
- Grand Master of the Order of Leopold II
- Foreign
Austria : Great Star of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (1958)[5]
Iceland : Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Falcon (16th October 1979) [6]
Italy : Knight Grand Cross decorated with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (11 June 1966)
Norway : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav
Portugal : Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry (24 August 1982)
Spain : Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece- Spain : Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (1960)
Thailand : Royal Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri (Thailand)- Thailand : Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Chula Chom Klao
United Kingdom : Stranger Knight of the Order of the Garter
Sweden : Knights of the Order of the Seraphim
Denmark : Knight with Collar of the Order of the Elephant
Netherlands : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Luxembourg : Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
Kingdom of Greece : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer
- Religious entitie
Holy See : Knight of the Supreme Order of Christ- Holy See : Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
SMOM : Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
- Former Royal Families
- Italy : Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (House of Savoy, 1960)
- Italy : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (House of Savoy, 1960)
- Italy : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy (House of Savoy, 1960)
See also[edit]
- Kings of Belgium family tree
- Crown Council of Belgium
- Royal Trust
- Herman Liebaers (Marshal of the Royal Household)
- André Molitor (private secretary)
- Jacques van Ypersele de Strihou (private secretary)
- Pierre-Yves Monette (advisor)
References[edit]
- ^ Koningin Fabiola had vijf miskramen
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20120207213847/http://www.africawithin.com/lumumba/independence_speech.htm, delivered 30 June 1960. Web archive link accessed 16 May 2013.
- ^ "Belgium: Commoner for A Day, or Two". Time. 16 April 1990. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ^ Lyons, Richard D. "Baudouin I, King of Belgium, Dies at 62," New York Times. August 1, 1993.
- ^ "Reply to a parliamentary question" (pdf) (in German). p. 53. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
- ^ Iceland Presidency Website, Baudoin, konungur Belgíu - Belgía - 1979-10-16 - Stórkross með keðju (= Baudouin, King of Belgians, Belgium, 16th October 1979, Grand Cross with Collar)
Bibliography[edit]
- A. Molitor, La fonction royale en Belgique, Brussels, 1979
- J.Stengers, De koningen der Belgen. Van Leopold I tot Albert II, Leuven, 1997.
- Kardinaal Suenens, Koning Boudewijn. Het getuigenis van een leven, Leuven, 1995.
- Kerstrede 18.12.1975, (ed.V.Neels), Wij Boudewijn, Koning der Belgen. Het politiek, sociaal en moreel testament van een nobel vorst, deel II, Gent, 1996.
- H. le Paige (dir.), Questions royales, Réflexions à propos de la mort d'un roi et sur la médiatisation de l'évènement, Brussels, 1994.
External links[edit]
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Baudouin of Belgium
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 7 September 1930 Died: 31 July 1993 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Leopold III |
King of the Belgians 1951–1993 |
Succeeded by Albert II |
| Royal titles | ||
| Preceded by Leopold |
Duke of Brabant 1934–1951 |
Succeeded by Philippe |
| Preceded by New creation |
Count of Hainaut 1930–1934 |
Succeeded by In disuse |
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- 1930 births
- 1993 deaths
- Belgian monarchs
- Dukes of Brabant
- Belgian royal princes
- Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Belgium)
- Alumni of Institut Le Rosey
- Roman Catholic monarchs
- Belgian Roman Catholics
- Cardiovascular disease deaths in Spain
- People from Laeken
- Burials at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken
- 20th-century Roman Catholics
- Grand Cordons of the Order of Leopold (Belgium)
- Grand Crosses of the Order of the African Star
- Grand Crosses of the Royal Order of the Lion
- Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
- Grand Crosses of the Order of Leopold II
- Grand Collars of the Order of Prince Henry
- Members of the Bavarian Order of Merit
- Knights of the Golden Fleece
- Knights of Christ (papacy)
- Extra Knights Companion of the Garter
- Knights of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri
- Knights Grand Cordon of the Order of Chula Chom Klao
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav
- Grand Crosses with Collar of the Order of the Falcon
- Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal)
- Knights and Dames Grand Crosses of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre
- Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John
- Knights of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy
- Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
- Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
