Albert I of Belgium Totally Explained

Albert I (April 8, 1875 – February 17, 1934) was the third King of the Belgians.
Born Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad in Brussels, he was the younger son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and succeeded his uncle, Leopold II of Belgium, on the throne on December 17, 1909. His grandfather, Leopold I, had been the first King of the Belgians, and his aunt, the first princess of Belgium, was Empress Carlota of Mexico.
He was married on October 2, 1900 to Duchess Elisabeth Gabrielle Valérie Marie in Bavaria, a Wittelsbach princess whom he met at a family funeral. A daughter of Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, and his wife, the Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal, she was born at Possenhofen, Bavaria, Germany on July 25, 1876, and died on November 23, 1965.

Their children

Léopold Philippe Charles Albert Meinrad Hubertus Marie Miguel, Duke of Brabant, Prince of Belgium, who became later the fourth king of the Belgians as Leopold III, born November 3, 1901, and died at Woluwe-Saint-Lambert on September 25, 1983.

Charles-Théodore Henri Antoine Meinrad, Count of Flanders, Prince of Belgium, Regent of Belgium, born Brussels October 10, 1903, and died at Ostend on June 1, 1983.

Marie-José Charlotte Sophie Amélie Henriette Gabrielle, Princess of Belgium, born Ostend August 4, 1906. She was married at Rome, Italy on January 8, 1930 to Prince Umberto Nicola Tomasso Giovanni Maria, Prince of Piemonte, born on September 15, 1904, and died on March 18, 1983 at Geneva, Switzerland. He became King Umberto II of Italy on May 9, 1946. Marie-Jose died January 27, 2001.

King

With the death of his elder brother, Prince Baudouin in 1891 (a 22 year-old bachelor), Albert became third and direct-in-line for the throne. He became Count of Flanders (and heir-presumptive to the Belgian throne), upon the death of his father in 1905. Following the death of his uncle King Leopold II in 1909, Albert succeeded to the throne.
At the beginning of World War I, Albert resisted the German advance and held them off long enough for Britain and France to prepare for the Battle of the Marne (6 - 9 September, 1914), famously responding to the German desire to move soldiers through his country, "I rule a nation, not a road!". He led his army through the Battle of the Yser and at the end of the war back into its own territory. He re-entered Brussels to a hero's welcome.
King Albert I died in a climbing accident at Marche-les-Dames, in the Ardennes region of Belgium near Namur. He is interred in the Royal vault at the Church of Our Lady, Laeken Cemetery, Brussels, Belgium. His death has caused a great deal of discussion. Rumours of murder were disputed. In 1935, prominent Belgian author Emile Cammaerts published a widely acclaimed biography of King Albert I.

Ancestry

Albert's ancestors in three generations>

Albert I of Belgium	Father: Philip, Count of Flanders	Paternal Grandfather: Leopold I of Belgium	Paternal Great-grandfather: Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf
		Paternal Grandmother: Louise-Marie of France	Paternal Great-grandfather: Louis-Philippe of France
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies
	Mother: Princess Marie of Hohenzollern	Maternal Grandfather: Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern	Maternal Great-grandfather: Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Marie Antoinette Murat
		Maternal Grandmother: Josephine of Baden	Maternal Great-grandfather: Karl Ludwig Friedrich of Baden
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Stéphanie de Beauharnais

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