| Leopold III | |
|---|---|
| |
| King of the Belgians | |
| Reign | 23 February 1934 – 7 September 1951 |
| Predecessor | Albert |
| Successor | Baudouin |
| Regent | Prince Charles (1946–1951) Prince Baudouin (1951) |
| Born | 3 November 1901 Brussels, Belgium |
| Died | 18 July 1983 (aged 81) Brussels, Belgium |
| Spouse | Astrid of Sweden (m. 1926, died 1935) |
| Issue | Joséphine-Charlotte Baudouin Albert |
| House | Belgium |
| Father | Albert of Belgium |
| Mother | Elisabeth of Bavaria |
Leopold III (3 November 1901 – 18 July 1983) was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication in 1951. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasion in 1940, he surrendered his country, earning him much hostility. After the war, he was held in exile in Austria while the government, having declared the king unable to rule shortly after the surrender, appointed his brother Charles as regent. Leopold's eventual return to his homeland in 1951 nearly caused a civil war, and under pressure from the government, he abdicated in favour of his son Baudouin by the end of the year.
Early life and reign[]
Prince Leopold was born in Brussels, the first child of Prince Albert, heir to the Belgian throne, and his consort. In 1909, when his father became the King of Belgium, Leopold became the Duke of Brabant. At age 12, he was allowed to join the Belgian Army in 1914, but in 1915 he was sent to England to attend Eton College. After the war, he briefly stayed in the United States. In 1926, Leopold married Princess Astrid of Sweden and had three children with her, including later King Baudouin. In 1935, however, Queen Astrid was killed in a car accident in Switzerland near their villa at Lake Lucerne.
Leopold III ascended to the Belgian throne in 1934 following the death of his father. In 1939, he announced Belgian neutrality in the Second World War, but Belgium was nonetheless invaded by the German army in 1940. After the invasion, Leopold personally assumed command of the Belgian Army and rejected the proposal of Hubert Pierlot and his government to flee to France, instead attempting to set up a cabinet of sympathetic politicians under Henri de Man and surrendering to Germany a few days later. Pierlot, who had gone to exile, declared the King unable to rule as the King was acting against the constitution. Under the German occupation, Leopold resisted the Germans and tried to assert his authority as King, but held no real power and was held under house arrest in the royal palace. Attempts to meet the German Führer Adolf Hitler and negotiate the release of Belgian prisoners of war were also unsuccessful.
Exile and abdication[]
In 1945, the Belgian government in exile sent Leopold a letter with a reconciliation offer as the situation was more and more unfavourable to Germany. Leopold refused the offer and instead demanded, that a new post-war government doesn’t include many of the members of the London government and annuls all treaties signed by the Pierlot cabinet during the war. Shortly after, Leopold was transported by the Germans to a castle in Austria, guarded by members of the SS. The castle was liberated by the Red Army, but the king was still not permitted to leave and continued to be held under house arrest by the Soviet Union in an arrangement later confirmed at the Havana Conference as the Allies hoped to avoid the King’s return.
In 1947, new Belgian Prime Minister August De Schryver met with Leopold in an attempt to resolve the Royal Question. The King’s demands were, however, rejected by the socialist and liberal members of the cabinet, which prompted a cabinet crisis that was only resolved by the 1947 election. During the next few years, the King remained interned in Austria, guarded by the Soviet soldiers. In 1951, after the Christian Social Party won an absolute majority in 1950 on an openly restorationist platform, Prime Minister Paul von Zeeland invited Leopold back to Belgium after the Parliament ended Prince Charles’ regency
Leopold’s return to the country, however, caused widespread unrest in Wallonia, which prompted the government to insist on the King’s resignation. Faced with a potential civil war, Leopold announced his intention to abdicate in 1951 and appointed his son and heir Baudouin as regent until the abdication on 7 September 1951. After abdicating the throne, Leopold still advised his son until the latter’s marriage. In retirement, Leopold pursued his interest in social anthropology and entomology. He died in 1983 in the Laeken palace in Brussels and was buried in the Church of Our Lady of Laeken, next to his wife.