On This Day: Belgian Royal Family

[theroyalfly]

September 19

1902

Today in Royal History is the 117th Death Anniversary of Queen Marie Henriette of the Belgians, the second Queen Consort of the Belgians. Born Archduchess Marie Henriette Anne of Austria to Archduke Joseph of Austria, Palatine of Hungary and Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg on 23 August 1836 at Buda Castle, Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary.



One day before her 17th birthday, she married the 18 year old heir to the Belgian throne, Prince Leopold of Belgium, Duke of Brabant who is the second-surviving son of Leopold I of Belgium and his second wife Princess Louise d'Orléans.

Her marriage was seen as beneficial in strengthening the status of the newly established Belgian monarchy. As his father-in-law is a former Protestant monarch, he wished his son and heir marry a royal princess with Roman Catholic upbringing and is from a very prestigious dynasty. This marriage gave them 4 children. In her later years, she was unhappy and discontented. After their son and heir, Prince Léopold, Duke of Brabant died young, the couple made their last attempt to have another son but it resulted to having their third and last daughter Princess Clémentine of Belgium, thus, it led to separation.

The Queen retreated to Spa and had her youngest daughter replace her as the first lady at the Court in Brussels.

She died at the Hôtel du Midi in Spa.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, November 23, 1965 ~ Demise of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians in Brussels, Belgium

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

On this day, November 23, 1965 ~ Demise of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians in Brussels, Belgium

Some silent footage from the Funeral Of Queen Elisabeth Of The Belgians in December 1965 ,what strikes me is how the Belgian were quite good at the royal pomp but sadly that has been done away with.

The queens coffin bore no standard just a crucifix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DorbK84_S_I&t=618s

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, December 10, 1865 ~ Demise of King Leopold I of the Belgians

On this day, December 16, 1790 ~ Birth of King Leopold I of the Belgians

[Moonmaiden23]

On this day, December 15 1960, wedding of His Majesty Baudouin, King of the Belgians to Fabiola Mora y Aragon.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, January 8, 1930 ~ The wedding of Princess Marie Jose of Belgium and King Umberto I of Italy

On this day, January 23, 1891 ~ Demise of Prince Baudouin, the son of Philippe, Count of Flanders
https://www.gettyimages.com/license/1095402926

On this day, March 24, 1837 ~ Birth of Philippe, Count of Flanders

On this day, April 3, 1812 ~ Birth of Louise-Marie of Orleans, Queen Consort of King Leopold I of Belgium

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

On this day, April 3, 1812 ~ Birth of Louise-Marie of Orleans, Queen Consort of King Leopold I of Belgium

Louise-Marie Thérèse Charlotte Isabelle d'Orléans was also the 1st Belgian Queen Consort.The future queen was born in Palermo at the Palais d'Orléans where the Orléans family lived in exile.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, April 8, 1875 ~ Birth of Albert I, King of the Belgians

On this day, April 9, 1835 ~ Birth of Leopold II, King of Belgium

[An Ard Ri]

On this day the 3rd of May 1294 -Death of Jean Ier, Duc de Brabant, Lothier and Limburg .

Jean was also known as the Victorious ,he was born in Leuven in 1253 and died in Bar-le-Duc .He had reigned as Duke since 1267.

He married twice

Marguerite de France and following her death in 1272 he married Marguerite de Dampierre

Following his death his remains were buried at in the choir of the Minderbroederskerk in Brussels but the tomb was destroyed by the Calvinists in 1566.

[Countessmeout]

July 16, 1951- Leopold III abdicates the throne in favor of his eldest son.

Leopold, the son of Albert I and Elizabeth, Duchess in Bavaria, had come to the throne February 17, 1934.

Following the end of WWII there had been great dissent over his return to Belgium. His actions during the war were seen by some as treason. A regency had been created in 1944 under his brother Prince Charles. While he was found innocent of treason and allowed to return, he faced a massive general strike in 1950 and August 1 decided to abdicate in favor of his eldest son. Leopold and his second wife Lillian would serve as advisors to his son until he married.

The nearly 21 year old Baudouin was the son of Leopold by his first wife Princess Astrid of Sweden. In 1960 he would marry Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón. Sadly though there was five pregnancies, they all ended in miscarriage.

He would reign for 42 years before dying of heart failure in 1993. He was succeeded by his brother Albert as Albert II. Albert and his wife Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria would abdicate themselves in 2013.

Leopold died ten years before his son in 1983 and was buried next to Astrid. His second wife Lilian 2002 and was buried with him. Of his six children, 3 with each wife, 3 have passed away. Baudouin in 1993, Josephine-Charlotte in 2005 and Alexander in 2009.

His temporary successor in 1944, his brother Charles died the same year as he did, June 1, 1983 only months before Leopold.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, April 4, 1906 ~ Birth of Princess Marie-Jose of Belgium. She became Queen Marie-Jose of Italy, the wife of King Umberto II of Italy.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, August 22, 1853 ~ The wedding of King Leopold III of Belgium and Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria

[Countessmeout]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

On this day, August 22, 1853 ~ The wedding of King Leopold III of Belgium and Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria

Tiny correction, but Leopold II not III.

Leopold II and Marie Henriette had four children. Unfortunately their only son Leopold died before his 10th birthday. When Leopold II died in 1909 he was succeeded by his nephew Albert I. Albert was the son of Leopold's younger brother Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders. Philippe had died 4 years before his brother, so his claim had passed to his son. Albert was the father of Leopold III.


The couple did have three daughters who married and had children. And they do have descendants. Jean-Christophe Napoleon is a descendent of their youngest daughter Clementine (among others).

[Countessmeout]

August 29, 1935 death of Queen Astrid of Belgium, first wife of Leopold III.

Astrid was born in Stockholm. Her father Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland was the third son of Oscar II of Sweden. Her mother Ingeborg was a daughter of Frederick VIII of Denmark. Her Uncles included Christian X of Denmark, Haakon VII of Norway and Gustaf V of Sweden. Her sister Martha married the future King Harald V of Norway. Her sister Margaretha made a love match marriage to Prince Axel of Denmark. Her only brother Carl lost his dynastic rights due to his morganatic marriage.


Astrid was married to Leopold (at the time Duke of Brabant) November 1926 with the civil in Stockholm and the religious in Brussels . Among her gifts was a tiara from the people of Stockholm.


https://www.tiara-mania.com/2014/08/...olm-tiara.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFZoc0hqHww

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28WxHUlbPy8

Astrid was loved by the people of her new country (and her old). Her devotion to helping the poor and disadvantaged, with a lot of interest in women and children, won her many fans. Her husband was one of the biggest, their marriage truly one of love. They were known to show PDA like holding hands at public events (not common like today's royals).

Astrid sadly died at 29 (30th birthday was in November). Her and her husband had been on holiday in Switzerland with their two oldest children. Her youngest Albert was left at home as he was only a year old at the time. The king and queen were in a car accident when they were on their way for a final hike on their vacation. Both were thrown from the car but the queen slammed into a tree and died before help came, in her husband's arms.


Her death was mourned greatly both in Belgium and by Sweden as well. She was buried at the Church of our Lady of Laeken where her husband was later buried (and his second wife). A chapel was built at the site of her death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrid...ridkapelle.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY1i8gVdVHA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a66cgV9dhc8

She was the mother of three, her oldest Josephine-Charlotte was only eight at the time of her mother's death. Baudouin was 5 and Albert one. In 2020 she currently has 1 living child (Albert II, JC died in 2005 and Baudouin died in 1993), 9 grandchildren (5 from JC and 4 from Albert), 36 great grandchildren (22 from JC and 14 from Albert) and 19 great-great grandchildren (17 from JC and 2 from Albert).



She is the grandmother of GD Henri of Luxembourg and King Philippe of Belgium. And Aunt of Harald of Norway.

[Prinsara]

Small correction, Astrid has 9 grandchildren; 4 from Albert. The youngest of whom resembles her greatly. (And thus 36 great-grandchildren, 14 from Albert.)

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by Prinsara

Small correction, Astrid has 9 grandchildren; 4 from Albert. The youngest of whom resembles her greatly. (And thus 36 great-grandchildren, 14 from Albert.)

It depends on whether one is counting the number of legal grandchildren and great-grandchildren or biological grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Delphine qualifies for the second category but (for the moment) not the first.

It is typically trickier to count the number of biological descendants as in theory it is difficult to rule out that a legal grandchild or great-grandchild may not be the biological child of their legal parent due to for instance fertility treatment, an extramarital affair, etc.

[Prinsara]

Can we split the difference and say "recognized descendant"? Delphine has fought for twenty years just to get that far.

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by Prinsara

Can we split the difference and say "recognized descendant"? Delphine has fought for twenty years just to get that far.

Yes, I see what you mean. Still, in my opinion the original post was not "incorrect" in the context of Queen Astrid's biography. Even if Queen Astrid had lived into old age, it is sadly unlikely that she would have recognized Delphine as her grandchild in any public manner.

[Prinsara]

Originally Posted by Tatiana Maria

Yes, I see what you mean. Still, in my opinion the original post was not "incorrect" in the context of Queen Astrid's biography. Even if Queen Astrid had lived into old age, it is sadly unlikely that she would have recognized Delphine as her grandchild in any public manner.

Well, we don't know... there are changing social mores and the fact that Astrid was famed as an immensely kind person who loved children. There's also the chance if she had lived and been able to mother her son, Albert would not have been someone with such an unstable marriage or an illegitimate child whom he then ignored. She may not have had a 9th grandchild. Too many variables, and Astrid is the butterfly. But I'll take further thoughts to her thread or Delphine's.

[Countessmeout]

I added Delphine and her children to my count.

I don't think I consciously left her out or not. I share the doubt Astrid would have recognized her in public at least if she had lived, but pure speculation. But since she has been acknowledged as Albert's I will add her to the count.

Whether Albert would have been a better father, or husband for that matter if his mother lived is up for debate. His brother didnt have his mother much longer then Albert did, and he was a very different man then Albert was.


And I caught my own mistake, I missed a great great grandchild. I forgot Amedeo and his wife welcomed a son last fall so Albert has 2 great-grandchildren not one. I added him as well.