Baudouin of Belgium

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"Baudouin" redirects here. For other uses, see Baudouin (disambiguation).
Baudouin/Boudewijn
Baudouin photographed in 1960
King of the Belgians
Reign17 July 1951 – 31 July 1993
PredecessorLeopold III
SuccessorAlbert II
Prime Ministers
See list
Born(1930-09-07)7 September 1930
Château du Stuyvenberg, Laeken, Belgium
Died31 July 1993(1993-07-31) (aged 62)
Villa Astrida, Motril, Spain
Burial
Church of Our Lady of Laeken
ConsortFabiola de Mora y Aragón
Names
Dutch: Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Marie Gustaaf
French: Baudouin Albert Charles Léopold Axel Marie Gustave
German: Balduin Albrecht Karl Leopold Axel Marie Gustav
English: Baldwin Albert Charles Leopold Axel Mary Gustav
HouseSaxe-Coburg and Gotha
FatherLeopold III of the Belgians
MotherAstrid of Sweden
ReligionRoman Catholic
Belgian Royalty
House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Leopold I
Children
Grandchildren
Leopold II
Children
Albert I
Children
Leopold III
Children
Baudouin
Albert II
Children
Grandchildren
Philippe
Children

Baudouin or Boudewijn (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 elder son of King Leopold III (1901–83) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905–35).

Because he had no children with his wife, Queen Fabiola of Belgium, the Crown passed to his younger brother, King Albert II of the Belgians (formerly Prince of Liège), following his death.

He was a maternal 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. (The English equivalent is Baldwin.)

Full name

Baudouin's full name was Baudouin Albert Charles Léopold Axel Marie Gustave de Belgique (pronounced [bodwɛ̃ albɛʁ ʃaʁl leopɔld aksɛl maʁi ɡystav də bɛlʒik]) in French and Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Marie Gustaaf van België (pronounced [ˈbʌudəˌʋɛin ˈɑlbərt ˈkaːrəl ˈleːjoːˌpɔlt ˈɑksəl maːˈri ɣɵsˈtaːf vɑn ˈbɛlɣijə]) in Dutch.

Ascent to the throne

Baudouin was a direct descendant of Joséphine de Beauharnais, wife of Napoleon. He was born in the Château du Stuyvenberg, near Laeken, Brussels, in Belgium, in 1930, the son of Prince Leopold, the then 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 in an automobile accident.

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

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

Baudouin and Fabiola with US President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon in May 1969

During Baudouin's reign the colony of Belgian Congo became independent. The King attended the festivities; he gave a speech that received a blistering response by Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.[2]

Baudouin attended the State funeral of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, as the head of state of Belgium, and one of many dignitaries at that state funeral, along with Paul-Henri Spaak, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and former three-time Prime Minister of Belgium.

In 1990, when Baudouin refused to sign into law a bill permitting abortion, the cabinet assumed the power to promulgate the law while he was treated as "unable to govern" for twenty-four hours.[3]

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]

Religious influences

Baudouin was a devout Roman Catholic. Through the influence of Leo Cardinal Suenens, Baudouin participated in the growing Renewal Movement 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 that liberalised Belgium's abortion laws was approved by Parliament, he refused to give Royal Assent to the bill. This was unprecedented; although Baudouin 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.[4] 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

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.[5] Although in March 1992 the King had been operated for a Mitral valve prolapse in Paris, his death still came unexpectedly, and sent much of Belgium into a period of deep mourning. Within hours the Royal Palace gates and enclosure were covered with flowers that people brought spontaneously. A viewing of the body was held at the Royal Palace in central Brussels; 500,000 people (5% of the population) came to pay their respects. Many waited in line up to 14 hours in sweltering heat to see their King one last time. Along with other members of European royalty, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom attended the funeral.

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.

Titles, styles and honours

Monogram
Monogram

Titles

  • 7 September 1930 - 17 February 1934: His Royal Highness Prince Baudouin of Belgium, Count of Hainaut
  • 17 February 1934 - 10 August 1950: His Royal Highness Prince Baudouin of Belgium, Duke of Brabant
  • 10 August 1950 - 17 July 1951: His Royal Highness Prince Baudouin, Prince Royal, Duke of Brabant
  • 17 July 1951 - 31 July 1993: His Majesty King Baudouin of the Belgians

Honours

National honours

Foreign honours

Ancestry

Family of Baudouin of Belgium
16. King Leopold I of Belgium
8. Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders
17. Princess Louise-Marie of Orléans
4. King Albert I of Belgium
18. Charles Anthony, Prince of Hohenzollern
9. Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
19. Princess Josephine of Baden
2. Leopold III of Belgium
20. Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria
10. Duke Karl-Theodor in Bavaria
21. Princess Ludovika of Bavaria
5. Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria
22. Miguel of Portugal
11. Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal
23. Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
King Baudouin of Belgium
24. King Oscar I of Sweden
12. King Oscar II of Sweden
25. Duchess Josephine of Leuchtenberg
6. Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland
26. William, Duke of Nassau
13. Princess Sofia of Nassau
27. Princess Pauline of Württemberg
3. Princess Astrid of Sweden
28. King Christian IX of Denmark
14. King Frederick VIII of Denmark
29. Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel
7. Princess Ingeborg of Denmark
30. King Charles XV of Sweden
15. Princess Louise of Sweden
31. Princess Louise of the Netherlands

See also

References

  1. ^ Koningin Fabiola had vijf miskramen
  2. ^ Suzanne McIntire and William E. Burns, Speeches in World History, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pp. 438-40
  3. ^ New York Times, 5 April 1990
  4. ^ "Belgium: Commoner for A Day, or Two". Time. 16 April 1990. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. ^ Lyons, Richard D. "Baudouin I, King of Belgium, Dies at 62," New York Times. August 1, 1993.
  6. ^ http://c7.alamy.com/comp/E0M2XA/queen-juliana-escorted-by-king-baudouin-E0M2XA.jpg
  7. ^ https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4003/4484042224_700971a8dc_b.jpg
  8. ^ Baudoin wearing the orders of the Garter and Leopold
  9. ^ http://ls.rosselcdn.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/cciinlineobjects_600/2015/05/17/210574998_B975561996Z.1_20150517171840_000_G9D4GV2JI.1-0.jpg
  10. ^ http://rf.llb.be/image/1f/51f8d80935705d93419a101f.gif
  11. ^ http://www.lavdc.net/portail/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/baudouin-kasavubu-lumumba.jpg
  12. ^ http://images.delcampe.com/img_large/auction/000/124/267/454_001.jpg
  13. ^ http://tranb300.ulb.ac.be/exemples/groupe202/archive/fullsize/01f3e900620a58c50e841062ca9c7e79.jpg
  14. ^ http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03129/Fabiolaandkingtwo_3129806c.jpg
  15. ^ "Reply to a parliamentary question" (pdf) (in German). p. 53. Retrieved 4 October 2012. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help)
  16. ^ https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/84/9a/7c/849a7c9ac28b8a4260be33ab7219bfab.jpg
  17. ^ https://www.granger.com/wmpix/age/rue/0148193-JOSEPH-DESIRE-MOBUTU-THE-ROI-BAUDOUIN-AND-THE-REINE-FABIOLA-OF-BELGIQUE-General-Joseph-Desire-Mobutu-president-of-Congo-Kinshasa-with-belgium-king-Baudouin-Ist-and-queen-Fabiola-at-Bruxelles-royal-palace-on.jpg
  18. ^ https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1424/5110069989_20b7e1e6fe_b.jpg
  19. ^ http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9TPGuYdia9U/UQV3Kpqu2YI/AAAAAAAAHMU/AbSGjRmi1hM/s1600/394863_548212448522834_375985201_n.jpg
  20. ^ https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6234/6299069181_1f755daa35.jpg
  21. ^ a b Baudoin wearing German honours
  22. ^ http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/HU056105/king-baudouin-and-queen-fabiola-of-belgium
  23. ^ 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)
  24. ^ http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nWIINtRGHnQ/UF4blcl7iBI/AAAAAAAACaA/CHek6yk6rDY/s1600/PAR278052.jpg
  25. ^ http://static.skynetblogs.be/media/21181/114_Iran3.jpg
  26. ^ http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/queen-fabiola-of-belgium-mohammad-reza-shah-pahlavi-empress-news-photo/111347972
  27. ^ Badraie
  28. ^ Badraie
  29. ^ http://www.gettyimages.ch/detail/nachrichtenfoto/1930könig-seit-1951mit-königin-fabiola-bei-ihrem-nachrichtenfoto/545663653#
  30. ^ https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/4b/be/6b/4bbe6b36b025984e100376596cf98c5f.jpg
  31. ^ http://wpmedia.o.canada.com/2014/06/111348071.jpg
  32. ^ https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/3d/e5/c0/3de5c0000b2015db00368c15003ac6f6.jpg
  33. ^ http://belgiumjapan150.jp/assets/img/timeline/40-salle-de-banquet.jpg
  34. ^ http://static1.purepeople.com/articles/7/15/17/77/@/1669968-le-roi-baudouin-et-la-reine-fabiola-950x0-1.jpg
  35. ^ http://www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/media/thumbs/6/6fbb0ccca87d47ee2dcaf53ece6d60aav1_max_635x357_b3535db83dc50e27c1bb1392364c95a2.jpg
  36. ^ http://www.anp-archief.nl/attachment/246013
  37. ^ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Anefo_911-3015_Tweede_dag.jpg
  38. ^ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Huwelijk_prinses_Beatrix_en_prins_Claus_%281966%29.jpg
  39. ^ http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/le-roi-baudouin-de-belgique-et-sa-cousine-la-princesse-news-photo/558631153
  40. ^ a b Baudoin wearing Spanish honours
  41. ^ https://36.media.tumblr.com/607b4e63c8e2ff9daf2ec33984ab0163/tumblr_nhzvqxqe1P1spqo4go1_r1_500.png
  42. ^ Boletín Oficial del Estado
  43. ^ Boletín Oficial del Estado
  44. ^ http://u-f.ru/sites/default/files/fabiola1.jpg
  45. ^ http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vy_15LqXwis/Th2vzyWqavI/AAAAAAAAC9Y/4YVv2YRuSRE/s1600/KingBaudouinQueenFabiolaWedding.jpg
  46. ^ http://cdn-parismatch.ladmedia.fr/var/news/storage/images/paris-match/royal-blog/monde/en-photos-l-ancienne-reine-des-belges-fabiola-est-decedee-vendredi-soir-a-bruxelles-a-l-age-de-86-ans-664208/fabiola-et-baudoin-en-1978/6655882-1-fre-FR/Fabiola-et-Baudoin-en-1978.jpg
  47. ^ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-84FSKw0NXrQ/RlcScFhmW1I/AAAAAAAAAdE/r68LKwNjHEg/s640/1976.06.19+silvia_carl+gustav_.jp
  48. ^ http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/king-bhumibol-queen-sirikit-and-king-baudouin-i-of-belgium-news-photo/106506359
  49. ^ http://c7.alamy.com/comp/BR45K8/princess-margaret-king-baudouin-royal-family-10-june-1974-tristar-BR45K8.jpg
  50. ^ https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a0/80/e0/a080e0f2e7a2f997dc1ce200f3eaadb3.jpg
  51. ^ http://www.dw.com/image/0,,4275211_4,00.jpg

Bibliography

  • Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp 25-31.

Other languages

  • 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

Baudouin of Belgium
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 7 September 1930 Died: 31 July 1993
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of the Belgians
1951–1993 		Succeeded by
Royal titles
Preceded by Duke of Brabant
1934–1951 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baudouin_of_Belgium&oldid=742383563"