The Snow Princess: Queen Astrid of Belgium, Part 2

[alejandro_sk]

Originally Posted by martha-louise

Queen Astrid was on holiday in Küssnacht in Switserland with her husband. Leopold III was driving a cabriolet car and Astrid was sitting next to him. Nobody is really shure how the accident went, but they guess that Astrid had a map on her knees while she was pointing at a mountain. The king looked at the map and lost his sight on the road. He hit the border, the car went down to the lake. Astrid flew out the car against a tree, she was killed immediately. When the police and the ambulance came they first didn't realise it was the king and queen of Belgium. Afterwards the king wanted the car to be thrown in the lake, so today the car is still in the lake.

Thank you, Martha-louise!
How awful! Was the king hurt too?
Take care!
Alejandro

[Hannelore]

pics from Yezzz

Astrid & Leopold greet king Albert I and queen Elisabeth (Leopold's parents) in the railway station.



More pics

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

photos from le soir illustré and "Astrid ou le rêve fracassé".

1 & 2. portraits of Astrid
3. Leopold & Astrid with their first child Joséphine-Charlotte in the park of Laeken, with king Albert I looking on.

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

from "Astrid ou le rêve fracassé"



Astrid's arrival in Belgium, 1926. (Can you spot her in the crowd?)

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

2.at the wedding of prince Knud of Denmark

[Furienna]

Thank you for making this wonderful thread about a Swedish princess! What a pity that she had to die away from her little children like that!

[Furienna]

Yes, and back then, people didn't even use safety belts.

Check out this thread:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...lgium-153.html

[St. Ingo]

i was really happy that i have met the king and the queen of Sweden

on Öland in the royal cafe in 2000. they are sitting next to us and where really relaxed. quiet nice!

best regards
Ingo

[LOSSEAN]

She was so very beautiful. Thank you to people who contributed to this thread and helped me get acquinted with this beautiful princess. I would have to re-order my list of beautiful royal ladies and put her in my top three. Well maybe this is where Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg inherited her looks from.

[Furienna]

I don't know anything about Alexandra of Luxembourg, but I guess she's Astrid's granddaughter?

[irishchic5]

Originally Posted by Furienna

I don't know anything about Alexandra of Luxembourg, but I guess she's Astrid's granddaughter?

Great-granddaughter. Josephine-Charlotte was her daughter, which would make Henri her grandson. So his children, including Alexandra, are her great-grandchildren.

[queenofcelts]

This is wonderful thread...
and very sad story...

[auntie]

Very nice photos, which brings to mind that she wasn't a beauty in the classic sense of the word, but her personality, character and inner beauty shone from within! I think it is all from her mother Princess Ingeborg of Denmark who gave her and her siblings a good, happy uncomplicated upbringing.

[queenofcelts]

She had such incredible eyes...And I agree that she was rather charming than beautiful. I noticed that women of that time period had all smth in common. And it is not just haircuts or clothes..just some expression in face, in eyes...in whole how they looked. I can see smth in common in her with my great-grandmother. Though they lived so far away and were so different socially.

[Benjamin]

Video about the engagement & wedding of Princess Astrid of Sweden

YouTube - Queen Astrid of Belgium

[queenofcelts]

I think this video is precious! I really enjoed it- thanks for sharing!

[Furienna]

Yes, it was very nice!

[lucien]

It is 72 years to the day today since HM died in the accident in Switserland.The Royal crypt at Laeken will be open to the public today.

laeken

Courtesy Mardam's wonderfull site!

[Dennism]

Recently, I read a book written by Count Folke Bernadotte, world famous diplomat and member of Sweden's Royal Family. In one part, he mentioned that he went to Belgium for a conference in 1946. The subject of Astrid was then brought up:

"What I remember most about this journey is the way in
which the name of Queen Astrid is still so much alive
among the Belgian people. As a Swede, this gave me a
feeling of happiness and pride. I knew her very well
as a little girl in Sweden. I remember her as a very
shy and reserved young girl. It is quite amazing that
from the moment she came to her new country, she could
show such an unusual capacity for winning the hearts
of the Belgian people through her charm and kindness.
I, for my part, do not think it improbable that if she
had lived, she could, through her winning personality,
have prevented the Belgian royal problem from becoming
so acute and from reaching such a precarious state as
was the case. Queen Astrid was truly popular in the
best sense of the word. This young woman's deeds are
proof of what a person full of goodness and with a
genuine desire to do her best can accomplish. It is
also undoubtedly due to her that the Belgian people
think so highly of Sweden today. The Swedish people
have every reason to be very grateful to her for what
she has done: her services benefited not only the
Belgian people but also her own country."

From the book "Instead of Arms".

[Marengo]

Thanks for posting that, DennisM, a nice quote indeed. And even today she is still popular among the (older) Belgian royalty watchers. I remember seeing a woman on television once who had an entire room dedicated to Queen Astrid. And each year at the crypt people put flowers on the day she died.