Leopold III's Children: Clothing


Figure 1.--These are the children of Leopold III with Queen Astrid Josephine-Charlotte, Baudoin, and Albert. (. : Note Baudoin's and Albert's identical sailor suits with button-on styling. The photograph was taken about 1939.

HBC has some limited information on how the first two boys (Baudouin and Albert) were dressed. They were clearly not dressed in the fancy styles that Leopold and Charles wore as boys. Rather we see them commonly wearing more practical clothes, especially sailor suits. The photographs we have found of the princes so far show them commonly dressed in short and long pants sailor suits done with traditional styling. Queen Astrid seems to have preferred to dess the boys identically. They wore a variety of short pants outfits as younger boys, and long pants suits as older boys. One photograph of Prince Baudouin at about 8 or 9 years of age wearing a long pants sailor suit and strap shoes. Josephine-Charlott was dressed differently. Of course she was a girl, but also she was older. She always wore dresses. More information is available on Alexander. Leopold's mother died tragically when he was about 5 years old. His father remarried when he was about 11 so his step mother presumably played an important role at an older age. Marie Lilianne Baels, Leopold's second wife dressed their child together, Alexander, in very fashionable clothes as a younger boy.

Cootdinated Outfits

Baudouin and Albert were clearly not dressed in the fancy styles that Leopold and Charles wore as boys. Rather we see them commonly wearing more practical clothes, especially sailor suits. The photographs we have found of the princes so far show them commonly dressed in short and long pants sailor suits done with traditional styling. Queen Astrid seems to have preferred to dress the boys identically. That was not possible with Albert was very young, but we see them dressed alied by the time Albert is about 5-6 years old. Before that the juvenile outfits worn by Albert were not suitable for his older brother. They wore a variety of short pants outfits as younger boys, and long pants suits as older boys. We also notice the boys wearing identical plainer outfits like white shirts and short pants. They commonly wore short pants with both knee socks and ankle socks.

Josephine-Charlotte

Josephine-Charlott was dressed differently. Of course she was a girl, but also she was older. She always wore dresses.

Baoudin's Clothing

Baudouine like most royal children wore dresses, but only as an infant as the fashion of dressing young boys in dresses had largely disappeared by the 1930s, even for royalty. We note Baudouine wearing short pants outfits as a boy, often with white ankle socks. Some of his short pants outfits were worn with berets. He also wore long pants sailor suits. He did not wear the fancy lace-trimmed outfits his father and uncle war. He did wear short pants suits into his teen years, often with patterened socks. As a younger boy he wore strap shoes with many outfits. We are not sure who chose his clothing. His mother died in 1935 in a tragic accident. He was only about 5 years old at the time. His father remarried in 1941 when Baudouine was only about 11. I assume she then took a role in selecting the clothes of her stepsons. One photograph of Prince Baudouin at about 8 or 9 years of age wearing a long pants sailor suit and strap shoes.

Albert's Clothing

We have relatively little information on how the boys were dressed. The few photograph I have acquired so far show Albert and his brothet as younger boys wearing blouses with large collars, including Peter Pan collrs. They also wore sailor suits, with both long and short pants. Presumably the boys were dressed alike. One photograph shows one of the princes at about 7 years of age on a trip to Sweeden wearing a short pants sailor suit with an unsailorly beret. A French reader tells us that these fashions were almost identical to those popular in France. Another photograph shows Baudouin at about 8 or 9 years of age wearing a long pants sailor suit and strap shoes. As an older boy, Albert like his brother Leopold wore short pants suits. At first he wore short white socks while his older brother wore kneesocks.

Alexander's Clothing

More information is available on Alexander. Leopold's mother died tragically when he was about 5 years old. His father remarried when he was about 11 so his step mother presumably played an important role at an older age. Marie Lilianne Baels, Leopold's second wife dressed their child together, Alexander, in very fashionable clothes as a younger boy. Available images provide some information on the clothing Aleandre wore as a younger boy. Some are quite similar to the clothes that his father wore as a boy. Many of those styles appear quit dated by the late 1940s. Alexandre was Sthe last Belgian prince to wear those styles. Other oufits show the styling of the post-War era. We note him wearing French-styled romper suits as a younger boy.

Marie-Christine's Clothing


Maria-Esmeralda's Clothing











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Created: 11:19 PM 7/29/2008
Last updated: 11:19 PM 7/29/2008