Baudouin of Belgium


Baudouin of Belgium


Baudouin (US: ; 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the last Belgian king to be sovereign of the Congo, before it became independent in 1960 and became the Democratic Republic of the Congo (known from 1971–1997 as Zaire).

Baudouin was the elder son of King Leopold III (1901–1983) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905–1935). Because he and his wife, Queen Fabiola, had no children, at Baudouin's death the crown passed to his younger brother, King Albert II.

Childhood and accession

Prince Baudouin was born on 7 September 1930 at the Château of Stuyvenberg in Laeken, northern Brussels, the elder son and second child of Prince Leopold, then Duke of Brabant, and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden. In 1934, Baudouin's grandfather King Albert I of Belgium was killed in a rock climbing accident; Leopold became king and the three-year-old Baudouin became Duke of Brabant as heir apparent to the throne. Baudouin's mother died in 1935 in an automobile accident, when Baudouin was nearly five. Later, in 1941, his father remarried to Mary Lilian Baels (later became Princess of Réthy). This marriage produced three more children: Prince Alexandre, Princess Marie-Christine (who is also Baudouin's goddaughter) and Princess Marie-Esméralda. Baudouin and his siblings had a close relationship with their stepmother and they called her "Mother". His education began at the age of seven, his tutors taught him half his lessons in French and half in Dutch. He frequently accompanied his father to parades and ceremonies and became well known to the public.

Despite maintaining strict neutrality during the opening months of the Second World War, on 10 May 1940, Belgium was invaded by Nazi Germany. Baudouin, his elder sister Princess Josephine-Charlotte and his younger brother Prince Albert, were immediately sent to France for safety and then to Spain. The Belgian Army, assisted by the French and British, conducted a defensive campaign lasting 18 days, but Leopold, who had taken personal command, surrendered unconditionally on 28 May. Although the Belgian government escaped to form a Belgian government in exile, Leopold elected to remain in Belgium, and was placed under house arrest at the Palace of Laeken, from where he attempted to reach an understanding with the Germans, especially in respect of Belgian prisoners of war who were being held in Germany. The children returned to Laeken from Spain on 6 August.

Leopold had established a royal Scout group at the palace for his sons, whose members were drawn from the various Belgian Scout associations. In April 1943, the wearing of uniforms was banned by the occupation forces and although Leopold was told that the royal group was exempt, insisted that the ban should apply to them too. However, Baudouin was about to be invested as a Scout and persuaded his father to delay the ban for one day so that the ceremony could take place.

Immediately following the Normandy landings in June 1944, the king, his new wife Princess Lilian, and the royal children, were deported to Hirschstein in Germany and then to Strobl in Austria from where they were released in May 1945 by the United States 106th Cavalry Regiment. However, the royal family were prevented from returning to Belgium by the "Royal Question" over whether Leopold had collaborated with the Nazis; the surrender in 1940, his refusal to join the government-in-exile, his fruitless visit to Adolf Hitler at the Berghof in November 1940 and his unconstitutional marriage to Lilian whose father was believed to be pro-Nazi. Until a political solution could be found, the king's brother, Prince Charles became regent and the royal family lived at the Château du Reposoir in Pregny-Chambésy, Switzerland. Baudouin continued his education at a secondary school in Geneva and visited the United States in 1948. In a referendum in March 1950, the public narrowly voted for the king to return and he was recalled on 4 June 1950. However, parliamentary dissent and public protests forced Leopold to delegate his powers to Baudouin on 11 August 1950, and finally to abdicate in favour of Baudouin, who took the oath of office as King of the Belgians on 17 July 1951.

Marriage

On 15 December 1960, Baudouin was married in Brussels to Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón. Fabiola was a Spanish noblewoman who was working as a nurse. The couple announced their engagement on 16 September 1960 at the Palace of Laeken.

Fabiola began undertaking official engagements immediately, accompanying the king to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Brussels on 26 September 1960, and remained an active Queen Consort and Queen Dowager for the rest of her life, involved in social causes particularly those related to mental health, children's issues and women's issues.

The king and queen had no children; all of the queen's five pregnancies ended in miscarriage.

Notable events

During Baudouin's reign the colony of Belgian Congo became independent. During the parade following the last ceremonial inspection of the Force Publique, the royal sabre of the king was momentarily stolen by Ambroise Boimbo. The photograph, taken by Robert Lebeck, was widely published in world newspapers, with some seeing the act as a humiliation for the king. The next day the king attended the official reception; he gave a speech that received a blistering response by Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.

As the head of state of Belgium, Baudouin, along with French President Charles de Gaulle, were the two prominent world leaders at the state funerals of two American presidents, John F. Kennedy in November 1963 and his predecessor Dwight D. Eisenhower in March 1969. At Kennedy's funeral, Baudouin was accompanied by Paul-Henri Spaak, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and former three-time Prime Minister of Belgium. At Eisenhower's funeral, his next visit to the United States, he was accompanied by Prime Minister Gaston Eyskens.

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, which was bestowed upon him in 1960, the 927th Knight of the Order of the Garter, bestowed upon him in 1963, and also the last living knight of the Papal Supreme Order of Christ.

Religious influences

Baudouin was a devout 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 liberalized Belgium's abortion laws was approved by Parliament, he refused to give Royal Assent to the bill. This was unprecedented; although Baudouin was de jure 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—the Catholic Church opposes all forms of abortion—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 assumes 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.

Baudouin and the death of Patrice Lumumba

In 1960, Baudouin declared the Belgian colony of Congo independent. During the declaration of independence, Baudouin delivered a highly contested speech in which he celebrated the acts of the first Belgian owner of the Congo, King Leopold II, whom he described as "a genius". In the same event on the day of that independent status, the first democratically elected prime minister of Congo, Patrice Lumumba, responded in a speech that was hypercritical of the Belgian regime. Lumumba cited the killings of many Congolese, as well as the insults, humiliation and the slavery they experienced.

Lumumba's speech infuriated Baudouin and generated extreme conflicts between the two men. After the independence of Congo, the natural resource-rich Katanga Province orchestrated a secession that received substantial military and financial support from the Belgian government, as well as from Belgian companies with business interests in Katanga. King Baudouin strengthened his relationships with the Katangese politician Moise Tshombé, whom he made a Knight in the Belgian Order of Leopold. In the meantime, Belgium's government, as well as the CIA, supported or organized plots to assassinate Lumumba.

In early December 1960, Lumumba and two colleagues, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, political colleagues who had planned to assist him in setting up a new government, were imprisoned in military barracks located about 150 kilometres (93 mi) from Leopoldville. They were underfed and mistreated, per Mobutu Sese Seko's orders. Lumumba registered his objections, writing directly to Indian and U.N. diplomat Rajeshwar Dayal, "in a word, we are living amid absolutely impossible conditions; moreover, they are against the law". Dayal later headed the United Nations Operation in the Congo, which aimed to deescalate the hostilities in that country. Lumumba and his associates were released in mid-January 1961. Within hours, they were again captured, transported, beaten, then executed and buried in a shallow grave by Congolese soldiers under Belgian command. Belgian police officer Gerard Soete quickly exhumed, dismembered Lumumba's body, and dissolved the corpse in acid. Dayal would later become India's foreign secretary. Lumumba's assassination shocked Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who called it "an international crime of the first magnitude."

In 2001, a parliamentary investigation set up by the Belgian government concluded that King Baudouin, amongst others, was informed of the assassination scheme developed by the subsequent dictator Joseph Mobutu Sese Seko and the Katangese rebel Moise Tshombé. Both men had conspired with a Belgian colonel, Guy Weber, to "neutralize Lumumba, if possible physically." The king was informed of the plot, but did nothing to oppose the murder. His lack of intervention was described as "incriminating" by the parliamentary investigation, although there was no conclusory evidence found that the king ordered the specifics of the plans.

Death, succession, and legacy

Baudouin reigned for 42 years. He died from a heart attack on 31 July 1993, while on holiday at the Villa Astrida in Motril, in the south of Spain. Although in March 1992 the king had been operated on for a mitral valve prolapse in Paris, his death still came unexpectedly, and sent much of Belgium into a period of deep mourning. His death notably stopped the 1993 24 Hours of Spa sportscar race, which had reached the 15-hour mark when the news broke.

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. All European monarchs attended the funeral service, including Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms (the only foreign state funeral ever attended by her in person as monarch), as did Emperor Akihito of Japan. Non-royal guests at the funeral included more than 20 presidents and leaders, such as UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, European Commission President Jacques Delors, French President François Mitterrand, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, German President Richard von Weizsacker, Polish President Lech Walesa, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Canadian Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn and former American President Gerald Ford.

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

A statue of him in Brussels was vandalised in June 2020, following George Floyd protests in Belgium.

Honours

Belgian distinctions

  • Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold
  • Grand Cross in the Order of the African Star
  • Grand Cross in the Royal Order of the Lion
  • Grand Cross in the Order of the Crown
  • Grand Cross in the Order of Leopold II

Other European distinctions

  • Grand Star in the Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
  • Bavarian Order of Merit (West Germany)
  • Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Cross Special Class (West Germany)
  • Knight in the Order of the Elephant (Denmark)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of the White Rose of Finland
  • Grand Cross in the Legion of Honour (France)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of the Redeemer (Greece)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of the Falcon (Iceland)
  • Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy)
  • Knight in the Order of the Golden Lion of Nassau (Luxembourg)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of Saint-Charles (Monaco)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of the Netherlands Lion (Netherlands)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of St. Olav (Norway)
  • Grand Collar in the Order of Prince Henry (Portugal)
  • Grand Cross in the Military Order of Aviz (Portugal)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of Santiago (Portugal)
  • Grand Cross in the Military Order of Christ (Portugal)
  • Sash of the Three Orders (Portugal)
  • First Class in the Order of the Star of the Socialist Republic of Romania
  • Grand Cross in the Order of San Marino
  • Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece (Spain)
  • Grand Collar in the Order of Charles III (Spain)
  • Knight of the Collar in the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain)
  • Knight in the Order of the Seraphim (Sweden)
  • Stranger Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (UK)
  • Great Star of the Order of the Yugoslavian Star (Yugoslavia)

Latin-American distinctions

  • Grand Cross in the Order of the Liberator General San Martín (Argentina)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of the Southern Cross (Brazil)
  • Collar of the Order of Merit (Chile)
  • Extraordinary Grand Cross in the Order of Boyacá (Colombia)
  • Collar in the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico)
  • Grand Cross of the Order of Rubén Dario (Nicaragua)
  • Grand Cross with Diamonds of the Order of the Sun of Peru
  • Collar in the Order of the Liberator (Venezuela)

African distinctions

  • Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Karyenda (Burundi)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of Merit (Cameroon)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of Central African Merit
  • Grand Cross in the Order of the Green Crescent of Comoros
  • Grand Cordon in the National Order of the Leopard (Congo)
  • Collar in the Order of the Seal of Solomon (Ethiopia)
  • Grand Cross of the Order of the Equatorial Star (Gabon)
  • Crand Cross of the National Order of the Ivory Coast
  • Grand Cross of the Order of the Pioneers of Liberia
  • Grand Cordon of the Order of the Throne (Morocco)
  • Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger
  • Grand Cross in the National Order (Rwanda)
  • Crand Cross of the National Order of Senegal
  • Grand Cross in the Order of the Independence (Tunisia)
  • Grand Cross in the Nationale Order (Upper-Volta)

Asian and Middle-East distinctions

  • Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia
  • Badge of honour of the Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipurna
  • Grand Cross in the Order of Pahlavi (Iran)
  • 25th Centennial Anniversary Medal Ribbon (Iran)
  • Colar in the Order of the Chrysanthemum (Japan)
  • Grand Cross in the Grand Order of Mugunghwa (South-Korea)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of Merit (Lebanon)
  • Colar in the Order of Kink Abdul Aziz (Saudi Arabia)
  • Knight-Grand Cross in the Order of the Royal House of Chakri (Thailand)
  • Knight Grand Cordon in the Order of Chula Chom Klao (Thailand)

Religious distinctions

The Catholic and very pious Baudouin had been awarded some special honours associated with that faith.

  • Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
  • Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Holy See)
  • Collar of the Supreme Order of Christ (Holy See)
  • Collar of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (House of Savoy)

Ancestry

See also

  • Crown Council of Belgium
  • Royal Trust
  • Herman Liebaers (Marshal of the Royal Household)
  • André Molitor (private secretary)
  • Jacques van Ypersele de Strihou (private secretary)
  • Pierre-Yves Monette (advisor)
  • King Baudouin Ice Shelf, Antarctica
  • List of covers of Time magazine (1950s)

Notes

References

Sources

  • Boulden, Jane (2001). Peace Enforcement: The United Nations Experience in Congo, Somalia, and Bosnia (1st ed.). Westport, Conn.: Praeger. ISBN 0275969061.

Bibliography

  • Wilsford, David, ed. (1995). Political Leaders of Contemporary Western Europe: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313286230.
  • Conway, Martin (2012). The Sorrows of Belgium: Liberation and Political Reconstruction, 1944-1947. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199694341.

Other languages

  • A. Molitor, La fonction royale en Belgique, Brussels, 1979
  • J.Stengers, De koningen der Belgen. Van Leopold I tot Albert II, Leuven, 1997.
  • Kardinaal Suenens, Koning Boudewijn. Het getuigenis van een leven, Leuven, 1995.
  • Kerstrede 18 December 1975, (ed.V.Neels), Wij Boudewijn, Koning der Belgen. Het politiek, sociaal en moreel testament van een nobel vorst, deel II, Gent, 1996.
  • H. le Paige (dir.), Questions royales, Réflexions à propos de la mort d'un roi et sur la médiatisation de l'évènement, Brussels, 1994.

External links

  • Official biography from the Belgian Royal Family website
  • Newspaper clippings about Baudouin of Belgium in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
  • Archive Baudouin of Belgium, Royal museum for central Africa

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Baudouin of Belgium by Wikipedia (Historical)



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