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

[An Ard Ri]

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





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

You can find the previous thread here.

[Tatiana Maria]

An interview with Queen Fabiola's confessor.

Benoît Lobet: "J'ai tutoyé Fabiola et lui ai donné l'onction des malades" - RTBF Societe

[principessa]

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?

[Moonmaiden23]

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!

[melina premiere]

Thank you Episcopal for the video.

[episcogal]

Welcome, my friend.

[episcogal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGQgZ4ykBCg

[Marengo]

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

[Duc_et_Pair]

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.

[Marengo]

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).

[maria-olivia]

This is not fair !
Anne Morelli , a very clever lady is absolutely unroyalist since ever.

[Biri]

Testimonies about the Royal Couple from www.santiebeati.it :


Baldovino I di Sassonia-Coburgo-Gotha


https://translate.google.pl/translat...-text=&act=url


Fabiola de Mora y Aragon


https://translate.google.pl/translat...-text=&act=url

[Duc_et_Pair]

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.

[Marengo]

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

[leidi]

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.

[episcogal]

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

[episcogal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK-6...Ca00r6E4JDY-9Q

[melina premiere]

Queen Fabiola always in my heart.

[An Ard Ri]

T.M.King Badouin and Queen Fabiola of Belgium attend the unveiling of a new bell inside the Basilica of Koekelberg in 1964.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMOAQYJkyig

[episcogal]

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.