Royal Musings: Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876-1965)

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November 23, 1965

Queen Elisabeth of Belgium died today in Brussels. She was 89 years old. The cause of death is a heart attack.

The queen was the widow of King Albert, who was killed in a mountain climbing accident near Namur, in the Ardennes, on February 17, 1934. After Albert's death, Elisabeth withdrew from public life because she wanted the focus to be on her daughter-in-law, Astrid, the wife of Elisabeth's eldest son, now King Leopold III. Queen Astrid was killed in an automobile accident in Switzerland in 1935. Elisabeth returned to a public role, as well as providing support to her eldest son, King Leopold, and his three children

She was born HRH Duchess Elisabeth Gabriele Valérie Marie in Bavaria on July 25, 1876, at Schloss Possenhofen, the daughter of HRH Duke Karl Theodor in Bavaria and his second wife, HRH Infanta Maria Josefa of Portugal.

Duke Karl Theodor was a noted eye specialist. He was the favorite brother of Empress Elisabeth "Sisi" of Austria. Duchess Elisabeth was named for her aunt, who was assassinated in 1898.

Elisabet met her husband, Prince Albert of Belgium, second in line to the throne after his father, Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, at the funeral of her aunt, Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria, who was married to the Duke of Alencon. The Duchess was killed in the Bazar de la Charité fire in May 1897. Sophie Charlotte was the mother-in-law of Albert's sister, Princess Henriette.

Their marriage took place in Munich on October 2, 1900. According to a biography of Elisabeth by S. Cunliffe-Owen, the bride wore a white satin gown which "gleamed the star and ribbon of the Order of St. Elisabeth."

In 1905, Albert became the heir presumptive to his uncle King Leopold II following the death of his father, the Count of Flanders. Four years later, Leopold died, and Albert succeeded to the Belgian throne.

From 1937, she was the patron for the Queen Elisabeth Competition, one of the most prestigious musical competitions for instrumentalists. She was also one of the Righteous according to Yad Vashem.

In July 1951, Leopold abdicated in favor of his elder son, King Baudouin. Since the fall of the Italian monarchy in a referendum in May 1946, Marie-José and her husband, King Umberto, have lived separate lives in exile.

Queen Elisabeth is survived by her three children: former King Leopold III of the Belgians (1901), Prince Charles, Count of Flanders (1903), and Queen Marie-José of Italy (1906), eleven grandchildren: King Baudouin, Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg, Prince Albert, Prince of Liege, Prince Alexander, Princess Marie-Christine and Princess Marie-Esmeralda of Belgium, Princess Maria Pia of Savoy (Princess Alexander of Yugoslavia), Prince Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, Princess Maria Gabriella and Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy, and Isabelle Wybo, the natural daughter of Prince Charles and twelve great-grandchildren: Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent of Belgium, Princess Marie-Astrid, Crown Prince Henri, Prince Jean, Princess Margaretha and Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, and Prince Dimitri, Prince Michel, Princess Helene and Prince Serge of Yugoslavia.

[Isabelle was not publicly known until 2003.

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