Background
His mother was Lilian, Princess of Réthy. Alexander was born in Laeken in Brussels.
His mother was Lilian, Princess of Réthy. Alexander was born in Laeken in Brussels.
The late King Baudouin of Belgium, and former King Albert II of Belgium, were his two older half-brothers. He had two younger full sisters: Marie-Christine and Maria-Esmeralda. They were freed by the United States. Army in May 1945.
After the war, the Royal Family was unable to return to Belgium and was forced to spend some years in Swiss exile before finally being able to return to Belgium in 1950 after a national referendum.
Alexander studied medicine for a while, later pursuing a career in trade. This does not appear to extend to the two younger children of the second marriage, Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium and Princess Marie-Esméralda of Belgium.
Although it has been assumed that the children of King Léopold"s second marriage were barred from the Belgian throne, some constitutional scholars maintain that there was no legal ground for Alexander"s exclusion. Even if that is the case, Alexander"s secret marriage in 1991 contravened Article 85 of the Belgian constitution, which deprived of the right of succession to the Throne any descendant of King Leopold I who marries without the Sovereign"s permission.
Nonetheless, in a May 2008 interview with Point de Vue, Alexander"s wife noted, "..the children of the second marriage of King Leopold -- Prince Alexandre, the Princesses Maria Esmeralda and Marie-Christine -- have been raised in a certain manner: Prince and Princesses of Belgium, accorded the style of Royal Highness, yet excluded from the succession to the throne." She added, "Alexandre received a very solid intellectual education..He waited to assume some official responsibilities.
They never came." Alexander died on November 29, 2009 of a pulmonary embolism. His funeral was held on Friday, December 4, 2009, at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken. He was buried in the crypt.