Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders (; 24 March 1837 – 17 November 1905), was the third born and second surviving son of King

Leopold I of Belgium Leopold I (16 December 1790 – 10 December 1865) was the first king of the Belgians, reigning from 21 July 1831 until his death in 1865. The youngest son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Leopold took a commission in the Imperial Rus ...

and Louise d'Orléans. He was the brother of

Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leo ...

and Empress Carlota of Mexico. Born at the Château de

Laeken (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) 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 ...

, near

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium, Philippe was created Count of Flanders on 14 December 1840. In January 1869, upon the sudden death of his nephew Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, he became

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

to the Belgian throne. In 1866, after the abdication of

Alexandru Ioan Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also Anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (prince) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as List of monarchs of Moldavia ...

, Prince of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, Philippe refused being named the new Romanian sovereign, and the throne was later accepted by Philippe's brother-in-law

Carol I Carol I or Charles I of Romania (born Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; 20 April 1839 – ), was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as ...

. Earlier, he had also refused the crown of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, which was offered to him in 1862. Philippe died in 1905. When his brother King Leopold II died in 1909, Philippe's second son ascended the Belgian throne as King Albert I.

Marriage and issue

On 25 April 1867 at St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin, he married Marie Luise Alexandra Caroline, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, (1845–1912), daughter of Karl Anton von Hohenzollern (1811–1885) and his wife Josephine of Baden (1813–1900). Among Marie's siblings were the deceased Queen of Portugal and the future King of Romania. The children of Phillipe and Marie were: * Prince Baudouin (3 June 1869 – 23 January 1891); he died of influenza at the age of 21. * Princess Henriette (30 November 1870 – 28 March 1948); she married Prince Emmanuel, Duke of Vendôme on 12 February 1896. They had four children. *Princess Joséphine Marie (30 November 1870 – 18 January 1871), twin to Princess Henriette. * Princess Joséphine Caroline (18 October 1872 – 6 January 1958); she married Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern on 28 May 1894. They had four children. * King Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934); he married Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria on 2 October 1900. They had three children. He died in his residence the

Palace of the Count of Flanders The Palace of the Count of Flanders (; ) is a neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium. It was originally built between 1776 and 1781 for Countess Brigitte of Tirimont-Templeuve, though it was heavily expanded in the 19th century. Nowadays, it ...

, and is buried at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken. He was succeeded as heir presumptive to the throne by his son, Albert.

Honours

He received the following decorations and awards: ;Domestic * Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (civil), ''24 March 1855'' ;Foreign

Arms

File:Coat of Arms of the Count of Flanders (1837-1909).svg, Coat of Arms of the Count of Flanders (1837-1909) File:Royal Monogram of Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders.svg, Royal Monogram of Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders

Ancestry

Notes

References

*Weintraub, Stanley, ''Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert'', The Free Press, New York, 1997, p. 458. *Willis, Daniel (also known as Daniel A. Brewer-Ward), ''The Descendants of Louis XIII'', Clearfield Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1999, , p. 99. *''NEXUS'' Jan/Feb 1998, Vol. XV, No. 1, p. 32.

Literature

Damien Bilteryst, Philippe Comte de Flandre, Frère de Léopold II, Bruxelles, Editions Racine, juin 2014, 336 p.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippe, Prince, Count of Flanders 1837 births 1905 deaths 19th-century counts of Flanders 20th-century counts of Flanders Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Belgium) People from Laeken Burials at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Sons of kings Heirs presumptive