Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix

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The Baroness de Vaughan with one of her sons, ca.1908

Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix, Baroness de Vaughan , called Caroline Lacroix (born May 13, 1883 in Bucharest , † February 12, 1948 in Cambo-les-Bains ) was the morganatic wife of the Belgian King Leopold II.

Life

Blanche was the daughter of Jules Delacroix and Catherine Josephine Sebille. She got to know and love King Leopold II in Paris , where she worked as a prostitute . Fifty years his senior Leopold gave his lover the Château de Balaincour in Arronville ( Val-d'Oise ), the Villa Leopolda on the French Riviera, and the Villa des Cèdres in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the French Côte d'Azur . He later awarded her the title of Baroness de Vaughan , which led to disagreements with Parliament. Two sons emerged from the liaison with the Belgian King Leopold II:

  • Lucien Philippe Marie Antoine (1906–1984), Duke of Tervuren
  • Philippe Henri Marie François (1907–1914), Count of Ravenstein.

On December 12, 1909, Blanche Delacroix married King Leopold II of Belgium in the palm pavilion of Laken Castle , the marriage was considered a marriage to the left ( morganatic marriage ). Five days later he died of complications from a stroke . Her second marriage was to Antoine Durrieux in 1910.

literature

  • Baroness de Vaughan: Quelques souvenirs de ma vie , Paris (1936)
  • Baroness de Vaughan: Presque reine: mémoires de ma vie , Sl: Le livre de Paris (1944)
  • Léon Van Audenhaege: De lende van Leopold II: barones de Vaughan , Gent: Reinaert / Het Volk, (1985) ISBN 90-6334-064-8
  • Léon Van Audenhaege: Très-Belle. Blanche Delacroix, baronne de Vaughan, le grand amour de Léopold II. , Brussels: Hatier (1987) ISBN 2-87088-591-1

Web links

Commons : Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ European Atrocity, African Catastrophe: Leopold II, the Congo Free State and Its Aftermath in the Google book search
personal data
SURNAME Delacroix, Blanche Zélia Joséphine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vaughan, Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix Baroness de (full name); Lacroix, Caroline
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mistress and later wife of the Belgian King Leopold II.
DATE OF BIRTH May 13, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Bucharest
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1948
Place of death Cambo-les-Bains