Lilian Baels
| Mary Lilian Baels | |||||
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| Princess of Réthy | |||||
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| Born |
28 November 1916 London, United Kingdom |
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| Died | 7 June 2002 (aged 85) Domaine d'Argenteuil,Waterloo, Belgium |
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| Burial | Church of Our Lady of Laeken | ||||
| Spouse | Leopold III of Belgium (m. 1941; his death 1983) |
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| Issue | |||||
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| House |
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (by marriage) |
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| Father | Henri Baels | ||||
| Mother | Anne Marie de Visscher | ||||
| Full name | |
|---|---|
| Mary Lilian Henriette Lucie Josephine Ghislaine |
Princess Lilian of Belgium (née Mary Lilian Baels, 28 November 1916 – 7 June 2002) better known as Lilian, Princess of Réthy, was the second wife of King Leopold III of the Belgians.
Mary Lilian Baels was born in London, England, where her parents were living at the time. She was one of the nine children of Henri Baels and his wife, Anne Marie de Visscher. Lilian was initially educated in English, but, upon her parents' return to Belgium, she attended a school in Ostend, where she learned Dutch. She continued her studies in French in Brussels. She completed her education by attending a finishing school in London, the Holy Child. In addition to academic work, Lilian participated extensively in sports, such as skiing, swimming, golfing, and hunting. Above all, however, she enjoyed, as did her father, literature and the arts. As a teenager, she was presented to King George V and Queen Mary of the United Kingdom at Buckingham Palace. (cf. Jean Cleeremans, Léopold III, sa famille, son peuple sous l'occupation)
In 1933, Lilian saw her future husband, King Leopold III of the Belgians, then still Duke of Brabant, for the first time during a military review. A few years later, when Governor Baels took his daughter to a public ceremony, she had the occasion to meet King Leopold, who presided at the event, for the second time. In 1937, Lilian and her mother met the King, now a widower, again on another ceremonial occasion. Soon afterwards, Leopold contacted Governor Baels to invite him and his daughter to join him in a golfing party the next day. Lilian also saw the King in 1939 at a garden-party organized in honour of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and later at the golf course at Laeken, where she was invited to lunch by Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, King Leopold's mother. A final golf party near the Belgian coast occurred in May, 1940, shortly before the Nazi invasion of Belgium. (cf. Jean Cleeremans, Léopold III, sa famille, son peuple, sous l'occupation, Roger Keyes, Echec au Roi: Léopold III, 1940–1951)
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