Paola Ruffo di Calabria

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Belgian royal family
State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg

SM King Philippe
IM Queen Mathilde

SM King Albert II.
IM Queen Paola

Queen Paola (left)

Paola of Belgium (born Paola Ruffo di Calabria ; born September 11, 1937 in Forte dei Marmi , Italy ) is the wife of the former Belgian King Albert II and was therefore Queen of the Belgians. After her husband abdicated on July 21, 2013, she was named Queen of Belgium .

Life

Princess Paola Ruffo di Calabria is the youngest of the seven children of Prince Fulco Ruffo di Calabria and his wife Luisa nee. Countess Gazelli. Her full name is Donna Paola Margherita Maria Antonia Consiglia Principessa Ruffo di Calabria . The Ruffo family belongs to the nobility of the southern Italian provinces of Calabria and Apulia and is believed to be of Norman origin. Pietro I. Ruffo, Count of Catanzaro († 1257), was one of the most influential men at the court of the Staufer Kaiser Friedrich II. (1194-1250). The Ruffo remained one of the most important noble families in the Kingdom of Naples and Italy to the present day .

The princess spent her entire youth in Rome . She graduated from the humanistic high school . After Paola Ruffo got to know the Belgian Prince Albert, it turned out to be an advantage that she and her paternal grandmother have a Belgian in her line of ancestry. She married the Belgian Prince Albert on July 2, 1959. She is fluent in Italian , French , English and German . However , she speaks Dutch , the mother tongue of the majority of Belgians, only moderately, which is sometimes viewed critically by the population.

The couple has three children.

  1. Elisabeth Thérèse Marie Helene (* 2001)
  2. Gabriel Baudouin Charles Marie (* 2003)
  3. Emmanuel Leopold Guillaume Francois Marie (* 2005)
  4. Eléonore Fabiola Victoria Anne Marie (* 2008)
  1. Amadeo Maria Joseph Carl Pierre Philippe Paola Marcus d'Aviano (* 1986)
  2. Maria Laura Zita Beatrix Gerhard (* 1988)
  3. Joachim Carl Maria Nikolaus Isabelle Marcus d'Aviano (* 1991)
  4. Luisa Maria Anna Martine Pilar (* 1995)
  5. Laetitia Maria Nora Anna Joachim Zita (* 2003)
  1. Louise Sophie Mary (* 2004)
  2. Nicolas Casimire Marie (* 2005)
  3. Aymeric Auguste Marie (* 2005)

On August 9, 1993, Albert II took his oath on the Belgian constitution and became King of the Belgians . Paola was Queen of the Belgians until her husband's abdication on July 21, 2013. Like the widow of the late King Baudouin, Fabiola , she holds the title of Queen of Belgium . In addition to representative duties, Paola also devotes himself to cultural and social aspects. In her private life she enjoys gardening and loves skiing and sailing .

The asteroid (2973) Paola was named after her in 1987.

Web links

Commons : Paola Ruffo di Calabria  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
predecessor Office Successor
Fabiola Mora y Aragon Queen of the Belgians
1993–2013 		Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz
personal data
SURNAME Ruffo di Calabria, Paola
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Paola of Belgium, Queen Paola
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian nobles, Queen of the Belgians
DATE OF BIRTH September 11, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Italy