Children of the Count and Countess of Flanders

[Marengo]

This thread is about the children of Prince Phillipe and Princess Maria of Belgium, Count and Countess of Flanders. The couple had two sons and three daughters:

- Prince Baudouin of Belgium, Duke of Brabant (1869-1891)
- Princess Henriette of Orleans, Duchess of Vendome (1870-1948)
- Princess Josephine of Belgium (1870-1871)
- Princess Josephine of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1872-1958)
- King Albert I of The Belgians (1875-1934)

We can discuss the first four and their descendants in this thread. The youngest one, King Albert I has his own thread, as do most of his descendants.

--
Note that all images posted in this thread by me are free of copyrights, unless stated differently. The TRF policy conserning copyrights has not changed

 

[Marengo]

Baudouin Leopold Philip Marie Charles Anton Joseph Louis (Brussels, 3 June 1869 - Brussels, 23 January 1891), Duke of Brabant and Prince of Belgium, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was the eldest son of Prince Phillipe, Count of Flanders and his wife Princess Maria of Hohenzollern and heir to the Belgian throne. His uncle, Leopold II didn´t think that Prince Phillipe, Count of Flanders would be a suitable heir as the count was almost deaf and of almost the same age as the King himself. After his own son, Leopold, died the King put his hopes on his nephew, prince Baudouin.

The young prince had a nice childhood at the palace of the coun of Flanders in the Regentschapstreer. He grew up together with his sisters and his brother but from a young age he was slowly prepared for his future role. Leopold´s youngest daughter Princess Clementine was passionately in love with her cousin Baudouin, as we know from correspondence between Clementine and her sister Stefanie of Austria. The newspapers even started speculating about a marriage between the two. Leopold thought his daughter would make a good Queen and the idea that his line would continue in the future within the Belgian RF was also appealing to him. Baudoin himself and his father the Count of Flanders had another opinion though. Baudouin sarcasticaly noted: ´Nothing is more cheerfull then a homely dinner at Laeken Castle...´ The Prince also complains about the smell of the dogs of his aunt, Queen Marie-Henriette. The young prince however was dutifull and seriously served in the army and he was very popular with the public. He admired the Congo dream of his uncle but he regretted that his uncle always had double intentions with him.

 

[Marengo]

About his personality there are different opinions. He was very populair with the public but after his death the newspapers slandered his name. His sister Henriette really creates an image of a saint about her brother, his mother, Princess Maria thinks he is too modest and not masculine enough. She writes on the occassion of a ball at court: ´Baudouin gets so little joy from all this,l which often pains me´. The young Baudouin was a Prince who was aware of his position as heir and looked upon his future with a sort of melancholy, as we see with more princes and princesses at the end of the 19th century.

In this period the royal family has to deal with a lot of drama´s. Princess Stefanie´s husband, Crownprince Rudolf of Austria commits suicide at Mayerling, Laeken Castle had a serious fire, Princess Carlota/Charlotte suffered from insanity etc. Baudouin was the hope of his entire family. Sadly the popular Prunce died of an ammonia. When his sister Henriette was very sick from influensa, followed by an ammonia, the young Prince kept praying in the cold corridors for his sisters recovery. Tragically this would mean his death. On January 17th he becomes sick himself and 5 days later, on January 22nd he got a bleeding in his kidney. The King kept the information from the press as henriette had just recovered and the docters failed to see how serious Baudouins situation was.

On january 23rd Queen Marie-Henriette had to tell her daughter Clementine about Baudouins death at 5 in the morning. Clementine writes to her sister Stefanie ´I thought I was turning mad, I quickly ran to mama and embraced her... later I could quietly cry´. Clementine, Leopold and the Flanders-family were terribly shocked and the public became suspicious. In the press stories started that referred to the Mayerling drama, another blow to Leopold. Baudouin was burried at January 29th in the Royal Crypt of Laeken.

In his newyears speech the King remembered his nephew ´Gentlemen, he would have been an exemplary king, he would have loved his country and made everybody happy. God decided otherwise however; he called an angel to him... let us honour the mystery of death´ His daughter Clementine burst out in tears when she heard her fathers speech but was reroached by her mother the Queen.


Here a picture of Baudouin and his sister Henriette:

 

[Marengo]

Princess Henriëtte Marie Charlotte Antoinette (Brussels, 30 November 1870 - Sierre Valais, Switzerland 29 March 1948) of Belgium, Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, first daughter and second child of Prince Phillipe, Count of Flanders and his wife Princess Maria of Maria van Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Princess Henriëtte was born in 1870 with her twinsister Josephine who died six weeks after her birth. Together with her younger sister, a second Josephine and her brothers Baudouin and Albert she enjoyed a happy childhood. But when her eldest brother died in 1891 she fell apart completely, but after a few months she recovered and could deal with his death. In 1896 she marrie Prince Emmanuel d'Orléans, Duke of Vendôme. Together they get four children:

- Princess Marie-Louise Fernande Charlotte Henriette d'Orléans (1896 - 1973)
- Princess Sophie d'Orléans (1898 - 1928), who was handicapped
- Princess Geneviève d'Orléans (1901 - 1983)
- PrinceCharles-Phillipe Emmanuel Ferdinand Louis d'Orléans (1905- 1970).

The lifestyle of the Duke and Duchess of Vendôme was truly royal, they owned beautiful properties in Belgium, Paris, the Cote d´Azur and Switzerland. But after the first World War the Vendômes see that their fortune is steadily getting less and less. They are forced to sell several of their properties. in 1931 her husband Emmanuel dies totally unexpected. He suffered from a mild cold but suddenly got a heart attack. In 1948 it is Henriëtte who is hospitalized in Sierre, Switzerland where she dies quietly on March 28.

Princess Joséphine Marie Stéphanie Victoire (Brussels 30 November 1870- Brussels 18 January 1871) of Belgium, Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was the second daughter of the Count ansd Countess of Flanders and the twinsister of Princess Henriette. She died however a few months after her birth.

 

[Marengo]

Princess Joséphine Marie Stéphanie Victoire (Brussels 30 November 1870- Brussels 18 January 1871) of Belgium, Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was the second daughter of the Count ansd Countess of Flanders and the twinsister of Princess Henriette. She died however a few months after her birth.

 

[Marengo]

Josephine Carola Marie Albertine (Brussels, 18 October 1872 – Namur, 6 January 1958) of Belgium, Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was the youngest daughter of Prince Phillipe, Count of Flanders and Princess Maria of Hohenzollern. On May 28th 1894 she marries her cousin, Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern. The couple got four children:

- Princess Stefanie Josephine Karola Philippine Leopoldine Marie (1895-1975)
- Princess Marie-Antoinette Wilhelmine Auguste Viktoria (1896-1965)
- Prince Albrecht-Ludwig Leopold Tassilo (1898-1977)
- Princess Henriëtte Leopoldine Wilhelmine (1907-1907), who dies 3 months after her birth

On August 6th 1935, 16 years after the death of her husband, Josephine enters a copnvent of the Benedict nuns in Namur. In 1958 she died there as Sister Marie-Josephe.

 

[Marengo]

A picture of Henriette and her family (left) and of Josephine and her family (right):

 

[Marengo]

King Albert I Leopold Clemens Marie Meinrad of the Belgians (Brussels 8 Apr 1875-d.in mountaineering accident at Marche-les-Dames 17 Feb 1934). King Albert I has his own TRF thread, which can be found here. He was the 5th and last child of Prince Philip, Count of Flanders and Princess Maria of Hohenzollern.

 

[Marengo]

Here a picture of Princess Maria of Belgium with her four surviving children:

 

[Empress]

Wow! What fantastic photos. It makes me want to read more about them, since they are always so stoical in this era of photos. You really can not infer anything about them.

Do you happen to know what LLAARR stands for that is on some of the photos?

 

[Marengo]

Leur Altesses Royales probably. Their Royal Highnesses, when they use the plural they double the initials. In Dutch it is the same, HHKKHH, I am not sure about english though, but I believe in German they style it this way too.

Personally I can´t recall any books dealing with strickly these royals. Maybe there is one in French or Dutch but I never heard about it. There is however a nice overview about the Belgian Royals which was written by Theo Aronson, called ´The Coburgs of Belgium´, it focusses more n the ´main´ royals but these also get some attention. The book should be available online somewhere...

 

[leomichel]

Wow! What fantastic photos. It makes me want to read more about them, since they are always so stoical in this era of photos. You really can not infer anything about them.

Do you happen to know what LLAARR stands for that is on some of the photos?

You might want to consider this (in french):



Amazon.fr*: Henriette : Duchesse de Vendôme: Livres: Dominique Paoli

The author, Dominique Paoli, is a very good historian, specialized in the history of the House of Orleans and of the Belgian royal family. The book is good, but not, by far, her best, as the subject is rather thin: yes, Henriette was the king's sister, yes, she married (her cousin) royally and...well, she did not do anything in particular, she entertained as lavishly as the social mores, her royal duty and an enviable wealth made it possible, and then, when the family's wealth began to crumble, had to live on a much smaller scale (nothing to cry about, however).

So, I had the strange feeling, while reading this book a few years ago, that, while it was interesting, the subject was not "worthy" of the author's time: a perfectly esteemable royal lady, without much to arouse interest.

 

[grandlordbenji16]

the countess of flanders was reported to be deeply religious and try to keen her as much as away from the sexual deviant leopold ii and instruct her children good morality of their position as princess and brought them to forever being thankfull to god for their privileges of birth it was this religious structure that makes her son a great belgian king , transformed her daughter from widow to nun

 

[CyrilVladisla]

The baptism of Prince Baudouin occurred June 26, 1869.
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-ba...que-le-26-juin-1869-janet-image217697382.html

 

[Mbruno]

Wow! What fantastic photos. It makes me want to read more about them, since they are always so stoical in this era of photos. You really can not infer anything about them.

Do you happen to know what LLAARR stands for that is on some of the photos?

I suppose it means "Leurs Altesses Royales" (Their Royal Highnesses, or TRH in English).

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Regarding the death of Prince Baudouin, the Belgian royal family very narrowly escaped extinction at the time. If the Count and Countess of Flanders had not had a second son, or if Albert too had died, the line of succession would have ended with the Count. Hypothetically, who would have, in accordance with the Constitution, been selected by the two houses of Parliament to succeed him if that had occurred?

Baudouin Leopold Philip Marie Charles Anton Joseph Louis (Brussels, 3 June 1869 - Brussels, 23 January 1891), Duke of Brabant and Prince of Belgium, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Interestingly, despite having been the future King of the Belgians (had he lived), Prince Baudouin never became Duke of Brabant (the title was reserved for the oldest son or grandson of the King) or even Prince Baudouin of Belgium (he and his siblings were addressed as merely Prince Baudouin, Princess Henriette ...). His death certificate mentioning only "German" titles provoked the king and government to issue a royal decree two months after to bestow the title of Prince and Princess of Belgium on the royal family.

 

[maria-olivia]

King Albert asked Prince Leopold to give his first born Son the surname of his beloved Brother Baudouin.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Photographs and postcards of Princess Henriette of Belgium