Person    | Male  Born 9/4/1835  Died 17/12/1909

King Leopold II of the Belgians

Categories: Royalty

Countries: Belgium

Son of King Leopold I. King of the Belgians 1865 -1909. Leopold's cruel exploitation of the Congo was carried out in his name and under his instruction. The Queen Mary College students, succinctly, described him as a "genocidal colonialist".

It seems nobody can find anything nice to say about Leopold II. A society lady is quoted as describing the marriage of Leopold to Maria Henrietta as being "like the marriage of a stable-boy to a nun", and by "nun" she was not referring to the wife. It is said that, on a visit to London, the couple sought sex advice from Leopold's cousin Prince Albert and his wife Queen Victoria, who, we understand, were well-versed in conjugal happiness.

You can find more memorials to this much reviled royal at our Brussels website.

June 2020: Responding to the Black Lives Matter protests authorities in Antwerp took down a statue of King Leopold II and placed it in a museum.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
King Leopold II of the Belgians

Creations i

King Leopold II of Belgium

Foundation stone of this library was laid by His Majesty Leopold II King of t...

Read More

Other Subjects

The King's Road

The King's Road

It derives its name from the fact that It was King Charles II’s private road to Kew and wasn’t opened to the general public until 1830. Mary Quant opened her shop ‘Bazaar’ here in 1955. Along with ...

Place, Commerce, Craft / Design, Royalty, Transport

1 memorial
Prince Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale

Prince Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale

Born in Hanover as the Crown Prince of the Hanoverian royal family but also related to the British royals. In 1878 he became Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale on the death of his father, the 2nd Du...

Person, Royalty, Germany

1 memorial
Sophia Duleep Singh

Sophia Duleep Singh

Princess Sophia Alexandrovna Duleep Singh was a prominent suffragette in the UK. Her father was Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, who had been taken from his kingdom of Punjab to the British Raj, and was ...

Person, Gender Issues, Royalty, India

1 memorial
King Edward III

King Edward III

Born Windsor Castle, son of Edward II.  Reigned 1327, aged 15, until his death at Sheen manor house (later known as Richmond Palace).  Succeeded by his grandson, Richard II, son of Edward the Black...

Person, Royalty

6 memorials
Kennington Palace

Kennington Palace

Royal Palace. Records of the time indicate that Edward the Black Prince was building at Kennington from the early 1340s until about 1350. Between 1353 and 1363 further work took place and some of t...

Building, Property, Royalty

2 memorials

Previously viewed

Sidney Joseph Fox

Sidney Joseph Fox

Sidney Joseph Fox, CC, was a Sheriff in the City of London in 1952.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Frederick G. Parcell

Frederick G. Parcell

Fireman killed as a result of an air raid on Old Palace School, Bow, E3 on 20 April 1941. Our colleague Andrew Behan has kindly researched this man: Auxiliary Fireman Frederick George Parcell was ...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm

Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm

Born Vienna, educated England, granted English citizenship 1865. Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland (a member of the royal household in Scotland) 1881 - 1890. Best known for the head of Queen Victor...

Person, Sculpture, Austria

15 memorials
John Birnie Philip

John Birnie Philip

John Birnie Philip was born on 23 November 1824 in London, the third son of the five children of William Philip (1781-1865)  and Elizabeth Philip née Rhind (b.1786). His father was a tailor and he ...

Person, Sculpture

61 memorials
E. O'Neill

E. O'Neill

J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. staff member who died in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial