Miniature of Queen Astrid

Here are photographs of a rare miniature of Queen Astrid of the Belgians. set in an ivory frame.

Roses and the Queen

Adrian Keppel features a stamp and miniature portrait, honoring Queen Louise-Marie, by the famous Belgian floral painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté. Note the inscription, "To Her Majesty Louise-Marie, First Queen of the Belgians," included in both French and Dutch, as well as the crown in the upper left corner with the Queen's monogram.

Queen Astrid Vase

Here is an interesting vase etched with something called the Queen Astrid Pattern.  I could not find much information about the history of this floral design, but apparently it dates from the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Deer Brooches

Here is a post in French about Princess Lilian's love of deer and the hunt, illustrated by her stag-themed jewelry, such as the brooch shown above, part of a citrine parure sold at Christies in 1987. For her Silver Wedding in September 1966, Lilian's husband, King Leopold III, presented her with a diamond brooch, in the shape of a stag's head, designed by Cartier according to Lilian's wishes. This piece became her favorite brooch. She wore it for her last public appearance, in September 1993, for the 20th anniversary of the Leopold III Fund for the Exploration and Conservation of Nature. She also wore it for her daughter Esmeralda's London wedding to eminent scientist Salvador Moncada in 1998. In contrast to many other of Lilian's possessions, which were auctioned off following her death, the cherished diamond brooch remains in her family to this day.

The Private Theatre of Marie-Antoinette

Here are two images of Marie-Antoinette's private theatre. (Via Tea at Trianon). As shown above, it was redecorated by her niece Marie-Amélie, Queen of the French under the July Monarchy of 1830-1848.  Readers of this blog will remember that Marie-Amélie's daughter, Louise-Marie d'Orléans, was the first Queen of the Belgians.  Marie-Antoinette's design (below) has since been restored, although the monogram above the center stage is actually still Marie-Amélie's. I love both Marie-Amélie and Marie-Antoinette, but I must say that I much prefer Antoinette's beautifully delicate, lighter taste. The heavy scarlet is too oppressive for me.

The Heaven of Delight

This is bizarre. Did you know that the Mirror Room of the Royal Palace of Brussels has a ceiling and chandelier decorated with the wings of over a million Thai jewel beetles? Commissioned by Queen Paola, a lover of contemporary art, Jan Fabre and his team of 29 young collaborators took several months to finish the job.

Queen Elisabeth and the Friends of Lace

Charlotte Kellogg relates the efforts of the Queen and other great ladies to assist Belgian lace workers, especially during the harsh German occupation of 1914-1918.

Long before the war Queen Elizabeth in Belgium, like Queen Margharita in Italy, had sought means to protect the lace worker, through centuries the victim of an economic injustice, not to say crime, and to rescue and develop an industry threatened from many sides. In 1911 she gave her royal encouragement to a group of prominent Belgian women who organized as "Amies de la Dentelle", Friends of Lace, and began a lace saving campaign by trying to remedy the deplorable condition of most of the lace schools, the defective teaching, long hours and pitiful pay. They could insist in the schools, as not elsewhere, on the right to inspect, to grant or refuse patronage. They subsidized worthy institutions, and advocated the establishment of a lace normal school and of a special school of design. Education they felt to be the main road leading out of the prevailing misery, and they were making progress along this road, when suddenly the Invader poured over their borders.

While other women hurried to open refuges and hospitals and soup kitchens, a few of the Friends of Lace remembered first the lace makers; and by November 1914, had effected a war emergency organization, known as the Brussels Lace Commitee, with Mrs. Whitlock as honorary president. Unfortunately most of the lace dealers failed to cooperate with them, but they won the approval of the powerful Belgian Comité National, which, with the Commission for Relief in Belgium, carried on the relief of the occupied territory throughout the war. And with an initial gift of $25,000 from America to be converted into lace, they were able to start their work. It soon came to be directed altogether by four women; The Comtesse Elizabeth d'Oultremont, Lady in Waiting to Queen Elizabeth, the Vicomtesse de Beughem, an American, Madame Josse Allard and Madame Kefer-Mali. At the same time the aid and protection of workers on filets and other commonly called "imitation" laces was assigned by the Comité National to another group of women, the "Union Patriotique des Femmes Belges"...

During the first few months the situation seemed utterly hopeless; thread was impossible to obtain, and even if the thread were forthcoming, no one could say who would buy the laces they might encourage the women to make; the Germans were cutting off successive sections of the lace making areas where they had established sub-committees, and were forbidding communication with them. And yet these four women continued bravely to create the foundations of a great lace business- for an extraordinary commercial organization grew from their efforts.

However, despite all their intelligence and devotion, such a result would have impossible but for a hard won diplomatic victory In early 1915 Mr. Hoover forced an international agreement which permitted the C.R.B to bring thread for the Lace Committee in Belgium, and to take out an equivalent weight of lace, to be sold in the Allied countries for the benefit of the workers...And once these international guaranties were obtained, the Belgian Comité National was able to arrange for the the distribution of the lace to the various, even remote lace centers, and for the return of the finished lace to Brussels. They granted the women a subsidy of $10,000 and insured to each dentellière the chance to make at least three francs worth of lace a week- a small minimum, to be sure, but everyone understood it might be increased later, and that if each of the many thousands of workers was to have an equal opportunity, it  could not in the beginning be more. After this the Lace Committee had about 45,000 women on its lists. The work in the schools and out of them began to bear fruit. The sweating system, and payment in kind (in clothing and food) were practically wiped out, and inspection and control established. Everywhere the standard of execution and of design was raised; old patterns were restored and improved, and, by the end of the war, 2237 new designs had been added...

The Germans early originated a "Lace Control" of their own, and tried in every possible way to win over the Belgian workers and to buy up all the lace in the country. They accused the Brussels Committee of being a political and patriotic body existing chiefly to defeat the occupying power and the Flemish activists. Then there were other courage-testing difficulties. But despite all obstacles and perils, the women persisted, and continually the precious skeins of "Carry On" were flung out from Brussels to the farthermost corners of the land, binding all together in a firm and beautiful web of hope and confidence. For the enemy was right in suspecting the Committee of a purpose deeper than that of merely trying to save women from the soup-line; they carried on a patriotic work of the highest importance. (Bobbins of Belgium: a book of Belgian lace, lace-workers, lace-schools and lace-villages, Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1920, pp. 15-21)

The Art of Evariste Carpentier

Here are a few examples of the paintings of the Belgian impressionist, Evariste Carpentier (1845-1922). As Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians was such a great patroness of the arts, it seems appropriate to share them on this blog. Carpentier's paintings seem more cheerful to me than the works of many French impressionists.

Queen Elisabeth by Herman Richir

Two colorful portraits of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians by Herman Richir, dating from 1930. She was 54 years old at the time.

Portrait of Princess Clémentine

A painting of the youngest daughter of Leopold II, by Emile Wauters (1846-1933).

Queen Astrid Cross Stitch

Perhaps not the best likeness of the Queen, but a bright and cheery design.

A Waltz with a Princess

Quite by accident, I came across this odd, rather snide little anecdote about Princess Marie-Christine and her mother, Princess Lilian, from the relentlessly name-dropping memoirs of British designer Nicholas Haslam.

Another less fulfilling Parisian coup de foudre began at Isobel Goldsmith's exotic debutante ball, where all the girls were instructed to wear tête fleuriée. Next to me at dinner a towering tiara of flowers encircled the head of a rather pretty blonde named Marie-Christine. We danced frequently, and suddenly she held me very close, whispering that this moment was all she had dreamed of, waltzing with a handsome young Englishman; she would like it to last forever, and even hinted at something more permanent. Somewhat alarmed, I asked Isobel the name of this forthright friend. I was even more alarmed to learn she was a princess of Belgium, daughter of King Leopold III and Mme de Réthy. And within a few minutes I was bowing to that supremely elegant woman, who was clearly giving me the once-over. I failed her testing eye. But not, it turned out, entirely. A year or so later, at Patrick Lichfield's wedding to Leonora Grosvenor, there again was ma princesse, with the same intentions; so much so that I was asked to spend the night at Cholmondeley Castle, where she and Mme de Réthy were staying. I declined, I hope politely. Later I rather proudly told the story to Tom Parr. "Good God", he said."Just imagine being the Tony Snowdon of Belgium". (Redeeming Features: A Memoir, 2009, pp. 270-271)

Princesse Rayon de Soleil

A postcard of "Princess Sunbeam", little Marie-José, helping Belgian refugees during the First World War. The image is no mere sentimental myth. At an early age, the little Princess had already embraced the charitable functions of royalty. When she was only eight years old, she wrote that if she ever became a queen, she wanted to be given all the names of the poor of her new country, in order to be able to give something to each one.

The Art of Madame de Caraman Chimay

Countess Ghislaine de Riquet de Caraman Chimay (1865-1955) was a loyal lady-in-waiting and brave companion of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians during World War I. Like her mistress, the Countess was a talented artist. Here are two of her pastel drawings, from her days at La Panne, known as the 'Green Pearl' of the Belgian coast, near the French border. The Belgian Royal Family took up residence in La Panne in a modest brick villa in October 1914 following the German invasion of Belgium in August. Both works displayed here formed part of the art collection of Queen Elisabeth's grand-daughter, Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, which was auctioned at Christie's in 2007.

An intimate scene of King Albert I, Queen Elisabeth and perhaps Prince Leopold, the future King Leopold III, entitled La Chambre du Roi ('The King's Room'), signed and dated 'Ghislaine de Caraman-Chimay/1917'.

A portrait of Maria José, Queen of Italy, as a child, signed, inscribed and dated 'La Panne. 1916 - /S.A.R. La Princesse/Marie-José ecoutant/une belle histoire a la/lueur de la lampe/G de Caraman Chimay' ('La Panne. 1916-/H.R.H. Princess/ Marie-José listening/ to a beautiful story by the/ light of the lamp/ G de Caraman Chimay').

The Art Collection of Princess Maria Gabriella

As we remember King Umberto II and Queen Maria José this month, it is interesting to see the magnificent, historic art collection of their daughter, Princess Maria Gabriella, sold at Christie's in 2007. Above is a silver bowl, depicting putti playing in a landscape, a Silver Wedding gift to Maria Gabriella's maternal grandparents, King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians. On the back, the bowl is dated October 2, 1925, and engraved with the facsimile signatures of the three children of Albert and Elisabeth: 'Leopold' for Leopold III, King of the Belgians; 'Charles-Theodore' for Charles-Theodore, Count of Flanders, Prince of Belgium, and 'Marie-José' for Maria-José, Queen of Italy. 

Lilian's Jewels

An enjoyable display. (I wasn't too thrilled by all the comments that follow, though; there is the usual anti-Lilian venom and some of the facts are garbled. Why do so many people think that Lilian was pregnant when she secretly married King Leopold III in September, 1941? No, Prince Alexandre was born ten months after the wedding...)

Princess Lilian apparently attracted a great deal of popular ire by wearing jewelry which had belonged to her husband's tragically deceased first wife, Queen Astrid, so idolized by the Belgians. I do not quite grasp why wearing Astrid's jewels is supposed to have been so outrageous; after all, Lilian had "inherited" the Queen's husband, so why should she not have "inherited" some of her accessories, too? Still, it was clearly a psychological error. Be that as it may, however, here are pictures illustrating Lilian's use of Astrid's jewels. Above, we see Astrid wearing a diamond and emerald tiara, a gift from her parents-in-law, King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth, on the birth of her eldest son, Prince Baudouin. Below, we see Lilian wearing the same piece, as a necklace.

The Tiara of Queen Elisabeth

Here is an article on the famous diamond and platinum Cartier tiara of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians.  After her death, it passed to her son, King Leopold III, to be worn by his second wife, Princess Lilian. After Leopold's death, Cartier repurchased it from Lilian in 1987. There is a great deal of outrage on the internet at Lilian's sale of Elisabeth's tiara and other jewelry which had graced earlier Belgian royal ladies. Critics complain that the magnificent tiara, in particular, ought to have been left to Queen Paola and Princess Mathilde. The fact is, though, that it did not belong to Paola and Mathilde. At that point, it was Lilian's to dispose of as she saw fit. Unlike the jewelry used by other European royal houses, the adornments of the Belgian queens and princesses have never belonged to the state; they have always been the personal property of the ladies in question. In consequence, following the deaths of their owners, they have usually been dispersed, auctioned off or left to heirs outside Belgium. Today, the Belgian royal family has only two tiaras inherited from previous generations; all the rest of the jewelry of Queens Louise-Marie, Marie-Henriette, Elisabeth and Astrid has passed to other hands. This may seem unfortunate, but I find it unfair to single out Lilian for so much indignation, since the dispersal of Belgian royal jewelry is a tradition pre-dating her by far.

Interestingly, Lilian was related to the Cartier family by marriage. Jean-Jacques Cartier, who recently passed away, was married to Lilian's sister Lydia Baels. 

Marie Antoinette (2006)

An interesting critique of Sofia Coppola's film from Tradition in Action.

"Ordre, harmonie, obéissance et beauté"

Il nous a rapprochés des forêts vierges, des cieux immaculés, des plantes et des fauves. Il a montré la solidarité profonde qui unit l'homme aux phénomènes vivants qui l'entourent. Il a dégagé les lois immuables de la jungle et proposé à l'homme destructeur l'exemple de l'oeuvre divine, où tout est ordre, harmonie, obéissance et beauté.

He brought us close to the virgin forests, to the immaculate skies, to the plants and the wild animals. He showed the profound solidarity which unites man to the living phenomena which surround him. He disengaged the unchanging laws of the jungle and proposed to destructive man the example of the divine work, where all is order, harmony, obedience and beauty.

This is a tribute paid by the Duke of Brabant, future King Leopold III of the Belgians, to Rudyard Kipling, one of his favorite authors, in 1933. Nonetheless, it sheds a striking light on Leopold's own love of nature and sense of ethics.

February 6, 1951: The Birth of Princess Marie-Christine

A portrait of Princess Marie-Christine, at the age of fourteen, by Agustin Seguro. From childhood, the princess enjoyed the arts; she liked music, painting, and acting, and adored stuffed animals and pets. This image, then, seems quite emblematic of Marie-Christine's personality as a young girl, and it also, of course, shows off her ethereal, blonde beauty.

Today is a landmark anniversary, the 60th birthday of Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium, second child and eldest daughter of King Léopold III and Princess Lilian. Nearly a decade separated her birth from that of her eldest full brother, Prince Alexandre-Emmanuel, who came into the world, just over ten months after his parents' wedding, on July 18, 1942. For Marie-Christine's parents, it had been a dreadful decade, marked by the Second World War, the royal family's imprisonment in Germany and Austria from 1944-1945, and five years of exile in Switzerland from 1945-1950, all amidst the sordid intrigues and violent controversies of the "Royal Question". In 1950, left-wing strikes and riots had forced the newly-returned King Léopold to delegate his royal powers to his eldest son and heir, Prince Baudouin. He would formally abdicate on July 16, 1951, five months after his little daughter's birth. Five years later, Marie-Christine gained a younger sister: Princess Marie-Esméralda, born September 30, 1956. Despite the considerable age difference between the two girls, they were close playmates in their youth, according to Marie-Esméralda.