Baudouin of Belgium

"Baudouin" redirects here. For other uses, see Baudouin (disambiguation).
Baudouin/Boudewijn

Baudouin photographed in 1960
King of the Belgians
Reign 17 July 1951 – 31 July 1993
Predecessor Leopold III
Successor Albert II
Born (1930-09-07)7 September 1930
Château du Stuyvenberg, Laeken, Belgium
Died 31 July 1993(1993-07-31) (aged 62)
Villa Astrida, Motril, Spain
Burial Church of Our Lady of Laeken
Consort Fabiola de Mora y Aragón
Full name
Dutch: Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Marie Gustaaf
French: Baudouin Albert Charles Léopold Axel Marie Gustave
German: Balduin Albrecht Karl Leopold Axel Marie Gustav
English: Baldwin Albert Charles Leopold Axel Mary Gustav
House Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Father Leopold III of the Belgians
Mother Astrid of Sweden
Religion Roman Catholic
Belgian Royalty
House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Leopold I
Leopold II
Albert I
Leopold III
Baudouin
Albert II
Philippe

Baudouin or Boudewijn (7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) reigned as King of the Belgians, following his father's abdication, from 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the eldest son of King Leopold III (1901–83) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905–35). Because he had no children with his wife Queen Fabiola of Belgium, the Crown passed on to his younger brother, King Albert II of the Belgians (formerly Prince of Liège), following his death. He was a first cousin of King Harald V of Norway, Princess Astrid of Norway, and Princess Ragnhild of Norway. Baudouin is the French form of his name, the form most commonly used outside Belgium; his Dutch name is Boudewijn.

Full name

Baudouin's full name was Baudouin Albert Charles Léopold Axel Marie Gustave de Belgique (pronounced: [bodwɛ̃ albɛʁ ʃaʁl leopɔld aksɛl maʁi ɡystav də bɛlʒik]) in French and Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Marie Gustaaf van België (pronounced [ˈbʌu̯dəˌʋɛi̯n ˈɑlbərt ˈkaːrəl ˈleːjoːˌpɔlt ˈɑksəl maːˈri ɣʏsˈtaːf vɑn ˈbɛlɣijə]) in Dutch.

Ascent to the throne

Baudouin was a direct descendant of Joséphine de Beauharnais, wife of Napoleon. He was born in the Château du Stuyvenberg, near Laeken, Brussels, in Belgium, in 1930, the son of Prince Leopold, the then Duke of Brabant, and his wife, Astrid of Sweden. His father became King of the Belgians, as Leopold III, in 1934. Baudouin's mother died in 1935 in an automobile accident.

Part of Leopold III's unpopularity was the result of a second marriage in 1941 to Mary Lilian Baels, an English-born Belgian commoner, later known as Princess de Réthy. More controversial had been Leopold's decision to surrender to Nazi Germany during World War II, when Belgium was invaded in 1940; many Belgians questioned his loyalties, but a commission of inquiry exonerated him of treason after World War II. Though reinstated in a plebiscite, the controversy surrounding Leopold led to his abdication.

King Leopold III requested the Belgian Government and the Parliament to approve a law delegating his royal powers to his son, Prince Baudouin, who took the constitutional oath before the United Chambers of the Belgian Parliament as Prince Royal on 11 August 1950. He ascended the throne and became the fifth King of the Belgians upon taking the constitutional oath on 17 July 1951, one day following his father's abdication.

The Congolese called the young king Mwana Kitoko ("beautiful boy").

Marriage

On 15 December 1960, Baudouin was married in Brussels to Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón. The King and Queen had no children; all of the Queen's five pregnancies ended in miscarriage.[1]

Notable events

Baudouin and Fabiola with US President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon in May 1969

During Baudouin's reign the colony of Belgian Congo became independent. The King attended the festivities; he gave a speech that received a blistering response by Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.[2]

Baudouin attended the State funeral of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, as the head of state of Belgium, and one of many dignitaries at that state funeral, along with Paul-Henri Spaak, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and former three-time Prime Minister of Belgium.

In 1990, when Baudouin refused to sign into law a bill permitting abortion, the cabinet assumed the power to promulgate the law while he was treated as "unable to govern" for twenty-four hours.[3]

In 1976, on the 25th anniversary of Baudouin's accession, the King Baudouin Foundation was formed, with the aim of improving the living conditions of the Belgian people.

He was the 1,176th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain in 1960 and the 930th Knight of the Order of the Garter.

Religious influences

Baudouin was a devout Roman Catholic. Through the influence of Leo Cardinal Suenens, Baudouin participated in the growing Renewal Movement and regularly went on pilgrimages to the French shrine of Paray-le-Monial.

In 1990, when a law submitted by Roger Lallemand and Lucienne Herman-Michielsens that liberalised Belgium's abortion laws was approved by Parliament, he refused to give Royal Assent to the bill. This was unprecedented; although Baudouin was nominally Belgium's chief executive, Royal Assent has long been a formality (as is the case in most constitutional and popular monarchies). However, due to his religious convictions, Baudouin asked the Government to declare him temporarily unable to reign so that he could avoid signing the measure into law.[4] The Government under Wilfried Martens complied with his request on 4 April 1990. According to the provisions of the Belgian Constitution, in the event the King is temporarily unable to reign, the Government as a whole fulfills the role of Head of State. All members of the Government signed the bill, and the next day (5 April 1990) the Government declared that Baudouin was capable of reigning again.

Death, succession, and legacy

Baudouin reigned for 42 years. He died of heart failure on 31 July 1993 in the Villa Astrida in Motril, in the south of Spain.[5] Although in March 1992 the King had been operated for a Mitral valve prolapse in Paris, his death still came unexpectedly, and sent much of Belgium into a period of deep mourning. Within hours the Royal Palace gates and enclosure were covered with flowers that people brought spontaneously. A viewing of the body was held at the Royal Palace in central Brussels; 500,000 people (5% of the population) came to pay their respects. Many waited in line up to 14 hours in sweltering heat to see their King one last time. Along with other members of European royalty, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom attended the funeral.

King Baudouin was interred in the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken, Brussels, Belgium. He was succeeded by his younger brother, who became King Albert II.

Ancestry

Titles and styles

Honours and awards

Belgian
Baudouin depicted on a Belgian 20 franc banknote
Foreign
Religious entity
Former Royal Families

See also

References

  1. ↑ Koningin Fabiola had vijf miskramen
  2. ↑ Suzanne McIntire and William E. Burns, Speeches in World History, Infobase Publishing, 2009, pp. 438-40
  3. ↑ New York Times, 5 April 1990
  4. ↑ "Belgium: Commoner for A Day, or Two". Time. 16 April 1990. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. ↑ Lyons, Richard D. "Baudouin I, King of Belgium, Dies at 62," New York Times. August 1, 1993.
  6. ↑ "Reply to a parliamentary question" (pdf) (in German). p. 53. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  7. ↑ Iceland Presidency Website, Baudoin, konungur Belgíu - Belgía - 1979-10-16 - Stórkross með keðju (= Baudouin, King of Belgians, Belgium, 16th October 1979, Grand Cross with Collar)
  8. ↑ Boletín Oficial del Estado
  9. ↑ Boletín Oficial del Estado
  10. ↑ http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/king-bhumibol-queen-sirikit-and-king-baudouin-i-of-belgium-news-photo/106506359
  11. ↑ Persepolis
  12. ↑ Badraie
  13. ↑ Badraie

Bibliography

External links

Baudouin of Belgium
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 7 September 1930 Died: 31 July 1993
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Leopold III		 King of the Belgians
1951–1993 		Succeeded by
Albert II
Royal titles
Preceded by
Leopold		 Duke of Brabant
1934–1951 		Succeeded by
Philippe
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