Albert II of Belgium

Albert II, King of the Belgians (Albert Félix Humbert Théodore Chrétien Eugène Marie), (born June 6, 1934), is the current King of the Belgians and a constitutional monarch. He is a member of the former ducal house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He is the younger son of King Léopold III (1901-1983) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905-1935). His godparents were Prince Felix of Luxembourg and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium.

Childhood

Prince Albert was sent to the Swiss private school Institut Le Rosey for his pre-university education. He succeeded his elder brother, Baudouin, as king, taking the constitutional oath on August 9, 1993. Before his accession he was known as the Prince of Liège, a title created for him the day after his birth; he also was heir presumptive to the Belgian throne from 1951.

Marriage and family

He married, in Brussels, on July 2, 1959, Princess Donna Paola Margherita Maria Antonia Consiglia Ruffo di Calabria (born 1937). She is the daughter of Principe Don Fulco Ruffo di Calabria, Duca di Guardia Lombarda and his wife, Donna Luisa Gazelli.

He and the Queen have three children:

Philippe Léopold Louis Marie, Duke of Brabant (born April 15, 1960). He married, on December 4, 1999, Jonkvrouwe Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, who was created HRH Princess Mathilde of Belgium a month before their marriage. She is a daughter of Baron (now Count) Patrick d'Udekem d'Acoz and his wife, Countess Anna Maria Komorowska. They have three children:
- Princess Elisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène, who will inherit the throne after her father, thanks to a 1991 act of succession which created full cognatic primogeniture, altering the order of succession from eldest son to eldest child.
- Prince Gabriel Baudouin Charles Marie
- Prince Emmanuel Leopold Guillaume François Marie
Astrid Joséphine Charlotte Fabrizia Elisabeth Paola Marie (born June 5, 1962). She is the wife of His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, whom she married in 1984 and who was created a Prince of Belgium in 1995. Princess Astrid, with her own descendants, is before her brother Laurent in the order of succession to the Belgian throne, thanks to the 1991 act of succession mentioned above. They have five children:
- Archduke Amedeo of Austria-Este, Prince of Belgium
- Archduchess Maria Laura of Austria-Este, Princess of Belgium
- Archduke Joachim of Austria-Este, Prince of Belgium
- Archduchess Luisa-Maria of Austria-Este, Princess of Belgium
- Archduchess Laeticia-Maria of Austria-Este, Princess of Belgium
Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie (born October 19, 1963). He married Claire Coombs, an Anglo-Belgian former real-estate agent, on April 12, 2003. She was created HRH Princess Claire of Belgium 11 days before their marriage. They have one daughter and two sons:

The King also has an acknowledged illegitimate daughter, Jonkvrouw Delphine Boël (born 1968). Her mother is a Belgian aristocrat, Sybille, Baroness de Selys Longchamps (ex-Madame Jacques Boël). Boël, a sculptor living in London, has a daughter, Joséphine Boël, by her American companion, Jim O'Hare; the child was born October 17, 2003. In 2001, the Belgian Government threatened legal action against the French publishing company Flammarion for publishing a book by the Luxembourg-based investigative journalist Jean Nicolas, entitled Paedophile Dossier - the Scandal of the Dutroux Case, which suggested that during the 1970s and 1980s Albert had attended parties at which child abuse had taken place. The palace condemned what it saw as "grotesque accusations"; the author said that he made no accusations, but had just published legal documents.

External links

Official Belgian monarchy web site
"Belgium defends king against 'assault'" - BBC News article, dated Tuesday, September 18 2001

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Childhood

Marriage and family

See also

External links