Philippe (Belgium)

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King Philippe at the 2018 National Day parade

Philippe ( French , so officially also in German , Dutch Filip ; born April 15, 1960 in Brussels ) has been King of the Belgians since July 21, 2013 and thus head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium . He comes from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and is the eldest son of his predecessor King Albert II and his wife Queen Paola .

Life

Belgian royal family
State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg

SM King Philippe
IM Queen Mathilde


SM King Albert II.
IM Queen Paola

childhood and education

King Philippe has two siblings, Prince Laurent and Princess Astrid . He graduated from high school in 1978, then attended the Royal Military School until 1981 and became a fighter pilot . After completing his military training, he attended the Trinity College of Oxford University and Stanford University . In 1985 he obtained a Master of Arts degree in political science there.

Philippe was already informally designated as the direct successor of his childless uncle Baudouin , although his father Albert was higher in the line of succession. When Baudouin died unexpectedly in 1993, Philippe was still considered too young. Accordingly, his father did not renounce the throne and became the successor himself. From that moment on, Philippe was heir to the throne with the title Duke of Brabant as the eldest son of the reigning king .

When the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2002, 250 researchers from the university signed a petition against this project.

In addition to French and Dutch , King Philippe speaks English and German .

marriage and family

Queen Mathilde and King Philippe (2013)

On December 4, 1999, Philippe married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz (born January 20, 1973 in Uccle / Brussels). The royal couple has four children:

  • Elisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène , Duchess of Brabant (born October 25, 2001 in Anderlecht ). Elisabeth is her father's heir to the throne and is number one in the Belgian line of succession . She was baptized on December 9, 2001 in the Castle Church of Ciergnon . She is named Elisabeth after Queen Elisabeth of Belgium . Her godparents are her cousin Archduke Amadeo of Austria-Este, Prince of Belgium, and her aunt Countess Hélène d'Udekem d'Acoz. The princess has been a student at the United World College of the Atlantic in Walessince autumn 2018. Before that, she attended the Dutch- speaking Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege in Brussels.
  • Gabriel Baudouin Charles Marie / Gabriël Boudewijn Karel Maria (born August 20, 2003 in Anderlecht). He was baptized on October 25, 2003 in Ciergnon. His godparents are his great cousin Baroness Maria Christina von Freyberg and his uncle Count Charles-Henri d'Udekem d'Acoz. Like his sister, he has been attending the Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege in Brussels since 2006 .
  • Emmanuel Leopold Guillaume François Marie (born October 4, 2005 in Anderlecht). He was baptized on December 10, 2005 in Ciergnon. His godparents are his aunt Countess Elisabeth d'Udekem d'Acoz and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg . At first he attended, like his siblings, the Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege , but in 2012 he switched to the Eureka special needs school in Kessel-Lo .
  • Eléonore Fabiola Victoria Anne Marie (born April 16, 2008 in Anderlecht). She was baptized on June 14, 2008 in Ciergnon. Her godparents are Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden , Princess Claire of Belgium and Count Sébastien von Westphalen zu Fürstenberg. Like her older siblings, she also attends the Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege .

Official duties

King Philippe (2013)

After completing his training, Philippe took over many official tasks from his father. For example, he led business missions abroad. He is a member of the Club of Rome . In 2012 he was a participant in the Bilderberg Conference , an informal, private gathering of influential people. His interests are literature, social issues and sports.

1995 Philippe was Cardinal Grand Master Giuseppe Cardinal Caprio as Grand Cross -Ritter in the Equestrian Order of the Holy grave in Jerusalem invested . On November 17, 2015, Cardinal O'Brien, Grand Master Edwin Frederick, was appointed Kollar Knight. In 1998 he was appointed Knight of Honor and Devotion (3rd class) by Fra ′ Andrew Bertie , Grand Master of the Order of Malta .

On July 3, 2013, his father, King Albert II, announced his abdication on July 21, 2013, Belgium's national holiday . After Albert II signed the deed of abdication, Philippe swore the oath on the constitution. His official seat is the Royal Palace in Brussels , his residence is the Laeken Castle .

Title and name

Standard of the King

The title of the Belgian monarch is "King of the Belgians" (Koning der Belgen or Roi des Belges) . Leopold I assumed this title when he ascended the throne in 1831, following the example of Napoleon , the "Emperor of the French", to make it clear that it was a monarchy that was primarily linked to the people and not to the territory or state be.

Philippe was christened Philippe Léopold Louis Marie (French) and Filip Leopold Lodewijk Maria (Dutch). His royal name is Philippe (also in German, which is also the official language in Belgium) or Filip (not Filips ). The name is always used without an ordinal number.

There is a certain ambiguity regarding the family name under civil law. In 1920 the royal family put down the German family name of Sachsen-Coburg, but without any legal fixation, and called themselves de Belgique or van België ("of Belgium"). While the name de Saxe-Cobourg was entered in the birth certificate of King Albert II , in Philippe's birth certificate the family name de Belgique is entered. However, as a result of a general reform of naming law in Belgium, it was stipulated that the title Prince of Belgium only belongs to the direct descendants of the king or queen or the heir to the throne, the family name from Sachsen-Coburg (in the the respective national language).

ancestors

Pedigree of King Philippe
Great-great-grandparents

Prince
Philippe , Count of Flanders
(1837–1905)
⚭ 1867
Princess Maria Luise of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
(1845–1912)

Duke
Carl Theodor in Bavaria
(1839–1909)
⚭ 1874
Princess
Maria Josepha of Portugal
(1857–1943)

Swedish royal crown
King
Oskar II (Sweden)
(1829–1907)
⚭ 1857
Princess
Sophia of Nassau
(1836–1913)

Royal Crown of Denmark.svg
King
Frederick VIII (Denmark)
(1843–1912)
⚭ 1869
Princess
Louise of Sweden
(1851–1926)

Fulco Ruffo di Calabria
(1801–1848)

Eleonora Galletti
(1810–1885)

Théodore Mosselman du Chenoy
(1804–1876)

Isabelle Coghen
(1822–1891)

Calisto Gazelli di Rossana
(1803–1875)

Francesca Gazelli Cotti
(1821–1865)

Felice Enrico Vittorio Gaspare Rignon
(1829–1914)

Luisa Perrone di San Martino
(1838–1880)

Great grandparents

Belgian royal crown
Albert I , King of the Belgians
(1875–1934)
⚭ 1900
Elisabeth , Duchess in Bavaria
(1876–1965)

Prince Carl of Sweden ,
Duke of Västergötland
(1861–1951)
⚭ 1897
Princess
Ingeborg Charlotte of Denmark
(1878–1958)

Fulco Beniamino Tristano Ruffo di Calabria, 5th Duke of Guardia Lombarda (1848–1901)
⚭ 1877
Laura Mosselman du Chenoy
(1851 / 4–1925)

Count Augusto Gazelli di Rossana
(1855–1937)

Countess Maria Cristina dei Rignon
(1858–1930 / 50)

Grandparents

Belgian royal crown
Leopold III. , King of the Belgians (1901–1983)
⚭ 1926
Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905–1935)

Fulco Ruffo di Calabria ,
6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda (1884–1946)
⚭ 1919
Countess Luisa Gazelli di Rossana (1896–1989)

parents

Belgian royal crown
Albert II. (* 1934),
King of the Belgians 1993–2013
⚭ 1959
Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria (* 1937)

Belgian royal crown
Philippe, King of the Belgians (* 1960)

See also

Web links

Commons : Philippe (Belgium)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • CV (German)

Individual evidence

  1. Royal Family: The King
  2. " Het erfelijke eredoctoraat van de prins ", New Scientist January, 23 2002
  3. " 250 KUL-wetenschappers tegen eredoctoraat Prins Filip ", De Standaard , February 1, 2002.
  4. " Eredoctor Filip uitgejouwd ", De Telegraaf , February 5th of 2002.
  5. belgieninfo.net - We speak German!
  6. www.volksfreund.de - Heads of State from six countries meet in Luxembourg (September 27, 2017)
  7. Andreas Kockartz: Princess Elisabeth said goodbye to Wales with a kiss. Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie, August 28, 2018, accessed on November 4, 2018 .
  8. a b Prins Filip brengt Emmanuel naar nieuwe school . In: Nieuwsblad , September 3, 2012. 
  9. King Philippe of Belgium and Queen Mathilde by Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher, appointed Kollarriter , OESSH Newsletter No. 41, 01/2016
  10. ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Belgian King announces abdication. Retrieved July 3, 2013 .
  11. King Philippe succeeds Albert II on the throne Auf: SPON , online, July 21, 2013. Accessed July 22, 2013
  12. The French spelling "Philippe" is also valid in German, the legal service of the Prime Minister's office informed the GrenzEcho , see The GrenzEcho calls the future king "Philippe" , July 20, 2013.
  13. https://www.lalibre.be/actu/belgique/le-roi-limite-l-octroi-du-titre-de-prince-de-belgique-5654af013570bccfaf4b99e5
predecessor Office successor
Albert II King of the Belgians
since 2013
-