Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant
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Prince Leopold of Belgium, Duke of Brabant, Count of Hainaut (born Léopold Ferdinand Élie Victor Albert Marie (French) or Leopold Ferdinand Elias Victor Albert Marie (Dutch) on 12 June 1859 in Laeken – died 22 January 1869 in Laeken or Brussels), was the second child and only son and heir-apparent of Leopold II of Belgium and his wife, Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria.
Leopold was named for his grandfather, and for his father's cousins, Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert, the Prince Consort.
Early life
At birth, Leopold was styled Count of Hainaut, as the eldest son of the then crown prince. At the time of his birth, his grandfather, Leopold I of Belgium, formerly a Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the reigning king of Belgium.
Leopold was preceded in birth by one sister, Louise-Marie, and followed by two more sisters, Stéphanie, and Clémentine, who was born after Leopold's death, their parents' last hope for another son.
Duke of Brabant
Upon the death of his grandfather and the ascension of his father to the throne in 1865, young Leopold became Duke of Brabant, the title for the heir-apparent to the Belgian throne. As heir-apparent, he was expected to eventually succeed his father as King Leopold III of the Belgians.
Death
Leopold died at Laeken or Brussels on 22 January 1869 from pneumonia, after falling into a pond. At his son's funeral, Leopold II, for the only time in his life, "broke down in public, collapsing to his knees beside the coffin and sobbing uncontrollably."[1] Leopold's body was interred at the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Brussels.
Leopold's premature death left his father with only two daughters remaining: Princess Louise-Marie and Princess Stéphanie. After their son's death, Leopold and Marie Henriette tried to have another child, hoping for a son. After the birth of yet another daughter, Clémentine, in 1872, the couple abandoned all hopes of ever having another son.
Upon his death, Leopold II was succeeded by his nephew, Albert, whose eldest son would later succeed him as Leopold III.
Titles
- 12 June 1859 – 10 December 1865: His Royal Highness The Count of Hainaut, Prince of Belgium, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke in Saxony
- 10 December 1865 – 22 January 1869 : His Royal Highness The Duke of Brabant, Prince of Belgium, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke in Saxony
Ancestry
Louise-Marie's ancestors in four generations
References
- ^ Hochschild, Adam (1999). King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. USA: Mariner Books. ISBN 0-618-00190-5.
External links
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- Belgian royal princes
- 1859 births
- 1869 deaths
- House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Belgium)
- Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Heirs apparent who never acceded
- Deaths from pneumonia
- Infectious disease deaths in Belgium
- People from Laeken
- 19th-century Belgian people
- Burials at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken
- Belgian people stubs
- European royalty stubs