Fabiola Fernanda María-de-las-Victorias Antonia Adelaida de Mora y Aragón (11 June 1928 – 5 December 2014) was Queen of the Belgians as the wife of

King Baudouin Baudouin (; 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the last Belgian king to be sovereign of the Congo, before it became independent in 1960 and became the Democratic Republi ...

from their marriage in 1960 until his death in 1993. The couple had no children, as all five of Fabiola's pregnancies resulted in miscarriage, so the Crown passed to her husband's younger brother, King Albert II.

Early life

Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón was born on 11 June 1928 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain, at the , the main residence of the Marqués de Casa Riera. She was the daughter of Don Gonzalo de Mora y Fernández y Riera y del Olmo, 4th Marqués de Casa Riera, 2nd

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Mora Mora may refer to: People * José Maria Mora (1847–1926), Cuban-American photographer, often credited as "Mora" * Mora (singer) (born 1996), a Puerto Rican singer * Mora (surname), a Spanish name (includes a list of people with the name) Plac ...

(1887–1957), and his wife, Doña Blanca de Aragón y Carrillo de Albornoz y Barroeta-Aldamar y Elío (1892–1981), daughter of the 6th Marchioness of Casa Torres and Viscountess of Baiguer. Her godmother was

Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg (24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) was Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII from their marriage on 31 May 1906 until 14 April 1931, when the Spanish Second Republic was proclaimed. A Hess ...

. Queen Fabiola was the fifth child and had six siblings. One of her siblings was

Jaime de Mora y Aragón Don (honorific), Don Jaime de Mora y Aragón (19 July 1925 – 26 July 1995) was a Spanish aristocrat and actor. He appeared in more than thirty films from 1961 to 1995. He was also a brother of Queen Fabiola of Belgium. Selected filmography R ...

. She worked as a nurse in a hospital in

and lived with her mother. Before her marriage, she published an album of 12 fairy tales (''Los doce cuentos maravillosos''), one of which ("The Indian Water Lilies") would get its own pavilion in the

Efteling Efteling () is a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. The attractions reflect elements from ancient European myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore. The park was opened on May 31, 1952. It evolved from a ...

theme park in 1966.

Marriage

On 15 December 1960, Fabiola married

Baudouin Baudouin () is a French masculine given name and surname, related to Baldwin. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Baudouin of Belgium (1930–1993), King of the Belgians from 1951–1993 * Prince Baudouin of Belgium (1869–1891), ...

, who had been

King of the Belgians The monarchy of Belgium is the Constitutional monarchy, constitutional and Inheritance, hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/quee ...

since the abdication of his father, Leopold III, in 1951. At the marriage ceremony in the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, she wore a 1926

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

tiara A tiara (, ) is a head ornament adorned with jewels. Its origins date back to ancient Greco-Roman world. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women at formal occasions ...

that had been a gift of the Belgian state to her husband's mother,

Astrid of Sweden Astrid of Sweden (Astrid Sofia Lovisa Thyra; 17 November 1905 – 29 August 1935) was a member of the Swedish House of Bernadotte and later became Queen of the Belgians as the first wife of Leopold III of Belgium, King Leopold III. Following her ...

, upon her marriage to Leopold III. Her dress of satin and ermine was designed by the couturier

Cristóbal Balenciaga Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre (; ; 21 January 1895 – 23 March 1972) was a Spanish fashion designer, and the founder of the Balenciaga clothing brand. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "th ...

. Fabiola was a hospital

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

at the time of her engagement; ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine, in its 26 September 1960, issue, called Doña Fabiola the "Cinderella Girl" and described her as "an attractive young woman, though no raving beauty" and "the girl who could not catch a man." On the occasion of her marriage, Spanish bakers set out to honour Fabiola and created a type of bread, "la fabiola", which is still made in

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half of ...

. The explorer

Guido Derom Guido is a given name. It has been a male first name in Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Argentina, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal and Latin America, as well as other places with migration from those. Regarding origins, there ...

named the

Queen Fabiola Mountains Queen Fabiola Mountains is a group of mountains in Antarctica, long, consisting mainly of seven small massifs which trend north–south, forming a partial barrier to the flow of inland ice. The mountains stand in isolation about southwest of th ...

– a newly discovered range of

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

s – in her honour in 1961. She also has several varieties of

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

s named after her. The royal couple had no children, as the Queen's five

pregnancies Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception usually occurs following vaginal intercourse, but can also o ...

ended in

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966 and 1968. Fabiola openly spoke about her miscarriages in 2008: 'You know, I myself lost five children. You learn something from that experience. I had problems with all my pregnancies, but you know, in the end I think life is beautiful'. She and Baudouin I called the miscarriages a chance to be able to love all children. She was deeply involved with the upbringing of Prince Philippe and Princess Astrid.

Activities

After the death of Queen Elisabeth, in November 1965, Queen Fabiola became the honorary president of

Queen Elisabeth Music Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

. Queen Fabiola attended the elimination rounds and the finals of each session. During the 1990s, the Hospital Saint-Pierre in Brussels was important in matters around

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. Queen Fabiola visited them in 1993 and embraced a patient. She was one of the first public figures to do this. In September 1993, she became the president of the

King Baudouin Foundation The King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) (, KBS; ) is a foundation based in Brussels (Belgium). It seeks to change society for the better and invests in inspiring projects and individuals. The Foundation was set up in 1976, on the occasion of the 25th ...

, established in 1976 to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of

's accession. The foundation's purpose is to improving the living conditions of the population. Queen Fabiola also founded the Social Secretariat of the Queen with the purpose to answering many requests for help. She has supported study programmes aimed at prevention and treatment of

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

among children. She established Queen Fabiola Fund for Mental Health. The foundation's purpose is to help people with mental problems. During her entire life, she devoted herself to causes such as young women prostitution, human slavery and people with disabilities. Queen Fabiola received several humanitarian awards in her lifetime and was awarded the Ceres Medal in 2001 by the

UN Food and Agriculture Organization The United Nations (UN) is the global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among st ...

. Every year, Queen Fabiola attend the Summit on Economic Progress of Rural Women at the

Palais des Nations Palais () may refer to: * Dance hall, popularly a ''palais de danse'', in the 1950s and 1960s in the UK * ''Palais'', French for palace **Grand Palais, the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées **Petit Palais, an art museum in Paris * Palais River in t ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. The purpose of the summit is to create a movement of first ladies to respond to the call for help from the deprived women in the

third world The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

Queen dowager

Baudouin died in late July 1993 and was succeeded by his younger brother, Albert II. Fabiola moved out of the

Royal Castle of Laeken Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Ro ...

to the more modest

Château of Stuyvenberg The Château of Stuyvenberg (; ; ) is a residence of the Belgian royal family in Laeken, in the north-west of the City of Brussels. It is near the Royal Palace of Laeken, the official residence of the King and Queen of the Belgians. Another ne ...

and reduced her public appearances so as not to overshadow her sister-in-law,

Queen Paola Paola Margherita Maria-Antonia Consiglia dei Principi Ruffo di Calabria (born 11 September 1937) is a member of the Belgian royal family who was List of Belgian royal consorts, Queen of the Belgians during the reign of her husband, Albert II of ...

. Admired for her devout

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

faith and involvement in social causes particularly those related to mental health, children's issues and women's issues, Queen Fabiola received the 2001 Ceres Medal, in recognition of her work to promote rural women in developing countries. The medal was given by the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(FAO). She was also honorary president of the King Baudouin Foundation. In July 2009, the Belgian press published news of anonymous death threats she received stating she would be shot with a crossbow. She responded to the threats during

Belgian National Day Belgian National Day (; ; ) is the national holiday of Belgium commemorated annually on 21 July. It is one of the country's ten public holidays and marks the anniversary of the investiture of Leopold I as the first King of the Belgians in 1 ...

celebrations by waving an apple to the crowd in a reference to the

William Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

folk tale. Subsequent threats by an individual said to have a similar signature to the July 2009 threat-writer were received again in January 2010. In January 2013, the Socialist

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Elio Di Rupo Elio Di Rupo (; born 18 July 1951) is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2011 to 2014, heading the Di Rupo Government, and as minister-president of Wallonia for three non-consecutive terms between 1999 and 20 ...

criticised Queen Fabiola for her plans to set up a private foundation (Fons Pereos), which would have been a tax-efficient way to pass wealth to her relatives as well as to charitable causes. It was widely seen by the public as inheritance

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

(although, since the construction was admitted by Di Rupo to be legal, it would more precisely be a case of

tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdictions that facilitate reduced taxe ...

). Queen Fabiola denied the charges in a rare public statement: "I have never had the intention of depositing funds I received from the public purse with my foundation. All the monies that I receive from the civil list go on expenditure on my household. The lion's share goes on salaries."

Linguistic skills

According to official sources, Queen Fabiola was fluent in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, in addition to her native

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Illness and death

Queen Fabiola was hospitalised for 15 days with pneumonia beginning 16 January 2009, with her condition described as "serious". She subsequently recovered and began attending public functions the following May. Queen Fabiola had been in poor health for years, having

osteoporosis Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to more porous bone, and consequent increase in Bone fracture, fracture risk. It is the most common reason f ...

, as well as having never fully recovered from a lung inflammation she had in 2009. On the evening of 5 December 2014, the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...

announced that Queen Fabiola had died at the Château of Stuyvenberg.

Funeral

The federal government declared a period of national mourning from Saturday 6 December to Friday 12 December, the day when the funeral of Queen Fabiola took place at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels. The

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

, members of the government and the Lord Speaker received the coffin at the Royal Palace on 10 December where it was placed in the grand antechamber, where it was decorated with flowers and attended by an honour guard of generals, members of the King's Royal Military household. Godfried Cardinal Danneels, Metropolitan Archbishop-emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels, celebrated the

Requiem Mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

. Members of several royal families around the world including the

Grand Duke of Luxembourg The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it was created from territory of the former Duchy of Luxembourg. It was in personal union with the United Kingdom of ...

Empress of Japan The empress of Japan is the title given to the wife of the Emperor of Japan or a female ruler in her own right. The current empress consort is Empress Masako, who ascended the throne with her husband on 1 May 2019. Empress regnant Titles * ...

Queen of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark was alrea ...

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

and

Queen of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Ins ...

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty king ...

accompanied by his sister Princess Astrid, former King

Juan Carlos Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until his abdication on 19 June 2014. In Sp ...

and

Queen Sofia of Spain Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, former Queen

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born ...

, the Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein, former Empress Farah of Iran and Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, attended the funeral. No members of the

British Royal Family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

or the Monégasque Princely Family attended the funeral, leading to criticism by both Belgian and international press.

Arms

Honours

* Belgium: Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

Fallecimiento de la Reina Fabiola
/ref> * Vatican: Dame Grand Cross with Collar of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre may refer to: * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), chivalric order belonging to the Holy See (the Roman Catholic Church) * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Orthodox), chivalric ...

** Holy See: Dame of the Decoration of Honour * Empire of Iran: Recipient of th
Commemorative Medal of the 2,500 year Celebration of the Persian Empire
* Netherlands: Recipient of the Wedding Medal of Princess Beatrix and Claus van Amsberg * Portugal **

Republic of Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

: Grand Cross of the Order of Christ **

Portuguese Royal Family The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...

: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Saint Isabel * Thailand: Dame Grand Cordon with Chain of the

Order of the Royal House of Chakri The Most Illustrious Order of the Royal House of Chakri (; ) was founded in 1882 by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) of the Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) to commemorate the Bangkok Centennial. The order is awarded to members of the House of Chakri ...

* Spain: ** Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

** Lady of the Villa de Tejada ** Dame of the Royal Nobility Corps of the Principality of GeronaMonarquía Confidencial
/ref> ** Dame of the Royal Nobility Corps of Madrid *EEB1: A building; Fabiola; was named after her in the school campus of the European School of Brussels one

References

External links

Queen Fabiola
– official website of The Belgian Monarchy
Queen Fabiola: The Woman Behind The Hairdo
– Website The Royal Universe , - {{Authority control 1928 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Belgian nurses Belgian people of Spanish descent Belgian Roman Catholics Burials at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken Collectors of fairy tales Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Dames of the Order of Saint Isabel Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Belgium) Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Naturalised citizens of Belgium Nobility from Madrid Princesses of Belgium Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Queens consort of Belgium Spanish countesses Spanish emigrants to Belgium Spanish Roman Catholic writers Spanish women children's writers