Wedding of Leopold & Lilian

Today marks the anniversary of the religious marriage of Leopold III, King of the Belgians and Miss Mary-Lilian Baels. Early in the morning of September 11, 1941, the couple exchanged wedding vows in the chapel of Laeken Castle. Six years after the tragic loss of his first wife, Queen Astrid, Leopold's days of solitude were finally over. The ceremony was secret, witnessed only by Cardinal van Roey, Archbishop of Malines and Primate of Belgium, Queen Mother Elisabeth, Lilian's father, Henri Baels, and one of the King's old friends, the Abbé de Schuytenaere (several were smuggled in through a hidden door). Lilian was privileged to wear Queen Elisabeth's own bridal veil.

After the marriage, the witnesses celebrated with a quiet breakfast. The same day, Leopold and Lilian planted a weeping willow at Laeken. The tree was eventually transplanted to Argenteuil, where, tall and strong, it would continue to symbolize the permanence and endurance of a great love. Queen Elisabeth also gave the newlyweds her log cabin at Laeken. (It had originally been a Canadian gift to King Albert I). Leopold and Lilian would find refuge there throughout the dark years of the war.

At first, however, Lilian obviously could not spend all her time at Laeken, if the marriage was to be kept secret. In fact, a letter, dated October 6, 1941, exists from Elisabeth to Lilian, quoted by Michel Verwilghen in Le mythe d'Argenteuil. The Queen (oddly enough, in broken English) pleads with her son's bride to pay a visit...

My dearest little Lilly,

I telephoned to L. he is still here...Don't leave him alone too long. I am sure you' be both start with renewed love clearer and stronger. I kiss you dear, with all my heart.

The King's second marriage would only become public knowledge in December, 1941, following the civil wedding of Leopold and Lilian. By this time, Lilian was expecting her first child, Alexandre, and, infamously, opponents of Leopold would later claim that the whole story of the September wedding was a lie concocted by the royal family and Cardinal van Roey to cover up the bride's pregnancy. Alternately, the King was blamed for reversing the normal order, prescribed by Belgian law, of the civil and religious ceremonies. For Leopold and Lilian, however, as for countless other Belgian Catholic couples, all that really mattered was the religious wedding...

References:

Cleeremans, Jean. Léopold III, sa famille, son peuple sous l'occupation.
Désiré, Claude and Marcel Jullian. Un couple dans la tempête. 
Esmeralda, Princess of Belgium. Léopold III, mon père. 
Keyes, Roger. Echec au Roi. Léopold III, 1940-1951.
Verwilghen, Michel. Le mythe d'Argenteuil: demeure d'un couple royal.

Koningin Astrid van België (1935)

In commemoration of the 85th anniversary of the death of Queen Astrid, wife of King Leopold III, mother of King Baudouin, King Albert II, and grandmother of King Philippe, here is a short Dutch film featuring a few of the high points in her brief time as Queen consort. We see the accession of King Leopold III on February 23, 1934, the christening of Prince Albert, Queen Astrid performing charitable works as part of a Relief Committee, King Leopold and Queen Astrid at the baptism of the daughter of the Count of Paris, and a royal visit to Liege. 

Here is this blog's article on the tragic death of Queen Astrid.

Another Albert and Elisabeth of Belgium

The Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia

Here are some articles on the life of Isabel Clara Eugenia, the daughter of Philip II of Spain who became the ruler of the Spanish Netherlands.  With her husband, Archduke Albert of Austria, she consolidated the victory of the Counter-Reformation in the future Kingdom of Belgium.  Hundreds of years later, Isabel became an inspiration to her namesake, Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of the Belgians, the consort of King Albert I. 

In March of 1588, the ministers of Henry III of France, his contemporary, announced that King Philip was "mad": "The grand chancellor assured his awed dinner guests in Paris that while Philip's councillors debated state affairs, his eldest daughter, Isabel, was signing documents and in control of government." 

This "scandalous" announcement derived from reports made by Philip's ambassador in Paris, who had told the French king's mother, Catherine de' Medici, about the significance of Isabel's role in her father's government. Rumors were also spreading in Spain that, if Philip were "incapacitated," it would be Isabel who would "take control of the government" of her father's kingdom, and not her half-brother Philip III.

Her potential to function for her father as a "regent" had been noted as early as 1574, when an eight-year-old Isabel was suggested as regent of the Netherlands. She obviously would have been a figurehead then, but from an early age she had been extremely close to her father, who had played a "direct role" in raising her and her sister Catherine Michelle. 

Isabel, in particular, had emulated her father, and he had allowed her "to take part in his office work." By 1586, she was able to be a significant help and adviser to her father; she "read him the letters and despatches he had to deal with, adding her suggestions on how they should be answered." He "even gave her access to the most important papers of state."(Read more)

Here is an article on Isabel, the Counter-Reformation, and Rubens' series of tapestries on the Triumph of the Eucharist.

The portrait, which is today known only through copies and prints, has neither accompanying drapery, nor architecture, nor even any accessory, except for the rosary that hangs from her simple rope belt, thereby emphasizing her piety and spiritual authority. Rubens enhanced this concept by lightening the area around Isabel’s head as if she were radiating a divine glow. Barbara Welzel has noted that this halolike aura conveys Isabel’s majesty and plays with her second name, Clara, which in Spanish can mean light, thus visualizing a connection between the infanta and her moniker. An engraving after the painting with an inscription by Jan Gaspar Gevartius provides deeper specificity of meaning: (fig. 13)

of the imperial dynasty and daughter of Philip II, is praised as the jewel of Spain and the salvation of Belgium. She is the prudence of just war, the honor of chaste peace, and the love of religion. She was crowned with the oak wreath after capturing Breda, bringing the longed-for peace to Belgium, the peace it had sought in the rays of the shining Isabella.

The text unmistakably credits the infanta for the victory at Breda by calling her the “jewel of Spain and the salvation of Belgium” and the one responsible for capturing the town. That the peace was also sought in her shining rays of light further links the victory to her spirituality and heavenly empowerment. The centrality of this sentiment surfaces in the divine eye of Providence that Rubens illustrated at the top of the portrait print, above the inscription “providentia augusta ut serves vincis” (You conquer because you serve sublime Providence). The symbol of God’s guidance and intervention, the eye presides over two supple putti who crown the infanta with “the oak wreath after capturing Breda,” a wreath, which, in Roman tradition, was awarded to those who had liberated their fellow man from a subjection imposed by the enemy. The wreath, thus, came to symbolically identify the person thus crowned as a savior. This image reinforces the notion that God watches over Isabel, and, through the spiritual authority he invested in her, helped her combat his enemies at Breda to secure the victory and bring “the longed-for peace to Belgium.” (Read more)

Isabel with her husband, Albert

 

Engagement of the future King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians

Travels with a Curator: Charterhouse, Bruges

A presentation by Xavier F. Salomon of the Frick Collection of a beautiful painting, “The Virgin and Child with St. Barbara, St. Elizabeth, and Jan Vos,” by Jan van Eyck, commissioned by Jan Vos, the prior of the Charterhouse of Bruges.  

As others have commented, there is a theological error in the explanation of the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory provided in the video; souls in Purgatory can only be destined for Heaven, not Hell. 

Levina Teerlinc

A presentation by Claire Ridgway on a Flemish-born artist of the Tudor court.

More HERE.

Agnus Dei - Samuel Barber LIVE

A haunting performance by the Vlaams Radiokoor of Belgium.