Philippe of Belgium


Philippe or Filip is King of the Belgians.
Philippe is the eldest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upon the former's abdication for health reasons on 21 July 2013. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1999, with whom he has four children. Their eldest child, Princess Elisabeth, is first in the line of succession.

Early life

Philippe was born on 15 April 1960 at the Belvédère Château in Laeken, northern Brussels. His father, Prince Albert, Prince of Liège, was the second son of King Leopold III and a younger brother of Baudouin. His mother, Paola, Princess of Liège, is a daughter of the Italian aristocrat Fulco VIII, Prince Ruffo di Calabria, 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda. His mother descends from the French House of La Fayette, and the king is a descendant of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, and Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles.
Philippe was baptised one month later at the Church of St. James on Coudenberg in Brussels on 17 May, and named Philippe after his great-great-grandfather Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders. His godparents were his paternal grandfather, King Leopold III, and his maternal grandmother, Donna Luisa, Princess Ruffo di Calabria.
Albert and Paola's marriage was unhappy, and they were usually absent from Philippe's life. The child neglect was so severe that child psychiatrist described it as "something that would justify intervention by social workers".
Philippe has a half-sibling, Princess Delphine of Belgium.
He was also the fifth cousin of the late Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom since they share a common ancestor, Francis. Queen Elizabeth II and King Philippe had been 3rd cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark.

Education

As a child the future king was required to move from a French-language school which he liked to a secondary school in Flanders, where he found it difficult to make friends. "In my youth, I had many problems at school", Philippe told teenage dropouts in 2019. "I felt badly treated. It was not easy for me". From 1978 to 1981, Philippe was educated at the Belgian Royal Military Academy in the 118th "Promotion Toutes Armes". On 26 September 1980, he was appointed second lieutenant and took the officer's oath.
Philippe continued his education at Trinity College, Oxford, and he attended graduate school at Stanford University, California, where he graduated in 1985 with an MA degree in political science.
He obtained his fighter pilot's wings and his certificates as a parachutist and a commando. In 1989, he attended a series of special sessions at the Royal Higher Defence Institute. The same year, he was promoted to colonel.
In 1993, King Baudouin died in Spain, Albert became the new king, and Philippe became the new heir apparent, titled Duke of Brabant.
On 25 March 2001, Philippe was appointed to the rank of major-general in the Land Component and the Air Component and to the rank of rear-admiral in the Naval Component.

Marriage

Philippe married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, daughter of a Walloon count of a Belgian noble family and female line descendant of Polish noble families such as the princes Sapieha and counts Komorowski, on 4 December 1999 in Brussels, in a civil ceremony at the Brussels Town Hall and a religious ceremony at the Cathedral of Saint Michel and Saint Gudule in Brussels. They have four children who were all born at Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht, Brussels:
  • Princess Elisabeth
  • Prince Gabriel
  • Prince Emmanuel
  • Princess Eléonore

    Foreign trade

On 6 August 1993, the government named Philippe as honorary chairman of the Belgian Foreign Trade Board. He succeeded his father, who had been honorary chairman of the BFTB since 1962. On 3 May 2003, he was appointed honorary chairman of the board of the Foreign Trade Agency, replacing the BFTB.
In this capacity, Philippe has headed more than 60 economic missions. Upon his accession as seventh King of the Belgians, this role was taken over by his sister Princess Astrid.

Reign

King Albert II announced on 3 July 2013 that he would abdicate in favour of Philippe on 21 July 2013. Approximately one hour after King Albert II's abdication, Prince Philippe was sworn in as King of the Belgians. His eldest child, Princess Elisabeth, became his heir apparent and is expected to become Belgium's first queen regnant.
Philippe played a role in forming a coalition government after the 2014 Belgian federal election. Political meetings with the King were moved from the Palace of Laeken to the Royal Palace of Brussels. In May 2019, Philippe met with Vlaams Belang President Tom Van Grieken, the first time the party had received a royal audience.
In 2020, Philippe announced regret for the "acts of violence and cruelty" committed in the Congo Free State under the rule of his great-great-granduncle King Leopold II.
In September 2024, Philippe, along with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo publicly criticised Pope Francis during their welcome addresses for him over sexual abuses committed by the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium.
In a speech on the eve of national day on 21 July 2025, Philippe described the war in Gaza as a disgrace to humanity and said: "I join all those who denounce the serious humanitarian violations in Gaza, where innocent people are starving and being killed by bombs while trapped in their enclaves. The current situation has gone on for far too long. It is a disgrace for all humanity. We support the UN Secretary General's call for an immediate end to this intolerable crisis.

Honours and arms

National honours

Ancestry