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

Louis-Napoleon, Prince Imperial

Louis-Napoleon, Prince Imperial

Son of Napoleon III. Born Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte in the Palace of the Tuileries, Paris. He fought in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 - 71 with his father, and was then sent to ...

Person, Royalty, France, South Africa

1 memorial
Coronation of King Edward VII

Coronation of King Edward VII

King Edward VII. Originally scheduled for 26 June but delayed due to the main player needing to have his appendix out, an innovative operation at the time. The elderly Archbishop Temple officiated ...

Event, Royalty, Tourism / Traditions

9 memorials
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone

Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone

Born Princess Alice of Albany at Windsor Castle, daughter of Prince Leopold and Princess Helena. 1904 married Prince Alexander of Teck, which meant she was then Princess Alexander of Teck. Mother o...

Person, Royalty

4 memorials
Silver Wedding of Queen & Prince Philip

Silver Wedding of Queen & Prince Philip

At the time of their wedding Philip's title was Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, not Prince, and the Queen was still Princess Elizabeth. If their family names had not been Anglicised earlier ...

Event, Royalty

2 memorials
King Cadwaladr

King Cadwaladr

King of the Britons. Born Wales, father of Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon (king of Gwynedd in Wales c.655-682). Legend says that he built the first St Martin within Ludgate church, that his image was place...

Person, Royalty, Wales

3 memorials