Royal Prayer Cards

For the family of Leopold III, after Queen Astrid's death. The first card shows the King, the Queen Mother Elisabeth, and the royal children, Princess Josephine-Charlotte, Prince Baudouin and Prince Albert. The second simply shows a tender scene of the King with his children, outlined in the colors of the Belgian flag.

"Defend, Lord, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Royal Family from all adversity, and cover it with Thy perpetual benediction"

"Lord, preserve them for Belgium, which loves them so." 

The Life of Prince Albert

Here is a short biography of the idealistic consort of Queen Victoria. As is well known, both Victoria and Albert were very important people in the lives of their uncle and aunt, King Leopold I and Queen Louise-Marie of the Belgians.

Terrorists

In Antwerp. 

The Death of Queen Elisabeth

Today is the 45th anniversary of the death of the third Queen of the Belgians, born Elisabeth Gabriele Valerie Marie, Duchess in Bavaria. The widow of King Albert I succumbed to heart failure on November 23, 1965, at the venerable age of 89. It is a touching coincidence that the old Queen passed away only four days after the feast of her patron saint, Elizabeth of Hungary, whom she greatly admired. The year before her death, the beloved heroine of the trenches and the field hospitals of World War I had also attended a review of the surviving Belgian veterans of 1914-1918. Weak as she was, she had insisted on coming, but had been obliged to watch the review from her car, propped up with cushions and blankets. It had been a very emotional occasion. Both the aged Queen and the dwindling group of veterans seemed to sense that this would be their last meeting on earth. 

Newsreel of Queen Elisabeth's funeral may be watched here. Her loss was a cruel blow to her eldest son, King Leopold III. Their relationship had been very close. Throughout all the troubles of Leopold's life, he had always counted on his mother's unfailing love and support. After the news of her death reached him at Argenteuil, his nine-year-old daughter, Esmeralda, was astonished to see tears streaming down his face. It was the first time she had witnessed him weeping. Still unaware that her grandmother had passed away, the little princess asked the reason for her father's sadness. "Since last night," he replied, "I no longer have a mother." (Quoted by Michel Verwilghen in Le Mythe d'Argenteuil, 2006, p. 298). Esmeralda, too, was then deeply affected, as she had been very fond of her grandmother. By contrast, Elisabeth's estranged second son, Prince Charles, who had long resented his mother's preference for Leopold, refused to attend her funeral. The ceremony, however, was one of the rare public appearances of King Leopold III and his second wife, Princess Lilian, in the company of King Baudouin I and Queen Fabiola. (Rare, that is, since the division between the two kings, father and son, following Leopold's abdication and departure from Brussels). Remembering her artistic, poetic mother-in-law's passion for orchids, Lilian placed an orchid between Elisabeth's joined hands at her lying-in-state. (Lilian's daughter, Esmeralda, relates this thoughtful gesture in her memoirs, Léopold III, mon père). 

Elisabeth's daughter, Queen Marie-José of Italy, rather charmingly told her biographer Luciano Regolo that she always had trouble taking her mother's death seriously. The Belgian queen had been so full of life that Marie-José continued to feel as though she were still alive and might walk in at any moment, returned from the foreign travels she loved. In these sombre days of November, the month dedicated to the dead and the Holy Souls in Purgatory, let's hope and pray that this brave and generous lady may, indeed, live eternally with God, and return in glory at the Resurrection. 

The Red Archduchess

The first cousin once removed of both King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Archduchess Elisabeth Marie was the only child of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his wife, Princess Stephanie of Belgium. Scandal and tragedy surrounded Elisabeth Marie on both sides of her family. Her father and his mistress, Mary Vetsera, were found mysteriously killed at Mayerling when the little girl was only five. The assassination of her troubled paternal grandmother, the famous Empress Sissi, followed less than a decade later. Meanwhile, Elisabeth Marie's maternal grandfather, King Leopold II of Belgium, outraged public opinion with his exploitation of the Congo and irregular private life. His eldest daughter, Elisabeth Marie's aunt, the flighty Princess Louise of Belgium, also shocked Europe with her romantic misadventures; for a time, she was even confined to a lunatic asylum.

In spite of this disastrous family history, Elisabeth Marie was mentioned as a possible bride for Prince Albert of Belgium in his youth, much to the horror of his sister Henriette. Understandably, the pious and proper daughter of the staid Count and Countess of Flanders thought the young lady had too unstable a background for the marriage to be a success. Thankfully, nothing came of the idea. Elisabeth Marie went on to generate scandals of her own, becoming estranged from her mother, the long-suffering Stephanie, and espousing socialism and spiritualism. I am very glad she was never Queen of the Belgians! I doubt even the capable King Albert would have been able to manage such a difficult consort. I also can only imagine how enemies of the Belgian monarchy would have seized upon Elisabeth Marie's eccentricities to undermine the throne. The princess Albert did marry, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, was fortunately a much more stable character. Nevertheless, she, too, had that zany Wittelsbach streak, which could alarm even her most fervent admirers. Just as Elisabeth Marie of Austria became known as the "Red Archduchess," so Elisabeth of Belgium, during the Cold War, would enthusiastically visit Communist countries, becoming known as the "Red Queen."

A Happy Occasion for Princess Lilian

Here is a charming clip of Lilian de Réthy, the beautiful but vilified second wife of Leopold III, celebrating her 43rd birthday at the family's log cabin in the Alps. (Lilian's birthday is coming soon, on November 28). The royal couple's niece, Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, is one of the guests at the party. Like her mother, Queen Marie-José of Italy, and grandmother, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Maria Gabriella was close to Leopold and Lilian, once again giving the lie to the black legend that the Princesse de Réthy was hated by almost everyone.

Stealing the Mystic Lamb

There is a new, non-fiction thriller on the many thefts of Jan van Eyck's famous Ghent Altarpiece, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb.  

Since its completion in 1432 the 12-panel folding Ghent Altarpiece, housed in the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, has been looted in three different wars, burned, dismembered, forged, smuggled, illegally sold, censored, hidden, attacked by iconoclasts, hunted by the Nazis and Napoleon, used as a diplomatic tool, ransomed, rescued by Austrian double-agents, and stolen a total of thirteen times. 

Queen Marie-Henriette in Spa

After a dramatic and tragic life, she tried to find peace and comfort in quiet retirement with her circle of friends and her love of horses, music and theatre. Les Musées de la Ville d'eaux  discusses the last years of the consort of King Leopold II at the Hôtel de Midi in Spa. (The article is in French, but still readable in other languages via Google Translate).

"A Beautiful Friendship"

On the 105th anniversary of the birth of Astrid of Sweden, consort of King Leopold III, here is a wonderful review of Countess Anna Sparre's memoirs of her childhood friend. It is all the more welcome, as even Astrid's memory, formerly so cherished, has been under attack lately. (Sadly, Anna's book is only available in Swedish, French and Dutch). To quote:

Those memories take the reader through noble and royal households at the turn of the century and during the first World War. It talks of life among the privileged within Swedish society, the development of a good-hearted but shy girl into a kind and caring young woman, and later into a loving wife, mother and Queen. The book concludes, of course, with the tragic accident that robbed Belgium of its most precious crown jewel. Touching, emotional, and yet with almost ruthless honesty, Anna Sparre talks of the last letter she received of her friend, two days after the news of her death was made public, her reaction of disbelief to the news, her sorrow, the memories of the funeral and the conversations with a grief-stricken Leopold.

Many biographies have been written about Astrid, Queen of the Belgians, but this book is more than a biography. Although such personal accounts often run the risk of turning into a hagiography, this book does not have any such tendency. Sometimes a bit critical and even derisive, it portrays a beautiful friendship between two women who are each other’s opposites. It gives a unique insight in what Queen Astrid was like, and how people from her immediate environment reacted to the news of her untimely death. [Read full review]

The King's Holiday

Today, Belgium celebrates the "King's Holiday" (Fête du Roi / Koningsfeest ). This beloved tradition, dating from 1866, honors the services rendered by the monarch to the nation. November 15 was chosen for this celebration as it is the name-day of Leopold (in the Germanic calendar) and of Albert (in the general calendar). Upon his accession to the throne in 1951, Baudouin I decided not to change the date, and neither has Albert II.

From 1944-1950, during the exile of Leopold III (and the regency of his brother, Prince Charles), the name "Dynasty Holiday" was used. This term, however, was erroneous, as noted in a circular from the Ministry of Interior in 1953.

According to custom, the King does not attend the public celebrations in his honor!

(Photo: The Royal Palace of Brussels by night. Credits)