Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant

Prince Leopold
Duke of Brabant

Prince Leopold
Born (1859-06-12)12 June 1859
Laeken Palace, Laeken, Belgium
Died 22 January 1869(1869-01-22) (aged 9)
Laeken Palace, Laeken, Belgium
Burial Church of Our Lady of Laeken, Laeken, Belgium
Full name
Léopold Ferdinand Élie Victor Albert Marie
House Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Father Leopold II of Belgium
Mother Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria
Religion Roman Catholicism

Prince Leopold of Belgium, Duke of Brabant, Count of Hainaut (Léopold Ferdinand Élie Victor Albert Marie (French) or Leopold Ferdinand Elias Viktor Albert Maria (Dutch); 12 June 1859 in Laeken 22 January 1869 in Laeken or Brussels), was the second child and only son and heir apparent of Leopold II of Belgium and his wife, Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria.

Leopold was named for his grandfather, and for his father's cousins, Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Prince Albert, the Prince Consort.

Early life

Belgian Royalty
House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Leopold I
Leopold II
Albert I
Leopold III
Baudouin
Albert II
Philippe

At birth, Leopold was styled Count of Hainaut, as the eldest son of the then crown prince. At the time of his birth, his grandfather, Leopold I of Belgium, formerly a Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the reigning king of Belgium.

Leopold was preceded in birth by one sister, Louise, and followed by two more sisters, Stéphanie, and Clémentine, who was born after Leopold's death, their parents' last hope for another son.

Duke of Brabant

Upon the death of his grandfather and the ascension of his father to the throne in 1865, young Leopold became Duke of Brabant, heir apparent to the Belgian throne.

Death

The death of Prince Leopold

Leopold died at Laeken or Brussels on 22 January 1869 from pneumonia, after falling into a pond. At his son's funeral, Leopold II "broke down in public, collapsing to his knees beside the coffin and sobbing uncontrollably."[1] Leopold's body was interred at the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Brussels.

Leopold's premature death left his father with only two daughters remaining: Princess Louise and Princess Stéphanie. After their son's death, Leopold and Marie Henriette tried to have another child, hoping for a son. After the birth of yet another daughter, Clémentine, in 1872, the couple abandoned all hopes of ever having another son and their already strained marriage broke down completely.

Upon his death in 1909, Leopold II was succeeded by his nephew, Albert I, whose eldest son would later succeed him as Leopold III.

Titles

Ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Duchess Sophie Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Leopold I of Belgium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. Heinrich XXIV, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Leopold II of Belgium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Louis-Philippe of France
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Louise d'Orléans
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Maria Amalia of Naples
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Maria Carolina of Austria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
25. Maria Theresa of Austria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. Charles III of Spain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Maria Luisa of Spain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27. Maria Amalia of Saxony
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Marie Henriette of Austria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Duke Louis of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau
 
 
 
 
 
 

References

  1. Hochschild, Adam (1999). King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. USA: Mariner Books. ISBN 0-618-00190-5.
Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant
Born: 12 June 1859 Died: 22 January 1869
Belgian royalty
New title Count of Hainaut
1859–1865
Vacant
Title next held by
Baudouin
Preceded by
Leopold II
Duke of Brabant
1865–1869
Vacant
Title next held by
Leopold III
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