french: Philippe Léopold Louis Marie
german: Philipp Leopold Ludwig Maria , house = Belgium , father = Albert II of Belgium , mother = Paola Ruffo di Calabria , birth_date = , birth_place = Belvédère Castle,

Laeken () or () is a residential suburb in the north-western part of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. It belongs to the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality of the City of Brussels and is mostly identified by the ...

, Brussels,

Kingdom of Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the ...

, religion =

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

Philippe or Filip ( nl, Filip Leopold Lodewijk Maria ; french: Philippe Léopold Louis Marie ; born 15 April 1960) is

King of the Belgians Belgium is a constitutional, hereditary, and popular monarchy. The monarch is titled king or queen of the Belgians ( nl, Koning(in) der Belgen, french: Roi / Reine des Belges}, german: König(in) der Belgier) and serves as the country's h ...

. He is the eldest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upon the latter's abdication for health reasons on 21 July 2013. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1999, with whom he has four children. Their eldest child, Princess Elisabeth, is first in the line of succession.

Early life

Philippe was born on 15 April 1960 at the Belvédère Castle in

north of Brussels. His father,

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...

, Prince of Liège (later King Albert II), was the second son of King

Leopold III of Belgium Leopold III (3 November 1901 – 25 September 1983) was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasi ...

and a younger brother of Baudouin. His mother, Paola, Princess of Liège (later Queen Paola), is a daughter of the Italian aristocrat Fulco VIII, Prince Ruffo di Calabria, 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda. His mother descends from the French House of La Fayette, and the king is a descendant of

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemasonry, freemason and military officer who fought in the Ameri ...

, and Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles. Philippe was baptised one month later at the church of Saint Jacques-sur-Coudenberg in Brussels on 17 May, and named Philippe after his great-great-grandfather Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders. His godparents were his paternal grandfather, King Leopold III, and his maternal grandmother, Donna Luisa, Princess Ruffo di Calabria. Albert and Paola's marriage was unhappy, and they were usually absent from Philippe's life. The

child neglect A form of child abuse, child neglect is an act of caregivers (e.g., parents) that results in depriving a child of their basic needs, such as the failure to provide adequate supervision, health care, clothing, or housing, as well as other physica ...

was so severe that child psychologist described it as justifying intervention by

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

s. Philippe has a half-sibling, Princess Delphine of Belgium (born 1968).

Education

As a child the future king was required to transfer from a French-language school, where he was purportedly happy, to a secondary school in Flanders, where he found it difficult to make friends. “In my youth, I had many problems at school” Philippe told a group of teenage dropouts in 2019. “I felt badly treated. It was not easy for me”. From 1978 to 1981, Philippe was educated at the Belgian Royal Military Academy in the 118th "Promotion Toutes Armes" (Promotion All Weapons). On 26 September 1980, he was appointed

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

and took the officer's oath. Philippe continued his education at Trinity College, Oxford, and he attended graduate school at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, California, where he graduated in 1985 with an MA degree in political science. He obtained his fighter

pilot's wings An aviator badge is an insignia used in most of the world's militaries to designate those who have received training and qualification in military aviation. Also known as a Pilot's Badge, or Pilot Wings, the Aviator Badge was first conceived to re ...

and his certificates as a parachutist and a commando. In 1989, he attended a series of special sessions at the Royal Higher Defence Institute. The same year, he was promoted to colonel. In 1993, King Baudouin died in Spain, Albert became the new king, and Philippe became the new heir apparent, titled Duke of Brabant. On 25 March 2001, Philippe was appointed to the rank of major-general in the

Land Component The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...

and the Air Component and to the rank of rear-admiral in the Naval Component.

Marriage

Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde

Philippe married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, daughter of a Walloon count of a Belgian noble family and female line descendant of Polish noble families such as the princes Sapieha and counts Komorowski, on 4 December 1999 in Brussels, in a civil ceremony at the Brussels Town Hall and a religious ceremony at the Cathedral of Saint Michel and Saint Gudule in Brussels. They have four children: * Princess Elisabeth, * Prince Gabriel, * Prince Emmanuel, and * Princess Eléonore.

Foreign trade

On 6 August 1993, the government named Philippe as honorary chairman of the Belgian Foreign Trade Board (BFTB). He succeeded his father, who had been honorary chairman of the BFTB since 1962. On 3 May 2003, he was appointed honorary chairman of the board of the Foreign Trade Agency, replacing the BFTB. In this capacity, Philippe has headed more than 60 economic missions. Upon his accession as seventh King of the Belgians, this role was taken over by his sister

Princess Astrid Princess Astrid may refer to: People * Astrid Njalsdotter (11th century) * Astrid Olofsdotter of Sweden (died 1035) * Astrid of Sweden (1905–1935) * Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (born 1932) * Archduchess Marie-Astrid of Austria (born 1954) * ...

Accession

King Albert II announced on 3 July 2013 that he would abdicate in favour of Philippe on 21 July 2013. Approximately one hour after King Albert II's abdication, Prince Philippe was sworn in as King of the Belgians. His eldest child, Princess Elisabeth, became his heir apparent and is expected to become Belgium's first queen regnant.

Reign

Philippe played a role in forming a coalition government after the

2014 Belgian federal election Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium), Chamber of Representatives were elected, whereas the Senate (Belgium), Senate was no longer directly elected following the sixth ...

. Political meetings with the King were moved from the Palace of Laeken to the Royal Palace of Brussels. In May 2019, Philippe met with Vlaams Belang President

Tom Van Grieken Tom Jozef Irène Van Grieken (born 7 October 1986) is a Belgian politician and author who has served as leader of Vlaams Belang since October 2014. Early life Van Grieken was born in Antwerp and later moved to Mortsel where he served as a muni ...

, the first time the party had received a royal audience. In 2020, Philippe announced regret for the "acts of violence and cruelty" committed in Belgian Congo.

Honours and arms

Royal Standard of King Philippe of Belgium

National honours

Foreign honours

Arms

nl, Eendracht maakt macht
german: Einigkeit macht stark , other_elements = The whole is placed on a mantle

purpure In heraldry, purpure, () is a tincture, equivalent to the colour "purple", and is one of the five main or most usually used ''colours'' (as opposed to ''metals''). It may be portrayed in engravings by a series of parallel lines at a 45-degree angl ...

with ermine lining, fringes and tassels or and ensigned with the Royal crown of Belgium. , previous_versions = Previously as monarch, Philippe used the royal coat of arms of Belgium undifferenced.

Ancestry

References

External links

Official biography from the Belgian Royal Family website

(''French'') about Prince Philippe's education and military career. , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Philippe Of Brabant, Duke, Prince 1960 births 21st-century Belgian monarchs 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Royal Military Academy (Belgium) alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Belgian monarchs Members of the Senate (Belgium) Belgian people of Danish descent Belgian people of German descent Belgian people of Italian descent Belgian people of Swedish descent Belgian Roman Catholics Roman Catholic monarchs Dukes of Brabant House of Belgium Living people People from Laeken Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Stanford University alumni Grand Crosses of the Order of Aviz Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Grand Crosses of the Order of Honour (Greece) Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Grand Crosses of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Knights of Malta Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Belgium)