Last Letter of Queen Louise-Marie

Here is the last letter of Queen Louise-Marie of the Belgians to her husband, King Leopold I. Attached to her will, it was written during the final days of Louise-Marie's long battle with consumption, so heartbreaking to her family and friends. (The anniversary of her death is approaching, on October 11). The letter is a lyrical farewell of sublimated conjugal love (all the more remarkable, as the royal marriage was originally a purely political arrangement, dreaded by Louise-Marie), and of passionate desire for the eternal salvation of a husband, who did not share the Queen's Catholic faith.

Cher, cher ami,

Ce testament te sera remis lorsque je ne serai plus, lorsque mon coeur, ce coeur qui n'aura jamais battu que pour toi, aura cessé de battre, lorsque mes yeux qui aimaient tant à te contempler seront fermés par la mort et que mon âme seule pourra veiller sur toi, lorsque enfin je n'aurai plus d'espoir de te revoir que dans ce monde inconnu, objet de tes préoccupations et de tes voeux et où, je l'espère, Dieu nous fera la grâce d'être éternellement réunis. Puisses-tu trouver dans l'expression de mes dernières volontés et deviner par-delà les mots une faible partie de l'affection et de la reconnaissance que j'éprouve pour toi et qu'aucun langage humain ne pourra jamais rendre. Puisse Dieu se charger de la dette de ma reconnaissance et te remercier de ta bonté pour moi en te bénissant et en te protégeant en toutes choses comme mon coeur le désire et le lui demande sans cesse. Puisses-tu être heureux que je l'ai été par toi et près de toi. Puisses-tu être aimé, apprécié, chéri, admiré, j'allais presque dire adoré par beaucoup comme tu l'as été par moi. Puissent tes enfants être toujours pour toi une source de joie et de consolation. Puisse ta mort être douce comme celle du juste et tes derniers moments embellis par le souvenir de tout le bien que tu as fait à moi et aux autres. Puisses-tu, pendant l'éternité, jouir de ce bonheur immatériel et sans bornes pour lequel ton âme a été créée plus que toute autre et puissé-je te servir, toi et ceux que tu as aimés, ou seulement te voir de loin dans cette éternité bienheureuse et avoir la certitude de ton bonheur, même sans le partager. Tels sont, cher ami, mes derniers et mes plus chers voeux car il n'y a pas un battement de mon coeur ni une pensée de mon âme qui ne soit à toi et pour toi. Mon affection pour toi, cette affection qui a été, je puis le dire, la vie de ma vie, le mobile et l'essence de mon existence ici-bas doit même, je le sens, être immortelle comme l'âme que Dieu m'a donnée pour L'adorer, Le servir, Le prier et apprécier Ses bienfaits et doit, comme elle, survivre à ce corps de boue. Quel que soit le moment où Dieu tout-puissant m'appellera à Lui et quelque déchirement que la pensée seule de me séparer de toi me fasse éprouver, je ne puis que bénir Son nom, adorer Ses décrets, m'y soumettre et Le remercier du bonheur si grand et si peu fait pour la terre qu'Il m'a départi en m'unissant à toi. D'ailleurs, que ma vie soit longue ou courte, j'aurai toujours assez vécu si je t'ai été bonne à quelque chose, ne fût-ce qu'un instant.

***

Dear, dear friend,

This will shall be given to you when I shall be no longer, when my heart, this heart which will never have beaten except for you, shall have ceased to beat, when my eyes, which so loved to contemplate you, will have been closed by death, and my soul alone shall be able to watch over you, when, finally, I shall have no more hope of seeing you again, except in that unknown world, the object of your concerns and your wishes, where, I hope, God will grant us the grace of being eternally reunited. May you find, in the expression of my last wishes, and be able to guess, beyond words, a meagre part of the affection and the gratitude I feel towards you, and which no human language will ever be able to express. May God take charge of the debt of my gratitude and thank you for your kindness towards me, by blessing you and protecting you in all things as my heart desires and as I ask Him without ceasing. May you be happy that I have been happy because of you and close to you. May you be loved, appreciated, cherished, admired, I was almost going to say adored, by many, as you have been by me. May your children be always for you a source of joy and consolation. May your death be sweet like that of the just man and your last moments made beautiful by the memory of all the good you have done to me and to others. May you, in eternity, enjoy that immaterial happiness, without limits, for which your soul, more than any other, was created, and may I be able to serve you, you and those you have loved, or, at least, see you from afar in that blessed eternity and have the certitude of your happiness, even without sharing it. These, dear friend, are my last and dearest wishes, for there is not a beat of my heart nor a thought of my soul which is not yours and for you. My affection for you, that affection which was, I can say, the life of my life, the motive and the essence of my existence here below, must also, I sense, be immortal, like the soul God gave me to adore Him, to serve Him, to pray Him and to appreciate His benefits and must, like it, survive this body of mud. Whatever the moment when almighty God may call me to Him, and whatever anguish, which only the thought of being separated from you may cause me to feel, I can only bless His name, adore His decrees, submit myself to them and thank Him for the happiness, so great and so little made for this earth, which He granted me by uniting me to you. And whether my life is long or short, I will always have lived long enough if I was at all good for you, even if only for an instant. 

(cited by Madeleine Lassère in Louise reine des Belges: 1812-1850, 2006, pp. 258-259)

A New Novel

Last year, a lady by the name of Lova Pourrier published her first historical novel, Le destin d'une couronne, la vie d'une famille: Marie-Antoinette, Louis XVI et leurs enfants. I've not read the book, but I am curious about it. Based on the reviews I've seen, it appears to be a sympathetic, well-researched and well-written retelling of the tragedy of the French Royal Family in the throes of the Revolution. It is specifically intended for adolescents and young adults, but it is said to be suitable for older readers, too. The novel, apparently, features the role of the King's pious sister, Madame Elisabeth, and the royal couple's daughter, Madame Royale, who are neglected in many versions of this unfortunate tale.

The author's presentation of the book on her blog.

The novel's Facebook page, with interesting discussions and beautiful portraits of the protagonists.

(*Be careful of visiting Lova Pourrier's new website, different from the blog, sadly no longer being updated, to which I linked above, as some kind of malware seems to have become attached to it.)

Grand Duke Henri's 10-Year Jubilee

The Royal Universe reminds us that today is the tenth anniversary of the accession of Grand Duke Henri to the Luxembourg throne. Henri is the son of Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium and the nephew of Belgian kings Baudouin I and Albert II. I gave a brief overview of his life, HERE. 

Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands

Claire Ridgway discusses the life of this remarkable Renaissance ruler and the influence of her highly cultured court on the young Anne Boleyn.

Spending the formative years of her life in France had not only made Margaret fluent in the language but also very French in her ways. She was also highly educated and was accomplished at music and poetry. Belgian historian, Ghislain de Boom, described her palace at Mechelen (Malines in French) as “un école d’éducation princière et un centre de haute civilisation”[3], “a princely school and a centre of high culture/advanced civilisation”, and so it was. Her court was visited by the likes of Erasmus, and other well-known Humanists, and was known for its superb library which contained poetry, missals, historical work and work by authors such as Christine de Pizan, who was known for challenging mysogyny and the stereotypical views of women, as well as the works of Boccaccio, Aesop, Ovid, Boethius and Aristotle. Margaret was a patron of the arts and her court was also known for Margarets’s collection of paintings by masters such as Jan van Eyck, her collection of illuminated manuscripts and her collection of music books. She surrounded herself with men of letters, poets and painters. Margaret also enjoyed the tradition of courtly love, which Eric Ives describes as “an integral element in chivalry, the complex of attitudes and institutions which was central to the life of the Tudor court and elite”, “a defence against boredom and vice” and a way “to constrain gender relationships within an accepted convention”[4].

In the 19th century, Louise-Marie d'Orléans, the first Queen of the Belgians, enjoyed dressing up as Margaret of Austria.

Baron Surlet de Chokier: Belgian Revolutionary and Statesman

The best known Regent of Belgium was the controversial Prince Charles, brother of Leopold III. In 1831, however, at the beginning of her history, the fledgling kingdom had another, equally controversial Regent, professional revolutionary Erasme Louis, Baron Surlet de Chokier. The Exiled Belgian Royalist reports on his life in a very interesting article. Was the Baron a nationalist hero? Read and judge for yourself...

Marie-José, Princess of Belgium, Queen of Italy

A magnificent tribute to the daughter of Albert and Elisabeth.

The Charity of Queen Marie-Amélie

Some may remember my post on the almsgiving of Louise-Marie, first Queen of the Belgians. In this regard, Louise surely learned from the noble example of her mother, Marie-Amélie, Queen of the French. According to her biographer, C.C. Dyson, Marie-Amélie gave away no less than 4/5 of her private income to the poor. Here is a testimony of her charity, from her secretary, Mr. Appert:

"I saw her every day but never without being affected by her perfections and holiness. Neither the religion nor politics of the applicant was considered, but only misery. If there was an insurrection, and cries and threats were heard under the windows, she would say: 'Help as many of these miserable people as you can. Bread is dear, trade bad. Seeing a wife and children starve is enough to turn a man's head. They do much that is wrong, but it is excusable. I am comfortable in these warm rooms, but wretched when I think of so many people in the city suffering from cold and hunger. To give is my only pleasure in the midst of all our troubles. He who invented the saying 'Happy as a king,' had never worn a crown". (The life of Marie Amélie last queen of the French, 1782-1866. C.C. Dyson, 1910, p. 230).

The Marriage of King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth

Today is their 110th wedding anniversary. Here is a fine article by Emily Chauviere on their long, collaborative, fruitful marriage, based on Theo Aronson's book, The Coburgs of Belgium (1968). I mostly agree with Ms. Chauviere's analysis. Whether Albert and Elisabeth really fell in love at first sight, however, is a matter of some dispute. (I think it was, indeed, a coup de foudre on Elisabeth's side, but I'm less sure of Albert's feelings at the time.)

"Das Kind"

Queen Elisabeth of Belgium was a fragile, yet heroic woman. Her accomplishments during difficult, often tragic, times (especially her exhausting work as a nurse during World War I!) are all the more remarkable given her precarious health and vulnerable sensibility.

While still Crown Princess, Elisabeth suffered from the strains and fatigues of her position. She had a great need for personal liberty and independence, and, as she would later confess to her daughter, Marie-José, she found the atmosphere of the Belgian court bureaucratic and constricting. She missed the mountains, open spaces, and fresh air of her native Bavaria. She often felt intimidated by her husband's uncle, the aging King Leopold II, and his daughter, Princess Clementine, whose caustic severity contrasted with the benevolent tolerance of the Wittelsbachs.Yet, Elisabeth did not complain, accepting these trials in silence and concentrating on supporting and encouraging her husband, Prince Albert.

Undoubtedly, Albert's tender affection, in turn, greatly aided Elisabeth. Touching letters illustrate the young Prince's loving and solicitous attitude to his wife. Elisabeth's pregnancies always left her physically exhausted, and, after the birth of each of her children, she had to spend time convalescing in Bavaria. On one occasion, Albert wrote to her:

Situating Charlotte: Reading Politics in Portraits of Belgian Princess Charlotte, Vicereine of Lombardy-Venetia, Empress of Mexico

By a stroke of luck, I just found this PhD dissertation, by Linda MacNayr of Queen's University, on the artistic portrayals of Empress Carlota. I have only had a chance to glance through it briefly, but it looks fascinating. The illustrations are beautiful. You can download the thesis in PDF format HERE.