Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders (Dutch: 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.[1] 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.
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:
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.
He received the following decorations and awards:[2]
Duchy of Anhalt: Grand Cross of Albert the Bear, 1874[4]
Austrian Empire: Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1857[5]
Baden:
Kingdom of Bavaria: Knight of St. Hubert
Empire of Brazil: Grand Cross of the Southern Cross
Denmark: Knight of the Elephant, 1 November 1875[7]
Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, December 1853[8]
French Empire: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour.svg){kind=small}
Holy See: Grand Cross of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem[9]
Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion[10]
Empire of Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 5 November 1898[11]
Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion
Luxembourg: Knight of the Gold Lion of Nassau
Ottoman Empire: Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class
Kingdom of Portugal: Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword, 12 December 1854[12]
Kingdom of Prussia:
Kingdom of Romania: Grand Cross of the Star of Romania
Russian Empire:
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 20 September 1854[14]
Kingdom of Saxony: Knight of the Rue Crown, 1857[15]
Spain:
Sweden-Norway:[18]
Württemberg: Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1864[19].svg)
| Ancestors of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders |
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.jpg/250px-Philippe_comte_de_Flandre_(1880).jpg){kind=small}
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Damien Bilteryst, Philippe Comte de Flandre, Frère de Léopold II, Bruxelles, Editions Racine, juin 2014, 336 p. ISBN 978-2-87386-894-9
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