Figure1.--Here we see 6-year old Prince Baudouine on a beach outing to Noordwyk in the Netherlands in June 1936. We are not sure why he went to a Dutch beach, but presumably the childrebn took many trips to the many North Sea beaches in Belgium and possibly northern France. The water in June woukd still be rather chilly, but of course children this age love to play in the sand.

Prince Baudouine was born in Brussels (1930). It was a propitious year for the young prince as this was the centenial of Belgium's independence from the Netherlands, a political munion that had been piced together by the Congress of Vienna. Baudouine grew up with an older sister and younger brother. They had loving caring parents and the children by all accounts had a pleasant childhood growing up in the palace, although we have few details at this time. And we see the children in outings to beaches annd other attractions. The children, however, experienced a series of traumatic events. The first tragedy occurred when Baudouine was only 3 years old. His grandfather, King Albert, was killed while rock climbing in the Ardennes (1934). His father Leopold becamne King Leopold III and Baudouine became heir apparent as Crown Prince, Duke of Barbant. Perhaps the most severe tragedy that can occur to a young child was experiebced by the Belgian royals. Their mother, Quenn Astrid, was killed in a car accident in Switzerland (1935). The young prince led a private life. Here we see Prince Baudouine on a beach outing in 1936 (figure 1). He became very familiar to the Belgian people. He frequently accompanied his father at many formal events such as military reviews. Next came the trauma of the German World War II invasion and internment by the Germans (1940-45).

Created: 5:56 PM 2/7/2011
Last updated: 5:56 PM 2/7/2011