King Albert II of Belgium
| King Albert II | |||||
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| King of the Belgians | |||||
| Reign | 9 August 1993 – 21 July 2013 | ||||
| Predecessor | King Baudouin | ||||
| Successor | King Philippe | ||||
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| Born |
6 June 1934 Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium |
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| Spouse | Paola Ruffo di Calabria (m. 1959) |
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| Issue Detail |
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| House | Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | ||||
| Father | King Leopold III of Belgium | ||||
| Mother | Princess Astrid of Sweden | ||||
| Signature |  |
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| Full name | |
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Dutch: Albert Felix Humbert Theodoor Christiaan Eugène Marie French: Albert Félix Humbert Théodore Christian Eugène Marie German: Albert Felix Humbert Theodor Christian Eugen Maria |
HM King Albert II
HM Queen Paola
HRH Princess Léa
HRH Princess Marie-Christine, Mrs Gourges
HRH Princess Marie-Esméralda, Lady Moncada
Albert II (born 6 June 1934) reigned as King of the Belgians from 1993 until his abdication in 2013.
On 3 July 2013, King Albert II attended a midday session of the Belgian cabinet. He then announced that on 21 July, he would abdicate the throne for health reasons. He was succeeded by his son Philippe on 21 July 2013. Albert II was the fourth monarch to abdicate in 2013, following Pope Benedict XVI, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and Emir Hamad bin Khalifa of Qatar. In doing so, he was also the second Belgian monarch to abdicate following his father, King Leopold III, who abdicated in 1951, albeit under very different circumstances.
Prince Albert was born in Stuyvenberg Castle, Brussels, as the second son and youngest child of King Leopold III and his first wife, Astrid of Sweden. He was third in line to throne at birth and was given the given the title Prince of Liège. Queen Astrid died in a car accident in August 1935 in which King Leopold was lightly injured but survived. The king later remarried Lilian Baels in 1941 which produced three more children: Prince Alexander, Princess Marie-Christine and Princess Maria-Esmeralda.
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Wikipedia