King Baudouin I, who led Belgium's recovery following World War II and was one of the world's longest-reigning monarch, has died of a heart attack while on holiday with his wife, Queen Fabiola, in the southern Spanish town of Motril. He was 62.
Baudouin, who died Saturday night, had a history of heart trouble. He underwent a heart operation in March 1992 and was treated for poor blood circulation in 1981.
The king was was married to a Spanish princess, Fabiola of Aragon, but they were unable to have children. Succession to the Belgian crown will pass through his brother, Albert, to his nephew, Philippe.
The Belgian monarch was known as an able diplomat, capable of balancing the interests of the French- and Flemish-speaking communities in his deeply divided country, and as a stubborn man who abdicated the throne for 36 hours three years ago to avoid signing a new law legalizing abortion.
In a life rocked by drama and upheavals, King Baudouin developed from a shy, serious-looking young man to a self-assured and respected monarch.
When he reluctantly succeeded to his father Leopold III, the country seemed on the brink of civil war and the monarchy was in jeopardy. Baudouin's accession to the throne warded off the immediate danger, but it took several more years and painful experiences to restore the full prestige of the crown.
Baudouin became Belgium's fifth monarch on July 17, 1951, when Leopold III abdicated amid violent acrimony over his World War II attitude.
The young prince at the time, scarred by a harrowing childhood and lacking any charisma, was bitter about what he felt was the injustice done to the father he revered.
But he overcame the worst odds which ever faced Belgian royalty to become the main symbol of unity in a country deeply divided by inter- communal strife between the Dutch-speaking Flemish in the north and the French-speaking Walloons in the south.NEWLN: more
Baudouin Albert Charles Leopold Axel Marie Gustave, a scion of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty, was born Sept. 7, 1930, as Belgium was recovering from World War I and gravitating unknowingly toward World War II.
When he was a child, his mother Astrid, the Swedish-born queen Belgians idolized, died in an automobile accident in the Swiss town of Kussnacht. Baudouin was not yet 10 when Hitler's armies invaded western Europe and overran Belgium in their thrust toward northern France.
Leopold led Belgian troops against the Nazis for 18 days but surrendered in face of the far superior German forces when his army was compressed on a small area of northwestern Belgium, which was jammed with refugees.
His French and British allies bitterly charged he had failed to put up sufficient resistence. Leopold said he belonged with his troops and considered himself a prisoner of war. Leopold, his wife and children were sent to Austria where they were freed on May 7, 1945, by Gen. Alexander Patch's 7th U.S. Army.
At first it looked as though Leopold would return to Belgium within a few days, but criticism over his failure to hold out longer against Hitler prompted the family to go into exile in Pregny, Switzerland.
After years of haggling, the government organized a referendum in March 1950 to decide whether to allow Leopold to resume his reign. Despite winning 57 percent of the vote, Leopold faced strikes and riots when he returned. When three demonstators were killed by police bullets near Liege, Leopold agreed to abdicate.
Baudouin was named Prince Royal and, under his father's counsel, assumed the constitutional duties of the realm. He became king a year later following his father's abdication.NEWLN: cda-ekmi
King Baudouin I, who led Belgium's recovery following World War II and was one of the world's longest-reigning monarch, has died of a heart attack while on holiday with his wife, Queen Fabiola, in Spain's southern town of Motril. He was 62.
Baudouin, who died Saturday night, had a history of heart trouble. He underwent a heart operation in March 1992 and was treated for poor blood circulation in 1981.
The king was was married to a Spanish princess, Fabiola of Aragon, but they were unable to have children. Succession to the Belgian crown will pass through his brother, Albert, to his nephew, Philippe.
The Belgian monarch was known as an able diplomat, capable of balancing the interests of the French- and Flemish-speaking communities in his deeply divided country, and as a stubborn man who abdicated the throne for 36 hours three years ago to avoid signing a new law legalizing abortion.
In a life rocked by drama and upheavals, King Baudouin developed from a shy, serious-looking young man to a self-assured and respected monarch.
When he reluctantly succeeded to his father Leopold III, the country seemed on the brink of civil war and the monarchy was in jeopardy. Baudouin's accession to the throne warded off the immediate danger, but it took several more years and painful experiences to restore the full prestige of the crown.
Baudouin became Belgium's fifth monarch on July 17, 1951, when Leopold III abdicated amid violent acrimony over his World War II attitude.
The young prince at the time, scarred by a harrowing childhood and lacking any charisma, was bitter about what he felt was the injustice done to the father he revered.
But he overcame the worst odds which ever faced Belgian royalty to become the main symbol of unity in a country deeply divided by inter- communal strife between the Dutch-speaking Flemish in the north and the French-speaking Walloons in the south.
Baudouin Albert Charles Leopold Axel Marie Gustave, a scion of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty, was born Sept. 7, 1930, as Belgium was recovering from World War I and gravitating unknowingly toward World War II.
When he was a child, his mother Astrid, the Swedish-born queen Belgians idolized, died in an automobile accident in the Swiss town of Kussnacht. Baudouin was not yet 10 when Hitler's armies invaded western Europe and overran Belgium in their thrust toward northern France.
Leopold led Belgian troops against the Nazis for 18 days but surrendered in face of the far superior German forces when his army was compressed on a small area of northwestern Belgium, which was jammed with refugees.
His French and British allies bitterly charged he had failed to put up sufficient resistence. Leopold said he belonged with his troops and considered himself a prisoner of war. Leopold, his wife and children were sent to Austria where they were freed on May 7, 1945, by Gen. Alexander Patch's 7th U.S. Army.
At first it looked as though Leopold would return to Belgium within a few days, but criticism over his failure to hold out longer against Hitler prompted the family to go into exile in Pregny, Switzerland.
After years of haggling, the government organized a referendum in March 1950 to decide whether to allow Leopold to resume his reign. Despite winning 57 percent of the vote, Leopold faced strikes and riots when he returned. When three demonstators were killed by police bullets near Liege, Leopold agreed to abdicate.
Baudouin was named Prince Royal and, under his father's counsel, assumed the constitutional duties of the realm. He became king a year later following his father's abdication.
