King Baudouin of The Belgians (1930-1993)


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An Ard Ri said:
[...]
King Baudouin attended the funeral of Irish President Erskine Childers in November 1974 at St Patrick's Cathedral

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjlGrQBkHBo
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So to see, President Childers was not Roman-Catholic: the clergy at his funeral looked Anglican to me. The death of President Childers was unexpected. The same happened to King Baudoin. Gentlemanlike from the King to attend the funeral. Of course he hosted Mr and Mrs Childers only a few months earlier.
 
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I never realized that Fabiola was 2 years older than Baudouin until I saw the dates on the tomb and I thought I knew everything about them.

:easter::belgiumflag:
 
Yes, I vaguely remember how shocked I was to hear on the news here in the US that he had died suddenly while on holiday just short of his 63rd birthday.:ohmy:

The respect for him wasn't confined to Europe. After JFK's State funeral he is one of the world leaders that the new president Lyndon Johnson met with for the longest at the State Department reception that followed, and Ronald Reagan in his Presidential diaries that were published last year described his meeting with Baudouin of the Belgians and how impressed he had been with how "gracious" His Majesty was.

President Clinton sent two ex-presidents to Baudouin's funeral. One was Gerald Ford and I cannot remember the other one.
 
I discovered he was dead on the teletext of the BBC.... no Internet for me then..... I cancelled all my projects and spent my Sunday in front of the tv....
 
King Baudouin paid his first official visit to Sweden.
 
Mbruno said:
Thank you, Cyril. What year was that visit ?
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I would say sometime between 1960 when Baudoin married Fabiola and late 1964. Louise passed away in March 1965 but had been ill since early autumn 1964 with the Nobel festivities in December as her last public appearance ever.
 
One of the most terrible moment of his life. Someone stole his sword also.
 
CyrilVladisla said:
Where was the sword of King Baudouin kept before it was stolen?
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The king was traveling through the capital of the Congo in an open top car, and had the sword with him, though not wearing it. He had stood up to wave to the crowds, and a local rushed up and took the sword from the car.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambro...bo_taking_the_ceremonial_sword_of_Belgium.jpg

The sword was quickly retrieved (and worn the next day) as the man was arrested. He was freed though on request of the king.
 
Countessmeout,
You are my memory for my royals. Thank you so much MO
 
maria-olivia said:
One of the most terrible moment of his life. Someone stole his sword also.
Click to expand...
I seem to remember that the King had a very personal connection to Kongo and felt their wish for independence as a personal blow. Is there some truth in that?
 
JR76 said:
I seem to remember that the King had a very personal connection to Kongo and felt their wish for independence as a personal blow. Is there some truth in that?
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Yes. He conveniently forgot the atrocities under Leopold II but had the opinion that Belgium brought good to Congo. Didn't they build hospitals, schools, roads, railways, airports? Didn't they establish a flourishing economy? Probably the King had no ability to look to the situation with the eyes of the natives. The feelings of superiority and the disdain with which lots of Belgians did treat the natives will not have been helpful to the Belgian cause.
 
During the Worldfair in Belgium 1958 , there was a great part devoted to Congo. The Congo artisans left before the end of the Fair , because people laught about them, threw bananas etc.. Back to Congo they said that the Belgians in Congo are not the same than the Belgians in their own Country. Mobutu saw it also , he was journalist at that time. This was the beginning.
The King knew Congo was not ready to be independant . But this is another Story !
 
"Naar het Hart van de Koning "Canvas.
I look on Dutch TV Part 1 , le roi triste ( the sad King ), part II King Baudouin and Congo.
Very interesting.
 
Weren't there 3 parts of that documentary? The last episode focusses on his later years, the abortion crisis, and his death.
 
Yes Marengo , that is for next week.
I learned Part one
1. That Queen Elisabeth refused the Baudouin so loved Juffrouw to leave Belgium. with the family because she made Baudouin nervous. Baudouin was crying and she said I will come with another car and she never came.....
2. Prime Minister Van Achiel Van Acker was totally against Princess Llian 's influence.
King Baudouin was King at the Royal Palace and at the evening at Laeken King Leopold III and Lilian were the Head of the House.

Part II Congo. Patrice Lumumba 's quick assasination will never be clear. The then belgian Minister of foreign Affair said he did not know it .
 
I was mistaken, there are four episodes. I do not know if you understand Flemish, but it can be found on youtube as well:


No. 3 is about his wedding & the abortion question and no. 4 is about his last years, death and the not so subtle references of cardinal Suenens to 'the secret of the king'. I especially enjoyed the scepticism of the late Robert Senelle: "we already have saints enough". They even interviewed his French surgeon in the last episode.

I remember finding this the most interesting and balanced royal documentary that I can remember seeing, great work from the VRT.
 
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What was "the secret of the king" please?...
:sad:
 
:previous:

Oh God, I want the English subtitles for that so I can understand what they're saying! :bang: Thanks for linking the videos, though.
 
Moonmaiden23 said:
What was "the secret of the king" please?...
:sad:
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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:

 
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