Jul. 3, 2013 (TSR) – His Majesty King Albert II of the Belgians, the modest, self-effacing Sovereign of the Belgians, addressed the nation at 1600 (GMT) on Wednesday and announced that he is to officially abdicate on 21 July, Belgium’s National Holiday, in favour of his son Filip after two decades at the helm of the tiny country torn between its French and Flemish speaking halves.
At 53 years of age, Filip is to become the 7th king of the Belgians. He was poised to succeed his father sooner or later, but it was not really expected that his father would abdicate from the throne. Belgium has no real tradition in this respect.
King Albert’s decision to step down is the first abdication in the history of Belgium, follows in the footsteps of Dutch Queen Beatrix, who abdicated in January. The country gained independence from the Netherlands in 1831. _
Prince Filip will take the oath of allegiance to the Belgian Constitution on the same day as the abdication before a meeting of both houses of parliament.
“I intend to abdicate on July 21,” the sovereign said in a speech broadcast by Belgium’s 4 big TV and radio channels to the nation from the royal palace. “Prince Filip is well prepared. He and Princess Mathilde have my entire confidence.”
“So it is with serenity and confidence that I announce I intend to abdicate on July 21,” he added.
In his short speech to the nation, read first in French then in Flemish, Belgium’s two main languages, the 79-year-old monarch said he was too tired and too frail to continue to reign.
‘I have noticed that my age and health no longer allow me to fill in my job as I should have wished. I would not meet my duties and not honour my view of the royal function if I stuck to my post at all costs. It’s a question of elementary respect for the institutions and of respect towards you. Following a twenty year reign I am of the opinion that the moment has come to hand the torch on to the next generation,” he said.
“I am at an age never attained by predecessors,” he added.
King Albert said that with his work on foreign trade missions Prince Filip had shown his efforts for Belgium.
The king rejoiced in the fact that Belgium could count on an exceptional trump card: Its people.
“With a people rich in talents and diversity the future of our country is in the best hands” he continued.
The king added that the role of King of the Belgians and its legitimacy meant serving democracy and its citizens.
“They are the only legitimate holders of its sovereignty. The royal family must go with the times. On 21 July I will address you and afterwards together with the queen and the new rulers I will attend the 21 July ceremonies. I want to tell you now that it was an honour and a joy to devote a large part of my life to the service of this country and its people. Queen Paola and I will never forget the ties that have grown between the people and us during the course of the years. Thank you for your confidence, tokens of sympathy and support, sometimes even with a little criticism. We always loved you,” he said.
Elio Di Rupo, the Belgian prime minister also addressed the nation to assure the country of political stability.
His Legacy
As the second son of King Leopold III (1901-1983) and Astrid of Sweden (1905-1935), Albert who was born June 6, 1934, was not destined to reign but was forced to ascend to the throne in August 9, 1933 on the death of his older brother King Baudouin, who passed away without an heir.
At the time, the country largely expected that Albert, then already nearly 60 and having spent 30 years as a “super-ambassador” promoting Belgium’s foreign trade, would step aside and let his eldest son Philippe take the crown.
Albert was known to be a ‘bon vivant,’ a lover of fast cars, and had married in 1958 a noted beauty of the day, Italian aristocrat Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria.
He “did not have the devotion of his brother,” royal biographer Patrick Reogiers said of Albert II.
However, he surprised his doubters “as the sense of duty quickly came to the fore,” said Christian Laporte, another writer on the Belgian monarchy.
King Albert, who has reigned for 20 years, has played a key role in the political life of the small language-divided nation.
Belgium suffers with deep divisions between Flemish Dutch-speakers and French-speaking Walloons who have pushed the country to the brink of break-up. Dutch-speaking Flanders has been seeking increasing autonomy at the expense of southern, French-speaking Wallonia.
It was Albert who steered the country’s divided politicians to a deal in late 2011 after the country spent a record-breaking 541 days without a government.
Many believe the political strife has worn the king out.
As monarch, Albert’s duties include representing Belgium at home and abroad on state visits, trade missions, and at high-level international meetings as well as taking an interest in Belgian society, culture and enterprise.
Albert may not have been as adept at reading the finer nuances of Belgium’s complex political scene but he showed that he understood better than many how his subjects felt, especially in 1996 when the notorious Dutroux paedophile murder case traumatised the nation.
After a protest march in Brussels by thousands who felt the authorities had let them down, Albert met the survivors of the Dutroux nightmare, a gesture “which without a doubt” helped steady the country as a whole, Laporte wrote.
Albert was also seen as the king of a ‘new Belgium’ after constitutional reforms in 1993 set up a federal structure giving extensive powers to Flanders, the Flemish-speaking north of the country, to French-language Wallonia in the south, and to Brussels, the capital hosting European Union and NATO institutions.
As tensions rose between the French- and Flemish-speaking communities, Albert II was a constant reminder that the monarchy was one of the few institutions that all could support. But in the past few years even that has come under pressure as nationalist Flemish politicians attacked the role of the crown, and then the king personally.
He worked tirelessly to bring both sides together, calling in political leaders of all persuasions as one political crisis followed another to the point where the country was without a government for 18 months after elections in 2010.
National polls due in 2014 are shaping up to be even more divisive, presenting a daunting challenge to his successor, Filip.
Albert was forthright in denouncing what he saw as the separatist tendencies at work in the country.
The king’s personal life was marked by early tragedy — his mother Astrid died in a car accident when he was only one.
The outbreak of World War II saw the royal family confined to the Laeken palace in Brussels and then moved by the German occupiers to Austria where they were eventually freed by US troops in May 1945.
But there was no immediate return home due to significant opposition to the monarchy over its wartime role and the royal family decided to go to Switzerland, staying there until 1950.
At that point, his father Leopold III decided that rather than risk what appeared at the time to be the likelihood of civil conflict, he would hand the crown to his eldest son Baudouin.
Royal Scandal
As well as playing the difficult role of national mediator, King Albert has faced a number of royal scandals that have damaged the standing of the monarchy.
Six years after he succeeded his brother, King Albert became embroiled in a major royal scandal when he was alleged to be the father of an illegimate daughter, Delphine Boel, and suffered a major crisis in his marriage with Queen Paola.
In 1999, the king publicly acknowledged another child, Delphine Boel, born to Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps with whom he had a long affair dating back to the 1960s.
However, last month 45-year-old sculptor and his alleged illegitimate daughter, Ms. Boel, opened court proceedings to demand a paternity DNA test of Prince Philippe to prove she is the king’s natural daughter. It’s the latest chapter in a string of scandals that hit the royal family this year and that led to a government decision to demand the family for the first time pay taxes on its state allowances.
Filip, the prince who waited patiently
Filip Leopold Louis Marie is born on 15 April 1960 as the first child of Prince Albert and Princess Paola. He grew up in Belvédère Castle in Brussels with his little sister, Astrid, and little brother, Laurent. At home, the children didn’t see their parents very often. They are away from home most of the time, and their marriage was always threatened by rumours of extramarital affairs.
At first, it looks as if Filip would not be eligible for the throne. When he was a young boy, his uncle Baudouin was king. It was expected that Baudouin and his wife Fabiola will have children, but this is not to be. Fabiola had five miscarriages.
Baudouin and Fabiola stepped in to help educating the young Filip, who has become the second in line to the throne after Albert. A special Dutch-speaking boy scouts group is created at the palace especially for Filip, an initiative taken by Fabiola. Filip also goes to boarding school in West-Flanders for a couple of years. Character-building takes a central place in the education that the palace has in mind.
A passion for space
Filip opts for the Royal Military Academy. Afterwards, he goes to the United Kingdom and United States to study political sciences. He becomes the first member of the Coburg family with a university degree. He has degrees from Trinity College, Oxford and Stanford University.
The prince builds a reputation as someone who likes sports and who adores challenges. He follows a training to become a para-commando and becomes a fighter pilot. The press often shows photos of Filip sitting in an F16 fighter jet. Later, the prince also passed an exam to become a helicopter pilot, although he recently sold his helicopter.
Just like his father and uncle, Filip develops a passion for technics and sciences, displaying an interest in space travel in particular. In 1992, he has a brief conversation with the first Belgian ever in space, Dirk Frimout. “Call me Filip, we have no protocol in space,” the prince says. Other words that have become famous are “what can you see through the window?”
Mathilde brings wind of change
On 31 July 1993, the death of King Baudouin comes as a complete surprise. For many, it came as a surprise that it is not Filip but Albert who ascends to the throne.
However, Filip became crown prince and replaced his father as the honorary chairman at the Department of Foreign Trade. He also promotes Belgium on foreign missions.
Being the king’s son automatically makes Filip a member of the Belgian Senate. When taking the oath, he said that he wants to build bridges between the different language communities in Belgium. For this purpose, he created the Prins Filip Fund.
Filip stuns Belgians with his fiancée
In September 1999, Filip surprised the country with his new fiancée, Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz, who is 13 years younger. Filip, who is known as a stiff person, shows his other side and declares that he followed his heart. Mathilde brings a wind of change, and brings the Belgian citizens closer to the royal family. Hundreds of citizens are invited to the engagement party.
Mathilde scores good points in the media and with the Belgian population. People claim that she makes Filip a better person. However, the press still portraits him as clumsy and insecure. The relation with the media is not always good. During trade missions, journalists complain about how he avoids every risk and about how uninspired Filip is, “not to say boring”.
The prince is not happy with these comments, but adds that he is not in a position to react. However, things get better as from 2006, when the palace’s press service is more involved in the trade missions.
Can Filip play a role after next year’s elections?
In October 2001, Filip and Mathilde welcome their first child – a daughter, Elisabeth. As legislation has been changed, she will become the first in line to the throne once Filip will become the new king.
In 2004, Filip causes a stir when he lashes out at the far-right Vlaams Belang. “We should speak as one abroad, and show we are one. Otherwise Belgium is bound to fall apart. Those who want the end Belgium, will have to deal with me”, the prince was quoted as saying. The PM Guy Verhofstadt (Flemish liberal) demands that the prince take a lower profile, as members of the royal family have to be neutral.
It is not clear which role Filip can play after next year’s elections – Belgium has local and national elections next year in May, and the coalition talks that will follow could be complicated. In Belgium, the king appoints the formateur who has the task of forming a government, but he also has to make a decision about what should happen when the talks break down. In a way, the king steers the talks, although it’s the politicians who make the real decisions.
Under Belgian law, the monarch has no executive powers and plays a largely ceremonial role. However, King Albert unprecedently acted as a mediator during the long political crisis in 2011.
Belgian royals, from Leopold I to Albert II
Six kings from the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha — now known simply as the royal house of Belgium — have headed the constitutional monarchy since independence.
Leopold I (1831 to 1865) – A German prince who fought in the Russian tsar’s battles against Napoleon, Leopold, the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was the uncle of Britain’s Queen Victoria and was elected king of the Belgians by the National Congress that declared independence from The Netherlands in October 1830.
After refusing the throne in Greece, Leopold took the oath of office on July 21, 1831. He married Louise-Marie d’Orleans, daughter of French king Louis-Philippe.
Leopold defended the young nation, repelling a Dutch invasion in August 1831 and using his relations to thwart efforts by French emperor Napoleon III to annex Belgium.
Leopold II (1865-1909) – Controversial coloniser of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Son of Leopold I, he became Belgium’s second king at the age of 30.
From 1876 Leopold II pushed for exploration of central Africa, calling notably on British explorer Henry Morton Stanley.
In 1885, the Berlin Conference recognised the Congo Free State, with Leopold II as its king.
Deplorable conditions there subsequently led to an international outcry, and Leopold II ceded his personal colony to Belgium a year before his death.
He was also called the construction king because he helped transform the cities of Brussels and Ostend with major architectural projects.
Albert I (1909-1934) – The knight king. He took the throne when his uncle, Leopold II, died without leaving an heir, and faced the task of defending Belgium in World War I.
After a German invasion in August 1914, Albert I took personal command of the Belgian army, and was forced to withdraw to a small strip of land behind the Yser river in northwestern Belgium.
His action in holding that ground was widely used in official propaganda campaigns and led to Albert’s quasi-legendary status of “knight king”.
He also supported the right to vote for all Belgian males, which took effect in 1919, and equal status for the French and Dutch languages in Belgium.
A keen climber, Albert I died following a fall in southern Belgium in 1934.
Leopold III (1934-1951) – Controversial king of World War II.
Son of Albert I, the first years of his reign were marked by the death of his popular wife, Astrid, born princess of Sweden, after a car driven by the king crashed in Switzerland in 1935.
Eighteen days after Germany invaded Belgium in May 1940, the king capitulated without conditions and refused to follow the Belgian government into exile.
A year later he married Lilian Baels.
When allied forces landed in France in June 1944, the king and his family were taken to Germany and then to Austria were they were freed in 1945 by US forces.
Some Belgians refused to welcome him back to the country however, and his brother, prince Charles became regent, while the royal family settled in Switzerland.
Leopold’s return to Belgium in 1950 sparked violent strikes and he was forced to abdicate in favour of his eldest son, Baudouin.
Baudouin I (1951-1993) – The longest reign.
Baudouin was only 21 with he succeeded his father on the throne, and remained under his father’s influence until after he married Spanish-born Fabiola de Mora y Aragon in 1960.
Brussels accorded Congo its independence that year as well, amid general strikes in Belgium.
A devout and austere Catholic, Baudouin was concerned with rising tensions between Flemish- and French-speaking Belgians.
In 1990, citing personal convictions, the king refused to sign a law that would lift penalties against abortion.
The government dug up a constitutional loophole to declare his “impossibility to reign” for two days, during which the law was passed.
Baudouin I died of a heart attack on July 31, 1993 during a holiday in Spain at the end of 42 years on the throne.
Albert II (since 1993) – A debonnaire king who grew into the role.
Although Albert II did not appear to be very interested in politics, he played a pivotal mediation role during several crises between Flemish- and French-speaking Belgians, in particular in 2011.
He did not oppose laws that authorised euthanasia and same-sex marriage.
He and his Italian-born wife Paola have three children, Crown Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent.
Belgium’s King Albert II unexpectedly abdicates and makes precedence
