Did he or didn't come to Italy to woo a princess? Two days after, Baudouin arrived in Italy, Belgian's ambassador to Italy denied the reports of a possible engagement, stating that the 21-year-old King "was too young to think of marriage yet."
In Brussels, the King's Grand Marshall, also announced that King Baudouin was not engaged to Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta, the 22-year-old daughter of the late Duke of Aosta.
But a family friend of the Margherita's mother, the Duchess of Aosta, said she spoke with Princess Margherita before she left Rome: "After all this public attention, of course, there won't be any announcement. Just the same the King didn't come to Italy sightseeing."
Other friends of Princess Margherita "smiled at denials" that she would marry King Baudouin.
In August 1953, Princess Margherita became engaged to Archduke Robert of Austria, a younger brother of Archduke Otto. They married on New Year's Eve in 1953. One of their sons, Archduke Lorenz of Austria, married King Baudouin's niece, Princess Astrid of Belgium.
The magazines of the time had him dating, secretly engaged and/or in love with many princesses. Poor guy.
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