Elisabeth of Hungary

Sisi's coronation in Budapest.

So great was the enthusiasm aroused by the appearance of the Empress-Queen, that it is scarcely wonderful if her whole heart went out anew to a people who, by the warmth of their reception, the many tokens of admiration and love bestowed upon her, presented so vivid a contrast to the manner in which the Teutonic portion of her husband’s subjects had comported themselves towards her when the imperial crown had been placed upon her brow, almost thirteen years before. Her predilection for Hungary from henceforth became more than ever marked. She learned the terribly difficult Magyar language with her usual facility, devoting herself with such energy to this task that she absolutely amazed her instructors, and most of her time was spent in her marvelous Castle of Gödöllö, near Budapest. (Read entire post)

Little Princess Marie-Christine

I am pained by her behavior as an adult, but it would be hard to find a more adorable little girl. She always loved her stuffed animals, as her sister Esmeralda recalls in her book, Léopold III, mon père.

Remembering Queen Astrid

Remember 

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The glorious memory

of 

Her Majesty Queen Astrid

Queen of the Belgians

Born at Stockholm, November 17, 1905

Proclaimed Queen February 23, 1934

Accidentally deceased August 29, 1935

at Küssnacht (Switzerland)
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She had to die in the flower of her youth because only death could add to her crown. (Père Lacordaire)

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Her grace and her charm, her kindness and her simplicity had conquered all hearts.

She had given herself entirely to Belgium, and her death leaves in the hearts of all Belgians a deep wound.

Men and women mourn their Queen.

Children mourn a mother.
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R.I.P.

The Life of Queen Louise-Marie

A delightful post. As it happens, the anniversary of the death of the Queen's beloved father Louis-Philippe is coming soon.

The Duchess of Kent

Some portraits of the controversial mother and namesake of Queen Victoria, also a sister of Leopold, first King of the Belgians. 

The Fall of Liège

The Exiled Belgian Royalist remembers. Here is the noble letter that General Gerard Leman, now a prisoner of war, sent King Albert after the German capture of the forts of Liège on August 16, 1914. Leman had once been a military tutor to Albert.

After honourable engagements on August 4th, 5th, and 6th, I considered that the forts of Liege could only play the role of forts d'arret. I nevertheless maintained military government in order to coordinate the defense as much as possible, and to exercise moral influence upon the garrison.

Your Majesty is not ignorant that I was at Fort Loncin on August 6th at noon. You will learn with grief that the fort was blown up yesterday at 5.20 p.m., the greater part of the garrison being buried under the ruins.

That I did not lose my life in that catastrophe is due to the fact that my escort, Commandant Collard, a sub-officer of infantry who unfortunately perished, the gendarme Thevenim and my two orderlies, Vanden Bossche and Jos Lecocq, drew me from a position of danger, where I was being asphyxiated by gas from the exploded powder.

I was carried into a trench, where a German captain named Guson gave me a drink, after which I was made a prisoner and taken to Liege in an ambulance. I am convinced that the honour of our arms has been sustained. I have not surrendered either the fortress or the forts.

Deign, Sire, to pardon my defects in this letter. I am physically shattered by the explosion of Loncin. In Germany, whither I am proceeding, my thoughts will be, as they have ever been, of Belgium and the King. I would willingly have given my life the better to serve them, but death was denied me.

More on the battle of Liège, HERE.

Feast of the Assumption

Marie-Astrid, Princess of Wales?

Gareth Russell comments on the rumors that Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg, grand-daughter of King Leopold III of the Belgians, might once have been considered a possible bride for the Prince of Wales. (Given the treatment of the Belgian monarch by Winston Churchill during World War II, it might have been an interesting historical revenge for Leopold).

That the government considered it possible that Prince Charles might one day want to marry Princess Marie-Astrid is shown by the fact that there were several committees set-up to see if it was constitutionally possible to repeal the ban on British royals marrying Catholics. There was soft opposition, from the beginning, including from Charles's beloved grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who was not only a devout Protestant but was also naturally opposed to change. Concerns about how such a marriage would affect the already-volatile situation in Northern Ireland were also voiced. Early in 1980, the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, set up a small committee to discuss the issue. According to her future biographer, Hugo Young, the Prime Minister herself was strongly opposed to changing the law or to encouraging the Prince's marriage to Marie-Astrid. And her objections rested squarely on the idea that the princess's religion was problematic and undesirable. Some of the committees other members later told Young that they had been shocked by "the extreme anti-Catholicism" of the Prime Minister.

Eventually the rumours about Charles and Marie-Astrid faded away. Maybe that's all they ever were. Neither Charles, nor Marie-Astrid, ever went firmly on the record about how much truth there had been in the idea that they could quite married. Evidently, Mrs. Thatcher considered it a possibility, but we don't know how sold on the idea Charles himself ever was. Charles soon announced his forthcoming marriage to the beautiful Diana Spencer - young, virginal, British, aristocrat and Protestant. And Marie-Astrid married a member of the deposed Austrian royal family, Archduke Carl-Christian, in 1982. (Read entire post)

Meeting Princess Léa

Here is a brief video of Princess Léa of Belgium offering financial assistance to her local Center for Public Welfare in Rhode-Saint-Génèse. Also, here is a Dutch trailer for a program on Princess Léa's life at her beautiful, elegant home.  As readers may know, Léa is the widow of Prince Alexandre, the son of Leopold III and Lilian Baels.

Mourning

Queen Elisabeth of Belgium as a widow.