(Belgian) Congo and the Belgian Royal Family


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This is a start for progress - Philippe is apparently the only head of state in Europe who has acknowledged their colonial pasts and apologised for them.
To my knowledge King Willem-Alexander offered apologies for the Dutch occupation of Indonesia while on a state visit to the country a few years ago
 
This is a start for progress - Philippe is apparently the only head of state in Europe who has acknowledged their colonial pasts and apologised for them.

Well, to be fair, a lot of the criticism has come from the Congolese community themselves and they have every right to want some sort of recognition to how brutally they were treated under colonial rule. I'm pretty sure that if your community had gone through an atrocity, you'd want some kind of reparations.
King Philippe did not yet apologize. He 'only' expressed his 'deepest regret' (which is considered a weaker form as it apparently doesn't have legal consequences as it doesn't admit wrongdoing).

In addition, Filip's family's relation to the cruelties are a lot more direct: Congo Free State was privately ruled by his forefather - unlike other colonies that were ruled by foreign powers.

To my knowledge King Willem-Alexander offered apologies for the Dutch occupation of Indonesia while on a state visit to the country a few years ago
Exactly. I guess March 2020 feels like years ago with the pandemic going on ;) His mother already wanted to do so in the 90's but at that point it was considered too political (and especially painful for the many veterans who had fought to keep Indonesia - nowadays there aren't that many left), so, just like Philippe 26 years later, she expressed her regret ("it makes us very sad...").

Nonetheless, it's great that Philippe follows his neighbor's example (the hope that others would follow Willem-Alexander's example was expressed in for example this article) and made an important first step in acknowledging the past with the deepest regret - even though he started that same paragraph by referencing a history of 'shared/common achievements' that had painful episodes... While, it mainly was Belgium enjoying the achievements and Congo living through the painful episodes. Nonetheless, it was very different from the way his uncle talked about Congo's colonial past.
 
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King Philippe did not yet apologize. He 'only' expressed his 'deepest regret' (which is considered a weaker form as it apparently doesn't have legal consequences as it doesn't admit wrongdoing).

In addition, Filip's family's relation to the cruelties are a lot more direct: Congo Free State was privately ruled by his forefather - unlike other colonies that were ruled by foreign powers.


Exactly. I guess March 2020 feels like years ago with the pandemic going on ;) His mother already wanted to do so in the 90's but at that point it was considered too political (and especially painful for the many veterans who had fought to keep Indonesia - nowadays there aren't that many left), so, just like Philippe 26 years later, she expressed her regret ("it makes us very sad...").

Nonetheless, it's great that Philippe follows his neighbor's example (the hope that others would follow Willem-Alexander's example was expressed in for example this article) and made an important first step in acknowledging the past with the deepest regret - even though he started that same paragraph by referencing a history of 'shared/common achievements' that had painful episodes... While, it mainly was Belgium enjoying the achievements and Congo living through the painful episodes. Nonetheless, it was very different from the way his uncle talked about Congo's colonial past.


Congo and neighboring Ruanda and Burundi became independent about 10-11 years after King Baudouin was enthroned, so I suppose it was rather personal to him. At that time, those territories were colonies of the Belgian state and no longer the King's personal property as was the case under Leopold II, but, still, Baudouin was their sovereign at least for a decade or so.



Still I am curious: how did Philippe's uncle talk about Congo's colonial past?
 
Congo and neighboring Ruanda and Burundi became independent about 10-11 years after King Baudouin was enthroned, so I suppose it was rather personal to him. At that time, those territories were colonies of the Belgian state and no longer the King's personal property as was the case under Leopold II, but, still, Baudouin was their sovereign at least for a decade or so.



Still I am curious: how did Philippe's uncle talk about Congo's colonial past?

Sixty years ago, "King Baudouin, representing Belgium, gave the first speech in which he praised the "genius" of his ancestor, King Leopold II, who began the colonisation of the Congo on his own initiative in the 1880s. Baudouin depicted the end of colonial rule in the Congo as the culmination of the Belgian "civilising mission" and spoke of the close relations he hoped would be maintained between the two countries.[12] The thousands of Congolese listening via loudspeakers outside the Palais were infuriated." -Wikipedia
 
Sixty years ago, "King Baudouin, representing Belgium, gave the first speech in which he praised the "genius" of his ancestor, King Leopold II, who began the colonisation of the Congo on his own initiative in the 1880s. Baudouin depicted the end of colonial rule in the Congo as the culmination of the Belgian "civilising mission" and spoke of the close relations he hoped would be maintained between the two countries.[12] The thousands of Congolese listening via loudspeakers outside the Palais were infuriated." -Wikipedia

I could not find this quote in the Wikipedia article on King Baudouin and therefore cannot identify "[12]". Could you clarify who it refers to?

Based on this quotation alone, I cannot tell if the quote "civilising mission" represents the king's speech or the writer's own interpretation of the king's speech, or how it became evident that thousands of listeners were infuriated.
 
I could not find this quote in the Wikipedia article on King Baudouin and therefore cannot identify "[12]". Could you clarify who it refers to?

Based on this quotation alone, I cannot tell if the quote "civilising mission" represents the king's speech or the writer's own interpretation of the king's speech, or how it became evident that thousands of listeners were infuriated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congolese_Independence_Speech#Background_and_context

Edit: I moved the rest of my reply (and the link to his speech) to King Baudouin's thread so as not to drag Philippe's thread off-topic. https://www.theroyalforums.com/foru...014-of-the-belgians-38146-12.html#post2323645
 
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Good Gracious, if the current King would say things like that today he would be crucified...!
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congolese_Independence_Speech#Background_and_context

I would think that Baudouin's speech and the lukewarm-at-best reaction has been public record for decades at this point. "Genius" is very much what he said.

Edit: "“Belgium has sent to your land the best of his sons. […] When Leopold II started the great work that finds its crowning today, he did not come to you as a conqueror, but rather as a civilizer”

Edit 2: The whole speech, in French and Google Translate. It would probably have been passable if patronizing, if he had not felt the need to praise Leopold and the Force Publique.
https://translate.google.com/transl.../discours-du-roi-baudouin&prev=search&pto=aue

Thanks! The transcript is precisely what I was searching for.

Has it been confirmed whether King Philippe's statement of regret came out of his own wishes or the wishes of the Government (although I am sure both parties consented to it)?


Since when is King Philippe of The Belgians a descendant of King Leopold II? Am I forgetting something?

He is not, but they are both descendants of King Leopold I.



Sometimes, people use the word "ancestor" to mean a family connection that is broader than direct descent. [...]

Yes, as discussed here (regarding a different issue), Belgian law includes the specific term "direct descendant" for people who descend one from the other, meaning that the less specific term "descendant" technically has a more general application.
 
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On the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independance King Philippe expresses his deepest regrets of the Belgian wrongdoing in Congo’s history in a letter to the Congolese president.
It is the first time a Belgian King adresses the acts during Belgium’s colonial past.
Koning Filip betuigt "diepste spij...VRT NWS: nieuws https://vrtnws.be/p.3kOxjy1wJ
https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/...grets-pour-les-blessures-du-passe?id=10532781

Is this apology a personal initiative of The King or does it have to be sanctioned by the Belgium Government?

I'm unsure of the constitutional rules in Belgium. I do know that something like this could only happen in the UK at the suggestion of the government.
 
The King was the only one wo could do it.
Now I hope Congo's Head of State will answer...
 
Is this apology a personal initiative of The King or does it have to be sanctioned by the Belgium Government?

I'm unsure of the constitutional rules in Belgium. I do know that something like this could only happen in the UK at the suggestion of the government.




The only written provisions in the Constitution about ministerial responsibility for the acts of the King, which are actually stronger than in the UK, are:


Art. 88. La personne du Roi est inviolable; ses ministres sont responsables.
[...]



Art. 106. Aucun acte du Roi ne peut avoir d'effet, s'il n'est contresigné par un ministre, qui, par cela seul, s'en rend responsable.
There are no explicit provisions about oral or non-official statements by the King (Art. 106 applies basically to royal decrees and orders), but I would assume the King would not have made a statement like that without first consulting the government, especially the foreign minister and the prime minister. What I really don't know is if the government advised him to make the statement, or if he decided to do it on his own initiative, but cleared it with the government first. Perhaps someone who lives in Belgium may have additional information.
 
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To my knowledge King Willem-Alexander offered apologies for the Dutch occupation of Indonesia while on a state visit to the country a few years ago

Thanks, I must've missed that.
 
To my knowledge King Willem-Alexander offered apologies for the Dutch occupation of Indonesia while on a state visit to the country a few years ago

French presidents offered apologies for the conquest of Algeria as well.
 
Visit of King Baudouin to Congo in 1955.

 
After that Visit the King changed , he was impressed how he was loved !
 
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