King Baudouin of The Belgians (1930-1993)


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I understand Dutch as I was born in Flanders.
King Leopold III was more loved in Flanders than in Wallonia in 1950. Now it is the contrary. Dutch and Frenchspeaking interviews of people who knew well the late King.
 
Marengo said:
That he is a saint.

Note that everybody in the documentary -even the former assistant of the late cardinal Suenens- treated this with mild skepticism. The former assistant -Guido Heybraut- did add that the king was like a shepherd: 'who tried to steer his flock to green pastures. But he can not do more, he can't force his sheep to eat.'

Note that cardinal Danneels also elaborates about the 'secret of the king'. It is discussed in the fourth part of the documentary. Also note the speech on behalf of a victim of human trafficking & forced prostitution during the funeral service.

In the last years of his reign the king read a book by a journalist on the matter, which shocked him deeply. I still remember reading in the newspaper how the king had his limousine stopped in a dodgy part of Antwerp, where he spoke to the victims. He tried to use his influence decision makers, he attended meetings to push them into action.

The journalist -Chris de Stoop- shares an anecdote in the documentary how he was invited to the palace to discuss his findings. The night before he had a bit to much to drink in the café and upon arrival home he fell from the stairs. The king saw the wound on his forehead and declared that it could not be a coincidence, the day before a nephew fell in a hole on the palace grounds (Amedeo I suspect, as prince Joachim would have barely been able to walk in 1992), 'it must be the work of the devil, he pushed you off the stairs because you are fighting for the good'.

Part 4:

Click to expand...

I have read extensively in French and English on the life of his late Majesty, and while I am convinced of his inherent decency and especially his passionate love for Christ, I am not quite sure that I believe he was a saint.

After his marriage and especially toward the end of his short life his life he was certainly moving toward sanctity, however.

Much thanks Marengo. ?
 
:previous: great find, thanks for posting!
 
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Enthronement of King Baudouin Of Belgium (1951).
 
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Except it's not actually a coronation, but the standard modern European swearing-in no-crown-thing.
 
Belgian Monarchs are not Crowned so there's no Coronation
The Belgian Monarchy also has no Crown or Crown Jewels.
 
The 28th anniversary of King Baudouin's death in Motril on July 31, 1993, was marked with a ceremony in Motril, Spain yesterday July 31, see here.
 
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:previous: I checked the date on the photograph. The date is still given as June 10, 1974.
Perhaps the wrong date was originally given.
 
CyrilVladisla said:
:previous: I checked the date on the photograph. The date is still given as June 10, 1974.
Perhaps the wrong date was originally given.
Click to expand...


I did not mean that you gave the wrong date, I meant that the wrong date was stated on the photo page. 1974 only saw incoming State Visits of Denmark and Malaysia (per Wikipedia).
I did a Google Image search on the photo and ended up with the incoming Belgian State Visit, hence the provided links.
 
Engagement of King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola in 1960:

 
We saw this Evening on RTL a film : Baudouin , les derniers jours very moving and interesting. We saw for the first time the inside of the Villa Astrida in Motril and even their Bedroom. Also films with Fabiola spanish family.
Then we saw again how the so sad and unexpected news and the events that happened 30 yeard ago.
 
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I saw King Felipe paying respect to the sitting statue of King Baudouin in the Courtyard of Villa Astrida in Motril and next was a simple white plastic chair.

yesterday on TV we were told the last day of our beloved King.
The King was so often sitting on a terrace on the white plastic chair where He could see everything and nobody could seee him.
On 31 July after being on his boat during hot hours (not good for his heart) he was sitting on his terrace.

The clock said "diner time" but the King did not come. He often did not come , so they waited waited and then "his garde de corps" went to the terrace and saw the King dead. There is no hospital in Motril. They asked a Cardiolog to come and he said the King died a long time ago from a heart attack. The hour of his dead was the hour when his dead body was found 21 .30 pm
We saw for the first time inside the villa Astrida the statue representing our King on holiday in Motril . He is sitting and is dressed how he was at Motril, completely different as in Belgium.
 
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maria-olivia said:
We saw this Evening on RTL a film : Baudouin , les derniers jours very moving and interesting. We saw for the first time the inside of the Villa Astrida in Motril and even their Bedroom. Also films with Fabiola spanish family.
Then we saw again how the so sad and unexpected news and the events that happened 30 yeard ago.
Click to expand...

I recall I was utterly shocked when I heard the news,seemed incredible,unbelieveble as the week before he was here in NL for a State Visit.Really a shock.

Thankfully I received his what we call `bidprentje`,a small photo with a mini obituary.His funeral was impressive,all the Royal and Imperial guests ...well almost all...walked behind the coffin through the streets from the Palace to the Cathedral.I say almost all,as HM Queen Elisabeth II was taken to the cathedral directly from the airport that morning.As a Reigning Monarch she attended the funeral of another Reigning Monarch,as one does and is done.

But the Emperor and Empress of Japan didn´t think it beneath themselves to walk either,an impressive sight,as all joined Queen Fabiola walking through Brussels.I have regularly visited his tomb,or rather their tomb,at Laeken since.
 
I remember being on vacation in Italy but it was front cover news in the Dutch newspaper my parents read for days and days. It was such a great shock to so many. The great crowd lined up in front of the palace, some fainting due to the high summer temperatures. They needed to extend the opening times but still not everybody was able to pay their respects. I remember a minister was critisized but responded angrily that it was impossible for the whole of Belgium to go to the palace.

-
I wasnow able to see the documentary. The interior of the house is very simple, as should be the case for a vacation house of course. It seems that the Spanish family united there every summer. It is nice they donated the private videos of their gatherings to RTL.
 
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As was linked elsewhere here (40:10, French/Dutch,
) Albert talked about the event with a lot of evident difficulty.

He was only told Baudouin was 'ill again', so he called, got Fabiola, and asked "How is he now?"
"Now...?" she said. "But he's in heaven. He's dead."
 
It saddens me to remember that the King was only 62 years old when he died.:sad:
 
Who is/was Ingeborg Verdun? I've seen on a Instagram post
 
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