Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/64



(ROYAUME DE BELGIQUE.)

Reigning Sovereign and Family.

Leopold II., King of the Belgians, born April 9, 1835, the son of King Leopold I., former Duke of Saxe-Coburg, and of Princess Louise, daughter of King Louis Philippe of the French; ascended the throne at the death of his father, Dec. 10, 1865; married Aug. 22, 1853, to

Marie Henriette, Queen of the Belgians, born Aug. 23, 1836, the daughter of the late Archduke Joseph of Austria. Offspring of the union are two daughters:—1. Princess Louise, born Feb. 18, 1858; 2. Princess Stéphanie, born May 21, 1864.

Brother and Sister of the King.—1. Philippe, Count of Flanders, born March 24, 1837; lieutenant-general in the service of Belgium; married April 26, 1867, to Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, born November 17, 1845. Offspring of the union is a son, Baudoin, born June 3, 1869. 2. Princess Charlotte, born June 7, 1840; married July 27, 1857, to Archduke Maximilian of Austria, elected Emperor of Mexico July 10, 1863; widow June 19, 1867.

King Leopold II. has a civil list of 3,300,000 francs, or 132,000 £.

The kingdom of Belgium formed itself into an independent state in 1830, having previously been a part of the Netherlands. The secession was decreed on the 4th of October, 1830, by a Provisional Government, established in consequence of a revolution which broke out at Brussels on the 25th of August, 1830. A National Congress elected Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg king of the Belgians on the 4th of June, 1831; the prince accepted the dignity July 12, and ascended the throne July 21, 1831. The Crown had previously been offered to, but was refused by, the Duke de Nemours, second son of King Louis Philippe of the French. It was not until after the signing of the treaty of London, April 19, 1839, which established peaceful relations between King Leopold I. and the sovereign of the Netherlands, that all the States of Europe recognised the kingdom of Belgium.