Baudouin

Baudouin, full name Baudouin Albert Charles Leopold Axel Marie Gustave (1930-1993), king of the Belgians (1951-1993). The elder son of King Leopold III and Queen Astrid, he was born near Brussels and educated privately and at a college in Geneva. He was in voluntary exile with his father in Switzerland from May 1945 to July 1950. Leopold's return to Belgium provoked much unrest, and in August 1950 the king agreed to relinquish his royal prerogatives to Crown Prince Baudouin and to abdicate when Baudouin attained his majority. Leopold abdicated on July 16, 1951, two months before the 21st birthday of his son, and Baudouin took the oath of office the next day. He married Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, of Spain, in 1960. He died on July 31, 1993, and was succeeded by his brother Albert.