Queen Elisabeth Of The Belgians (1876-1965)

[maria-olivia]

There is no picture of her wedding with Prince Albert , Crown Prince of Belgium

[maria-olivia]

Thank you An Ard Ri for sharing the very interesting video of the Queen's funeral.
I saw her in the Salon des Penseurs at the Royal Palace , on the little table next to her I saw her violin.
The Queen has asked the the surviving Nurses of the Ocean Hospital at la Panne , spend the night next to her dead body. So did my grandmother .
At the end of my grandmother's funerals I heard the Brabançonne , our National Hymn !

[CyrilVladisla]

In Long to Reign, A. W. Purdue wrote:

Another queen with artistic and bohemian inclinations, Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians. rose to the challenge of war and became a national heroine. Based with her husband on the last strip of Belgian soil, she devoted herself to nursing the wounded and becoming a saintly figure to Belgian soldiers.

During the German occupation of Belgium from 1940 to 1944, Queen Elisabeth used her influence as queen and German connections to assist in the rescue of Jewish children from deportation by the Nazis.
After the war she was awarded the title Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli government.

Originally Posted by maria-olivia

Indeed , I don't understand why in this thread she is called the Red Queen ..

Maria-Olivia, During the 1950s, Elisabeth evoked controversy abroad by visiting the Soviet Union, Poland, and China.
These trips prompted some people to label Elisabeth as the "RED QUEEN."

[maria-olivia]

Indeed , I don't understand why in this thread she is called the Red Queen ..

[maria-olivia]

This was just at the end.
What we remember for ever is her attitude during the first War and the "Concours de Musique Reine Elisabeth".

[An Ard Ri]

I wonder what tiara Elisabeth of Bavaria is wearing in this portrait which I've never seen before?

http://www.antiques-delaval.com/1796...ormael-xxe.jpg

[JR76]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

During the German occupation of Belgium from 1940 to 1944, Queen Elisabeth used her influence as queen and German connections to assist in the rescue of Jewish children from deportation by the Nazis.
After the war she was awarded the title Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli government.

She's one amongst several royal ladies to get that award. Both Helen, Queen mother of Romania and Princess Alice of Greece (mother of the Duke of Edinburgh) RATN for saving Jews during the Holocaust. Queen Giovanna of Bulgaria also did a lot to save Jews but I don't think she became a RATN.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile app

[maria-olivia]

What she did during for the injured soldiers during the first WW was really great and un unique example. Queen Mary , the Empress of Prussia and other royals stayed in their royal palaces

[CyrilVladisla]

Queen Elisabeth reviewed Belgian troops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12SA93pB3hs

Queen Elisabeth helped organize a fleet of military ambulances in the First World War to ferry the wounded between the Front and field hospitals. By the end of the war she was known as Queen Nurse.

In 1928 and in 1932 Queen Elisabeth accompanied King Albert I on tours of the Belgian Congo where the city of Elisabethville was named in her honor.

[maria-olivia]

In WWI we were missing nurses and the Queen who was Lord Curzon's friend could provide a lot of British Nurses who stayed 4 years in the Hopital Ocean, formely a Hotel that the Queen asked to be a Hospital.
They received the Queen Elisabeth 's Medal such as my Aunt who was a belgian Nurse working 4 years at the Ocean.

[Countessmeout]

An article about the trip

The Cross of Laeken: King Albert & Queen Elisabeth in the Congo

Elizabethville was of course renamed in 1967 when a military dictatorship took over, and the country was renamed Zaire later.

[CyrilVladisla]

Queen Elisabeth visited the Stalin Collective Farm in Russia on April 4, 1958.
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-apr...-69351291.html

[eya]

"On 18th of Feb 1923, Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians paid a visit to the tomb of Tutankhamun accompanied by Belgian Egyptologist Jean Capart. Lord Carnarvon noted the Queen could not stop asking all sorts of questions"


https://twitter.com/DM_Vincenzo/stat...400458/photo/1

[maria-olivia]

King Albert asked Jean Capart to take care of the Queen... because..
Sge died whe she was I the eighties so there is no "Madelection ".

[CyrilVladisla]

The First World War was painful for Queen Elisabeth as some of the men leading the Bavarian regiments of the German army were her own family.

[maria-olivia]

On Monday 11th January Secret d' Histoire about our Queen in France 2 and Stephane Bern. A first time for a belgian Royal.

[Marengo]

2,1 million viewers tuned in to the programme on Monday. King Albert II, Pss Esmeralda and Pss Marie-Gabrielle of Italy also participated in the documentary.

The France 3 broadcast can not be re-viewed abroad directly but the station has uploaded the brodcast to youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1gegTW4Kow

The couple met at the funeral of the Dss of Alençon, who died at the ball de la Charité in Paris. The historians who speak say that Elisabeth fell in love right away (coup de foudre even). Pss Esmeralda added that at the same funeral Albert fell in love with Isabelle d'Orléans (later Dsse de Guise), which was opposed by Leopold II. Esmeralda says that this story bothered Elisabeth all her life. Much later in life she would still frown when the name of Isabelle was uttered.

After Isabelle was vetoed Albert's sister Henriette, Dsse de Vendôme took matters into her hands. At the funeral she had noted Elisabeth's natural air and her lively character, two qualities that would perfectly complement her [more timid] brother. Two meetings were arranged in Fontainebleu. They were allowed to walk without a chaparone, to get to know each other better.

Later Pss Esmeralda tells about the unconventional father. Duke Karl Theodor worked as a doctor for people who could not afford one. It was something that formed Elisabeth and explains her interest in social issues and justice. It was this model that followed Elisabeth all her life and who she wanted to impress most. Another big influence was her aunt, the legendary Empress Elisabeth, who fascinated the young Elisabeth. Pss Esmeralda sees many simularities: the slightly provocative side and both were somewhat fantasists.

A historian calls Albert's father, the count of Flanders, a 'sinister personage who made a very, very bad marriage'. Some say the count was to blame for the bad marriage, others say that it was the countess' fault as she never agreed with anybody. Pss Esmeralda says that one day Albert said: 'my mother is a saint but a saint made of ice', which shows the atmosphere in the family. Family dinners at the palace of the counts of Flanders lasted 15 minutes, as Albert once measured. That was a good thing for him because the atmosphere was not pleasant, so he wanted it to be over quickly.

Prince Baudouins death came as a great shock. Albert never expected and was not prepared well to take over the throne. Neither did he look forward to it later. He suffered all his life from the imposter syndrom. Esmeralda says that he became more closed and sad after this, until the moment he met Elisabeth.

The wedding took place in Munich on the 2nd October 1900. It was attended by Leopold II. At first they lived in the palace of the Counts of Flanders, under constant surveillance of her parents-in-law, which quickly became sufficating for Elisabeth and she felt like a bird in a cage. Pss Esmeralda says that Albert often called Elisabeth 'mein kind' (my child in German), which indicated he wanted to protect her. He knew Belgian society well and wanted to protect her from criticism, which is why he gave her advice often. Shortly afterwards they rented the palace of the Marquess van der Noot d'Assche in the Rue de la Science, where their 3 children were born.

When Leopold II died Albert had to prepare for his oath. He got frozen with doubts and he repeated to himself 'I will not do it' over and over again. His wife was able to calm & encourage him and together they practiced the speech over and over again. Pss Esmeralda says: it was an extrordinary thing, she prepared him and gave him strength, courage and inspiration to go there [to parlament]. The king did his oath in French and -for the first time- also in Dutch. It showed that they wanted a more progressive and egalitarian monarchy. This resulted in 1918 in the Castle of Loppem near Brugges, in universal sufferage for men and in the equalisation of the two languages. Some called it 'the coup of Loppem' as it violated the constitution.

Princess Marie-Gabrielle of Italy tells about the changed image of the monarchy after Leopold II. She laughs: 'they went on a moterbike to vitis the cities and towns. imagine the president of the French republic doing that. No that did not exist yet!' Elisabeth understood the use and usefulness of communication and understood the importance of images. They showed a video of the pair in a train, where she smiles to the camera and tells Albert to remove his cap. Pss Esmeralda explains that a media campaign started, the images of the RF were to be seen everywhere, they became extremely popular. For the first time the Belgians referred to 'our Queen' instead of 'the queen'.

The Queen went to Egypt to be one of the first ones to see the opened tombe of Tutanchamon. Pss Esmeralda tells that world press was there and the Queen arrived in the heat wearing a fur coat because she was afraid to catch a cold. A day later the press wrote: 'it seemed the queen thought she would inaugurate the tombe of an Eskimo'. She would never forget this visit and always talked about what she saw with great emotion. She stayed there for weeks to look at the archeologists at work and to admire new discoveries, getting on the nerves of some of them.

She liked new things, practised meditation after a visit to India. She also quickly adopted the latest fashioned, cut her long hairs and was seen in creations of Coco Chanel. Her sense of liberty was reflected in her clothes: she wore jackets with pockets, which was new... women could now put a key there or money, without asking a man to keep it for them. She went skiing, mountainering, and was a great fan of Charles Lindbergh. In 1919 she flew in an aeroplane and encouraged the pilot to fly vertical and in loops.

[...]

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by maria-olivia

On Monday 11th January Secret d' Histoire about our Queen in France 2 and Stephane Bern. A first time for a belgian Royal.

Did you get to watch it?

[Tatiana Maria]

Thank you to Marengo for recapping the program for those of us who are not French speakers.

Originally Posted by Marengo

A historian calls Albert's father, the count of Flanders, a 'sinister personage who made a very, very bad marriage'. Some say the count was to blame for the bad marriage, others say that it was the countess' fault as she never agreed with anybody. Pss Esmeralda says that one day Albert said: 'my mother is a saint but a saint made of ice', which shows the atmosphere in the family. Family dinners at the palace of the counts of Flanders lasted 15 minutes, as Albert once measured. That was a good thing for him because the atmosphere was not pleasant, so he wanted it to be over quickly.

This in particular was interesting to to learn, as in general it is the family life of King Leopold II which tends to be denounced for its unpleasantness, with the family life of his brother the Count of Flanders shining in the comparison.

[maria-olivia]

Nothing new for the Belgians axcept great views from the Castle of laeken we are nor allowed to visit . We never visit the Archives at the Royal Palace where they showe a letter Queen Elsabeth wrote to Staline ...
But for the french People this Queen was uknown they were very interested !