Baudouin of Belgium

Baudouin (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). Having had no children, the crown passed on to his brother, King Albert II of the Belgians (formerly HRH The Prince of Liège), following his death. He was the 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. Very rarely, his name is anglicized as 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 [ˈbʌu̯dəˌʋɛi̯n ˈɑlbərt ˈkaːrəl ˈleˑjoˑˌpɔlt ˈɑksəl maˑˈri ɣʏsˈtaˑf vɑn ˈbɛlɣijə]) in Dutch.

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 ˈleˑjoˑˌpɔlt ˈɑksəl maˑˈri ɣʏsˈtaˑf vɑn ˈbɛlɣijə]) in Dutch.

Ascent to the throne

Baudouin was born in Stuyvenberg Castle, near Laeken, Brussels, in Belgium, in 1930, the son of Prince Leopold, the 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.

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.

Notable events

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

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

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 Catholic Charismatic Renewal 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, liberalising 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) turned up to pay their respects. Many waited in line up to 14 hours in sweltering heat to get to see their King one last time. Elizabeth II attended the funeral in person; by tradition the British monarch attends only those funerals which are of close family members (they were only third cousins) or such politicians as prime ministers who die while in office.

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 and styles

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

Honours and awards

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Italian Wikipedia.

Belgian

• Grand Master and Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold
• Grand Master of the Order of the African Star
• Grand Master of the Royal Order of the Lion
• Grand Master of the Order of the Crown
• Grand Master of the Order of Leopold II

Foreign

•  Austria : Great Star of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (1958)[5]
•  Iceland : Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Falcon (16 October 1979) [6]
•  Italy : Knight Grand Cross decorated with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (11 June 1966)
•  Japan: Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (1964)
•  Norway : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav
•  Portugal : Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry (24 August 1982)
•  Spain : Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
•  Spain : Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (6 December 1960)[7]
•  Spain : Collar of the Order of Charles III (15 November 1977)[8]
•  Thailand : Royal Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri (Thailand)
•  Thailand : Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Chula Chom Klao
•  United Kingdom : Stranger Knight of the Order of the Garter
•  Sweden : Knights of the Order of the Seraphim
•  Denmark : Knight with Collar of the Order of the Elephant
•  Netherlands : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
•  Luxembourg : Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
•  Kingdom of Greece : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer
•  Iran : Commemorative Medal of the 2500th Anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire (14 October 1971)[9][10]

Religious entity

•  Holy See : Knight of the Supreme Order of Christ
•  Holy See : Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
•  SMOM : Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Former Royal Families

•  Italy : Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (House of Savoy, 1960)
•  Italy : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (House of Savoy, 1960)
•  Italy : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy (House of Savoy, 1960)