Bride of the Snows

Footage of Prince Leopold's marriage to Astrid of Sweden in 1926, including scenes of celebration from Stockholm, Antwerp and Brussels. I always think of the great contrast between the joy and splendor of the future King's first marriage and the rather grim, furtive circumstances of his second, fifteen years later, to Lilian Baels. Had Leopold and Lilian been able to marry in peacetime, amidst public festivities, perhaps the beauty and cheerfulness of the occasion would have diffused some of the suspicion and disapproval of a commoner becoming the widowed monarch's consort. Of course, the new couple would also have avoided the charge of valuing their own happiness more than that of their suffering people.