Paola, the princess from the south who became a Queen of the North

Paola became queen against her expectations.  She began life as minor Italian royalty and thought, when she married Prince Albert of Belgium in 1959, that she was entering a life that would move her into minor Belgian royalty.  Her groom may have been heir to the throne on their wedding day but his brother, King Baudouin, was just 29 and still to marry.  As the new Prince and Princess of Liege left their wedding, they expected to move into obscurity behind the family of the king.

Paola as Queen of the Belgians, a role she never expected to take on

 

But become queen she did.  This future monarch was born on September 11th 1937 in Tuscany.  Her father was Fulco VIII, Prince di Ruffo di Calabria who married Luisa Gazelli in 1919 and Paola was the youngest of their children, born just before World War Two.  Her father had been a high profile pilot during World War One but he was convicted of complicity with the fascist government of Mussolini after the Second World War ended and died not long afterwards.  Paola was a princess in name but in search of a role and a family.

 

 

Paola was feted as one of Europe's most beautiful women in her youth

 

 

She met the heir to the Belgian throne, Albert, in 1959 at a reception for the inauguration of Pope John XXIII held at the Belgian embassy in Rome.  She recalled them both being shy but romance flourished and the couple married in Brussels on July 2nd 1959.

 

 

 

Albert and Paola on their wedding day - she became Princess of Liege on her marriage

 

 

With the marriage of Albert's brother, King Baudouin, the following year Paola expected to move further away from the throne of Belgium. The couple had three children - Philippe, Astrid and Laurent - within three years but as their family grew it was becomingly increasingly clear that Baudouin and Queen Fabiola might not have children.  By the late 1970s it was accepted that Baudouin would have no heir of his own. The throne would pass to Albert.

 

 

Paola was Princess of Liege from her marriage in 1959 to 1993 when King Baudouin died

 

 







Despite speculation about the state of the royal marriage and then rumours that Baudouin might nominate their eldest son, Philippe, as his heir Albert and Paola became King and Queen of the Belgians in August 1993.  Paola was the last woman to become a Queen Consort in Europe in the 20th century.  She has been popular and known for her love of the arts and her work for charity.  And in an interview to mark her 70th birthday she addressed the chatter about the state of the royal marriage, acknowledging difficulties but saying that they were meant for one another and were very happy together.

 

 

A love that lasted - Queen Paola kisses her husband, King Albert II of the Belgians, on the even of his abdication in July 2013

 



Today they enter retirement with the good wishes of their people.  How history remembers her is still to be decided.  But the littlest girl of a minor Italian royal has ended up the most successful of his children and takes her place as the last European queen consort of the 20th century.