Leopold III of Belgium 59765 224812666 2008-07-10T15:05:22Z AlleborgoBot 3813685 robot Modifying: [[it:Leopoldo III dei Belgi]] {{Inappropriate tone|date=November 2007}} {{POV|date=November 2007}} {{Infobox_Monarch | name =Leopold III | title =King of the Belgians | image =[[Image:Princess Astrid engaged in 1926.jpg|200px]] | caption =King Leopold III with his first wife [[Astrid of Sweden|Astrid]] | reign =[[23 February]], [[1934]] &ndash; [[16 July]], [[1951]]<br>({{age|1934|2|23|1951|7|16}} years) | coronation = | predecessor =[[Albert I of Belgium|Albert I]] | successor =[[Baudouin I of Belgium|Baudouin I]] | heir = | consort =[[Astrid of Sweden]] <br> [[Lilian Baels]] | issue =[[Josephine-Charlotte of Belgium|Princess Josephine-Charlottte]] <br> [[Baudouin I of Belgium|Prince Baudouin]] <br> [[Albert II of Belgium|Prince Albert]] <br> [[Prince Alexander of Belgium|Prince Alexander]] <br> [[Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium|Princess Marie-Christine]] <br> [[Princess Maria-Esmeralda of Belgium|Princess Maria-Esmeralda]] | royal house =[[House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] | royal anthem = | father =[[Albert I of Belgium]] | mother =[[Elisabeth of Bavaria (1876-1965)|Elisabeth of Bavaria]] | date of birth ={{birth date|1901|11|3|df=y}} | place of birth =[[Brussels]], [[Belgium]] | date of death ={{death date and age|1983|9|25|1901|11|3|df=y}} | place of death =[[Woluwe-Saint-Lambert]], [[Belgium]] | buried = |}} '''Leopold III''' (born as ''Léopold Philippe Charles Albert Meinrad Hubertus Marie Miguel'' (French) or ''Leopold Filips Karel Albert Meinrad Hubertus Maria Miguel'' (Dutch); [[3 November]], [[1901]] &ndash; [[25 September]], [[1983]]) reigned as King of [[Belgium|the Belgians]] from 1934 until 1951, when he abdicated in favour of the [[Heir Apparent]], his son [[Baudouin I of Belgium|Baudouin]]. Leopold III was born in [[Brussels]] as Prince Leopold of Belgium, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and succeeded to the throne of [[Belgium]] on [[February 23]], [[1934]] on the death of his father, King [[Albert I of Belgium|Albert I]]. ==Early life and family== Crown Prince Leopold, while still a teenager, fought as a private during [[World War I]] with the 12th Belgian Regiment. After the war, in 1919, then-Crown Prince Leopold was enrolled first at [[Eton College]] in Britain, and then at St. Anthony Seminary in [[Santa Barbara, California]]. In [[Stockholm]], on [[November 4]], [[1926]], he married [[Astrid of Sweden|Princess Astrid of Sweden]] who later became Queen Astrid of the Belgians. She was born in [[Stockholm]] on [[November 17]], [[1905]], the youngest daughter of [[Prince Carl, Duke of Westrogothia|Prince Carl of Sweden]] and [[Princess Ingeborg of Denmark]]. The marriage produced three children: *[[Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium|Joséphine-Charlotte]], Princess of Belgium, born at the Royal Palace of [[Brussels]] on [[October 11]], [[1927]], Grand Duchess of [[Luxembourg]]. She was married on [[April 9]], [[1953]] to [[Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg|Prince Jean]], later [[Grand-Duke]] of [[Luxembourg]]. She died at [[Fischbach Castle]] on [[January 10]], [[2005]]. *Baudouin, Prince of Belgium, who became the fifth King of the Belgians as [[Baudouin I of Belgium|Baudouin I]], born at Stuyvenberg on the outskirts of [[Brussels]] on [[September 7]], [[1930]], and died at [[Motril]], [[Spain]] on [[July 31]], [[1993]]. *Albert, Prince of Liège, Prince of Belgium, born at Stuyvenberg on [[June 6]], [[1934]]. He is the reigning King of the Belgians as [[Albert II of Belgium|Albert II]]. On [[August 29]], [[1935]], while the King and Queen were driving along the winding, narrow roads near their villa at [[Küssnacht am Rigi]], [[Schwyz]], [[Switzerland]] on the shores of [[Lake of Lucerne|Lake Lucerne]], Leopold lost control of the car which plunged into the lake, killing Queen Astrid. On [[September 11]], [[1941]], King Leopold III married [[morganatic marriage|morganatically]], [[Lilian Baels]], who was born in [[Highbury]], [[London]] on [[November 28]], [[1916]]. Known as the ''princesse de Réthy'', she died on [[June 7]], [[2002]]. They had three children: *[[Prince Alexander of Belgium|Alexander]], Prince of Belgium, born in Brussels on [[July 18]], [[1942]]. In 1991 he married Lea Inga Dora Wohlman, a marriage revealed only seven years later. She was created a Princess of Belgium in her own right. *[[Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium|Marie-Christine]], Princess of Belgium, born in Brussels on [[February 6]], [[1951]]. Her first marriage, to Paul Drucker in 1981, lasted 40 days (though they were not formally divorced until 1985); she subsequently married Jean-Paul Gourges in 1989. *[[Princess Maria-Esmeralda of Belgium|Maria-Esmeralda]], Princess of Belgium, born in Brussels on [[September 30]], [[1956]], a journalist, her professional name is Esmeralda de Réthy. She married [[Salvador Moncada]], a noted pharmacologist, in 1998. They have a son and a daughter. ==WWII and controversy== {{S-C-G-B}} On [[May 10]], [[1940]] the [[Germany|German]] army invaded Belgium. However, during the 1930s Leopold had made extensive preparations against such an invasion of his country, which historically had been used as a convenient battlefield in wars between France and Germany, but was unable to fully coordinate with the [[British Expeditionary Force]] or the French Army against the full force of the [[Blitzkrieg]] — due to having failed to make an alliance with them before the war started. As a result Belgium was probably the best prepared country in Europe against the [[Axis powers of World War II|Axis]] forces at the start of WW II and the Belgian artillery was particularly damaging to the Germans during the three weeks which it took them to overwhelm the little country. This perseverance also prevented the [[BEF]] from being outflanked and cut off from the coast, enabling the evacuation from Dunkirk. After his military surrender Leopold stayed on in Brussels to face the victorious invaders, while his entire government had already fled to Paris and later London. His action brought accusations of treason by French Prime Minister [[Paul Reynaud]]. King Leopold rejected cooperation with the [[Nazis]] and refused to administer Belgium in accordance with their dictates, probably saving many thousands of lives in the process.{{Facts|date=April 2008}} Despite his defiance of the Germans, the Belgian government-in-exile in London refused to recognize his right to rule. The Germans held him under [[house arrest]] at the Royal castle in Brussels. On [[September 11]], [[1941]], the King secretly married Lilian Baels in a religious ceremony that had no value under Belgian law. Less than two months later, a legal marriage before a civil official took place. This was a strange situation since in Belgium a religious marriage is prohibited if it is not preceded by a civil marriage. The reasons are not clear but it seems that Leopold who at first should only have accepted Lilian as a "secret" unofficial wife must have changed his mind. It is quite obvious that Lilian was pregnant during the second ceremony, since a child was born seven months later. The public announcement of the King's second marriage was made the day after the legal marriage, [[December 6]], when Cardinal Jozef-Ernest van Roey, Archbishop of Mechelen, wrote an open letter to parish priests throughout the country. The letter revealed that the King's new wife would be known as Princesse de Réthy, not Queen Lilian, and that any children they had would have no claim to the throne (though they would be Princes or Princesses of Belgium). His new marriage damaged his reputation further in the eyes of many of his subjects. In January 1944, Leopold wrote a "political testament", to be published in case he was not in Belgium when the country was occupied by the Allied forces. The testament, which mentioned allied "occupation" and not "liberation", and did not mention the resistance, would cause additional controversy: the Belgian government in London did not like Leopold's demand for public excuses from the ministers involved in the 1940 crisis, and the allies did not like Leopold's repudation of the treaties concluded by the Government-in-exile in London (the controversy mainly centred upon the economic treaty with the United States concerning the delivery of Congolese [[uranium]] for American [[atom bomb]]s). Later that year, [[Heinrich Himmler]] ordered King Leopold deported to Germany. Princess Liliane followed with the family in another car the following day under an [[SS]] armed guard. The [[Nazis]] held the family in a fort at [[Hirschstein]] in [[Saxony]] from June 1944 to March 1945, and then at [[Strobl]] in [[Austria]] until the German capitulation. They were freed by the [[U.S. 7th Army]] in May of 1945. Due to controversy about his conduct during the war, Léopold III and his wife and children were unable to return to Belgium and spent the next six years in exile at [[Pregny]] near [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]], a regency under his brother [[Prince Charles of Belgium|Prince Charles]] having been established by the Legislature in [[1944]]. As for the political testament, the Belgian government did not publish it (partly for fear of an upsurge in [[Communist Party of Belgium|communis]]t support if they did) and preferred to ignore it. In [[1946]], a commission of inquiry exonerated Leopold of treason. Nonetheless, controversy concerning his loyalty continued, and in [[1950]], a referendum was held about his future. A majority of ca. 57% voted in favour of his return. The divide between Leopoldists and anti-Leopoldists ran along the lines of socialists and Walloons who were mostly opposed (ca. 42% of favourable votes in Wallonia) and Christian Democrats and Flemings who were more in favour of the King (ca. 70% of the votes in Flanders). On his return to Belgium in 1950, he was met with strikes and other protests. The strikes turned violent and in clashes with the [[gendarmerie]], several protesters were killed. With the country on the brink of civil war, and the communist banners in Wallonia being replaced by French tricolores, in order to avoid tearing his country apart, and to preserve the monarchy, King Léopold decided to abdicate on [[July 16]], [[1951]] in favour of his 20-year-old son [[Baudouin I of Belgium|Baudouin]]. == Titles == * ''His Royal Highness'' Prince Leopold of Belgium (1901–1909) * ''His Royal Highness'' Leopold, Duke of Brabant, Prince of Belgium (1909–1934) * ''His Majesty'' The King of the Belgians (1934–1951) * ''His Majesty'' King Leopold of Belgium (after abdication in 1951–death) == Post abdication life == In retirement, he followed his passion as an amateur social [[anthropologist]] and [[entomologist]] and travelled the world. He went, for instance, to [[Senegal]] and strongly criticized the French decolonization process. King Leopold III died in [[1983]] at [[Woluwe-Saint-Lambert]] (''Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe''). He is interred next to Queen Astrid in the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady in [[Laeken]]. The princesse de Réthy is buried in the churchyard. ==Ancestry== {| class="wikitable" |+'''Leopold's ancestors in three generations''' |- |- | rowspan="8" align="center"| '''Leopold III of Belgium''' | rowspan="4" align="center"| '''Father:'''<br />[[Albert I of Belgium]] | rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Paternal Grandfather:'''<br />[[Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders|Philip, Count of Flanders]] | align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />[[Leopold I of Belgium]] |- | align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />[[Louise-Marie of France]] |- | rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Paternal Grandmother:'''<br />[[Princess Marie of Hohenzollern]] | align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />[[Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern]] |- | align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />[[Josephine of Baden]] |- | rowspan="4" align="center"| '''Mother:'''<br />[[Elisabeth of Bavaria (1876-1965)|Elisabeth of Bavaria]] | rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Maternal Grandfather:'''<br />[[Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria]] | align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />[[Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria]] |- | align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />[[Princess Ludovika of Bavaria]] |- | rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Maternal Grandmother:'''<br />[[Maria Josepha of Portugal|Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal]] | align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />[[Miguel of Portugal]] |- | align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />[[Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg]] |} ==See also== *[[Kings of Belgium family tree]] * [[Crown Council of Belgium]] * [[Royal Trust (Belgium)|Royal Trust]] ==References== * Jean Stengers, ''Léopold III et le gouvernement: les deux politiques belges de 1940''. Duculot, 1980 * [http://www.ethesis.net/stripverhalen/stripverhalen_deel_3.htm War Controversy (in Dutch)] * [http://home.scarlet.be/be074683/princesse_lilian.htm His second wife (in French)] {|align=right |{{infobox hrhstyles| image=[[Image:COA of Government of Belgium.svg|60px]] | royal name=King Leopold III of the Belgians| dipstyle=[[Majesty|His Majesty]]| offstyle=Your Majesty| altstyle=Sire|}} |} {{start}} {{s-hou|[[House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]|3 November|1901|25 September|1983|[[House of Wettin]]}} {{s-reg|}} {{s-bef|before=[[Albert I of Belgium|Albert I]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[King of the Belgians]]|years=1934–1951}} {{s-aft|after=[[Baudouin of Belgium|Baudouin I]]}} |- {{s-roy|be}} |- {{s-vac|last=[[Leopold, Duke of Brabant|Leopold]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Duke of Brabant]]|years=1909–1934}} {{s-aft|rows=1|after=[[Baudouin of Belgium|Baudouin I]]}} {{end}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold 3 of Belgium}} [[Category:1901 births]] [[Category:1983 deaths]] [[Category:People from Brussels]] [[Category:Belgian monarchs]] [[Category:Roman Catholic monarchs]] [[Category:House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] [[Category:Dukes of Brabant]] [[Category:Belgian royal princes]] [[Category:Belgian military personnel of World War I]] [[Category:World War II political leaders|Leopold III of Belgium]] [[Category:Knights of the Garter]] [[Category:Recipients of the Royal Victorian Chain]] [[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece]] [[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] [[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav]] [[Category:Knights of Malta|Leopold III of Belgium]] [[Category:Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John]] [[Category:Allied occupation of Europe]] [[Category:Belgian entomologists]] [[ar:ليوبولد الثالث من بلجيكا]] [[br:Leopold III a Velgia]] [[ca:Leopold III de Bèlgica]] [[cs:Leopold III. 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