Princess Léa of Belgium (born Léa Inga Dora Wolman; 2 December 1951) is the widow of

Prince Alexandre of Belgium Prince Alexandre of Belgium ( French: ''Alexandre Emmanuel Henri Albert Marie Léopold'', Dutch: ''Alexander Emanuel Hendrik Albert Maria Leopold''; 18 July 1942 – 29 November 2009) was the fourth child of King Leopold III of Belgium, and the ...

. She is an aunt by marriage of King

Philippe of Belgium Philippe (born 15 April 1960) is King of the Belgians. He is the eldest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upon the former's abdication for health reasons on 21 July 2013. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1 ...

Early life

She was born on 2 December 1951 as the daughter of Sigismund Wolman (born in Warsaw on 12 July 1906), a merchant in Brussels,Commission Des Naturalisations - Chambre des Représentants - Session 1959·1960 (23 Février 1960) / Commissie Voor De Naturalisaties - Kamer der Volksvertegenwoordigers - Zitting 1959.1960 (23 Februari 1960).
/ref> and Lisa Bornstein (born in Germany).

Marriages and issue

She married Russian aristocrat Serge Victorovich Spetschinsky on 27 May 1975 in Brussels (son of Victor Sergeyevich Spetschinsky, President of the Russian Nobility Association in Belgium, and Elena Dmitrievna Guebel), from whom she was divorced on 28 March 1980. They had a daughter, Laetitia Spetschinsky (born in 1976), who is now married to HE Didier Nagant de Deuxchaisnes, Ambassador of Belgium to Ethiopia, and mother of three children. On 23 July 1983, she married Paul Robert Bichara in

Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...

, and they had a son, Renaud Bichara (born 1 September 1983). After her second divorce on 25 August 1987, she wed Prince Alexander in

Debenham Debenham is a village and civil parish located north of Ipswich in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Pub ...

, Suffolk, on 14 March 1991. They had been introduced in 1986 by former

defence minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Léon Mundeleer. Alexander asked her to accompany him to the cinema. She vacillated initially, but they began to enjoy dining out together, Alexander being a

gourmand A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure and interest in consuming particularly good food and drink. ''Gourmand'' originally referred to a person who was "a glutton for food and drink", a person who eats and drinks excessively. Etymolo ...

, according to his future wife. The couple had no children together, and the marriage was kept secret until 1998, as reportedly the prince feared his mother would disapprove.

Published work

In 2008, she published a book of photographs from the life of her husband and his family, titled ''Le Prince Alexandre de Belgique'', because she felt that he was too little known in Belgium.

Notes

Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lea of Belgium, Princess 1951 births Living people Princesses of Belgium Belgian people of German descent Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha People from Etterbeek House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Belgium) Belgian people of Polish descent