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er the german invasion in may 1940 he surrendered his country earning him much hostility both at home and abroad leopold s act was declared unconstitutional by prime minister hubert pierlot and his cabinet who moved to london to form a government in exile while leopold and his family were placed under house arrest by the germans in 1944 they were moved to germany and then austria before being liberated by the americans but banned for some years from returning to belgium where his brother prince charles count of flanders had been declared regent leopold s eventual return to his homeland in 1950 nearly caused a civil war with serious calls for a secessionist republic in wallonia under pressure from the government he abdicated in favour of his son baudouin in july 1951 leopold s first wife astrid of sweden died in a road accident while on a driving holiday in switzerland in august 1935 being much mourned by the public leopold who was driving the vehicle when it hit a tree suffered minor injuries his morganatic second marriage to lilian baels in captivity in 1941 was contrary to belgian law which stipulates that the civil marriage has to occur before a religious marriage and she was never permitted the title of queen although lilian and leopold had originally planned to postpone their civil marriage until the end of the war lilian was soon expecting their first child necessitating a civil marriage which took place on 6 december 1941 1 early life and family edit this article needs more citations please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources unsourced material may be challenged and removed find sources leopold iii of belgium news newspapers books scholar jstor november 2019 learn how and when to remove this message leopold of belgium and astrid of sweden on their wedding day queen astrid memorial in brussels prince leopold was born in brussels the first child of prince albert heir to the belgian throne and his consort duchess elisabeth of bavaria in 1909 his father became king of the belgians as albert i and prince leopold became duke of brabant in august 1914 when belgium was invaded by germany king albert allowed leopold then aged twelve to enlist in the belgian army as a private and fight in defence of the kingdom however in 1915 with belgium almost entirely occupied by the germans leopold was sent to attend eton college while his father fought on in france 2 3 after the war in 1919 the duke of brabant visited the old mission and saint anthony seminary in santa barbara california he married princess astrid of sweden in a civil ceremony in stockholm on 4 november 1926 followed by a religious ceremony in brussels on 10 november the marriage produced three children princess joséphine charlotte of belgium born at the royal palace of brussels on 11 october 1927 grand duchess consort of luxembourg she was married on 9 april 1953 to prince jean later grand duke of luxembourg she died at fischbach castle on 10 january 2005 prince baudouin of belgium duke of brabant count of hainaut who became the fifth king of the belgians as baudouin born at stuyvenberg on the outskirts of brussels on 7 september 1930 and died at motril in andalusia spain on 31 july 1993 prince albert of belgium prince of liège who became the sixth king of the belgians as albert ii born at stuyvenberg on 6 june 1934 he abdicated in july 2013 on 29 august 1935 while the king and queen were driving along the winding narrow roads near their villa at küssnacht am rigi schwyz switzerland on the shores of lake lucerne leopold lost control of the convertible car which ran over the kerb and crashed straight into a tree astrid flew out of the open car and died at the scene of the accident 4 leopold married lilian baels on 11 september 1941 in a secret religious ceremony which was not valid under the law of belgium they originally intended to wait until the end of the war for the civil marriage but as the new princess of réthy was soon expecting their first child the ceremony took place on 6 december 1941 they had three children in total prince alexandre of belgium born in brussels on 18 july 1942 in 1991 he married léa wolman a marriage revealed only seven years later he died on 29 november 2009 princess marie christine of belgium fr born in brussels on 6 february 1951 her first marriage to paul drucker in 1981 lasted 40 days they were formally divorced in 1985 she later married jean paul gourges in 1989 princess marie esméralda of belgium later lady moncada born in brussels on 30 september 1956 she became a journalist her professional name is esmeralda de réthy she married pharmacologist sir salvador moncada in 1998 they have a son and a daughter world war ii edit belgian royalty house of saxe coburg gotha leopold i children crown prince louis philippe leopold ii prince philippe count of flanders charlotte empress of mexico grandchildren prince baudouin princess joséphine marie princess henriette duchess of vendome and alençon joséphine caroline princess of hohenzollern sigmaringen albert i leopold ii children louise princess of saxe coburg and gotha prince leopold duke of brabant stéphanie crown princess of austria clémentine princess napoléon albert i children leopold iii prince charles count of flandres marie josé queen of italy leopold iii children joséphine charlotte grand duchess of luxembourg baudouin albert ii prince alexandre princess marie christine mrs gourges princess maria esmeralda lady moncada baudouin albert ii children philippe princess astrid archduchess of austria este prince laurent princess delphine grandchildren prince amedeo princess maria laura prince joachim princess luisa maria princess laetitia maria princess louise prince nicolas prince aymeric princess joséphine prince oscar philippe children princess elisabeth duchess of brabant prince gabriel prince emmanuel princess eléonore v t e when world war ii broke out in september 1939 the french and british governments immediately sought to persuade belgium to join them leopold and his government refused maintaining belgium s neutrality belgium considered itself well prepared against a possible invasion by axis forces for during the 1930s the belgian government had made extensive preparations to deter and repel an invasion of the country by germany such as the one that had occurred in 1914 on 10 may 1940 the wehrmacht invaded belgium on the first day of the offensive the principal belgian strong point of fort eben emael was overwhelmed by a daring paratroop operation and the defensive perimeter thus penetrated before any french or british troops could arrive after a short running battle that eventually involved the armies of all four belligerents belgium was overwhelmed by the numerically superior and better prepared germans nevertheless the belgian perseverance prevented the british expeditionary force from being outflanked and cut off from the coast enabling the evacuation from dunkirk alan brooke who commanded ii corps of the bef thought that the 10th belgian division was in the wrong place and wanted to deploy north of brussels to avoid double banking he was advised by roger keyes to see the king as the king was commanding the belgian forces and on 12 may was making progress in getting matters put right in discussion with the king in english but was interrupted twice by the king s advisor who spoke to the king in french in which brooke was fluent the advisor was insistent that the belgian division could not be moved and the bef should be stopped further south and clear of brussels brooke said he was not putting the whole case to the king he found that arguing with the advisor was a sheer waste of time as he cared little about the bef and most of his suggestions were fantastic the king s advisor raoul van overstraeten was not the chief of staff as brooke had assumed van overstraeten had refused that rank but the king s aide de camp with the rank of major general and would not give up the louvain front the french liaison officer general champon told brooke that van overstraeten had ascendancy over the king and had taken control so it was useless to see the chief of staff later 15 may brooke found that the bef was likely to have both flanks turned with french defeats and started withdrawal on 16 may 5 6 after his military surrender leopold unlike queen wilhelmina of the netherlands in a similar predicament remained in brussels to surrender to the victorious invaders while his entire civil government fled to paris and later to london surrender and constitutional crisis edit belgian propaganda poster from king leopold iii with title 28 may 1940 halt sire we will never forget this in response to the battle of belgium on 24 may 1940 leopold having assumed command of the belgian army met with his ministers for the final time the ministers urged the king to leave the country with the government prime minister hubert pierlot reminded him that capitulation was a decision for the belgian government not for the king to make the king indicated that he had decided to remain in belgium with his troops whatever the outcome the ministers took this to mean that he would establish a new government under the direction of hitler potentially a treasonous act leopold thought that he might be seen as a deserter if he were to leave the country he was resolved to remain with his army and amidst his people so as to share their fate 7 leopold had long had a difficult and contentious relationship with his ministers acting independently of government influence whenever possible and seeking to circumvent and even limit the ministers powers while expanding his own citation needed french british and belgian troops were encircled by german forces at the battle of dunkirk leopold notified king george vi by telegram on 25 may 1940 that belgian forces were being crushed saying assistance which we give to the allies will come to an end if our army is surrounded 8 two days later 27 may 1940 leopold surrendered the belgian forces to the germans prime minister pierlot spoke on french radio saying that the king s decision to surrender went against the belgian constitution the decision he said was not only a military decision but also a political decision and the king had acted without his ministers advice and therefore contrary to the constitution pierlot and his government believed this created an impossibilité de régner should the king find himself unable to reign the ministers having observed this inability immediately summon the chambers regency and guardianship are to be provided by the united chambers 9 it was impossible however to summon the belgian chamber of representatives or belgian senate at this time or to appoint a regent after the liberation of belgium in september 1944 the government asked leopold s brother prince charles to serve as regent after leopold s surrender the british press denounced him as traitor king and king rat the daily mirror published a picture of leopold with the headline the face that every woman now despises a group of belgian refugees in paris placed a message at king albert s statue denouncing his son as your unworthy successor 10 french prime minister paul reynaud accused leopold of treason flemish historians valaers and van goethem wrote that leopold iii had become the scapegoat of reynaud 11 because reynaud was probably already aware that the battle of france was lost leopold s surrender was also decried by winston churchill in the house of commons on 4 june 1940 he said at the last moment when belgium was already invaded king leopold called upon us to come to his aid and even at the last moment we came he and his brave efficient army nearly half a million strong guarded our left flank and thus kept open our only line of retreat to the sea suddenly without prior consultation with the least possible notice without the advice of his ministers and upon his own personal act he sent a plenipotentiary to the german command surrendered his army and exposed our whole flank and means of retreat 12 in 1949 churchill s comments about the events of may 1940 were published in le soir 12 february 1949 leopold s former secretary sent a letter to churchill saying that churchill was wrong churchill sent a copy of this letter to the king s brother prince charles via his secretary andré de staercke in his own letter churchill wrote with regards to king leopold the words which i used at the time in the house of commons are upon record and after careful consideration i do not see any reason to change them it seemed to me and many others that the king should have been guided by the advice of his ministers and should not have favoured a course which identified the capitulation of the belgian army with the submission of the belgian state to herr hitler and consequently taking them out of the war happily this evil was averted and in the end all came right i need scarcely say that nothing i said at the time could be interpreted as a reflection upon the personal courage or honour of king leopold 13 de staercke replied that churchill was right the prince monsieur spaak belgian foreign minister paul henri spaak and i read your text which states the precise truth and seems perfect to us 14 belgian historian francis balace wrote that capitulation was inevitable because the belgian army was not able to fight any longer against the german army 15 even churchill admitted that their position was perilous in a telegram to field marshal lord gort on 27 may only one day before the belgian capitulation he wrote we are asking them to sacrifice themselves for us 16 after the fall of france edit upon leopold s surrender the government ministers left for exile mostly in france when france fell at the end of june 1940 several ministers sought to return to belgium they made an overture to leopold but were rebuffed because of the great popularity of the king and the unpopularity of the civil government from the middle of 1940 17 the government crisis persisted citation needed on 2 august 1940 several ministers conferred in le perthus in france near the spanish border prime minister pierlot and foreign minister spaak were persuaded to go to london but they were able to start out for london only at the end of august and could travel only via neutral spain and portugal when they reached spain they were arrested and detained by the regime of francisco franco they finally arrived in london on 22 october citation needed meeting with hitler edit leopold rejected cooperation with the government of nazi germany and refused to administer belgium in accordance with its dictates thus the germans implemented a military government leopold attempted to assert his authority as monarch and head of the belgian government although he was a prisoner of the germans despite his defiance of the germans the belgian government in exile in london maintained that the king did not represent the belgian government and was unable to r...
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