The Kingmaker of Belgium

The handover of royal power from Albert II to Philippe, King of the Belgians, this summer was smooth, peaceful and happy.  But the reason that Philippe and Mathilde have a kingdom to rule at all began 183 years ago today in rather more dramatic circumstances.  And it ended with the accession of a man who, by that time could have been King of Greece or Prince Consort of the United Kingdom.  Instead he became the first King of the Belgians and went on to make royal marriages and families across Europe.

One of the first official portraits of Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, released just days after the accession of her husband on July 21st 2013

On the evening of August 25th 1830 riots broke out in Brussels which led to the independence of Belgium and the creation of a new monarchy that still survives today.  A special performance of an opera to mark the birthday of the ruler of the United Netherlands, of which the future Belgium was then a part, ended in protests on the streets of Brussels.  The trouble had been brewing a while with pressures for independence and it only increased after the trouble of August 25th, culminating in peace conference in London in which the modern Belgium was created.  It is a truth universally acknowledged in 19th century Europe that a new nation must be in need of a king and the throne was offered to a man called Leopold who had already come close to ruling in two other European nations.  And all by the age of 40.

Philippe is the great, great, great grandson of the man whose destiny as King of the Belgians began on this day in 1830 after a riot outside a theatre

 

The man became Leopold I, King of the Belgians and founder of several dynasties.  He had started life as Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the second youngest son of a duke called Franz and his wife, Augusta.  Franz became famous for two things - his large art collection and being the ancestor of most of modern Europe's royals  Not bad for a chap from an obscure part of Germany that no one had really ever heard of when he became ruler of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1800.

 

 

The great granddaddy of Europe's royals.  Franz of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld's genes are spread through the palaces of every modern monarchy on the continent, thanks to three of his children

 

By that time, little Leopold was ten and already in charge of an army.  Perhaps someone might have guessed then that he would go on to rule Europe through his descendants.  It might have been a purely ceremonial role but being made a colonel of a Russian regiment in his home state led to him going to Paris in 1806 following the Napoleonic occupation of Saxe-Coburg.  From there a military career in Russia beckoned where he fought again Napoleon and was climbing the ranks when he first came close to a crown.

 

 

Leopold I, King of the Belgians in his time in the Russian army

 

But while Leopold built his army career, his future career as king and royal superpapa was coming to find him.  In 1814, while in London, he met Princess Charlotte of Wales at a party and she asked him to call on her.  When he popped in for tea they spent the best part of an hour together, chaperoned of course, and a mutual attraction began to grow.  Reports show Charlotte's father, by then Prince Regent, as impressed by the young lieutenant general.  But the man who would be George IV had no intention of Leo scooping up his girl.  She was his only heir, the only legitimate grandchild at the time of George III, and she was going to be Queen of England.  Handsome but poor soldiers were not on dad's shopping list of potential husbands.

 

 

Princess Charlotte of Wales was in line to be England's fifth Queen Regnant from the moment she was born in 1796

 

Besides, George had just spent a lot of time and effort getting Charlotte to agree to marry the heir to the Dutch throne.  It was time badly spent because not long after she finally agreed to the wedding, she changed her mind and caused all kinds of ructions by running away in cabs to escape the marriage with royal uncles following her with warrants for her return to her father.  It's thought she had hopes of marrying a Prussian prince but that came to nothing as well and she told her father than she would wed Leopold or no one else.  The impoverished prince was summoned to Britain and the couple wed in 1816.  They were seemingly happy and Lieutenant Leo settled down to become the future Prince Consort of Great Britain.  But then disaster struck.  His wife died giving birth to their first child, a boy, who was stillborn.  After just 17 months of marriage, Leopold was a widower.

 



 

The last portrait of Princess Charlotte of Wales, made in the days before her death

 

Charlotte's death sparked a major crisis for the British royal family as there was now no legitimate heir beyond the sons of George III.  While Leopold mourned his wife, another member of his family became involved in the story.  His older sister, Victoria, was by now a widow and less than a year after Charlotte's death she married the fourth son of George III and provided him with the longed for legitimate heir, a little girl who bore the same name.  Leopold's niece became Queen Victoria.

 

 

Victoria of Saxce-Coburg-Saalfeld, sister of Leopold, gave the British crown the heir it needed

 

Leopold, meanwhile, was offered the throne of Greece.  He turned it down and by 1830 was a bit of a European enigma.  But the following year the great powers came calling and offered him the throne of Belgium - after considering him against several other candidates.  This time he liked the offer before him and agreed to take the title.  He swore his oath of allegiance on July 21st 1831 which became Belgium's national day.  He married again, giving Belgium its first queen, and went on to fight off an invasion from the Netherlands. 

 

 

Leopold I, King of the Belgians, and his second wife, Louise-Marie, Queen of the Belgians

 

But his involvement with the throne of England wasn't over yet.  He had lost his British princess, the girl who would have made him a Prince Consort.  But his niece needed a man to rule alongside her and in 1839, Leopold arranged a meeting between Victoria and one of his nephews, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.  This time, the fairytale romance between a Queen Regnant and a poor-ish prince from a far away part of Germany had a happier ending.  Victoria and Albert produced nine children and gave their names to a whole age. 

 

 

Prince Albert, nephew of Leopold I, married his cousin, Victoria, in 1840

 

Victoria and Albert's descendants married into royal houses across Europe while Leopold's descendants still rule Belgium today. And all because of a riot 183 years ago - a peaceful summer night in Brussels in 1830 might have led to a very different modern Europe.



 











Royal photo opportunities

Sometimes, photographers just strike gold.  They go along to cover a run of the mill royal event and end up with a snap that will become a favourite out of nowhere.  We all know a royal wedding will produce a kiss and most official duties will offer some waves and smiles.  But every now and again there's a moment no one expected.  Like the King of Sweden getting involved in tree cutting.

King Carl XVI Gustaf on his tour of Sweden as part of his jubilee celebrations in August 2013

Quite what the machine that the king is trying out does is anyone's guess.  He certainly looks as bemused as the rest of us.  But the photo itself is bound to be used time and time again.  The king's bemused expression, the strangeness of the machine itself, Queen Silvia looking on -what more can we ask for?  How about a king and fish?

Harald of Norway's country has made a lot of money from fishing so maybe that explains why he's been stunned into silence by the sight of this fish

King Harald of Norway got caught at just the right angle during one visit linked to one of his country's biggest money spinners to provide a photo opportunity many a snapper would give their back catalogue for.  A king stunned into silence by a dead fish.

The Queen in a golf buggy - no pressure on that driver, then

And certainly no one turning up to the opening of the Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace earlier this summer expected to see Queen Elizabeth II arrive to kick off proceedings on the back of a golf buggy.  But there she was with Camilla alongside trundling along at 5 mph.  It's up there with George and Lupo as one of the royal photos of the year.





The royal week (ending 23rd August 2013)

A quick round up of what the royal families of Europe have been up to this week...

NORWAY

 

Perhaps the busiest royal household this week was the Norwegian.  On Sunday, the family was out in force for a religious service to mark the 40th birthday of Crown Princess Mette-Marit although her actual anniversary, on the Monday, was quiet and private.  It brought to an end the celebrations for the big birthdays being marked by Mette-Marit and her husband, Haakon, this summer.

 

Royals in wellies - the Norwegian royal family pulled their boots on for a special religious service in the Queen's Park in Oslo to mark Crown Princess Mette-Marit's 40th birthday

More day to day activitities for King Harald who held a regular Council of State with the Crown Prince at his side. He's also held several farewell audiences for ambassadors. Meanwhile, Queen Sonia has been to several concerts linked to the Interntional Music Festival which bears her name as well as the event's grand finale.

 

Queen Sonia of Norway with soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan who won at the Queen's International Music Festival

Queen Sonia's daughter, Princess Martha Louise, was given an award of her own.  The =Norge prize is given each year to someone who has shown outstanding contributions to social commitment and the princess was chosen for her work with children.  Previous winners have included a project dedicated to helping drug addicts. 

 

Richard Johannessen, presents Princess Martha Louise with the 2013 =Norge award

 

SPAIN

King Juan Carlos has been in Madrid continuing his recovery from the hip operation he underwent earlier this year.  But in a sign that he's getting back to normal, off he went to the football to see the annual friendly organised by Real Madrid in memory of Santiago Bernabeu, the man credited with turning the team into a powerhouse of European football.  The king handed over the trophy to Real Madrid after their 5-0 win against Al-Sadd.  And he welcomed back to the club one of its favourite sons.  Raul now plays for Al-Sadd but spent sixteen years playing for Real.  In recognition of his long career, Juan Carlos presented Raul with a mini replica of Madrid's famous Cibeles fountain.

King Juan Carlos presents Raul with a special trophy to mark his long and very successful career

 

But in the absence of any major activity, the Spanish press has continued to speculate on the state of the marriage of Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia.  The royal house said their union was as strong as ever but rumours of a strained summer continue to come thick and fast.

DENMARK

 

Princess Mary spent several hours at a camp in Jordan for Syrian refugees this week as part of her work as patron of the United Nations Population Fund. The princess met many people, including children, who have had to leave their homes as the conflict in Syria escalates.  Mary was evacuated form the camp towards the end of her visit after protests about the chemical weapons attack near Damascus escalated.

 

 

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark speaking to children at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.  The children are among 120,000 people at the camp forced to leave their homes in Syria as the conflict there escalates

 

The royal family begins its official activities in full this week after the summer break and the Crown Prince took the chance to enjoy some last minute diversions.  He completed the Copenhagen Iron Man competition, coming in 706th overall.

 

 

Crown Prince Frederik taking part in the Copenhagen Iron Man competition

 

THE NETHERLANDS

 

The Dutch royal family continues its private mourning for Prince Johan Friso who died on August 12th and was buried last week close the home where his mother, Beatrix, will spend her retirement.  It was announced in the week that the farewell party for the now princess Beatrix, scheduled for September 14th, will be put back until some time in 2014.  The former queen is due to make her first public appearance since the death of her second son in the coming week. 

 

BELGIUM

 

A quiet week for the Belgian royal family as well as the new king and queen take a last few days of holiday before their children return to school and they get ready to embark on a tour of the country to say hello to their fellow citizens as monarchs for the first time. The royal progress begins on September 6th in Louvain. 

 

SWEDEN

 

The king and queen of Sweden have already been on a progress with the visits to various parts of the country to mark Carl XVI Gustaf's forty years as king continuing.  This week we got photos of them in eastern Sweden and their days in Vasternorrland and Vasterbotten counties.  There was a good turn out to celebrate the big jubilee and the king and queen spent quite a lot of time learning about forestry in the areas.

 



 

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia on their visit to Vasterbotten county in eastern Sweden as part of the tour to mark the king's 40th jubilee.  Silvia became queen on her marriage in 1976.

 

UNITED KINGDOM

 

After a four week wait, the official photos of Prince George of Cambridge were released.  The snaps, taken by his maternal grandfather, Michael Middleton, showed the baby with his parents in the garden of her family home in Berkshire. 

 

 

One more time....the world's most famous baby in the world's most famous baby photo.  George, Kate and William share the limelight with Lupo the dog...

 

Meanwhile, Prince Harry was in Angola on a private visit to see the work of the Halo Trust, the charity which works to clear landmines and which his mother, Diana, famously helped promote.  The photograph of the princess walking through mineclearing work is one of the best known images of a woman who was pictured almost constantly for fifteen years.  Her youngest son is now patron of Halos' 25th Anniversary Appeal and Harry spent several days learning about the trust's work in Angola, meeting people injured by landmines and learning how to destroy the devices.

 

 

Prince Harry, patron of the Halo Trust's 25th Anniversary Appeal, learns about the work they do in Angola on a private visit to the country this week

 

Prince and Princess Michael of Kent became grandparents for the first time when their daughter-in-law, Sophie, gave birth to a little girl called Maud in America.  Maud Windsor became the first female member of Britain's royal family to be guaranteed her place in the line of succession ahead of any future little brother.

 

Meanwhile, the Queen and Prince Philip continued their holidays at Balmoral.

 

 



Princess Mary gets very serious

In a few days' time, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark will travel to Morocco where she'll see projects set up to help women and children escape domestic violence and build new lives for themselves.  The princess also aims to highlight women's rights in the Middle East in general.  It's part of the work of The Mary Foundation - the princess' project which aims to tackle social isolation and help those on their own, in Denmark and overseas.

 

The image of Mary of Denmark which welcomes visitors to the website of The Mary Foundation which she set up in 2007

 

On the visit she will meet some of the women who have benefitted from international work to get away from abusive relationships and home lives and who are starting to make it on their own after the traumatic experience of physical and mental attack.  She'll also meet judges involved in helping women escape violence as legal processes become an increasingly important part of women's rights in the country.  In 2004, the king of Morocco brought in a new law, Moudawanaen, which gave women the right to get divorced as well as equal rights on child custody.  It also banned the marriage of girls under the age of 16.  Mary will hear more about this and visit several shelters for women and young girls.

 

 

 

Princess Mary on a visit earlier this year to Mozambique where she also saw projects linked to improving women's rights

(photo Forum Mulher)

 

The Morocco trip will follow hard on the heels of her visit to a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan to meet families forced to flee their homes by the ongoing conflict in their country.  Mary met women and children there for several hours and was about to speak to the press when a protest in the Zaatari camp started to escalate and she was evacuated.  The princess wanted to highlight the human suffering the conflict had brought - Zaatari is currently home to around 120,000 refugees, just a small fraction of those who have fled given the UN estimate this morning of around one million children now displaced from Syria.  The protest in the camp is thought to have started as anger built following the nerve gas attack in Syria.

 

 

Princess Mary of Denmark meets some of the children at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan - more than one million children have now been forced to flee their homes in Syria as the crisis there deepens

 

Mary's work to help those lonely, isolated and in desperation has been a large part of her public life since she became Crown Princess of Denmark in 2004.  Like Diana before her, she's faced questions over how useful trips like the one to Zaatari really are and like the Princess of Wales she's stuck to what she believes in.  And just like Diana, a face that people want to photograph in a place where no one might otherwise go helps to throw the spotlight on some of the toughest, hardest and most troubling issues of the day.  Fair play to the princess from Oz.

 

The Mary Foundation website

 

 

 



The man who chased crowns

On Sunday we got a small scale version of it as The White Queen drew to an end on BBC One but today is the actual anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth and the fall of the House of Plantagenet after three centuries controlling England.  And while it was two women who really established the Plantagenet power base in England, the origins of the dynasty lie with an uber ambitious man from northern France who refused to settle for being a mere consort himself and in the process won himself a crown and deprived a queen regnant of her power.

 

The broom plant, chosen by a man called Geoffrey as his personal symbol in the early 12th century, and which gave its name to one of the most famous royal houses in European history

(photo Calibas)


 

The name Plantagenet was a nickname for a boy who finally fulfilled his father's ambitions of marrying into royalty.  The boy was Geoffrey who was the eldest son and heir of Fulk V, Count of Anjou.  Fulk was born around 1089 and not long afterwards his mother, Bertrade, dumped his dad to marry the king of France.  Fulk became count of Anjou on his father's death in 1109 and for several years built up his power base.  But around 1118 he decided he wanted a little bit more than a nice life as a semi powerful lord.  Fulk, like his mother before him, started chasing crowns.

 

Fulk's mother, Bertrade, left his father to marry the king of France.  Their wedding went ahead despite both having spouses still living but Bertrade became Queen of France

The throne of France was off limits as several of the princes and princesses of that court were Fulk's half siblings.  But England was looking like an increasingly powerful kingdom with the Normans well established following the Conquest of 1066.  And handily for Fulk, the current king had a son who needed a wife and Fulk had a daughter who needed a husband.  The marriage treaty concluded with Henry I of England also had the advantage of annoying the French king and Henry's heir, William, married Matilda of Anjou in June 1119.  The eight year old girl was one step away from becoming queen.

 

 

William Adelin, Duke of Normandy, married Matilda of Anjou in 1119 with both their fathers hoping they would form a dynasty that would rule England for many years

 

But William was dead within 18 months of the marriage, drowned in The White Ship disaster of 1120.  Henry I had no other legitimate male heir and Fulk's dreams of a crown were in tatters.  But when Henry refused to return Matilda's dowry, the count of Anjou spied another chance to make one of his children a monarch.  Another daughter, Sybilla, was wed to another William.  This one, known as Clito, was the only legitimate son of Robert who just happened to be William the Conqueror's eldest son and who was made Duke of Normandy on the conqueror's death while little brother William got the throne of England.  Robert was bad with money and had mortgaged his duchy to his brother when said brother died leaving Bob in the middle of Europe looking for a rich bride to help buy back Normandy.  And meanwhile, the littlest brother of all, Henry, snatched the throne of England.  But Robert never gave up trying to be king and he and WIlliam Clito kept pressing their claim.  The marriage to Sybilla made a powerful ally for them in their fight for the throne.

 

 

Henry I outplayed his big brother, Robert, to claim the throne of England

 

But Henry was too big a fish to fall for that one and applied to the Pope to have the marriage annulled.  A few years later the king and the count came together once more - Henry at this point was pretty desperate to secure the succession and the only option left was his daughter, Matilda.  She was the widow of the Holy Roman Emperor and in 1127 she married Fulk's eldest son, Geoffrey, and that's where the flowers come in.

 

 

A later imagining of the Empress Matilda who had been left a childless widow at the age of 23 when her first husband, the Holy Roman Emperor, died

Geoffrey liked to wear a sprig of yellow broom in his hat - it's also known as planta genista.  And that's how he came to be known, as Geoffrey Plantagenista.  Had Geoffrey not had a fondness for flowers of the yellow variety his royal descendants would most likely be called Angevins.  But that sprig of yellow made a lasting impression on English history.  Geoffrey liked yellow flowers but apparently wasn't quite as fond of his wife but they did their duty and produced three sons.  And the eldest became Henry II in 1154 in an agreement that ended the war that had begun when Matilda tried to claim her father's throne but found the nobles less than willing to serve a woman.

 

 

Fulk, represented here at his second marriage, finally got one of his children into a royal family when his son and heir, Geoffrey, married the daughter of Henry I of England

 

By then, Fulk was dead but he had been buried as a king.  Not long after he saw his son marry royalty, he himself got the chance of becoming a consort.  In 1127 he was contacted by another king who was desperate for an heir for his kingdom.  Baldwin II of Jerusalem also found himself with just one legitimate heir and a woman, too.  But unlike Henry I, he named his daughter, Melisende, as his heiress but wanted a rich, powerful husband for her to make the throne safe.  And the ideal husband needed to be a military expert too to protect the kingdom.  Fulk had long experience crusading, bags of cash and lots of influence.  And he liked nothing more than a bit of royal prestige.  And once he was wed to Melisende he began to demand he be joint monarch, not consort.  He ascended as king but the couple tussled over power but were reconciled at the time of his death in a hunting accident in 1143.  Their two sons both ruled as kings of Jerusalem with the youngest, Almaric, founding a dynasty there.  Meanwhile, Geoffrey's eldest son, Henry, took the throne of England and founded his own dynasty there - one which would last until August 22nd 1485 and the fall of Richard III, last of the Plantagenet kings.