Crown Prince Philippe
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BIOGRAPHY
- GALLERY
Philippe of Belgium was groomed from childhood to succeed his childless uncle, King Baudouin. Upon Baudouin's untimely death in 1993, however, the 33-year-old prince was deemed insufficiently experienced to hold together a country suffering from a linguistic and ethnic divide. As a result, the role went instead to his father, Albert.
The son of King Albert II and Queen Paola, Prince Philippe Leopold Louis Marie was born in Brussels on April 15, 1960. His place in the line of succession meant he received an appropriately rigorous and diverse education at the College Saint-Michel in the Belgian capital and the Abdijschool van Zevenkerken in Sint-Andries-Brugge. This was followed by a four-year stint, from 1978 to 1981, at the Royal Military Academy, and training in the Belgian Armed Forces as both a pilot and paratrooper.
He later studied constitutional history at Trinity College, Oxford, and went on to receive a graduate degree in political science from California's Stanford University.
Upon the death of King Baudouin, four decades into his rule, 59-year-old Prince Albert, who had been expected to step aside, became Belgium's new king. Philippe, meanwhile, took over his father's post as Honorary President of the Belgian Foreign Trade Office.
When Philippe entered his upper 30s, seemingly a perennial bachelor, there were calls for him to step aside in the line of succession in favour of his younger sister, Princess Astrid. However, just before he turned 40, the prince gave the Belgian people their longed-for crown princess.
Prince Philippe met 23-year-old aristocrat Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz while playing tennis in 1996. After an extremely discreet three-year courtship, the heir to the throne and the pretty young speech therapist declared they were ready to tie the knot an engagement announcement which came as a complete surprise to many.
It was not long before she had won over the hearts of the Belgian people. Beautiful and glamorous, she also bridged the country's difficult divisions having been raised in the French part of the country, but coming from a noble Flemish family.
With his lovely wife at his side, Crown Prince Philippe enjoyed a boost in popularity following the couple's wedding, and enthusiasm for the pair further increased with the arrival of their first child, a daughter, in 2001. When she eventually ascends to the throne, Princess Elisabeth will become the only female Belgian monarch in 171 years, thanks to a 1991 law which ended exclusively male succession. "I hope that my daughter will be a great queen," said Philippe not long after Elisabeth's arrival, "and first of all, a great woman." Two sons followed, with Prince Gabriel arriving in 2003 and Prince Emmanuel following in October of 2005.
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He later studied constitutional history at Trinity College, Oxford, and went on to receive a graduate degree in political science from California's Stanford University.
Upon the death of King Baudouin, four decades into his rule, 59-year-old Prince Albert, who had been expected to step aside, became Belgium's new king. Philippe, meanwhile, took over his father's post as Honorary President of the Belgian Foreign Trade Office.
When Philippe entered his upper 30s, seemingly a perennial bachelor, there were calls for him to step aside in the line of succession in favour of his younger sister, Princess Astrid. However, just before he turned 40, the prince gave the Belgian people their longed-for crown princess.
Prince Philippe met 23-year-old aristocrat Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz while playing tennis in 1996. After an extremely discreet three-year courtship, the heir to the throne and the pretty young speech therapist declared they were ready to tie the knot an engagement announcement which came as a complete surprise to many.
It was not long before she had won over the hearts of the Belgian people. Beautiful and glamorous, she also bridged the country's difficult divisions having been raised in the French part of the country, but coming from a noble Flemish family.
With his lovely wife at his side, Crown Prince Philippe enjoyed a boost in popularity following the couple's wedding, and enthusiasm for the pair further increased with the arrival of their first child, a daughter, in 2001. When she eventually ascends to the throne, Princess Elisabeth will become the only female Belgian monarch in 171 years, thanks to a 1991 law which ended exclusively male succession. "I hope that my daughter will be a great queen," said Philippe not long after Elisabeth's arrival, "and first of all, a great woman." Two sons followed, with Prince Gabriel arriving in 2003 and Prince Emmanuel following in October of 2005.
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