Travel Belgium About Brussels Upper Town Musee De La Dynastie And Palais Coudenberg Belgiums Kings
Léopold I (1831-65). Foisted on Belgium by the great powers, Léopold, the first King of the Belgians, was imported from Germany, where he was the prince of Saxe-Coburg - and the uncle of Queen Victoria. Despite lacking a popular mandate, Léopold made a fairly good fist of things, keeping the country neutral as the great powers had ordained.
Léopold II (1865-1909). Energetic and forceful, Léopold II encouraged the urbanisation of his country and promoted its importance as a major industrial power. He was also the man responsible for landing Brussels with such pompous monuments as the Palais de Justice and for the imposition of a particularly barbaric colonial regime on the peoples of the Belgian Congo (now the Republic of Congo). The son of Léopold I.
Albert I (1909-34). Easily the most popular of the dynasty, Albert's bravery in World War I, when the Germans occupied almost all of the country, made the king a national hero whose untimely death, in a climbing accident, traumatised the nation. The nephew of Léopold II and the father of Léopold III.
Léopold III (1934-51). In contrast to his father, Léopold III had the dubious honour of becoming one of Europe's least popular monarchs. His first wife died in a suspicious car crash; he nearly lost his kingdom by remarrying (anathema in a Roman Catholic country); and he was badly compromised during the German occupation of World War II. During the war, Léopold remained in Belgium rather than face exile, fuelling rumours that he was a Nazi collaborator - though his supporters maintained that he prevented thousands of Belgians from being deported. After several years of heated postwar debate, during which the king remained in exile, the issue of his return was finally put to a referendum in 1950. Just over half the population voted in Léopold's favour, but there was a clear French/Flemish divide, with opposition to the king concentrated in French-speaking Wallonia. Fortunately for Belgium, Léopold abdicated in 1951 in favour of his son, Baudouin.
Baudouin I (1951-93). A softly spoken family man, Baudouin did much to restore the popularity of the monarchy, not least because he was generally thought to be even-handed in his treatment of the French- and Flemish-speaking communities. He also hit the headlines in April 1990 by standing down for a day so that an abortion bill (which he as a Catholic had refused to sign) could be passed. Childless, he was succeeded by his brother.
Albert II (post-1993). The present king will have his work cut out if he wants to become the national figurehead that his brother was. The Belgian royal family is one of the few unifying forces in a country divided by French-Flemish antagonisms; one slip off the linguistic tightrope could have untold consequences.
