Obituary of Princess Lilian

A touching tribute to this royal patroness of cardiology by the legendary Denton Cooley.

One morning during my visit, the Princess invited me to accompany her to a golf club to hit golf balls. She drove us to the club in a Lamborghini convertible—with an impressive ability and at racecar speed. She could hit golf balls better than most men, was accomplished with a shotgun in bird hunting, spoke 4 languages, and was a charming hostess. She was an impressive person.

I also spent leisure time with King Leopold. The King was attractive, well educated, and also an accomplished golfer. The day after hitting balls with Princess Liliane, I was the King's partner in a golf tournament. The course was located on the actual battlefield of Waterloo. Therefore, I had a personal walking tour of the battlefield with the King as my guide. Several chatêaus still existed on the adjacent hill where the commissioned officers of the English, Prussian, and French armies had been billeted. According to the King's description, the evening before the final battle, the officers—after having dinner, playing cards, and drinking brandy—were informed by an attendant that the battle would commence the following morning at 10:00 A.M. That would give the valets and servants time to groom and saddle the officers' horses, polish the officers' boots, and prepare their uniforms. They then mounted their horses and watched the battle from the hillside. At the time, I thought to myself, “How civilized!”