Leopold III of Belgium

Leopold III (3 November 1901 – 25 September 1983) was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951.

In 1909 his father became King of the Belgians, as Albert I, and Prince Leopold became Duke of Brabant.

In August 1914, when Belgium was invaded by Germany, King Albert allowed Leopold, then aged twelve, to enlist in the Belgian army as a private and fight in defence of the kingdom.

However, in 1915, with Belgium almost entirely occupied by the Germans, Leopold was sent to attend Eton College, while his father fought on in France.

After the war, in 1919, the Duke of Brabant visited the Old Mission and Saint Anthony Seminary in Santa Barbara, California.

He married Princess Astrid of Sweden in a civil ceremony in Stockholm on 4 November 1926, followed by a religious ceremony in Brussels on 10 November.

The marriage produced three children:

Belgium considered itself well-prepared against a possible invasion by Axis forces, for during the 1930s the Belgian government had made extensive preparations to deter and repel an invasion of the country by Germany such as the one that had occurred in 1914.

Leopold's first wife, Astrid of Sweden, was killed in a road accident while on a driving holiday in Switzerland in August 1935, being much mourned by the public.

On 29 August 1935, while the king and queen were driving along the winding, narrow roads near their villa at Küssnacht am Rigi, Schwyz, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Lucerne, Leopold lost control of the car which plunged into the lake, killing Queen Astrid.

When World War II broke out in September 1939, the French and British governments immediately sought to persuade Belgium to join them.

Leopold and his government refused, maintaining Belgium's neutrality.

At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasion in May 1940, he surrendered his country, earning him much hostility, both at home and abroad.

Leopold's act was declared unconstitutional by Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot and his cabinet, who moved to London to form a government-in-exile, while Leopold and his family were placed under house arrest.

On 10 May 1940, the Wehrmacht invaded Belgium.

On the first day of the offensive, the principal Belgian strong point of Fort Eben-Emael was overwhelmed by a daring paratroop operation and the defensive perimeter thus penetrated before any French or British troops could arrive.

After a short running battle that eventually involved the armies of all four belligerents, Belgium was overwhelmed by the numerically superior and better-prepared Germans.

Nevertheless, the Belgian perseverance prevented the British Expeditionary Force from being outflanked and cut off from the coast, enabling the evacuation from Dunkirk.

On 24 May 1940, Leopold, having assumed command of the Belgian Army, met with his ministers for the final time.

The ministers urged the king to leave the country with the government.

Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot reminded him that capitulation was a decision for the Belgian government, not for the king, to make.

The king indicated that he had decided to remain in Belgium with his troops, whatever the outcome.

The ministers took this to mean that he would establish a new government under the direction of Hitler, potentially a treasonous act.

Leopold thought that he might be seen as a deserter if he were to leave the country: "Whatever happens, I have to share the same fate as my troops."

Leopold had long had a difficult and contentious relationship with his ministers, acting independently of government influence whenever possible, and seeking to circumvent and even limit the ministers' powers, while expanding his own.

French, British, and Belgian troops were encircled by German forces at the Battle of Dunkirk.

His morganatic second marriage, to Lilian Baels in captivity in 1941, was contrary to Belgian law, which stipulates that the civil marriage has to occur before a religious marriage, and she was never permitted the title of queen.

Prince Leopold was born in Brussels, the first child of Prince Albert, heir to the Belgian throne, and his consort, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria.

Leopold married Lilian Baels on 11 September 1941, in a secret religious ceremony which was not valid under the law of Belgium.

They originally intended to wait until the end of the war for the civil marriage, but as the new Princess of Réthy was soon expecting their first child, the ceremony took place on 6 December 1941.

They had three children in total:

In 1944, they were moved to Germany and then Austria, before being liberated by the Americans, but banned for some years from returning to Belgium, where his brother Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, had been declared regent.

Leopold's eventual return to his homeland in 1950 nearly caused a civil war, and under pressure from the government, he abdicated in favour of his son Baudouin in July 1951.

Alan Brooke who commanded II Corps of the BEF thought that the 10th Belgian Division was in the wrong place and wanted to deploy north of Brussels to avoid "double-banking".

He was advised by Roger Keyes to see the king, and on 12 May was "making progress in getting matters put right" in discussion with the king in English, but was interrupted (twice) by the king's advisor who spoke to the king in French (in which Brooke was fluent).

The advisor was insistent that the Belgian division could not be moved and the BEF should be stopped further south and clear of Brussels; Brooke said he was not putting the whole case to the king; he found that arguing with the advisor was a sheer waste of time as he cared little about the BEF and most of his suggestions were "fantastic".

The king's advisor Raoul Van Overstraeten was not the Chief of Staff, as Brooke had assumed - Van Overstraeten had refused that rank - but the king's aide-de-camp, with the rank of Major-General, and would not give up the Louvain front.

The French liaison officer, General Champon, told Brooke that Van Overstraeten had ascendancy over the king and had taken control, so it was useless to see the Chief of Staff.

Later (15 May) Brooke found that the BEF was likely to "have both flanks turned" with French defeats, and started withdrawal on 16 May.

After his military surrender, Leopold (unlike Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in a similar predicament) remained in Brussels to surrender to the victorious invaders, while his entire civil government fled to Paris and later to London.