Belgian Royals Lay King’s Half-Brother to Rest

On Friday, the Belgian royal family gathered for a private funeral of Prince Alexandre at Our Lady of Laeken. The half brother of King Albert II, the Prince died on Sunday due to pulmonary embolism at age 67.

REUTERS/Etienne Ansotte

In attendance were Alexandre’s wife, Princess Lea, and two stepchildren. The immediate royal family there included the King and Queen Paola, Queen Fabiola, the Crown Princely couple, and Prince Laurent and Princess Claire. Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz were unable to go since they are currently in Colombia.

Also attendance was Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri. His mother, the late Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte, was the sister of King Albert II, and therefore the half-sister of Prince Alexandre.

Born in 1942, Prince Alexandre was the son of King Leopold III and his second wife, Princess Lillian. He has two full blooded younger sisters, Esmeralda and Marie-Christine. The other children of Leopold III – Josephine-Charlotte, King Albert II and the late King Baudouin – were from the King’s first wife, Queen Astrid.

REUTERS/Etienne Ansotte

Although he was the Prince of Belgium, Alexandre lived a private life. He studied medicine and worked a bit in the field. He secretly married the twice divorced Lea Wolman in 1991, who had a son and daughter from her previous marriages. The Prince did not reveal his marriage to Lea until 1998, out of concern of his mother finding out.

Prince Alexandre lost whatever rights he had to the Belgian throne. This is because of Belgium’s constitution which forbids royal family members from marrying without permission from the King.

Alexandre suffered from heart problems throughout his life, like his father and the late King Baudouin.

After today’s funeral, he was laid to rest in a chapel beside the royal crypt.