Queen Fabiola of Belgium

Do?a Fabiola Fernanda Mar?a de las Victorias Antonia Adelaida de Mora y Arag?n (Madrid, June 11 1928), Princess of Belgium, was from 1960 queen-consort of Baudouin I of Belgium, until the death of this king in 1993.

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She was born as third daughter of Don Gonzalo Mora Fern?ndez Riera del Olmo, Marquis of Casa Riera, Count of Mora (1887-1957), and his wife, Do?a Blanca de Aragon y Carrillo de Albornoz Barroeta-Aldamar y Elio (1892-). She was the sister of Count Jaime de Mora y Arag?n, a Spanish actor and jet set playboy.

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Before her marriage she published an album of 12 fairy tales (Los doce Cuentos maravillosos), one of which ("The Indian water lilies") would get its own pavillion in the Efteling theme park in 1966.

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On December 15, 1960 do?a Fabiola married Baudouin, who had been king of Belgium since his father's abdication in 1951. At the marriage ceremony in the church of Laeken she wore a 1926 Art Deco tiara that had been a gift of the Belgian state to her husband's mother, Princess Astrid of Sweden, upon her marriage to King L?opold III of Belgium. TIME magazine, in its September 26, 1960 issue, called Do?a Fabiola, who was a hospital nurse at the time of her engagement, "Cinderella Girl" and described her as "an attractive young woman, though no raving beauty" and "the girl who could not catch a man."

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The royal couple had no children, as the queen's several pregnancies ended in miscarriage. There are reports, however, that she had a stillborn child in the mid 1960s.

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The king died in 1993 and was succeeded by his younger brother, the Prince of Li?ge, who became King Albert II of the Belgians.

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Admired for her devout Catholicism and involvement in social causes, particularly those related to mental health, children's issues, and women's issues in the Third World, Queen Fabiola is a recipient of the 2001 Ceres Medal, in recognition of her work to promote rural women in developing countries, from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

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Guido Derom, an explorer, named a newly discovered range of Antarctic mountains in her honor in 1961. She also has several varieties of ornamental plants named after her.

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Madrid: :This article is about the Spanish capital. For other entries, see Madrid (disambiguation)....

June 11: June 11 is the 162nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (163rd in leap years), with 203 days remaining....

1928: 1928 was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar)....

Queen Fabiola of Belgium related Images and Photos (experimental)

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