Thursday, August 20, 2009

A Question

Some day I hope to do a post comparing/contrasting Albert I and Leopold III. I find it an interesting topic as Leopold always modeled himself on his father, yet was accused of betraying his memory... During World War II and the Royal Question, the King's enemies manipulated Albert's image (much as they did Astrid's) to attack Leopold, portraying him as a villain unworthy of his heroic predecessor. Of course, I don't think this. On the contrary, I even wonder if Leopold was actually the greater King, as he faced worse problems. What do you think? Who was greater, Albert or Leopold?

3 comments:

May said...

I have to say- the sheer hypocrisy of it! "Our noble King Albert..." "Our much-regretted Queen Astrid..." I very much doubt the sincerity of all this "regret." To hear Leopold's enemies go on like this, as if they were devoted subjects, all the while doing everything possible to harm the beloved son or husband of these same people!

Lucy said...

After having learned a great deal about these Royals - thanks to your interesting and very informative posts..I've come to appreciate both kings but still am not knowledgeable enough to have a real say as to which was a better king..
I will admit though that there certainly was hypocrisy concerning how the forces against them suddenly raved and spoke kindly about them...it certainly wasn't the case when they were alive.

May said...

Well, Albert and Astrid were praised alot during their lifetimes, too. So was Leopold, before WW2, which made the later attacks on him all the more strange. But the way his enemies then used the memory of his father and wife against him, seems very cynical...