by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2017
Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders; Credit – Wikipedia
Prince Philippe of Belgium (Philippe Eugène Ferdinand Marie Clément Baudouin Léopold Georges) was born on March 24, 1837, at the Royal Castle of Laeken near Brussels, Belgium. He was the third of the three sons and the third of the four children of Leopold I, King of the Belgians and his second wife Louise-Marie of Orléans. Prince Philippe is the ancestor of the current Belgian royal family as his son succeeded to the Belgian throne as King Albert I.
Philippe had two elder brothers and one younger sister:
- Prince Louis Philippe, Crown Prince of Belgium (1833 – 1834), died in infancy
- Leopold II, King of the Belgians (1835 – 1909), married Archduchess Marie-Henriette of Austria, had four children
- Princess Charlotte of Belgium (1840 – 1927), married Archduke Maximilian of Austria, Emperor of Mexico, no children
Philippe (in the middle) with his brother Leopold and his sister Charlotte; Credit – Wikipedia
Philippe’s father was born Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and first married Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of the future King George IV of the United Kingdom and the second in the line of succession to the British throne. Sadly, 21-year-old Princess Charlotte of Wales died in childbirth along with her son. In 1831, Leopold became King of the Belgians after Belgium became independent from the Netherlands. King Leopold I was the uncle of both Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert, and therefore his son Philippe, Victoria, and Albert were first cousins. Philippe’s mother was the daughter of Louis-Philippe I, King of the French and Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies.
Philippe in 1863; Photo Credit – Wikipedia
When he was three-years-old, Philippe was created Count of Flanders and on his 18th birthday, he received the Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold. In 1866, Philippe refused the offer of the throne of Romania which was later accepted by his future brother-in-law Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen who reigned as King Carol I of Romania.
Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen on her wedding day; Credit – Wikipedia
On April 25, 1867, at St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin, Philippe married Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, daughter of Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, head of the Princely House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Prime Minister of Prussia, and his wife Princess Josephine of Baden.
Philippe and Marie had five children:
- Prince Baudouin of Belgium (1869 – 1891), unmarried, died of influenza at the age of 21
- Princess Henriette of Belgium (1870 – 1948), twin of Joséphine Marie, married Prince Emmanuel, Duke of Vendôme, had four children
- Princess Joséphine Marie of Belgium (1870 – 1871), twin of Henriette, died in infancy
- Princess Joséphine Caroline of Belgium (1872 – 1958), married Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, had four children
- Albert I, King of the Belgians (1875 – 1934), married Elisabeth of Bavaria, had three children: Leopold III, King of the Belgians; Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, Regent of Belgium; and Marie José of Belgium, Queen of Italy
Philippe and Marie settled in the Palace of the Count of Flanders in Brussels, which Philippe bought and renovated. During the first several years of the couple’s married life, there were several family tragedies. In 1867, Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, the husband of Philippe’s sister Charlotte, was deposed and executed by a firing squad. Charlotte descended into the mental illness which would plague her for the rest of her life. In 1869, ten-year-old Leopold, Duke of Brabant, the only son and heir of Philippe’s brother King Leopold II, fell into a pond, caught pneumonia, and died. Hoping for a crown prince because only males could inherit the throne, Leopold II and his wife had another child, but the long-awaited crown prince did not materialize as the child was a girl.
It was Philippe and Marie who secured the future of the Belgian dynasty. Philippe was the heir presumptive to the Belgian throne until his death in 1905. Philippe’s elder son Baudouin was second in line to the throne until his death in 1891 from influenza. Then Philippe’s younger son Albert became second in line to the throne. Eventually, Albert succeeded his uncle, King Leopold II, upon his death in 1909 as King Albert I.
Marie and Philippe, 1880; Credit – Wikipedia
Philippe led a comfortable life in the intimacy of his Brussels palace surrounded by his objets d’art, his superb horses, and his precious library of 30,000 books. Philippe, age 68, died on November 17, 1905, at his palace in Brussels. He was buried at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Brussels, Belgium
Church of Our Lady of Laeken; Photo Credit – Wikipedia
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Works Cited
- En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philippe,_Count_of_Flanders [Accessed 15 Sep. 2017].
- Fr.wikipedia.org. (2017). Philippe de Belgique (1837-1905). [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_de_Belgique_(1837-1905) [Accessed 15 Sep. 2017].
- It.wikipedia.org. (2017). Filippo del Belgio (1837-1905). [online] Available at: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_del_Belgio_(1837-1905) [Accessed 15 Sep. 2017].