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King of Belgians

Baudouin of Belgium

Quick Facts

Intro

King of Belgians

A.K.A.

Baudouin I of Belgium

Places

Belgium

was

King

Work field

Military Royals

Gender

Male

Religion(s):

Roman catholic church

Birth

7 September 1930 People who share this birthday

Place of birth

Laeken

Star sign

Virgo People who share this birthday

Death

31 July 1993 People who died on this day

Place of death

Motril

Age

62 years

Family

Mother:

Astrid of Sweden

Father:

Leopold III

Siblings:

Albert II Prince Alexander of Belgium Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium Ingeborg Verdun Princess Maria-Esméralda of Belgium Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium

Spouse:

Fabiola of Belgium

The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

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 elder 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 to his younger brother, King Albert II of the Belgians (formerly Prince of Liège), following his death.
He was a maternal 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. (The English equivalent is Baldwin.)

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 [ˈbʌudəˌʋɛin ˈɑlbərt ˈkaːrəl ˈleːjoːˌpɔlt ˈɑksəl maːˈri ɣɵsˈtaːf 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.

During the war the king was deported by command of Adolf Hitler to Hirschstein.

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.

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. During the last ceremonial inspection of the Force Publique , the royal Sabre of the king was stolen during a parade by Ambroise Boimbo. This act was considerent a humiliation for the king. The famous picture made by Robert Lebeck, travelled the world news papers. The next day the king attended the official reception; he gave a speech that received a blistering response by Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. However the second humiliation by Lumumba was formal, the image of the humiliation of the king during the parade was the symbol of the independence of Kongo.

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.

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. 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. 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.

Titles, styles and honours

Monogram

Titles

7 September 1930 - 17 February 1934: His Royal Highness Prince Baudouin of Belgium, Count of Hainaut
17 February 1934 - 10 August 1950: His Royal Highness Prince Baudouin of Belgium, Duke of Brabant
10 August 1950 - 17 July 1951: His Royal Highness Prince Baudouin, Prince Royal, Duke of Brabant
17 July 1951 - 31 July 1993: His Majesty The King of the Belgians

Honours

National honours

Belgium: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold
Belgium: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the African Star
Belgium: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Royal Order of the Lion
Belgium: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
Belgium: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II

Foreign honours

Argentina: Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín
Austria: Grand Cross of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria, Grand Star
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Grand Cross of the National Order of the Leopard
Denmark: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Elephant
Ethiopian Imperial Family: Knight Grand Collar of the Order of Solomon
Germany: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Special Class
- Bavaria: Member of the Decoration of Merit
Greek Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Redeemer
Iceland: Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Falcon
Iranian Imperial Family: Knight Grand Cordon with Collar of the Order of Pahlavi
Iranian Imperial Family: Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the 2,500 year Celebration of the Persian Empire
Italy
- Italian Royal Family: Knight Grand Collar of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
- Italian Royal Family: Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
- Italian Royal Family: Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Italy
- Italy: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
  - Vatican: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
    - Holy See: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Supreme Order of Christ
  - Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 1st Class
Japan: Knight Grand Cordon with Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum
Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Netherlands: Recipient of the Wedding Medal of Princess Beatrix, Princess of Orange and Claus Van Amsberg
Norway: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of St. Olav
Portugal: Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Prince Henry
Spain: 1, 171st Knight with Collar of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece
Spain: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Charles III
Spain: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
Sweden: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
Thailand: Knight Grand Cordon with Chain of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri
Thailand: Knight Grand Cordon with Chain of the Order of Chula Chom Klao
United Kingdom: Stranger Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter
Yugoslavia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Yugoslav Star, Great Star