30 years ago, to the day, this Monday, July 31, King Baudouin died of cardiac arrest, while spending his holidays in the Astrida residence, in Motril, Spain. He was barely 62, but had spent some 42 years on the throne. In Belgium, it’s amazement. Hundreds of thousands of people (more than 500,000, according to estimates) will gather in front of the remains of the King, at the Palace of Brussels.
But what remains of his reign today? What traces did he leave? What is Baudouin’s legacy? Attempt at answers with Professor Vincent Dujardin, historian at UCLouvain and connoisseur of the Belgian monarchy.
1. Congo, federalism, abortion… The salient features of his reign.
Baudouin ascended the throne in a very complicated context, that of the Royal Question and the controversial attitude of his father Leopold III towards the Nazi regime. “The reign was first marked by a difficult start due to the diarchy, that is to say the influence of the father or his entourage on the son, with some blunders in the keybegins Professor Dujardin. But a sense of duty was immediately welcomed by observers and the political world.”
”The marriage with Fabiola in 1960 reveals to the Belgians the real King Baudouin, who becomes a smiling king”, when he was nicknamed the “Sad King”. 1960, “it is also the year of Congo’s independence, an issue on which he undoubtedly played the most important political role of his reign, already dropping the word ‘independence’ for the first time in January 1959”.
”In the years that followed, we switched to another Belgium with the Gilson laws which fixed the linguistic border, the end of the unitary state and the state reforms which caused him a lot of worries. He regularly expressed concerns to his governments about the lack of a hierarchy of standards between the federal state and the federated entities.
Among the highlights of the reign, “there is obviously the episode on abortion and the question of freedom of conscience that he invoked”. The King had refused to sign the law partially decriminalizing abortion. “He was ready to abdicate. The Deputy Prime Ministers all wanted to find a solution. They respected the King, even if they did not all share his opinions, far from it.”
Baldwin’s inability to rule had thus been pronounced, allowing the government to sanction the law in his place. “But the King knew that could not be repeated. This is how he had asked for the Constitution to be changed on royal assent, at least for laws of an ethical nature”which was never done.
quoteBaudouin gave the image of a bridge-builder head of state. But also of a royal institution at the service of people, and in particular of those who suffer or are less fortunate.
Finally, “on the international level, he showed himself to be ‘euro-reserved’ until his marriage, going so far as to ask the Prime Minister to postpone the signing of the Rome Treaties three days before the date (March 25, 1957). Then he became a European federalist, even hailed by Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission between 1985 and 1995.”
2. Its legacy: a renewal for the image of the monarchy.
”We can say that Baudouin restored the image of the monarchy after the shortest and most controversial reign in the history of Belgium”, that of Leopold III. “Baudouin, on the contrary, gave the image of a bridge-building head of state. But also of a royal institution at the service of people, especially those who suffer or are less fortunate. He who had suffered a lot could be very empathetic. He was not five years old when his mother died, he was ten years old when the war broke out, 14 when his family was deported and 15 when they were forced into exile in the context of the Royal Question.
”He was also a man who enjoyed great moral authority in Belgium and abroad. Forty-four heads of state or government, or officials of an international organization, attended his funeral.” An attendance comparable to that of the funerals of Nelson Mandela, Jean-Paul II or Queen Elizabeth II, underlines Vincent Dujardin. “Concerning Elizabeth II, the only time she has been to the funeral of another head of state in seventy years of reign, it was for King Baudouin…”
Elizabeth II present in Belgium at Baudouin’s funeral, a breach of protocol
3. From Baudouin to Philippe, a filiation, but also clear differences.
”Baudouin marked his two successors.” First his brother, Albert II, “with whom he has always got on well, more in substance than in form. On the day of Baudouin’s funeral, in the crypt of Laeken, when the cameras had withdrawn at the time of the burial in the intimacy of the family, Albert II turned to the coffin and exclaimed ‘Help me’ ! In his first speeches as King, he regularly quoted his brother.
Regarding Philip,we know that his admiration for his uncle was very great. Baudouin believed that if he were to die older than the 62 he was in 1993, his direct successor could be Prince Philippe. He had paid great attention to his training.
”King Philippe paid a long and emphatic tribute to Baudouin” in his final National Day speech. He said this: “Those who knew him will remember his smile, his look and his confident handshake. I know the considerable good that such a man has achieved around him, through his faith in people, through his deep concern for everyone and for the country. He was and remains an example for many, at home and beyond our borders.”
In a speech that looks like an ode to Belgian federalism, the King pays tribute to his father, but also to Baudouin “who remains an example”
Beyond these personal considerations, “Baudouin had woven an international network which Philippe inherited and which he even developed, which is invaluable for economic diplomacy or to open doors in certain files, especially in countries outside Europe.
”The current King is also pro-European and very concerned about the cohesion of the social fabric in Belgium. Perhaps his interest in the Congo is another legacy from his uncle? And then, Philippe is also a full-time king – his uncle had a very strong sense of duty, the light in his office was often left on late at night.
“But there are also very clear differences” between the reigns of Baudouin and Philippe. “The communication of the Palace has evolved a lot under the current reign. Baudouin could act as an actor in Motril in front of his nephews, but we can’t imagine him participating in a sketch for the Red Devils before their departure for Mexico in 1986”which Philippe had done before the World Cup in Qatar, at the end of 2022.”We also do not see him hosting the DJ Lost Frequencies on the roof of the Palace on July 20.
quotePolitically, Philippe also diverged from his uncle from the first minute…
Finally, “on the political level, Philippe also diverged from his uncle from the first minute of his reign by recognizing the regional fact in his speech from the throne, then by sometimes acting with the federated entities. For 30 yearsconcludes the historian, Belgium and society have evolved and the Belgian monarchy has evolved with them.”
