King Baudouin (1930-1993) and Queen Fabiola (1928-2014) of the Belgians


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Welcome to the thread about King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of the Belgians.


200px-Dual_Cypher_of_King_Baudouin_and_Queen_Fabiola_of_the_Belgians.svg.png



This thread has been started after the death of Queen Fabiola in December 2014.

You can find the previous thread here.
 
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I just wonder what will happen with the employees of Fabiola? Will they "move" to other members of the BRF or are they now out-of-work?
 
Knowing Queen Fabiola's character she probably made some type of provision for them in her will. Her chief lady-in-waiting Antoinette had allegedly been with her for forty years!
 
Historian Anne Morelli -of the Université Libre de Bruxelles- wrote a book about Baudouin and Fabiola and their relationship with the Spanish fascist disctator Fanco. After extensive archive research she concludes that Fabiola was a puppet of Franco.

For her research Morelli had access to the private archives of Franco and to the archives of the palace in Madrid. Letters and telegrams show a much greater affection for Franco than has been assumed until now. 'Baudouin and Fabiola were close friends of Franco, they saw him as a soulmate'. She also states that the wedding of Fabiola fitted in the foreign policy of Franco in that time, as he wanted to move closer to 'Europe'. Baudouin had a good understanding with Franco even before he met Fabiola. From 1951 there were letters going back and forth, though they became more frequent and more personal after Baudouins wedding to Fabiola. The couple was usually pampared when they visited Spain. Once they even congratulated Farnco on a jubilee of his regime. They also prayed for him and expressed wishes for the greatness of Spain.

The book will be available on 3 March.

Dutch article from royalty-online : Koningin Fabiola had hechte band met Franco - Royalty Online
 
On itself nothing new. It has always been known that the Spanish aristocracy was supportive of Franco and his restoration of the monarchy.

An uncle of Don Jaime de Marichalar, General Don José María Sáenz de Tejada y Fernández de Bobadilla even was the highest commander of the Spanish armed forces (Jefe del Estado Mayor de la Defensa), without doubt responsible for acts by the military and the Guardia Civil. This family background did not prevent the King's daughter, the Infanta Doña Elena, to marry that general's nephew....

It is only natural that Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón had a natural preference for the Franco government.
 
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I agree that it is easy to understand why the Spanish aristocracy would support the fascist dictatorship, but that doesn't make it 'right'. Especially so long after WWII. Fascism is not a genetic preferance. That Fabiola and her husband were supporting such a regime -responsible for 35.000 deaths- is rather disappointing.

The difference between Jaime de Marichilar and Q. Fabiola is that Don Jaime is not accountable for his uncle's actions.

I did not read the book so I do not know what the author found exactly, but it seems that the letters from before 1961 were normal ones that would be sent by most Western European governments. Only in the late 50-ties/60-ties public opninion would move more vocally against relations with right wing dictatorships such as in Spain, Portugal and Greece (and Argentina and Chili).
 
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This is not fair !
Anne Morelli , a very clever lady is absolutely unroyalist since ever.
 
I am sure we can see the same style of letters from other heads of states to Honecker, Ceaucescu, Pinochet or Videla, sending them the best wishes, etc.

Like Charles and Camilla accepting lavish gifts by rulers from countries where people are whipped or even beheaded for expressing their opinion... It is impossible to maintain the purest and spotless hands when being head of state for decades.
 
Apparently Anne Morelli worked on the topic for years as in 2012 already some findings were mentioned in the press. Although she is considered very left leaning that does not need to discredit her findings perse.

I have not read the book so I do not know what sources and interpretations exactly she used to reach her conclusions. But the conclusion is that there was a friendship and that they were even soul mates. So not just a cordial relation. That is much more than normal diplomatic relations that countries have with dictatorships. Note that historic conclusions usually tend to be much more balanced than the few catchy sentenses that make it to the press, so it would not be surprising that the conclusions of Morelli aren't as black & white as they seem are reported to be.

Of course Franco in 1961 would be less problematic than Franco in 1975. And by the end the regimes in Greece and Portugal were considered more problematic than the regime in Spain. Still, B&F supposedly supported Franco -responsible for approx. 35.000 deaths- until the bitter end.

It will be interesting to read how other Belgian IR historians will judge the work. I haven't found anything so far.

It will make an interesting read at least:
bol.com | Fabiola en Franco, Anne Morelli | 9789462670211 | Boeken
 
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I am Basque and I heard from my mother/grandmother that Fabiola had ancestors in Getaria and Zarautz, two towns in the same region I am from (Gipuzkoa), her family was amongst the first that supported Cristobal Balenciaga (the greatest Spanish designer of all time, Basque as well, his museum is in Getaria) and that's why he designed her wedding dress.

She and Baudouin spent a lot of time in Zarautz at the early years of their marriage, it is close enough to my hometown (San Sebastian-Donostia) to socialize with Franco (who spent his summers in the Aiete palace, it was his official residence during August and had State Council meetings there) and the Duchess of Alba (who had a beautiful place there, the Arbaizenea palace, now in the hands of her youngest son, Cayetano).

Fabiola had her first communion in San Sebastian, there's a plaque in the church mentioning the event, it is very faded now but in Franquist times it was a pilgrimage place, I remember they took us girls to see it (I was born in 1969 so I caught the latest years of the regime as a child) in a school tour of our city.

Also, there's a street in a Gipuzkoan town called Irun named after her, "Reina Fabiola Kalea"

Once ETA started spreading through the region, Fabiola and Baudouin decided to move their holidays to Motril, that was in the twilight years of Franco, where he barely had any kind of social life so they didn't meet often but it was widely known that they had a very good relationship with the Franco family and met often.

There was an issue with a tiara that Franco gave Fabiola for her wedding, which ended up being false but it didn't stop her and Baudouin to have a great relationship with him, his wife and rest of their family.
 
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Rare 16 mm silent film which was narrowly saved from destruction.

There once was a young man who exactly resembled young King Baudouin of the Belgians and this is what happened next...

21 November 1951 a small group of students is about to be talked about in the whole of Belgium. They rent a limousine and driver and distribute the roles of palace ministers, officers, King, and so on... Their target is none other than the Institute d'Heverlee, Sacred Heart - as the saying goes home of "eleven thousand virgins." There they will be welcomed with open arms by a community of Sisters and the "King" will shamelessly visit the institute only to be discovered by a suspicious Bishop to end this epic student prank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty8ukkq4rXA
 
Baudouin & Fabiola blog down due to my mix-up in hosting situation, but got it sorted and waiting for Network Solutions to redeploy the site.

I got the Baudouin book Discourse to the Nation and it's a beautiful book. I recommend this book if you're interested in this couple.
 
I wanted to talk about the recent news released about Cardinal Danneels trying to influence King Baudouin to sign the abortion legislation in 1990.

Article

This is not about the topic of abortion and whether it's right or wrong. What I'm interested in is the (in my opinion) very wrong notion that during his lifetime various people or entities had major influence and sway over King Baudouin's actions and beliefs.

At various times, there were people saying he was under the influence of Sister Veronica O'Brien, Cardinal Suenens, Cardinal Danneels, Liliane de Rethy, his father, Fabiola, the Catholic church and the Roman Catholic Charismatic movement.

I have always seen something completely different than the folks who talk of him being easily swayed. I found him to be quite rigid and solid in his beliefs and actions. He was very deliberate in everything down to how he comported himself physically and his gate.

Perhaps I bring something to the table that others do not see? This is a possibility, and that's why I wanted to start this discussion, if it is of interest to other Baudouin/Fabiola followers.

No doubt Leopold had a strong influence on Baudouin and especially around the abdication and first few years. However, I see beginning with his 1955 trip to the Congo and peaking during his 1959 tour of the USA a blossoming of his self esteem and confidence. More confidence than self esteem.

Then, we come to the time of his looking for a wife. He did not allow himself to be influenced by his grandmother Elizabeth or others into marrying any of the numerous available Princesses of Europe. And, with just about every issue, the tabloids had him associated with different various princesses. He wanted a deeply religious woman and preferably of Spanish heritage and he was firmly set on this. When the opportunity presented itself, he told Suenens about his dilemma of finding a suitable wife. He was absolutely not willing to compromise his standards. The church assisted with networking to bring about an introduction to Fabiola, and I have little doubt that if they had not had the chemistry, he would have kept looking.

Important to point out here is that Leopold and Liliane had absolutely NO IDEA of his engagement. They learned at the same time the country learned about the engagement of the King. He was his own man and kept mainly his own confidence, with the help of Cardinal Suenens and Sister Veronica, who both acted as sort of spiritual mentors or a spiritual director - some may know the full meaning of that term.

Then we enter the phase when people think Fabiola had control of Baudouin - again, I think this is a major deception. While it is said that Liliane and Fabiola took a disliking to one another virtually immediately, I believe it was Baudouin who was most rigid about his dislike of how things developed between the two couples (Liliane/Leopold and Baudouin/Fabiola). After Liliane took all the furniture out of the palace and Baudouin/Fabiola returned from their honeymoon to empty rooms, Baudouin had little to no contact with his father and step-mother.

There are many other stories that I believe show Baudouin's quite stubborn streak in being fairly immune to influence when he had his mind set on something, but nothing shows this as clearly as the abortion issue.

So, it seems now that Danneels tried to convince the King to give royal assent to the liberalization bill. I have even read a bit here and there that even Fabiola, while not speaking to the right or wrong, did remind Baudouin of his constitutional responsibility of providing assent. I do not, however, know if this is true or not of Fabiola's role. But this neither here nor there. The article is about Danneels. No matter what you think of the actual issue, it is a very clear illustration of the strength of character which King Baudouin drew on in dealing with the abortion question.

I believe I read somewhere that he said something like 'how can I face my God knowing that I helped in the destruction of his creation.'

Again, this discussion is not about the issue itself, but about the concept that has always been thrown around about Baudouin that he was easily influenced by various people or organizations (the church) during his lifetime.

I believe this to be quite false and I find him very set in his beliefs and practices.

Any thoughts on this?
 
Hi Laura,

RE: the notorious furniture incident where the Princess de Rethy is alleged to have cleared Laeken, Fabiola's biographer Guy Michelland says that rumors of animosity between the two couples was exaggerated. When Fabiola was pregnant with her first child in 1961, Liliane sent over an exquisite layette set to Laeken according to the book La Reine Blanche.

But clearly, the relationship between Baudouin and Liliane changed drastically after the wedding.:sad:

No, I have never believed that King Baudouin was a puppet with the pope, the Cardinal and the queen pulling his strings. He was a very stubborn man even when he was very young. Especially after his wedding when his self-confidence blossomed he could not swayed when he was set on a course.
 
According to former prime minister Viscount Gaston Eyskens, cardinal Danneels actually tried to influence the king the other way, namely to sign the abortion bill. The king obviously did not listen and refused to do his democratic duty.

Olivier Defrance, a historian who publishes books at lannoo publishing house, is doing research for a book about the rift between Argenteuil and Laeken. He claims to have found papers that show that it was Laeken who actually initiated the rift, shortly after Fabiola's arrival on the scene. King Leopold thought that cardinal Suenens had played a large role in this rift (as did the women) and always tried to evade meeting Suenens, whom he disliked immensely.

It is also clear that Baudouin surrounded himself with ultra catholic french speaking courtiers and priests. Being surrounded by such a group for decades must have influenced him. This already happened early in his reign when he was young, impressionable, naive, vulnerable and lonely. They also selected his wife for him. It seems that of the two Fabiola was the less devout one; she seldom disagreed with her husbands choices (apart from the time when he wanted her to abort a pregnancy and she refused).
 
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King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola has to shorten their honeymoon because of the political situation in Belgium.

Princess Lilian who started to cleared laeken during their honey moon had her plans shortened too.

It was said a lot of things , Baudouin and Fabiola had to order a bed in a well known shop because there was to furniture at all?

The engagement of Baudouin was in September 1960 , his wedding december. Dona Fabiola did her Joyeuses Entrées in the belgian most important cities and they was not a lot of time to arrange two royal glittering Events (the very last ones) , the Civil Wedding in the salle du Trône and the religious Wedding in the Cathedral.
Princess Lilian gave Fabiola a brooch she wore for her Joyeuse Entrée in Brussels and then no never more.

During these 3 Months the relationship between Baudouin and Leopold III was normal. The only incident wad that the day of the wedding Dona Fabiola's Mother and Princess Lilian wore the same color dresses and same material !

It was when they came back from their honeymoon that all changed : Fabiola against Lilian.

I don't remember if for the christenings of Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent , King Leopold III and Lilian attended?

I met Olivier Defrance , he is for the moment one of our best french speaking historian.
 
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Marengo - It's my understanding that the church absolutely did NOT select a wife for him. They selected a suitable young woman to his specifications (spanish and religious) whom he could MEET. He didn't blindly go into the marriage because the church told him to.

I do not see what you see when looking at the same set of facts. But then again that's what makes us special is our own particular points of view.
 
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The life of the deceased King of the Belgians Baudouin will be captured in a film.

VTM television network announced that two French film producers are making a movie of the life of King Baudouin I of the Belgians.

French actor Pierre Niney, who was awarded a César this year, considered the Gallic Oscar, for his role in the film about the fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent, has already been selected to play Baudouin.

Casting followed by filming will take place next year.
 
Awesome, I've always felt his life would make a heckuva movie! I hope they don't go the sleaze/innuendo route over his relationship with his step-mother Liliane Princesse de Rethy.:cool:

I think it's interesting that they waited until Queen Fabiola's death to attempt this, which leads me to believe it will indeed include material that she would not have approved of. I wonder who they will cast to play her?

THANKS for the heads up, Laura!;)
 
It will be very interesting movie and agree with the Moonmaiden23 do not going only to the gossips.
 
His refusal is exactly what makes him different than all the other royals who just blindly sign anything and everything put in front of them. For many, that's what makes the man great, not a scoundrel.
 
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