The future King Albert I of Belgium married Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria on 2 October 1900 in Munich.
When Albert was born, he was not expected to succeed to the Belgian throne. The only son of his uncle, King Leopold II, had already died in 1869 at the age of 9. Albert’s elder brother, Baudouin, was being prepared to eventually succeed as King, but he died of influenza at the age of 21. Suddenly, it was Albert who would become King. His fiancée Elisabeth was the third of six children of Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, a brother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.
Albert and Elisabeth had met at a sad occasion, the funeral of Sophie-Charlotte, Duchess of Alençon, Elisabeth’s aunt, in May 1897. Sophie-Charlotte’s son, Prince Emmanuel, had married Albert’s sister, Princess Henriette, in 1896. However, it wasn’t love at first sight for Albert, and it appears he was initially interested in someone else at the funeral, likely Princess Isabella of Orléans. However, he was told that she wasn’t suitable just before he headed off on a tour of the United States in March 1898.
It was Princess Henriette who invited both Albert and Elisabeth over, as well as her sister Marie Gabrielle. Albert appeared to be more interested in Marie Gabrielle, but it soon turned out that she was already engaged to Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria. Nevertheless, he continued to go back and forth between Henriette and Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria, the daughter of the late Crown Prince Rudolf and Princess Stéphanie of Belgium. There were doubts about Elisabeth’s health and her lack of wealth. Then Princess Stéphanie scandalously remarried to Hungarian Count Elemér Lónyay de Nagy-Lónya and Vásáros-Namény, which took Elisabeth Marie immediately out of the running.
After that happened, things moved quickly for Albert and Elisabeth. With the King’s disapproval of the match with Elisabeth Marie and his approval for the match with Elisabeth, Prince Albert proposed to Elisabeth on 29 May 1900. Just four days later, the announcement was made in the newspapers. A wedding had initially been planned for 10 July, but the Belgian royal family had to go into mourning when Albert’s grandmother, Princess Josephine of Baden, died.
The wedding was now set for 2 October 1900. During the time between the engagement and the wedding, Albert and Elisabeth wrote each other lots of loving letters. They may not have been in love at first, but they certainly were now. Albert wrote, “I love you with all my heart, and I feel that my entire being is connected to you from now on.”1 Many of these letters still exist.
Then came the wedding celebrations, which stretched over two days, 1 and 2 October. King Leopold II only arrived on 2 October and missed the first part of the celebrations. On 2 October at 10.30 a.m., it was finally time for the civil wedding ceremony. Following this, the party moved to the chapel of the royal palace for the religious ceremony, where the Archbishop of Munich blessed the marriage.
The New York Times reported, “All Belgium was en fête yesterday in honor of the royal wedding. Belgian and Bavarian flags were everywhere displayed. Special services were held in many churches; and during the evening there were military processions in all the garrison towns. The Prince and Princess will arrive here next Saturday, when official and popular fête will begin, lasting several days.”2
Their daughter, Marie-José, later wrote about her parents’ marriage, “A hymn by Beethoven resounded through the church. The singing broke out among the Hochs and the warm applause. The white silhouette of the small, slender princess who strode to the altar left a deep impression on those present. Her 4-meter-long train was carried by a noble boy in blue and white costume, the colours of the House of Bavaria. To her right and left walked King Leopold II and Prince Regent Luitpold, who held her by one hand, according to a centuries-old custom. Albert of Belgium wore the uniform of a major of the grenadiers, with red braid and a high bearskin cap. To his right walked his mother, the Countess of Flanders, and to his left King Carol of Romania, his uncle.”3
Albert and Elisabeth went on to have two sons and a daughter together. Albert succeeded as King of the Belgians in 1909.
- Elisabeth van België by Evrard Raskin p.65
- The New York Times
- Albert en Elisabeth, mijn ouders by Marie-José van België p.26
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