Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant

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Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant Prince Leopold by Winterhalter Born Léopold Ferdinand Élie Victor Albert Marie June 12, 1859 (1859-06-12) Laeken Palace, Laeken, Belgium Died January 22, 1869 (aged 9) Laeken Palace, Laeken, Belgium Title Duke of Brabant (1865-1869) Count of Hainaut (birth-1865) Prince of Belgium, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Parents Leopold II of Belgium and Marie Henriette of Austria Relatives Louise-Marie, Stéphanie, Clémentine

Belgian Royalty House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Leopold I Children    Crown Prince Louis-Philippe    Leopold II    Philippe, Count of Flanders    Charlotte, Empress of Mexico Grandchildren    Prince Baudouin    Princess Josephine Marie    Princess Henriette, Duchess of Vendome and Alencon    Josephine Caroline, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen    Albert I Leopold II Children    Louise-Marie, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha    Leopold, Duke of Brabant    Stéphanie, Crown Princess of Austria    Clémentine, Princess Napoléon Albert I Children    Leopold III    Prince Charles    Marie-José, Queen of Italy Leopold III Children    Joséphine-Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg    Baudouin I    Albert II    Prince Alexander    Princess Marie-Christine    Princess Maria-Esmeralda Baudouin I Albert II Children    Philippe, Duke of Brabant    Astrid, Archduchess of Austria-Este    Prince Laurent Grandchildren    Princess Elisabeth    Prince Gabriel    Prince Emmanuel    Princess Eléonore    Princess Louise    Prince Nicolas    Prince Aymeric

Prince Leopold of Belgium, Duke of Brabant (born Léopold Ferdinand Élie Victor Albert Marie (French) or Leopold Ferdinand Elias Victor Albert Marie (Dutch) on 12 June 1859 in Laeken – died 22 January 1869 in Laeken)^[1] was the second child and only son and heir of Leopold II of Belgium and his wife, Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria.

Leopold was named for grandfather, and for his father's cousins, Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert, the Prince Consort.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Duke of Brabant 3 Death 4 Titles 5 Ancestry 6 References

[edit] Early life

At birth, Leopold was styled Count of Hainaut, as the eldest son of the then crown prince. At the time of his birth, his grandfather, Leopold I of Belgium, formerly a Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the reigning king of Belgium.

Leopold was preceded in birth by one sister, Louise-Marie, and followed by two more sisters, Stéphanie, and Clémentine, who was born after Leopold's death, their parents' last hope for another son.

[edit] Duke of Brabant

Upon the death of his grandfather and the ascension of his father to the throne in 1865, young Leopold became Duke of Brabant, the title for the heir-apparent to the Belgian throne. As heir-apparent, he was expected to eventually succeed his father as King Leopold III of the Belgians.

[edit] Death

Leopold died at Laken on 22 January 1869 from pneumonia, after falling into a pond. At his son's funeral, Leopold II, for the first and only time in his life, "broke down in public, collapsing to his knees beside the coffin and sobbing uncontrollably."^[2] Leopold's body was interred at the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady, Laeken Cemetery in Brussels.

Leopold's premature death left his father without a direct heir, with only two daughters remaining: Princess Louise-Marie and Princess Stéphanie. After their son's death, Leopold and Marie Henriette tried to have another child, hoping for a son. After the birth of yet another daughter, Clémentine, in 1872, the couple abandoned all hopes of ever having another son.

Upon his death, Leopold II was succeeded by his nephew, Albert, whose eldest son would later succeed him as Leopold III.

[edit] Titles

• His Royal Highness Prince Leopold of Belgium, Count of Hainaut, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1859-1865)
• His Royal Highness Leopold, Duke of Brabant, Prince of Belgium (1865-1869)

[edit] Ancestry

Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

Leopold I of Belgium

Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf

Leopold II of Belgium

Louis-Philippe I of France

Louise-Marie of France

Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies

Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor

Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary

Maria Louisa of Spain

Marie Henriette of Austria

Duke Louis of Württemberg

Maria Dorothea of Württemberg

Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg

[edit] References

1. ^ Belgium, Paul Theroff
2. ^ Hochschild, Adam (1999). King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. USA: Mariner Books. ISBN 0-618-00190-5. 

Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Born: 12 June 1859 Died: 22 January 1869
Belgian royalty
Titles of nobility
Preceded by Leopold II	Duke of Brabant 1865–1869	Vacant Title next held by Leopold III