Albert II of Belgium
Albert II ( born June 6, 1934 in Brussels; Albert Felix Humbert Theodor full name Christian Eugen Maria of Belgium) was the sixth King of the Belgians from the House of Saxe -Coburg and Gotha. He followed in 1993 his older, childless brother Baudouin to the throne.
After announcing his resignation on July 3, 2013, took this step on July 21, 2013, the Belgian National Day, in favor of his son, Crown Prince Philippe.
Life
HM King Philippe HM Queen Mathilde
- HRH Crown Princess Elisabeth
- HRH Prince Gabriel
- HRH Prince Emmanuel
- HRH Princess Eléonore
HM King Albert II HM Queen Paola
- IKKH Princess Astrid HRH Prince Lorenz, Archduke of Austria - D'Este HRH Prince Amadeo
- IKKH Princess Maria Laura
- HRH Prince Joachim
- IKKH Princess Luisa Maria
- IKKH Princess Laetitia Maria
- HRH Princess Louise
- HRH Prince Nicolas
- HRH Prince Aymeric
HM Queen Fabiola
Albert, Prince of Liège, was born in Stuyvenberg Castle in Brussels. He is the younger son of King Leopold III. and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden. His mother he lost already with a year ago when this came in a car accident on 29 August 1935 killed. His siblings are Joséphine Charlotte and Baudouin ( 1930-1993 ). In addition, he has from the second marriage of his father another half-brother Alexander (1942-2009) and two half-sisters, Marie- Christine ( b. 1951 ) and Marie- Esmeralda (* 1956).
At the beginning of World War II, the Prince and his siblings first fled to France, then to Spain. However, they returned in 1940 back to Belgium and lived in Laeken and in Ciergnon. In 1944 he was deported with his father, stepmother and siblings to Germany and later to Austria. After her release on May 7, 1945, the family lived until 1950 in Pregny in Switzerland.
The prince attended the private school Le Rosey Institute in this period. The family was allowed because of the " question royale " initially not return to Belgium; only in July 1950, she was allowed there. On August 11, Albert was older brother Crown Prince; on July 17, 1951 Belgian king.
Albert married on 2 July 1959, the Italian Princess Paola Ruffo di Calabria. With her he has three children, the current King Philip, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent.
Albert supposedly has a illegitimate daughter, Delphine Boël that is to be born of a love affair with the Baroness Sybille de Sélys Longchamps. Albert has never confirmed this paternity; In 1999, he admitted during his Christmas speech at that time that his marriage was in the 1960s in a crisis. 2013 requested Boël judicial clarification of the alleged paternity Albert II
From 1962 to 1993 Albert was Honorary Chairman of the Board of the Belgian Foreign Trade Office. In this role, he led more than a hundred business missions. Therefore, in 1984 the Prince Albert Fund was established in honor of Him who finances the training of foreign trade experts. From 1958 to 1993 he was President of the Belgian Red Cross; this office then took over his daughter Astrid.
Albert King was founded in 1993 as a successor to his childless deceased brother Baudouin. On August 9, 1993 Albert took the oath to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Belgium.
Albert was awarded in 2009 by the Belgian State appanage of 10.54 million euros. For 2010, this should be slightly shortened to 10.3 million euros; this proposed legislation has not been implemented due to a long-lasting government crisis.
In July 2013 Albert II announced his abdication. After Albert had signed the abdication of the Belgian National Day, swore the new king, his son Philippe, the oath to the Constitution.
Ancestors and descendants
Leopold I, King of the Belgians (1790-1865) ∞ 1832 princess Louise d' Orléans (1812-1850)
Prince Karl Anton (Hohenzollern) (1811-1885) ∞ 1834 princess Josephine of Baden (1813-1900)
Duke Max Joseph of Bavaria (1808-1888) ∞ 1828 princess Ludovica Wilhelmine von Bayern (1808-1892)
King Michael I. (Portugal ) (1802-1866) ∞ 1851 princess Adelaide of Löwenstein -Wertheim -Rosenberg (1831-1909)
King Oscar I (Sweden) (1799-1859) ∞ 1823 princess Josephine de Beauharnais von Leuchtenberg (1807-1876)
Duke William I (Nassau ) (1792-1839) ∞ 1829 princess Pauline of Württemberg (1810-1856)
King Christian IX. (Denmark) (1818-1906) ∞ 1842 princess Luise Wilhelmine of Hesse- Kassel (1817-1898)
King Karl XV. (Sweden) (1826-1872) ∞ 1850 princess Louise of Orange-Nassau (1828-1871)
Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders (1837-1905) ∞ 1867 Princess Maria Luise von Hohenzollern -Sigmaringen (1845-1912)
Duke Carl Theodor in Bavaria (1839-1909) ∞ 1874 princess Maria Josepha of Portugal (1857-1943)
King Oscar II (Sweden) (1829-1907) ∞ 1857 princess Sophia of Nassau (1836-1913)
King Frederick VIII (Denmark) (1843-1912) ∞ 1869 princess Louise of Sweden (1851-1926)
Albert I, King of the Belgians (1875-1934) ∞ 1900 Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria (1876-1965)
Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland (1861-1951) ∞ 1897 Princess Ingeborg of Denmark Charlotte (1878-1958)
Leopold III. , King of the Belgians (1901-1983) ∞ 1926 Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905-1935)
King Albert II ( b. 1934 ) (∞ Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria 1959 (* 1937) )
Philippe, King of the Belgians ( b. 1960 ) ∞ 1999 countess Mathilde d' Udekem d' Acoz (* 1973)
Princess Astrid of Belgium ( b. 1962 ) ∞ 1984 Lorenz of Habsburg - Lorraine, Archduke of Austria -Este ( b. 1955 )
Prince Laurent of Belgium (* 1963) ∞ 2003 Claire Louise Coombs ( b. 1974 )
- Crown Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant (* 2001)
- Prince Gabriel of Belgium (* 2003)
- Prince Emmanuel of Belgium (* 2005)
- Princess Eleonore of Belgium (* 2008)
- Prince Amedeo of Belgium (* 1986)
- Princess Maria Laura of Belgium (* 1988)
- Prince Joachim of Belgium Carl (* 1991)
- Princess Luisa Maria of Belgium (* 1995)
- Princess Laetitia Maria of Belgium (* 2003)
- Princess Louise of Belgium (* 2004)
- Prince Nicolas of Belgium (* 2005)
- Prince Aymeric of Belgium (* 2005)