Belgian Royal Army

Here's something rousing. My thanks to MadMonarchist.

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Quite a privilege for King Baudouin to be born the day before this wonderful feast!

Birthday of King Baudouin I

On September 7, 1930, Prince Leopold and Princess Astrid of Belgium welcomed their first son, little Prince Baudouin. In her memoirs, Astrid's best friend Anna Sparre describes the happy event. Not expecting his wife to give birth that day, Leopold had just departed for an official ceremony in Ostende when Astrid suddenly went into labor...

...With humor, she described to me how (after bidding a tender farewell to Leopold) she went into the living room to read by the open fire and chat with her mother. But the baby announced his arrival before she had even sat down- she could still hear the car in the distance! Leaning against the chimney, she burst into a fit of laughter. Clasping her belly, she was laughing out loud. After a moment's hesitation, Princess Ingeborg could not keep from laughing herself... It was 10 o'clock. The doctor was sent for, the midwife was already there.

Upon arriving in Ostende, Leopold heard the news and rushed back to Brussels. A few hours later, he was holding his tiny son in his arms... A touching scene followed.

...When (Leopold) came in, later, with the child washed and dressed, he sat on the edge of the bed and placed the baby in his mother's arms. They could hear the canons proclaiming to the people the birth of a little prince. It was an overwhelming moment, impossible to describe. Little Joe-Joe entered, climbed into her mother's bed and could feel her little brother. She was a bit shy and thought it a pity maman was ill at the very moment of the baby's arrival. For several hours, Astrid enjoyed, in all tranquillity, this family idyll.

King Albert and Queen Elisabeth were delighted with their grandson, and the family was inundated with flowers and congratulations on the arrival of the long-awaited royal heir. Astrid sent a letter to Anna, proudly announcing the birth, and underlining the words "our son" several times. "You understand how happy we are that it is a boy," she wrote, "it is a joy not only for us, but for everyone here in Belgium. I am madly proud of having two children."

As a final charming note, the year of Baudouin's birth coincided with the centenary of Belgian independence!

Suggestions?

I wanted to ask if anyone has suggestions for this blog. There are a number of important Belgian royal anniversaries approaching- this month, for instance, I will be commemorating the birth of King Baudouin, the religious marriage of Leopold and Lilian, the birthday of Queen Paola and the death of King Leopold III. Of course I have some ideas for other posts too but is there anything you would particularly like me to discuss? As always, I welcome your thoughts.

Lilian Baels & Jacqueline Kennedy

In her 1995 Panorama Interview, Diana, Princess of Wales, recalled Queen Astrid by declaring: "I'd like to be a Queen of People's Hearts." This had been Astrid's title and many have compared the two young, beautiful, fashionable and tragically deceased royal women. What is, perhaps, less well known is the way Jacqueline Kennedy imitated Princess Lilian of Belgium. In a letter to her couturier, Oleg Cassini, she asked for designs reminiscent of Lilian's: "très Princesse de Réthy, mais jeune." (1)

The elegant commoner who became the second wife of King Leopold III was a good model. Reviled and hated Lilian might have been, but nobody denied her consummate sense of style. Furthermore, like Jackie, she was a dark, sultry beauty, who had to strike a queenly figure without actually being a Queen...

Were there deeper similarities between these two iconic women? Both were courageous, intelligent, cultured, sparkling with vivacity, wit and charm. Each imparted her innate elegance and taste to her surroundings. Both were loyal wives and mothers. With remarkable fortitude and dignity, each faced terrible ordeals. Lilian endured war, captivity, political turmoil, and decades of calumny and insult; Jacqueline saw her husband murdered before her eyes.

Not surprisingly, Lilian and Jackie knew each other. In her book, Léopold III, mon père, Lilian's daughter Esmeralda recalls her parents' visit to the American presidential couple. During her youth, Lilian (educated partly in England, where the President's father spent time as American ambassador) had, incidentally, also been a friend of John F. Kennedy's sister, Kathleen, and the visit was the occasion for the revival of old memories.

Certainly, in one respect at least, Lilian and Jacqueline were very different. Elegance, grace and charm might win Jackie widespread admiration, but these same qualities did nothing for Lilian's popularity...

Please leave a comment to say why you think Lilian and Jacqueline were (dis)similar. Whom do you prefer?

(1) "very Princess of Réthy (Lilian's other title), but youthful." (Lilian was 13 years Jacqueline's senior). Quoted in Grace and Power, 2005, by Sally Bedell Smith, p. 24

The Daughter of Time

Thank goodness the internet seems to be working at the moment! Here is a intriguing review of The Daughter of Time. To quote:

This was a fascinating read by Josephine Tey. It is the story of Alan Grant, a policeman with Scotland Yard, who is laid up in the hospital after being injured on the job. A friend brings in a portrait of Richard III and he has a hard time believing that the man in the picture is the horrible, nephew murdering hunchback that he is familiar with. This sparks his interest and to relieve his boredom he takes up the 400+ year old case of Richard III - did he or did he not murder his nephews in the Tower? He and an American researcher working in the British Museum sort through all the evidence they can get and look at the case through a policeman's perspective - considering motives, opportunities, written accounts from the times, looking for breaks in the normal routine of the main players, etc. Grant becomes convinced that, based on the evidence, that Richard did not murder his nephews. In fact, he had absolutely nothing to gain and quite a bit to lose if he did...

Internet Problems

Lately I have been experiencing problems off and on with my internet connection. I hope this issue will be resolved soon, but, in case I have to be offline for a few days, I wanted to let my readers know.

The Broken Rose

(Credits)

In a collection of poems of the Great War, I came across Annie Vivanti Chartres' fervid tribute to the Belgian king and people, entitled The Broken Rose. Despite my love and admiration for Albert, I have to say I never feel very comfortable with this sort of tribute and I suspect he would have been embarrassed by it, too. Nonetheless, it is a good example of the kind of hero-worship he received during the war, and I wanted to include it as part of my series on popular representations of the Belgian monarchy.

Shy, youthful, silent — and misunderstood

In the white glare of Kinghood thou didst stand.

The sceptre in thy hand

Seemed but a flower the Fates had tossed to thee,

And thou wert called, perchance half-scornfully,

Albert the Good.

To-day thou standest on a blackened grave,

Thy broken sword still lifted to the skies.

Thy pure and fearless eyes

Gaze into Death's grim visage unappalled

And by the storm-swept nations thou art called

Albert the Brave.

Tossed on a blood-red sea of rage and hate

The frenzied world rolls forward to its doom.

But high above the gloom

Flashes the fulgent beacon of thy fame,

The nations thou hast saved exalt thy name —

Albert the Great!

Albert the good, the brave, the great, thy land

Lies at thy feet, a crushed and morient rose

Trampled and desecrated by thy foes.

One day a greater Belgium will be born,

But what of this dead Belgium wracked and torn ?

What of this rose flung out upon the sand ? . . .

Behold ! Afar where sky and waters meet

A white-robed Figure walketh on the sea.

(Peace goes before Him and her face is sweet.)

As once He trod the waves of Galilee

He comes again — the tumult sinks to rest,

The stormy waters shine beneath His feet.

He sees the dead rose lying in the sand,

He lifts the dead rose in His holy hand

And lays it at His breast.

O broken rose of Belgium, thou art blest!

What do you think of the poem? Touching? Overdone?

Stolen Royal Documents

This happened a number of years ago. Still, it seems incredible. In March, 2002, La Libre Belgique and RTBF revealed that the death certificate of King Albert I had disappeared. Like any other citizen of the judicial district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, the monarch's death was recorded in the Court of First Instance in Brussels. A historian came to consult the archives, looking for Albert's death certificate in the registry for early 1934. It was missing, torn out of the books. Apparently, the theft dated from a period when people had easy access to the registry, to consult family records. It seems amazing that royal records were not kept in a more secure place!

At Marche-les-Dames, at Namur, there were no legal traces left of the King's death. Luckily, though, the City Archives of Brussels (harder to access) had a copy of the stolen document. Yet, even from here, 20 years or so earlier, the marriage certificate of King Albert II and Queen Paola went missing...

Festivities at Laeken

(Photos)

On August 30, the Belgian royal family hosted a garden party at Laeken to celebrate four wedding anniversaries occurring this year: King Albert II and Queen Paola (50 years), Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde (10 years), Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz (25 years) and Prince Laurent and Princess Claire (6 years). More than 200 people were invited, including 69 couples with the same wedding anniversary as the King and Queen. Sadly, the celebrations were marred by a accident. Two horse-carriages (intended to transport guests who could not walk easily) collided and four people were injured. May God grant them a speedy recovery, and every blessing to the royal couples!

(Elsewhere, The Royal Forums, The Mad Monarchist)