Sunday, March 27, 2011

Léopold III, mon père (2011)

I was thrilled to find this! Here are the six installments of the very moving documentary on Leopold III, which was broadcast by RTBF on C'est du Belge, on February 25, 2011, after several years of preparation. The King's youngest daughter, Princess Esmeralda, narrates much of the film, visiting significant places in her father's life, such as Eton, where he studied as a youth during the First World War, and the grim fortress of Hirchstein, on the Elbe, where the Royal Family were imprisoned in 1944-1945. Sadly, the documentary is available only in French, and there are no subtitles. Whether or not you understand French, though, I can recommend watching the program for the images and the music! I hope to write a fuller review at some point.

~Part I
~Part II
~Part III
~Part IV
~Part V
~Part VI
Posted by Matterhorn at 4:33 PM
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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful find! I must be one of the first to thank you for this.
I've already watched Part I and cannot wait to view the entire documentary!
There are many new and rare images of the Belgian Royal Family.

Thank you Matterhorn!

March 27, 2011 9:18 PM
Matterhorn said...

You are most welcome! Isn't it beautiful? I had tears in my eyes watching it. And with all the trashing of the Belgian RF underway these days, I was rather surprised this made it out on Belgian television!

March 27, 2011 9:21 PM
Anonymous said...

It was indeed a very beautiful documentary and a fine tribute.

Esmeralda is such an admirable Princess and woman. She did her father justice. I love how she is doing this for her children and for younger generations who maybe don't know too much about her family, but it's still wonderful for people of all ages and interests to view this.

Even though I'm not fluent in French, I got the "giste" of the documentary. I also got the sense it was a very special journey for Esmeralda.

March 27, 2011 11:57 PM
Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link to the Princess’s documentary. It was interesting to hear the story from her perspective. Her personal recollections introduced us to the whole man and not some long-dead historical figure. My French is rusty - I understood the Princess most of the time, but I missed some of the professors’ commentaries. I may watch it again.

While visiting Waterloo as an American student in the ‘70s, my host pointed to a wooded area and said the former King had a chateau there. What I thought I knew of Leopold III at the time was that he surrendered the Belgian Army without a fight, ruled Belgium as a Nazi puppet, was deposed and was living in solitary squalor in Portugal. How could it be that he lived in a big-beautiful house in the suburbs of Brussels? That is when my interest in Belgian history began. After years of research, I now believe that some of the King’s problems where of his own making particularly in the political sphere and his personal relations, but he was innocent of the worst charges leveled against him. He will be treated better in history than he was in his lifetime.

Thanks again for your blog.

April 2, 2011 1:09 AM
Matterhorn said...

Thank you very much for your kind words.

April 2, 2011 1:23 AM
Anonymous said...

"After years of research, I now believe that some of the King’s problems where of his own making particularly in the political sphere and his personal relations, but he was innocent of the worst charges leveled against him. He will be treated better in history than he was in his lifetime"

He was innocent of MOST of the charges levelled against him. He is a man to be honoured for having integrity in a world that doesn't seem to respect it.
Actually, it's his enemies and detractors who aren't seen in such a rosy light anymore.
The destruction they did to this man is beyond shameful.

April 2, 2011 7:49 PM
Matterhorn said...

I can see I will have to write more about this, perhaps when I get a chance to give a fuller review of this documentary. My own opinion of Leopold III has gone through several re-evaluations since I began to study his life. I think he was a very noble man, but perhaps a bit too zealous and unbending.

April 2, 2011 9:15 PM
rtaylor1802 said...

I look forward to reading your thoughts.

Thanks again for your blogs!

April 7, 2011 11:15 PM
Anonymous said...

He deserves some much needed recognition for his merits; and of course, no one is perfect.

But, still, a decent and unfairly maligned King.

April 8, 2011 11:46 PM

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