Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Prince Philippe

| full name = {{langx|fr|Philippe Eugène Ferdinand Marie Clément Baudouin Léopold Georges}}
{{langx|nl|Filips Eugeen Ferdinand Marie Clemens Boudewijn Leopold Joris}}

| image = Philippe comte de Flandre (1880).jpg

| caption =

| spouse = {{marriage|Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen|25 April 1867}}

| issue = {{plainlist|

Prince Baudouin
Princess Henriette, Duchess of Vendôme
Princess Joséphine
Joséphine, Princess Karl Anton of Hohenzollern
Albert I of Belgium}}

| house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

| father = Leopold I of Belgium

| mother = Louise of Orléans

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1837|3|24}}

| birth_place = Royal Castle of Laeken, Laeken, Belgium

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1905|11|17|1837|3|24}}

| death_place = Palace of the Count of Flanders, Brussels, Belgium

| place of burial = Church of Our Lady of Laeken

}}

Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders ({{langx|nl|Filips}}; 24 March 1837 – 17 November 1905), was the third born and second surviving son of King Leopold I of Belgium and Louise d'Orléans. He was the brother of Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Carlota of Mexico.

Born at the Château de Laeken, near Brussels, Belgium, Philippe was created Count of Flanders on 14 December 1840. In January 1869, upon the sudden death of his nephew Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, he became heir presumptive to the Belgian throne. In 1866, after the abdication of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of Romania, Philippe refused being named the new Romanian sovereign, and the throne was later accepted by Philippe's brother-in-law Carol I.{{cite book|author=Keith Hitchins|author-link=Keith Hitchins| title=Rumania, 1866–1947 | year=1994 | publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-822126-6 | page=13}} Earlier, he had also refused the crown of Greece, which was offered to him in 1862.

Philippe died in 1905. When his brother King Leopold II died in 1909, Philippe's second son ascended the Belgian throne as King Albert I.

Marriage and issue

On 25 April 1867 at St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin, he married Marie Luise Alexandra Caroline, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, (1845–1912), daughter of Karl Anton von Hohenzollern (1811–1885) and his wife Josephine of Baden (1813–1900). Among Marie's siblings were the deceased Queen of Portugal and the future King of Romania.

The children of Phillipe and Marie were:

Prince Baudouin (3 June 1869 – 23 January 1891); he died of influenza at the age of 21.
Princess Henriette (30 November 1870 – 28 March 1948); she married Prince Emmanuel, Duke of Vendôme on 12 February 1896. They had four children.
Princess Joséphine Marie (30 November 1870 – 18 January 1871), twin to Princess Henriette.
Princess Joséphine Caroline (18 October 1872 – 6 January 1958); she married Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern on 28 May 1894. They had four children.
King Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934); he married Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria on 2 October 1900. They had three children.

He died in his residence the Palace of the Count of Flanders, and is buried at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken. He was succeeded as heir presumptive to the throne by his son, Albert.

Honours

He received the following decorations and awards:{{cite book|lang=fr|title=Almanach de poche de Bruxelles et de ses faubourgs|editor=A. Manceaux, Imprimeur-Libraire|location=Brussels|year=1905|page=8|url=https://archives.bruxelles.be/almanach/watch/AP/ALMANACH%2520DE%2520POCHE_1905_390/1905_390#page/5}}

;Domestic

Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (civil), 24 March 1855{{Citation |title=Almanach Royal Officiel |page=47 |date=1856 |chapter=Liste des Membres de l'Ordre de Léopold |chapter-url=https://archives.bruxelles.be/almanach/watch/AR/ALMANACH%20ROYAL%20OFFICIEL_1856_R%20208/ALMANACH%20ROYAL%20OFFICIEL_1856_R%20208#page/23 |language=french |via=Archives de Bruxelles}}

;Foreign

{{columns-list|colwidth=25em|

{{flagicon|Anhalt}} Duchy of Anhalt: Grand Cross of Albert the Bear, 1874[https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb11040880?page=36 Hof- und Staats-Handbuch für des Herzogtum Anhalt] (1883), "Herzoglicher Haus-Orden Albrecht des Bären" p. 16
{{flag|Austrian Empire}}: Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1857[http://tornai.com/rendtagok.htm "A Szent István Rend tagjai"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222022855/http://tornai.com/rendtagok.htm|date=22 December 2010}}
{{flag|Baden}}:
Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1862Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1865), "Großherzogliche Orden" [https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbihd/periodical/pageview/1893788 p. 55]
Grand Cross of the Zähringer Lion
{{flag|Kingdom of Bavaria}}: Knight of St. Hubert
{{flag|Empire of Brazil}}: Grand Cross of the Southern Cross
{{flag|Denmark}}: Knight of the Elephant, 1 November 1875{{cite book|author=Jørgen Pedersen|title=Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559–2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glw-AQAAIAAJ|year=2009|publisher=Syddansk Universitetsforlag|language=da|isbn=978-87-7674-434-2|page=463}}
{{flagicon|Saxe-Coburg and Gotha}} {{flagicon|Saxe-Altenburg}} {{flagicon|Saxe-Meiningen}} Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, December 1853Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtums Sachsen-Altenburg (1869), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" [https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00243702/Parladrusa_Staatshandbuch_SA_166810592_1869_0031.tif?logicalDiv=jportal_jparticle_00472815 p. 17]
{{flagicon image|Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg}} French Empire: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
25px Holy See: Grand Cross of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem{{cite book|title=Almanach royal officiel de Belgique|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EaFCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA17|year=1870|publisher=Librairie polytechnique De Decq|page=17}}
{{flag|Sovereign Military Order of Malta}}: Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and DevotionJustus Perthes, Almanach de Gotha 1905 (1905) [https://archive.org/details/almanachdegotha00unse_84/page/19 page 19]
{{flag|Empire of Japan}}: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 5 November 1898{{cite book|author=刑部芳則|title=明治時代の勲章外交儀礼|url=http://meijiseitoku.org/pdf/f54-5.pdf|year=2017|publisher=明治聖徳記念学会紀要|language=ja|page=149}}
{{flag|Netherlands}}: Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion
{{flag|Luxembourg}}: Knight of the Gold Lion of Nassau
{{flag|Ottoman Empire}}: Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class
{{flag|Kingdom of Portugal}}: Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword, 12 December 1854{{cite journal |last1=Bragança |first1=Jose Vicente de |date=2014 |title=Agraciamentos Portugueses Aos Príncipes da Casa Saxe-Coburgo-Gota |url=https://www.academia.edu/10576008 |language=pt |trans-title=Portuguese Honours awarded to Princes of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |journal=Pro Phalaris |volume=9–10 |page=10 |access-date=28 November 2019 |archive-date=25 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125152639/https://www.academia.edu/10576008 |url-status=dead }}
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1803-1892).svg}} Kingdom of Prussia:
Knight of the Black Eagle, 7 October 1855; with Collar, 1861{{citation|title=Königlich Preussische Ordensliste|volume=1|chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878831&view=1up&seq=5&skin=2021|pages=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878831&view=1up&seq=13&skin=2021 5], [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878831&view=1up&seq=1006&skin=2021 934]|lang=German|chapter=Schwarzer Adler-orden|location=Berlin|year=1886|via=hathitrust.org}}
Grand Cross of the Red Eagle
Grand Commander's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, 4 May 1867
{{flag|Kingdom of Romania}}: Grand Cross of the Star of Romania
{{flag|Russian Empire}}:
Knight of St. Andrew
Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky
Knight of the White Eagle
Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class
{{flag|Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach}}: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 20 September 1854Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach. "Großherzogliche Hausorden" [https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00183885/Staatshandbuch_Film_Nr_13_0218.tif p. 13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822024219/https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00183885/Staatshandbuch_Film_Nr_13_0218.tif |date=22 August 2019 }}. Weimar: Böhlau, 1859.
{{flag|Kingdom of Saxony}}: Knight of the Rue Crown, 1857Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen (1867) (in German), "Königliche Ritter-Orden", p. 4
{{flagcountry|Restoration (Spain)}}:
Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, 6 April 1863{{cite journal|url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000941464&search=&lang=es|title=Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III|date=1904|journal=Guía Oficial de España|access-date=21 March 2019|pages=179|lang=es}}
Knight of the Golden Fleece, 21 January 1872{{cite journal|url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000941464&search=&lang=es|title=Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro|date=1904|journal=Guía Oficial de España|access-date=21 March 2019|pages=172|lang=es}}
{{flagicon|Sweden|1844}} {{flagicon|Norway|1844}} Sweden-Norway:{{cite book|title=Sveriges och Norges statskalender|year=1874|publisher=Liberförlag|pages=468, 703}}
Knight of the Seraphim, 17 May 1856
Grand Cross of St. Olav, 25 July 1860
{{flag|Württemberg}}: Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1864[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Pc5CAAAAYAAJ/page/n61 Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg] (1907), "Königliche Orden" p. 27

}}

Arms

File:Coat of Arms of the Count of Flanders (1837-1909).svg|Coat of Arms of the Count of Flanders (1837-1909)

File:Royal Monogram of Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders.svg|Royal Monogram of Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders

Ancestry

{{ahnentafel

|collapsed=yes |align=center

|boxstyle_1= background-color: #fcc;

|boxstyle_2= background-color: #fb9;

|boxstyle_3= background-color: #ffc;

|boxstyle_4= background-color: #bfc;

|1= 1. Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders

|2= 2. Leopold I of Belgium

|3= 3. Princess Louise of Orléans

|4= 4. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

|5= 5. Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf

|6= 6. Louis Philippe I of France

|7= 7. Princess Marie Amélie of Naples and Sicily

|8= 8. Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

|9= 9. Duchess Sophie Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

|10= 10. Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf

|11= 11. Countess Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg

|12= 12. Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

|13= 13. Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon

|14= 14. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies

|15= 15. Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria

}}

Notes

References

Weintraub, Stanley, Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert, The Free Press, New York, 1997, p. 458.
Willis, Daniel (also known as Daniel A. Brewer-Ward), The Descendants of Louis XIII, Clearfield Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1999, {{ISBN|0-8063-4942-5}}, p. 99.
NEXUS Jan/Feb 1998, Vol. XV, No. 1, p. 32.