Albert II is the son ofKing Leopold III and the last living child ofQueen Astrid, born a princess of Sweden.[b] He is the younger brother of the late Grand DuchessJoséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg andKing Baudouin, whom he succeeded following Baudouin's death in 1993. He married Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria (nowQueen Paola), with whom he had three children. Albert's eldest son,Philippe, is the current King of the Belgians.
On 3 July 2013, King Albert II attended a midday session of theBelgian cabinet. He then announced that, on 21 July,Belgian National Day, he would abdicate the throne for health reasons. He was succeeded by his sonPhilippe on 21 July 2013. In doing so, he was also the second Belgian monarch to abdicate, following his father,Leopold III, who abdicated in 1951, albeit under very different circumstances.
Prince Albert was born at theChâteau of Stuyvenberg inLaeken, northernBrussels, as the second son and youngest child ofKing Leopold III and his first wife, PrincessAstrid of Sweden. He was second in line to the throne at birth, and was given the titlePrince of Liège. When Prince Albert was one year old, Queen Astrid died in Switzerland in a car accident on 29 August 1935, in which King Leopold, who was driving the vehicle, was lightly injured. The King remarried toMary Lilian Baels (later became Princess of Réthy) in 1941. The couple produced three children:Prince Alexandre, Princess Marie-Christine andPrincess Marie-Esméralda (who is also Albert's goddaughter). Albert and his siblings had a close relationship with their stepmother and they called her "Mother".[3][4]
DuringWorld War II, on 10 May 1940, at the time when Belgium was beinginvaded, Prince Albert, his elder sisterPrincess Joséphine-Charlotte and his elder brotherPrince Baudouin, left the country forFrance and laterSpain. The Prince and the Princess returned to Belgium on 2 August 1940. They continued their studies until 1944, either atLaeken, or at theCastle of Ciergnon inthe Ardennes. In June 1944, at the time of theAllied landings, King Leopold, his wife Princess Lilian and the royal children were deported by the Germans toHirschstein,Germany, and later toStrobl,Austria, where they were released by the American106th Cavalry Regiment on 7 May 1945. Owing to the political situation in Belgium, King Leopold and his family moved to the villa "Le Reposoir" inPregny,Switzerland, when they left Austria in October 1945 and stayed until July 1950. During that time, Prince Albert would continue his education in a secondary school inGeneva. King Leopold III, accompanied by Prince Baudouin and Prince Albert, returned to Belgium on 22 July 1950.[5]
In 1958, Albert went to theVatican to witness the coronation ofPope John XXIII. At a reception at the Belgian Embassy, he met Italian DonnaPaola Ruffo di Calabria. Prince Albert proposed marriage to her, to which she accepted. Two months after their meeting, the prince introduced his future wife to his family, and four months later to the press. The couple were married on 2 July 1959, one-and-a-half years before Albert's older brother, the king, got married (a marriage which would prove childless). Albert and Paola have three children, twelve grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Their children are:
In 1997, the Belgian satirical magazinePère Ubu reported that the Belgian sculptorDelphine Boël (born 22 February 1968) was King Albert II's extramarital daughter.[6] It took some years for the Belgian mainstream media to report this news. According toBaroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, the mother of Delphine, she and Albert shared an 18-year-long relationship[7] into which Delphine was born.
In June 2013, Boël summoned the then King and his two older children (the then Duke of Brabant and the Archduchess of Austria-Este) to appear in court. She hoped to use DNA tests to prove that she is the King's daughter. As the King enjoyed complete immunity under the law, Boël decided to summon his elder children as well.[8][9] The king abdicated the following month, in July 2013. After the King's abdication, Boël abandoned her first suit to introduce a second one only against the former King as he was no longer protected by immunity and the first claim would have been judged according to the situation at the time of the introduction of the claim.[10]
In March 2017, the Court ruled that her claim was unfounded, and her lawyers said she would take the claim to appeal.[11] On 25 October 2018, the Court of Appeal decided that Delphine Boël is not a descendant of Jacques Boël, and ordered King Albert to undergo DNA testing. His lawyer announced that he would seek further advice about a possible referral to Belgium'sCour de Cassation /Hof van Cassatie.[12] In 2019, the King's lawyer confirmed he would not provide a DNA sample in the case.[13]
On 29 May 2019, it was reported by CNN that Albert II had submitted a DNA sample after a Belgian court ruled on 16 May that he would be fined 5,000 euros for each day that he failed to do so, although he would continue to challenge the ruling, according to his attorney,Alain Berenboom [fr].[14][15] The results of these DNA samples were released on 27 January 2020 by Alain Berenboom, confirmingDelphine Boël as Albert II's daughter. Albert II confirmed this on 27 January 2020 in a press release.[16] "The king will treat all his children as equal," Berenboom said, according to VTM News. "King Albert now has four children."[17]
While it was proven that Boël was his biological daughter, her legal status as a daughter was not recognized[18][19] until a 1 October 2020 ruling of the Brussels Court of Appeal, which also recognized Boël as a princess of Belgium and granted her the new surname ofSaxe-Coburg.[20]
As the younger brother of the childlessKing Baudouin, Prince Albert was theheir-presumptive to the throne. Albert's son Philippe was groomed to eventually succeed. On Baudouin's death, Albert wassworn in before parliament, on 9 August 1993, as King of the Belgians.[21]
As King, Albert's duties included representing Belgium at home and abroad onstate visits, trade missions, and at high level international meetings as well as taking an interest in Belgian society, culture and enterprise.[22] The King had a constitutional role which came into play in 2010–2011 when Belgium's parliament was unable to agree on a government. When the crisis was resolved, Albert swore in the new government.[23]
In 1984, he set up the Prince Albert Foundation, to promote expertise in foreign trade.[24]
Albert sparked controversy in his December 2012 Christmas speech by comparing modern "populist movements" with those of the 1930s. This was seen by several political commentators, as well as many Flemish politicians, as aimed implicitly at the large Flemish nationalist party, theN-VA.[25]Bart De Wever, the party's leader, called for the King's role in the formation of Belgian governments to be changed in the wake of this comment since he "could no longer see the monarch as playing the constitutional role of referee."[25]
On 3 July 2013, 79-year-old King Albert II attended a midday session of theBelgian cabinet, where he revealed his intention to abdicate to Prime MinisterElio Di Rupo and to the deputy prime ministers. This came less than one month after the king and two of his children had been asked to appear in court by the Belgian sculptorDelphine Boël, who was intent on proving that the king was her biological father. According to a letter sent by the King to the Prime Minister and dated 3 July 2013, and which was made public, the King had already broached the topic of his intention to abdicate several times with the Prime Minister, who had asked him to reconsider it.[26] At 6 pm (CET) the King announced in a recorded radio and television speech that on 21 July, Belgium'sNational Day, he would abdicate the throne for health reasons. He was succeeded by his elder son, Philippe.[27]
After his abdication on 21 July 2013 it was decided that he would be styled asHis Majesty King Albert II,[28] the same form of address granted to his father, Leopold III, after his abdication.
As a former reigning monarch of Belgium, the king is entitled to use acoat of arms which was stipulated in the Royal Decree of KingPhilippe in 2019.[48]
Sable, alion rampantor, armed and languedgules (Belgium), on the shoulder an escutcheon barry of ten sable and or, acrancelinvert (Wettin), overall a label of three points gules, the centre point a royal crown or.
Supporters
Two lions guardant proper each supporting a lance or with twoNational Flags of Belgium (Tierced per pale Sable, or and Gules).
Motto
French:L'union fait la force Dutch:Eendracht maakt macht German:Einigkeit macht stark
Other elements
The whole is placed on a mantlepurpure with ermine lining, fringes and tassels or and ensigned with the Royal crown of Belgium.
Previous versions
Previously as reigning monarch, Albert used the royal coat of arms of Belgium undifferenced (shown above).
^"Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden",Norges Statskalender for Aaret 1970 (in Norwegian), Oslo: Forlagt av H. Aschehoug & Co. (w. Nygaard), 1970, p. 1240 – via runeberg.org
^abcdefghijklmCarnet Mondain, [Carnet Mondain, p. 2 ed. 2005] book page with Alberts honours
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