Albert II of Flanders (The German Century)

Albert II (born 6 June 1934) reigned as Count of Flanders from 1993 until his abdication in 2013.

On 3 July 2013, King Albert II attended a midday session of the Belgian cabinet. He then announced that on 21 July, he would abdicate the throne for health reasons. He was succeeded by his granddaughter Elizabeth on 21 July 2013. Albert II was the fourth monarch to abdicate in 2013, following Pope Benedict XVI, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and Emir Hamad bin Khalifa of Qatar. In so doing he was also the second Flemish monarch to abdicate, following his father Leopold III who abdicated in 1951, albeit under very different circumstances.