18 October 2016

#1170 Belgium


Albert II (born 6 June 1934) reigned as King of the Belgians from 1993 until his abdication in 2013. He is a member of the royal house of Belgium; formerly this house was named Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He is the maternal uncle of the current reigning Grand Dukeof Luxembourg, Henri.

On 3 July 2013, King Albert II attended a midday session of the Belgian cabinet. He then announced that on 21 July, he would abdicate the throne for health reasons. He was succeeded by his son Philippe on 21 July 2013. Albert II was the fourth monarch to abdicate in 2013, following Pope Benedict XVIQueen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and Emir Hamad bin Khalifa of Qatar. In doing so, he was also the second Belgian monarch to abdicate following his father, King Leopold III, who abdicated in 1951, albeit under very different circumstances.

Queen Paola of Belgium (born Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria on 11 September 1937) is the wife of the former King Albert II and was Queen of the Belgians from 1993 until his abdication in 2013 in favour of their eldest child the current King Philippe of Belgium.


Thank you, Johan !

Sent on: October 6, 2016
Received on: October 11, 2016

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