Philippe of Belgium

Biography

Philippe was born in Brussels on 15 April 1960, the eldest child of Prince Albert, later King Albert II, and Queen Paola. He trained at the Royal Military Academy from 1978 to 1981, then studied at Trinity College, Oxford, and took a master's degree in political science at Stanford University in 1985. He also qualified as a fighter pilot, parachutist and commando, and later reached general and admiral rank.

When his father became king in 1993, Philippe became heir apparent with the title Duke of Brabant. From that year he was honorary chairman of the Belgian Foreign Trade Board and later of the Foreign Trade Agency, leading more than 60 economic missions abroad. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1999; they have four children, the eldest of whom, Princess Elisabeth, is heir to the throne.

Philippe became the seventh King of the Belgians on 21 July 2013, when Albert II abdicated. As king he played a part in forming a coalition government after the 2014 federal election, and in 2020 he expressed regret for the violence committed in the Congo Free State under Leopold II.