Albert II of Belgium

His Majesty Albert II, King of the Belgians (Albert F?lix Humbert Th?odore Chr?tien Eug?ne Marie von Wettin, born Laeken, Belgium, June 6, 1934), is a European constitutional monarch and a member of the former ducal house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He is the younger son of King L?opold III (1901-1983) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905-1935). He is a distant cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.

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Prince Albert was sent to the Swiss private school Institute Le Rosey for his pre-university education. He succeeded his elder brother, Baudouin, as king, taking the constitutional oath on August 9, 1993. Before his accession he was known as the Prince of Li?ge, a title created for him the day after his birth; he also was heir presumptive to the Belgian throne from 1951.

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He married, in Brussels, on July 2, 1959, Donna Paola Margherita Maria Antonia Consiglia dei Principi (of the Princes) Ruffo di Calabria (born 1937). She is the daughter of Principe Don Fulco Ruffo di Calabria, Duca di Guardia Lombarda and his wife, Donna Luisa Gazelli.

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He and the Queen have three children:

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• Philippe L?opold Louis Marie, Duke of Brabant (born April 15, 1960). He married, on December 4, 1999, Jonkvrouwe Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, who was created HRH Princess Mathilde of Belgium a month before their marriage. She is a daughter of Jonkheer (now Count) Patrick d'Udekem d'Acoz and his wife, Countess Anna Maria Komorowska. They have three children:
• Princess Elisabeth Th?r?se Marie H?l?ne, who will inherit the throne after her father, thanks to a 1991 act of succession which created full cognatic primogeniture, altering the order of succession from eldest son to eldest child.
• Prince Gabriel Baudouin Charles Marie
• Prince Emmanuel Leopold Guillaume Fran?ois Marie
• Astrid Jos?phine Charlotte Fabrizia Elisabeth Paola Marie (born June 5, 1962). She is the wife of His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, whom she married in 1984 and who was created a Prince of Belgium in 1995. Princess Astrid, with her own descendants, is before her brother Laurent in the order of succession to the Belgian throne, thanks to the 1991 act of succession mentioned above. They have five children:
• Archduke Amedeo of Austria-Este, Prince of Belgium
• Archduchess Maria Laura of Austria-Este, Princess of Belgium
• Archduke Joachim of Austra-Este, Prince of Belgium
• Archduchess Louisa Maria of Austria-Este, Princess of Belgium
• Archduchess Laeticia Maria of Austria-Este, Princess of Belgium
• Laurent Beno?t Baudouin Marie (born October 19, 1963). He married Claire Coombs, an Anglo-Belgian former real-estate agent, on April 12, 2003. She was created HRH Princess Claire of Belgium 11 days before their marriage. They have one daughter:
• Princess Louise of Belgium

The King also has an acknowledged illegitimate daughter, Jonkvrouw Delphine Bo?l (born 1968). Her mother is a Belgian aristocrat, Sybille, Baroness de Selys Longchamps (ex-Madame Jacques Bo?l). Bo?l, a sculptor living in London, has a daughter, Jos?phine Bo?l, by her American companion, Jim O'Hare; the child was born October 17, 2003.

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In 2001, the Belgian Government threatened legal action against the French publishing company Flammarion for publishing a book by the Luxembourg-based investigative journalist Jean Nicolas, entitled Paedophile Dossier - the Scandal of the Dutroux Case, which suggested that during the 1970s and 1980s Albert had attended parties at which child abuse had taken place. The palace condemned what it saw as "grotesque accusations"; the author said that he made no accusations, but had just published legal documents.

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