Baudouin of Belgium

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.

Baudouin ( 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his death in 1993.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.