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In Memoriam: His Majesty King Baudouin of the Belgians (1930-1993)
His Majesty King Baudouin of the Belgians died of heart failure on July 31, 1993 while vacationing at Villa Astrida in Motril, Spain at the age of 62. He was the son of King Albert III and Princess Astrid of Sweden. Baudouin became king on July 17, 1951, one day after his father’s abdication. King Leopold III had become unpopular and controversial due to his second marriage to commoner Mary Lilian Baels, but more so due to his decision to surrender to Nazi Germany during World War II.
On December 15, 1960, King Baudouin married Her Excellency Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón. King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola had no children, which greatly saddened them, and therefore King Baudouin’s brother succeeded him as King Albert II.
King Baudouin was buried at the Church of Our Lady, in Laeken, Belgium, the traditional burial site of Belgians royals, on August 7, 1993. The king who reigned for 42 years and was Belgian’s longest reigning monarch, was extremely popular and deeply mourned by the Belgian people. Tens of thousands of people lined the funeral procession route and thousands gathered at the Grand Place in the heart of Brussels to watch the funeral on a giant television screen. Both Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended the funeral out of respect for the fellow monarch whom both considered their friend.
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Belgian King Baudouin Dies in Spain at 62