Princess Lea and the Late Prince Alexandre of Belgium

[mybags]

Gala Benefit in Aid of Cancer Relief, Versailles, France. Princess Lea of Belgium

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=52091728&cdi=0

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=52091823&cdi=0

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=52091807&cdi=0

 

[Hannelore]

Did you know that...

... In 2003 Lea Wolman received the golden cross of the Agrupación Español de Fomento Europeo in Barcelona, for her dedication to humanitary projects in El Salvador.

 

[Hannelore]

Lea in 1999 with Laurent at the 65th birthday party of king Albert II

 

[Hannelore]

Lea at the funeral of grandduchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxemburg.

 

[Hannelore]

Prinzessin weiht neue Straße ein
Herbesthal




Die Gemeinde Lontzen weiht am Sonntag, dem 8. Mai, die König-LeopoldIII-Straße offiziell ein. Die neue Straße befindet sich in einer Parzellierung, in der bereits einige Häuser gebaut worden sind. Um das Straßenschild würdig einzuweihen, wartete man den 60. Jahrestag des Kriegsendes ab. Das belgische Königshaus wird anlässlich dieser Zeremonie durch Prinzessin Alexandre von Belgien - Tochter aus zweiter Ehe von König Leopold III. mit Prinzessin Lilian de Réthy - vertreten sein.

Um 11 Uhr geht es vom Gemeindehaus Herbesthal zur König-Leopold III-Straße. Nach der kurzen offiziellen Einweihung vor Ort wird ein Umtrunk im Gemeindehaus stattfinden.

 

[Beate]

Prince Alexandre seems to be the most unknown member of the Royal Family. I am wondering if there are photos of when he was a baby, child, teenager and such?

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Léa together with Laurent & Claire at the opening of a space for animals in a hospital in Brussels.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

recent photos of Alexandre and Léa, at their home (a large villa in Sint-Genesius-Rode - close to Brussels)

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Prince Alexandre seems to be the most unknown member of the Royal Family. I am wondering if there are photos of when he was a baby, child, teenager and such?

Yes those photos exist, but they're realted to a very negative time in Belgian history (the war, the wrong choices of king Leopold III, Lilian, exile, the royal question that nearly caused a civil war), so that's why they don't show up very often anymore...

Prince Alexandre has chosen a very discreet life, that's why we hardly ever see photos of him. His wife does a lot of charity and is often seen at parties of the aristocracy - never with her husband, who seems to dislike these kind of events.

 

[irishchic5]

Prince Alexandre seems to be the most unknown member of the Royal Family. I am wondering if there are photos of when he was a baby, child, teenager and such?

If you look under the Princess Lillian thread, there are lots of pics of Alexandre, Marie-Christine and Marie-Esmerelda as babies and children

 

[Hannelore]

Prince Alexandre and his wife Lea organized a succesfull charity gala (the benefits went to the battle against aids) at the Hotel Astoria in Brussels. VTM

In the first pic you can see Alexandre with his cousin, princess Marie Gabrielle di Savoia

 

[auntie]

Very interesting! Do Prince Alexandre's children have titles? What does the prince and family do in terms of making a living? Are they on the civil list in Belgium as far as income? Princess Lea classy and nice, Princess Lilian must have been a real hard nut not to have approved of her!

 

[Hannelore]

1. Alexandre doesn't have any children. Lea has two children from two former marriages. Even if Alexandre would have had kids, they woudn't have had a title, he isn't in the line of succession either BTW.

2. Lea comes from a family that made a lot of money in real estate (but not a known family or anything). Alexandre, after a youth of wild parties and uselessness in the end calmed dow and worked for BMW (or Mercedes or another brand of the same type...don't know it anymore).

3. With both Leopold III and Lilian deceased, they also inherited a very large sum. But no-one in the RF is poor of course.

4. Lilian didn't approve of anyone she wasn't able to pick herself, certainly not if they weren't noble / royal (not that she was herself )

 

[auntie]

Thanks, Hannelore. You seem to know alot about the RF in Belgium, livivng there of course, let me ask you, what is the story with King Leopolds involvement with the Nazi in World War II, is there any truth to it?! Was Queen Astrid so perfect, or is she remembered so b/c she died a tragic death?

 

[martha-louise]

At WWII king Leopold decided to capitulate after 18 days of war. He wanted to stay in Belgium to be close to his soldiers. This was against the will of the gouvernment, who decided to go to England and get part of the Allies. From then they had a separated politic. Leopold said he wanted the best for his soldiers, so he met - by the help of his german mother queen Elisabeth - Hitler at Berchtesgaden. Leopold says in his memoires that he wanted to ask Hitler for concessions for the Belgian people. Others say that he just thougt of himself and asked Hitler to stay king in the Third Reich, so in fact collaborating.

 

[martha-louise]

During the war, the news came that Leopold III was married. This was a big shock for the soldiers who were captured by the Germans. The king said he was held in captivity in Laeken, but clearly he had the time and freedom for a romance. This was in big contrast with the conditions of the Belgian prisonners.
Because he followed his own policy, different from that of the gouvernment, eg the meeting with Hitler, and this love-affair it was unpossible to return to Belgium. That episode is called the 'Royal Question'. It lasted till '50 when Baudouin became Royal Prince, in '51 Leopold stepped aside for his 21 year old son who had to become king.

 

[Marengo]

Wasn't prince Karel a regent (or something of the sort) between 45-50?

I thought that Leopold especially received help (to meet Hitler) from his sister Marie-Jose, who was the crownprincess of Italy.

Dispite this all allied royals never blamed him for anything I believe. Queen Wilhelmina stayed fond of him (which was rather special for her to be) and Queen Elizabeth II even paid him a personal visit when she was in Belgium on a statevisit.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Yes, the time when Leopold was in exile his brother, prince Charles/Karel was the regent.

This entire royal question is a very complicated affaire. Leopold arranged to meet Hitler to talk about the fate of the Belgian soldiers and the fate of Belgium in the "third reich". The latter can of course be interpreted as positive or negative.

It's especially the fact that he married again during the war, and the person he married, that caused a lot of extra problems.

 

[auntie]

h'm, thanks for the answer. Where were his children all this time? with him in exile or in Belgium?

 

[Marengo]

thanks Catherine.There must have been more men during the war who married, so I never saw the problem. The meeting with Hitler was for a noble cause indeed, so I didn't see the problem with that either. The character of Lilian was not know directly after the war, was it? Or was the problem that Lilian was a commoner? Anyway, a sad turn of events for the King and his family.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Those other men who married weren't the king...During the war photocards of Leopold III were distributed saying "I share your fate" to Belgian prisoners of war in Germany. The image existed of the lonely king-widower who stayed behind in Belgium to be with his people, while the government had fled to London. But that image was shattered by this marriage : apparently he had time to go out and meet women. They went on honeymoon to Switzerland, which didn't cause too much joy in Belgium either...

For a lot of people Astrid was simply irreplacable. Lilian being a commoner was perceived very negative, she came from a very modest family that had been able to climb up the social ladder and were obsessed by getting on further. And her father was known under a negative light as well. He was the governor of a Flemish province. When the war broke out, he was supposed to stay there and take care of things, but immediately fled to France with his family. He was prosecuted for this, but the charges were dropped...

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Princess Léa and her daughter Laetitia at the 'Action Grecque en Afrique' gala in Paris, 15th Nov. 2005.

Picturedesk

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Young prince Alexandre with his half brothers king Baudouin and prince Albert

(le soir illustré)

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Princess Lea and prince Alexandre - signing his book about Argenteuil

VTM

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Young prince Alexandre (Story, APL)

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Léa Wolman posing in front of queen Fabiola's wedding dress, at the exposition "Mona Bismarck, Cristobal Balenciaga: a shared perfection" in Paris. (point de vue)

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

At the thousand and one nights gala in Versailles, a charity night for the Vie-Espoir Association against cancer.

with Charles Aznavour

(Eventail)

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

The gala night of CARE at the Astoria hotel in Brussels.

Mrs Réginald de Meester de Betzenbroeck, Mr Claude Fontaine, Léa Wolman and Mathy Kandiyoti.
(Eventail)

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Léa Wolman (here with Maître Tajan) at the Romanian charity gala, hosted by princess Margarita of Romania at the Théâtre National in Brussels (Eventail)

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Edouard Vermeulen, designer of the couture house Natan hosted a charity at his villa "Rozenhout" near Mechelen, to help Action Innocence, founded by Valérie Wertheimer in 1999 to fight against child pornography on the internet.

Princess Léa was present.
(point de vue)