Léopold III of Belgium

Léopold III of Saxony Cobourg Gotha ( Léopold Philippe Charles Albert Meinrad Hubertus Marie Miguel ) (November 3rd 1901, September 25th 1983) was the fourth king of the Belgians, of the February 23rd 1934 with the July 16th 1951. He was the son of Albert I {{er}} and of Elisabeth of Bavaria.

Léopold, crown prince, then adolescent, fought like private during the First World War with the 12th Belgian regiment. After the war, it was registered with St Anthony Seminary in Santa Barbara, California.

In 1926, it met in Stockholm the princess Astrid of Sweden, born the November 17th 1905, girl of prince Charles of Sweden and niece of the Swedish king Gustave V. the marriage takes place in November of the same year and they had three children:

Joséphine-Charlotte, future large-duchess of Luxembourg, wife of the large-duke Jean

Baudouin I, king of the Belgians (1951-1993)

Albert, prince de Liège, future Albert II, the current king of the Belgians (1993)

In 1935, an car accident with Küssnacht (Swiss) caused the death of the Astrid queen and wounded the king.

In 1941 it married Lilian Baels of which it had three children:

Alexandre, Prince de Belgique, born the July 18th 1942. He married the March 14th 1991 Lea Wolman (born the 12/2/1951)

Marie-Christine, Princess of Belgium, born the February 6th 1951. She married the May 23rd 1981 Paul Drucker (then divorce the 7/9/1981) and Jean-Paul Gourges the September 28th 1989

Marie-Esmeralda, Princess of Belgium, born the September 30th 1956. She married, the April 4th 1998, El Salvador Moncada. She is now journalist under the name of Esmeralda de Réthy (title of his/her mother). Descent: Alexandra (8/4/1998) and Léopoldo (5/21/2001)

If however the children of the king and Lilian Baels carry the title of Prince () of Belgium, they do not enter the order of succession of the crown.

The second world war and the controversy

Vis-a-vis the German threat, in 1936, the Belgian government decided the neutrality of the Belgium whereas it had been until there the allied one of the France and the the United Kingdom, which did not prevent Belgium from being invaded by Germany the May 10th 1940. During the Thirties Léopold had prepared its country against such an offensive, Belgium having been during its history a battle field of predilection lasting the wars between France and Germany. It in result which Belgium was probably the country best prepared in Europe against the forces of the Axis at the beginning of the second world war and Belgian artillery caused serious damage with the Germans during the three weeks necessary to the conquest of the small country. This perseverance also made it possible the British Task force not to be cut a coast, making possible the evacuation of Dunkirk.

Commander-in-chief of the Belgian army, Léopold III made capitulate the army on May 28th. Faithful to its engagement with respect to the army but against the opinion of its government, Léopold remained as prisoner of war in Brussels, after the capitulation. The Belgian government had fled in France then in England.

This decision caused the charge of treason by French the Prime Minister Paul Reynaud, which, in an opportunist way, denounced the Belgian capitulation as causes French defeat whereas king Léopold rejected any co-operation with the Nazis and abstained from any political act, refusing to manage Belgium under German occupation, saving by there thousands of lives. The Germans kept it under house arrest in Brussels. It however returned a visit to Adolf Hitler to discuss the fate of the civil population, but without obtaining results.

It remaria secretly in 1941 with Lilian Baels. Announced two months later, this marriage alienated to him the support of part of the Belgian population which did not forget the very popular Astrid queen.

In 1944, Heinrich Himmler ordered the deportation of king Léopold and his family in Germany. The Nazis imprisoned the royal family with the fortress of Hirschstein in Saxony during the winter 1944-45, then in Strobl, close to Salzburg. It was released by the American army in May 1945.

The royal question and abdication

The government, as well as part of the Belgian population, being opposed to its return on the throne, the prince Charles, his brother, assumed regency.

In 1944, Léopold had written a " Politique" will; , intended to be published in the event of absence of the king during the release of Belgium. The Political Legacy was cause of controversy: The Belgian government in London hardly appreciated the request for public excuses of the ministers having defamed the king in 1940, and the allies did not like the request of the king to reconsider the treaties concluded by the gouvernemnet in exile (the controversy was mainly centered on the economic treaties with the United States relating to the delivery of Congolese uranium for the American atomic bombs).

In 1946, a board of inquiry exonerated king Leopold of any charge of treason. Nevertheless the controversy on its honesty continued. A Popular consultation took place in 1950 which saw returning the king to Belgium. In spite of a majority of the population favorable to her return on the throne, of the disorders were organized, primarily in the Walloon provinces, which pushed the King Léopold III to entrust to the general lieutenancy of the kingdom to his/her oldest son prince Baudouin, in order to preserve the unit of the country, then to abdicate in 1951, the situation not having evolved/moved.

Léopold III influenced the reign of his/her son until the marriage of this last. Thereafter, the former monarch withdrew himself with the Château of Argenteuil and devoted himself primarily to work of scientific research and voyages of exploration.