Women who were passed over – Belgium

The Kingdom of Belgium introduced absolute primogeniture in 1991 among the descendants of King Albert II of Belgium. This means that Princess Elisabeth, the eldest child of the then future King Philippe, was born as her father’s heir. However, how many Belgian Princesses missed out on the chance of becoming Queen in their own right?

Princess Louise of Belgium

Princess Louise was born on 18 February 1858 as the eldest daughter of the future King Leopold II and Marie Henriette of Austria. She had two younger sisters, Princess Stéphanie (born 1864) and Princess Clémentine (born 1872). The sisters’ only brother, Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, died at the age of 9 of pneumonia after falling into a pond. After King Leopold’s death in 1909, the throne passed to Louise’s cousin, Albert. On 4 February 1875, Louise married Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who was her paternal second cousin and maternal first cousin once removed. The couple was terribly mismatched, but they went on to have two children: Prince Leopold Clement (born 1878) and Princess Dorothea (born 1881). Louise’s husband had her declared insane, and they eventually divorced in 1906. She died on 1 March 1924.

Princess Henriette of Belgium

When the throne passed from King Leopold II to his nephew, King Albert I, it also skipped Albert’s elder sister, Henriette. Their eldest brother, Baudouin, had died of influenza at the age of 21, leaving Henriette as the eldest surviving child. Princess Henriette was born on 30 November 1870, and she was the younger of a set of twin girls. Her twin sister, Princess Joséphine Marie, died in January 1871. On 2 February 1896, Henriette married Prince Emmanuel, Duke of Vendôme, a great-grandson of King Louis Philippe. They went on to have four children together: Princess Marie Louise (born 1896), Princess Sophie (born 1898), Princess Geneviève (born 1901) and Prince Charles Philippe (born 1905). She died on 28 March 1948 at the age of 77.

Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium

Princess Joséphine-Charlotte was born on 11 October 1927 as the eldest child of the future King Leopold III of Belgium and Astrid of Sweden. Princess Joséphine-Charlotte had two full younger brothers, the future Kings Baudouin and Albert II. She also had three half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Lilian, Princess of Réthy. Her half-siblings had no succession rights. Princess Joséphine-Charlotte married the future Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Jean, on 9 April 1953. They went on to have five children together: Princess Marie-Astrid (born 1954), Henri (later Grand Duke – born 1955), Prince Jean (born 1957), Princess Margaretha (born 1957 – twin of Jean), and Prince Guillaume (born 1963). She died on 10 January 2005  at the age of 77.