The Holy Sepulchre Ordre

Recently I saw the coverage that Vatican Cardinal John Patrick Foley (American) passed away just yesterday. The Cardinal was President of the Pontifical Council on Social Communications and, I am told, for many years provided the English language commentary for the papal Midnight Mass on Christmas every year. He was also the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. This order is, I think, not usually considered one of the "papal honors" but it is under the protection of the Popes and has a significant connection to the Kingdom of Belgium. It traces its history back to the Belgian leader of the First Crusade, Godfrey de Bouillon who was the first "Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre".

On October 19, 1955 King Albert II and Queen Paola were both given membership in the order. The King is "Knight of the Collar" and the Queen is "Dame of the Collar". It is the only Vatican order of which the Queen is a member. The King also is "Bailiff and Knight Grand Cross of Honor and Devotion" of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Prince Philippe is also a "Knight Grand Cross" of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, he was given that honor also in 1995. He is also a "Knight of Honor and Devotion" of the Order of Malta as well. Prince Laurent is not a member of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre but he is a "Knight of Honor and Devotion" of the Knights of Malta since 1998 (so take that everyone who thinks he is a bad person!). I don't think I have ever heard of Cardinal Foley before but he sounds like he was a very good, devout priest from what I have read about him since his passing away, defending even those positions of the Church which have become unpopular to many people today. The new Grand Master of the Holy Sepulchre Order is another American, Cardinal Edwin Frederick O'Brien, and I hope he has great success in that post. If any of you reading want to be a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre also, all I can say is to make some important friends. Membership is given only by invitation of local bishops with endorsement by active members.

Birthday of Princess Lea

Last Friday, December 2, was the birthday of Princess Lea, wife (now widow) of Prince Alexandre and sister-in-law of the King. Even though I am late to mention this I wanted to because she is from that part of the family that seems to get very little attention or consideration. Surely they are grateful to be spared the sort of attention the others are given but it bothers me that so many act as though they 'don't count'. Princess Lea would agree with me I think since she said that was a reason for publishing a photograph book on her husband and the family. I realize naturally there were problems. She had been married twice (I think) before and Prince Alexandre married her without the approval or knowledge of the King and their union was only known in 1998. Even so, she seems like a nice lady and I don't wish anyone unpleasantness. They had no children so all the worry about titles and succession seemed a little silly to me, just take them all as they are I say and I hope there are still friendly relations with Princess Lea and all the rest of the family. Happy late birthday wishes to her.

Houses of Coburg and Savoy Together

King Albert I and King Vittorio Emanuele III in World War I

Belgian and Italian royal families meet; Crown Princes Leopold and Umberto, King Albert I, Queen Elena, Queen Elisabeth and King Vittorio Emanuele III

The Belgian and Italian Kings and Queens on the occasion of the marriage of Princess Marie Jose of Belgium and the Italian heir to the throne Prince Umberto of Italy.

The couple who would be the last King and Queen of Italy, Marie Jose and Umberto II

Belgians in Monte Carlo

 The whole Royal Family was in Monaco for the wedding of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene. Here are some photos of them

Many of the royal men wore white uniforms but not the Belgians (do we still have whites?) and this picture Prince Philippe looks to be giving a 'thumbs up' to Prince Albert

Queen Paola and King Albert II -I noticed King Albert was the only foreign royalty to wear his sash and medal of the Knight Grand Cross of St Charles for Monaco

 But the poor King and Queen got seated next to the little French president who did not even have his wife along with him. No luck.

And speaking no luck, Prince Laurent of course fell down. He would, wouldn't he? If anyone is going to have to fall down you know it is going to be Prince Laurent. I really feel more and more sympathy for him.

Empire of the Coburgs

I found an interesting page on the website of the House Saxe-Coburg-Gotha called "Coburg and Europe" which shows the many different countries married into by the Coburg family, the Royal Family of Belgium, Great Britain and by various brides parts of many other dynasties. Those who gave connections to Germany, Greece, Russia, Romania, Sweden, Portugal, Bulgaria, Mexico, Austria, Italy and Luxembourg are all listed. I made up the map above to give a better picture of the huge portion of the earth ruled over by various members of the Coburg family. Even though there were marriage ties with the French, I did not include them since they will insist on being a republic. But what an awesome sight to see how various matches put this family from a tiny German duchy north of Bavaria to such fantastic heights of influence.

Anglo-Belgian Royal Relations

The British and Belgian Royal Families have been related since the birth of the modern Kingdom of Belgium and the reign of Queen Victoria in Britain when she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Queen Victoria was the niece of King Leopold I of the Belgians (Prince Albert was his nephew also) and the countries have been aligned (not formal allies exactly because of neutrality for many years) and today King Albert II and Queen Elizabeth II are third cousins. The Belgian royal house will be represented at the wedding of Prince William and Kate and certainly the Belgian family royal wishes their British cousins a very happy marriage together and join in happiness for them on that special day.

King George V and King Albert I in World War I

 King George VI and King Leopold III between the wars.

Queen Elizabeth II and King Baudouin watching victory day celebrations at Buckingham Palace

Different Royal Brothers

At the Cross of Laeken blog was recently discussed the antagonism of the brothers King Leopold III and regent Prince Charles. Not thinking before of this in such a way, I realized this was not totally uncommon in the Family Royal and probably not in any family of ordinary people also. I started to look at how very different royals brothers have had the habit to be in the family history.

Starting from the very begining we have the case of future King Leopold II and his brother Prince Philippe Count of Flanders. They were very different from each other in temperment. King Leopold II, even very young, was described being a very shy, solitary person who was difficult interacting with other people and found it easier to have strict protocol to avoid 'natural' moments. Prince Philippe, on the contrary, was described as very forward, friendly and having a joyous exuberance that made him comfortable being around people and people liked being around him. He was very popular and had many friends. Leopold II did not have such. Both had great intellectual curiosity but they did not have a good relationship. One very religious, the other not, one happily married, the other certainly not. Two brothers totally unalike and very difficult to get along with each other.

Next consider the brothers King Leopold III and Prince Charles. You can go to the link for Laeken to see just how much they did not get along with each other. Leopold III was having a very even temper, very religious, very determined and composed in times of crisis and very devoted to his family. Prince Charles seemed rather moody, holding on to any slight, not very religious and rather self-centred. He did, I know, do service to the country as regent and very much credit is given to him for this but he had an attitude of betrayal regarding his brother and King and was too quick I think to assume the credit for (as they say in America) 'pushing his brother under the bus' to be seen himself as the savior of the situation. King Leopold wanted everyone to get along and even gave up his throne to avoid divisions and controversy. Prince Charles does not seem to have cared what hurt or problems others had to deal with.

There is then the king-brothers Baudouin and Albert II. Thankfully their relationship was better than some of the brothers gone before them but still they were very different kinds of people. King Baudouin was very conservative, very religious and uncompromising. King Albert II has been more liberal, at least not very religious at times of his life and willing to compromise. Where King Baudouin would stand against the flood, King Albert II prefers to 'go with the flow'. King Baudouin also had a very happy marriage with Queen Fabiola while King Albert II, though happily married now, did have his bad times in his marriage with Queen Paola. The difference between them also is seen in the widely spread talk that King Baudouin did not really favor his brother to succeed him but preferred his nephew Prince Philippe. This did not happen, both for the government and the sudden death of King Baudouin no one expected.

Finally even today we see such differences between Prince Philippe and Prince Laurent. We see often in the news talk of some scandal (usually over exaggerated) with Prince Laurent but the complaints toward Prince Philippe is just being boring -no scandals. One goes to the disco and the other goes to Church. One brother wants a special license for people who drive fast cars and the other was mocked for proposing legislation to ban pornography. Prince Laurent is very blunt and outspoken, his comments often attracting unwanted attention of the media while Prince Philippe does not like to be centre of attention and has not always been a very confident public speaker. Prince Laurent seems almost always relaxed while Prince Philippe often seems anxious or worried, unless he is with his wife and children. He has enough to worry about though and I hope he can manage and that his brother will be more supportive of him than some in the past.

Loss of 10% for Royals

The grants the Belgian royal family earns from the government in the past year fell by 10 percent. This is the first time ever the royals received a cut in their dotations.

The reduction is just not for King Albert II and Queen Paola. All three of their children – Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent – were effected by the cut.

Even dowager Queen Fabiola saw the cut, down to €1.4 million. Philippe will get €920,000 while his sister will now earn €320,000. Prince Laurent shall get €306,000.

The cost of Belgium’s royal family is €30 million, or 3 percent per citizen.

Source: Het Laatste Nieuws, Zita.be

Latest Royal News of Belgium

Delivered by his parents, Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium, His Imperial Royal Highness Prince Joachim of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este began his basic military training yesterday, 17 November 2010. When he completes this training the prince in uniform will go on to do training with the navy.

Today the Majesties King Albert II and Queen Paola welcomed many royals such as Queen Silvia of Sweden, Britain's Duchess of Gloucester, the Duchess of Palma de Majorca, Infanta Christina of Spain and our Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant, Princess Astrid and Princess Claire of Belgium to the conference on 'Vulnerable unaccompanied minors'.

In history today also marks the anniversary (105!) of the lovely late Queen Astrid, sadly Queen of Belgians for too short a time. The Cross of Laeken points to this occasion.

"Reines de pouvoir : la face cachée des reines de Belgique"

Les deux premiers mariages royaux sont des unions politiques destinées à renforcer la position de la Belgique : Louise-Marie pour avoir le soutien de la France, Marie-Henriette celui de l'Autriche. Elles ne seront pas heureuses et devront vivre avec les infidélités de leur époux. Marie-Henriette quitte même la Cour pour s'installer à Spa. Excepté quelques apparitions publiques, elles n'ont aucun rôle et aucune influence sur la vie du pays. Ainsi la reine Louise-Marie est contre la peine de mort et tente sans grand succès de rallier son mari Léopold Ier et son père Louis-Philippe à sa cause. [plus]

Cartoons Mock Royal Family

This is not really "new" news as a habit some cartoonists have of mocking the Royal Family but still some people like me are very upset this time with new cartoons appearing now that try to humiliate the King and Family Royal by showing efforts of them to find other jobs after Belgium is divided out of existence and the monarchie has no more use. Of course I think these crude jokes are terrible. The threat against the unity and sovereignty of the kingdom is nothing about to make jokes! Neither is the King and the family who did not lobby for their positions but who accepted the duty of trying to keep the feuding people together. I just wish all the energy expended on attacking the language regions of each other and the country and the King could be put to a constructive use. If we could do that I wager Belgium would become a super-power! This is all so certainly without dignity and so many people showing up with no "class". It really depresses me. I look at how these likes behave and I think only that King Leopold II was right then and maybe still right now, we are really looking like a small country of small people.

The Children of King Leopold III

Princess Josephine-Charlotte was the first child of King Leopold III and Queen Astrid. She was born in Brussels in 1927 and was educated in the palace and at boarding school. During World War II she was taken with her family to Germany as prisoners at the end of the war. When it was over she studied in Switzerland then went home to Belgium to help those struggling with recovery and to encourage the arts. In 1953 she married Prince Jean, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg. In 1964 they became the Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg. Josephine-Charlotte was very popular and the picture of refinement, style and charitable generosity in Luxembourg. Through her marriage she and Grand Duke Jean had five children; 3 sons and 2 daughters. She was very glamorous but loved nothing more than working in her garden or going hunting and fishing. A beloved daughter of Belgium she became a national treasure in Luxembourg, strengthening ties between the two countries. She died in 2005.

Baudouin, who would be the fifth King of the Belgians, was born to King Leopold III and Queen Astrid in 1930, close to the anniversary of Belgian independence and so the birth of an heir to the throne was particularly celebrated. However, family tragedies became rather routine in the early years of Prince Baudouin. Toward the end of World War II he had to endure horrible conditions with his family in German captivity which was followed by the “Royal Question” which troubled Prince Baudouin greatly who would rather have been a priest than become king. But, his father was going to abdicate and two abdications would potentially ruin the monarchy. At the age of 21 in 1951 he became King of the Belgians in a very traumatic and difficult atmosphere. The country was going through many social upheavals and agitation. The Belgian colonies in Africa were lost, the division of the country between Flanders and Wallonia occurred and King Baudouin was greatly troubled by the moral decline in society. He never had children and died in 1993.

Albert II, our esteemed reigning King of the Belgians, is the second son of King Leopold III, born in 1934. In 1940, with his siblings, they fled to France and then Spain from the Germans but came home later in the year. Like the rest he spent time in captivity by the Germans, then in exile in Switzerland only to see his father abdicate and his brother become King. In 1959 he married our Queen Paola from an Italian princely family and began work as an important trade official for Belgium. He also started a family, eventually having three children. He served as President of the Belgian Red Cross and set up his own foundation to also help in the area of trade and business. When his brother died in 1993 he became King Albert II of the Belgians. Since that time he has worked tirelessly to promote Belgian interests, unite the country and encourage the political parties to work together. Since the internal division of the country between the Flemish and Walloon the King has been forced to shoulder an ever greater burden in bringing the factions together to form coalitions for effective governments. He has always accepted the will of the people but has refused to deal with those who would see Belgium destroyed.

Prince Alexandre was the first son of King Leopold III and his second wife Princess Lilian who he married during the war (she was never queen). Alexandre was born during the war in 1942 and so was only a baby when the family was shuffled around to Germany, to Austria to Switzerland and finally able to return to Belgium. Because of political prejudice against the marriage of King Leopold to Princess Lilian their children together were not included in the succession to the throne but with two sons already this did not matter much but there was some distance between the two parts of the family. Prince Alexandre studied first medicine but then decided on business, looking to a career in trade. His mother raised him according to high standards thinking he would have official duties with the monarchy but this did not occur. He married in secret in 1991 because he feared there would be disapproval over his choice of wife; a twice divorced mother of two. Prince Alexandre died in 2009 of pulmonary embolism.

Princess Marie-Christine is the second child of King Leopold III and Princess Lilian. She was born in 1951 in Laeken and has been, much the pity, the “black sheep” of the children of Leopold III. She was given the best upbringing her parents could give but in the end she totally rebelled against them and really all of her background completely. This would have been only moderately bad if she had chosen to go and live her own life but she instead tried to actually harm her family while still enjoying the privileges of her status. She has spread the most horrid lies about her youth and her family (Princess Lilian especially) and mocked the monarchy while living the high society life. She has been married twice, once in Canada and once in the United States and tried to become a famous actress without success. She publicly denounced her half-brother King Baudouin and refused to attend his funeral or that of her full brother Alexandre. She has also expressed republican sympathies. I am sorry but she is a bad princess!

Princess Marie-Esmeralda, the youngest child of Leopold III and Princess Lilian, is thankfully a much better person than her sister. She was born in Laeken in 1956 and, like the others, did not have an especially easy time growing up, much of the tensions probably resulting from the politically imposed division between the family that made the children of Princess Lilian somewhat of “second class” royals. However, Marie-Esmeralda had a more mature attitude than her sister and remained attached to her parents through the good and not so good times. She has defended King Leopold III and Princess Lilian from the heavy unfair criticism they have faced, before and even after their deaths. Using the name Esméralda de Réthy she succeeded in becoming a journalist and in 1998 in London married a British Honduras pharmacologist. She has happily had two children; a daughter and a son both born in London and she enjoys her work as a journalist and a writer as well as trying to continue the good works of her parents. She described her character as like that of her mother, in the good and bad ways.

Our Favorite Luxembourger

Last Monday was the birthday of the late Belgian princesse and Grand Duchesse de Luxembourg Josephine-Charlotte. She was born in Brussels in 1927 to SM King Leopold III and Queen Astrid. She had really extensive royal relations. King Harald V of Norway was her first cousin, King Baudouin and King Albert II were her brothers. During World War II she was kept under house arrest in Germany with her father King Leopold III until they were freed by the Allied armies and went to Switzerland. She went to school in Geneva before going home to Belgium to help people with social problems. Princesse Josephine Charlotte was said to be a reluctant bride when she married the Hereditary Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg in 1953 but they were married for over 50 years and had many children. She did a lot of charity work as Grand Duchesse of Luxembourg, was leader of the Red Cross and set styles for the tiny country. She also liked to work in the garden and participate in outdoor and water sports when she was young. When her son, now reigning Grand Duke Henri, married Grand Duchess Maria Teresa (originally from Cuba) there was some controversy over the reports that the new consort and her mother-in-law did not get along well with each other. This is not surprising since they were two women from totally different backgrounds, generations and ways of thinking. The Grand Duchess, the best thing to ever happen to Luxembourg, died in 2005 of lung cancer.

Current Royal Events

As protests and strikes occur across Belgium in opposition to EU austerity requirements the royals are doing their best to find help. Crown Prince Philippe and Princesse Mathilde went to God, going to a special mass for the Belgian EU presidency on Tuesday at Our Lady of Sablon in Brussels. Today the royal couple attended a gala this night in benefit of the King Baudouin Foundation in Oostende. Princesse Astrid had more fun duties going to Milan, Italy for Milan Fashion Week Womenswear which from the photos she enjoyed with lots of smiles. For the King and Queen the days are also full. SM King Albert II met on Wednesday in an audience with President Jacob Zuma of South Africa at the Royal Castle in Laken-Laeken, Brussels. Only yesterday Queen Paola visited the elementary school at Oostduinkerke as part to congratulate them for the twp entries from this school that have won the Prize for Education from the Queen Paola Foundation.

It is good that the royals stay so busy because, despite to appear very busy, their politicians do not seem to be accomplishing anything. The absence of government is driving up the cost of everything, foreign countries don't know what to make of it and now that the national debt is over 100% of what Belgium can produce there are still protests over cutting back on spending. I am not very comfortable with the EU but I have to say, there is no way Belgium or any country can go on spending with such a huge debt. The government will have to cut back, there is just no other way, but they then would get voted out office so they do not want to do that. Maybe they will just give up total economic control to EU and so that the EU leadership can adopt the austerity measures and no one can vote them out of office while the Belgian government can claim opposition the whole time.

Retrospective des visites royales au Congo

I do not like all of the commentary but some very good videos of the royal visits to the Congo.

Marriages of the Kings

King Leopold I and Queen Louise-Marie, origin of the Belgian royal house. Cross of Laeken writes of this historic event for the country.

King Leopold II and Queen Marie Henriette

King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth (sorry no picture!)

King Leopold III and Queen Astrid (no photo of second marriage)

King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola

King Albert II and Queen Paola

La princesse Maria-Laura de Belgique

Deuxième enfant d'Astrid et Lorenz, l'archiduchesse Maria-Laura, Zita, Béatrice, Gerhard d'Autriche-Este naît le 26 août 1988 à 16h aux Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc à Woluwé-Saint-Lambert. Elle pesait 3,135 kg et mesurait 51 cm. Son parrain est son oncle l'archiduc Gerhard d'Autriche-Este ; sa marraine est sa tante l'archiduchesse Béatrice d'Autriche-Este. Maria-Laura est baptisée le 29 septembre 1988 à Laeken par le cardinal Godfried Danneels, primat de Belgique. Suite à l'abolition de la loi salique en 1991, Maria-Laura entre dans l'ordre de succession au trône et devient princesse de Belgique.

Quelques semaines plus tard, sa grand-mère la princesse Paola confie à l'hebdomadaire "Femmes d'aujourd'hui" : "Assister à la naissance de mes petits-enfants fut, sans conteste, le cadeau le plus touchant que pouvait me faire ma fille Astrid. Vivre ces naissances équivalait à participer une nouvelle fois au merveilleux moment de la création, répété par tant de femmes au monde. Une véritable continuation de soi". [plus]

Activités royales en juillet 2010

16 audiences pour le Roi : le président de la NVA Bart De Wever (reçu 2 fois), le président du PS Elio Di Rupo (reçu 3 fois), le président du Parlement flamand Jan Peumans, le premier ministre Yves Leterme, les ambassadeurs de Slovaquie, Grande-Bretagne, Tchad, Cap Vert, Pays-Bas, Estonie, Italie, Tuvalu et Panama.

6 activités officielles pour le Roi : concert de José Van Dam and friends à Laeken, arrivée du Tour de France au pied de l'Atomium, inauguration des nouvelles salles du palais royal ouvertes au public, concert de la fête nationale au palais des Beaux-Arts, Te Deum à Bruxelles et défilé militaire.

6 activités officielles pour la reine Paola : concert de José Van Dam and friends à Laeken, inauguration des nouvelles salles du palais royal ouvertes au public, concert de la fête nationale au palais des Beaux-Arts, Te Deum à Bruxelles, défilé militaire et visite de la foire agricole de Libramont.

4 activités officielles pour la reine Fabiola : concert de la fête nationale au palais des Beaux-Arts, Te Deum à Bruxelles, défilé militaire et messe à la mémoire du roi Baudouin en l'église Notre-Dame de Laeken.

7 activités officielles pour le prince Philippe : concert de José Van Dam and friends à Laeken, visite de la représentation permanente de la Belgique auprès de l'Union Européenne, soirée Best of Belgium au Stade Roi Baudouin, soirée I love Europe devant le Parlement Européen, concert de la fête nationale au palais des Beaux-Arts, Te Deum à Bruxelles et défilé militaire.

8 activités officielles pour la princesse Mathilde : concert de José Van Dam and friends à Laeken, visite de la représentation permanente de la Belgique auprès de l'Union Européenne, soirée Best of Belgium au Stade Roi Baudouin, soirée I love Europe devant le Parlement Européen, visite d'une plaine de jeux à Maasmechelen, concert de la fête nationale au palais des Beaux-Arts, Te Deum à Bruxelles et défilé militaire.

(plus à Blog sur la famille royale belge)