Leopold III of Belgium

Biography

Leopold was born in Brussels on 3 November 1901, the eldest child of Prince Albert, who became King Albert I in 1909. In 1915, with most of Belgium under German occupation, he was sent to school at Eton College in England. He became King of the Belgians on 23 February 1934. In August 1935 his first wife, Queen Astrid, born a Swedish princess, was killed in a car crash in Switzerland while he was driving.

When the Second World War began, Leopold tried to keep Belgium neutral. After Germany invaded in May 1940 he surrendered the army and stayed in the country, a decision that the government of Hubert Pierlot declared unconstitutional before leaving to form a government in exile in London. Leopold spent the occupation under house arrest, and in 1941 he married Lilian Baels, a match that was unpopular and that did not make her queen.

In 1944 the Germans moved the royal family to Germany and then Austria, where American troops freed them in 1945. He was kept from returning to Belgium for several years while his brother Prince Charles served as regent. A referendum in 1950 approved his return, but his arrival set off unrest that brought the country close to civil war, especially in Wallonia.

Under government pressure he abdicated in favour of his son Baudouin on 16 July 1951. He died on 25 September 1983.